Would You Mind? ✓

WYM? 05

"What's with the long faces hijo and hija? Is that how kids of this generation give their warm welcome?" Uno's mother, Nicole, asked him and Dos, for their faces were scowling due to their unpleasant exchange of dialogues yesterday at the mall.

Of all the days in the week, why did his parents have to pay a visit on the very day he and Dos weren't on sound footing?

"Nag-away kayo." Marco, Uno's father, claimed. He placed his utensils down his plate then leaned his back on his chair with arms crossed over his chest. "What's the issue? Whose fault was it?"

"I think...it was my fault...Tito..." Dos hesitatingly raised her right hand.

Uno, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. Had his parents weren't around, he would've lectured her over and over about her unmerited bigotry on sexual orientation that is not heterosexual.

"And the issue is?"

"I--I...didn't mean to--"

"Oh, come on," Uno hissed with much disbelief. "You didn't mean to judge homosexual people like me? Is that where you're trying to arrive at, huh? What a lame excuse, why not try harder--"

"Son, that's enough. We haven't even heard her explanation, so may I ask you to stay quiet for her to be able to throw light on this issue freely?" his father said, calmy. Not as calm as his mother, who looked extremely worried at the transpiring tension between Uno and Dos.

"Fine," Uno agreed, yet not meaning it.

Dos turned to look at Uno. She gave him a thin yet meaningful smile as if voiceless mumbling, thanks for giving me a chance to explain, but then, Uno quickly averted his gaze after arching a brow with total attitude.

"Go on. We're listening, Samara--"

"Dos. It's Dos, Tito. Not Samara." Dos' face instantly dimmed.

What's so wrong with calling her by her first name, though? he thought, darting a sideward glance at her.

"Okay...Dos it is...." Marco awkwardly said, probably taking some caution with his words after receiving such a change of mood from Dos. "So...let's hear it."

"I--I absentmindedly made fun of Uno's...homosexuality. I didn't mean to po...It just so happened that I--I thought it was just...a simple good-humored teasing...I wasn't aware that he takes such as amiss. I'm very sorry," apologetically told by Dos, whose head was down. Her right hand placed on the table was crumpling a tissue paper.

"I hope you won't take anything against me for what I am about to say, hija." Nicole held Dos' hand and caressed its back as she went on, saying, "Upon hearing the root cause of your misunderstanding with our son, I honestly felt...badly...hurt because such remarks against him are one of the reasons why it took him so much time to come out, though his father and I accepted him with open arms. But we--accepting him, isn't enough, is it? Because the real battle is outside the four corners of our home from which we shielded him for so long before he was able to face the world, the people, as who and what he is with his head held high. So, if being with our son stirs an unlikely feeling in you, let us know. We'd take fast action on it, and we'd have you lodged on a separate condo."

Uno suddenly softened from his maddened composure. Hearing those from his mother--though being shielded by them from sexual prejudices is nothing new--he still feels the same thing every time they do so.

"Hindi po, Tita. I swear." Uno saw how Dos' eyes widened in shock as she shook her head repeatedly to disagree with his mother's query. "It was just me and my big mouth po talaga. I am not a homophobic, nor a biphobic, neither a transphobic. And I will never be any of the three, so I'm really really sorry--"

"That's okay, Sam--Dos," Marco cut her off. "Just be careful with your words and banters next time because sometimes we tend to go overboard without knowing that we're already stepping on someone else's line. Okay?"

"Yes, Tito, Tita. Sorry po talaga."

Nicole tilted from her seat to pull Dos for a hug. "You're still young. You have a lot more to know. A lot of mistakes to learn from. And we'll start from here, yes?"

Dos eagerly nodded her head. They resumed their dinner after a few.

Uno's parents no longer took much of his and Dos' time. They left a few minutes after their dinner and table talk.

The tension that arose yesterday at the mall and earlier over their shared dinner seemed to hit up when their gazes met, and Dos smiled at him.

"What are you looking at?" he hissed, still not over the humiliation she made him feel.

She stretched her lips wider. "We're good, aren't we?"

"Who told you--"

"Then let's go!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the living room. "Let's have a movie marathon of Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo's Movies!" She lightly pushed Uno on the couch, causing him to stumble on his feet and fall seated on it.

"Not my thing. I'd rather sleep." Of course, that was a lie. He loves to watch movies, whether it be action, thriller, drama, romance, or rom-com, any movies' in it for him.

"No. No. No. No. Stop right there. If I say we're going to watch, we're going to watch." She held him on his shoulders and pushed him back on the couch.

"I said no--"

"I'll kiss you if you'll keep on turning me down, sige ka. Ikaw rin." She playfully wiggled her brows at him.

Having no choice, he stayed put. Besides, it has been a while when he last viewed a film since he was too busy with his professional responsibilities at work.

"I don't watch movies without munching on a butter-flavored popcorn," he said, indirectly asking Dos to do the favor of making one for him. She did him harm. That's the least she could do, he thought.

"Oh my! We're the same pala! That's my favorite flavor di--"

"Cheddar na lang pala. Hindi ko na paborito ang butter."

"Kunari ka pa. Ayaw mo lang parehas ko."

"What? Ano'ng kunari? And what's ayaw mo lang parehas ko?" He laughed.

He then realized she hadn't spoken a single straight line in pure Filipino. Either her lines contain more English words and less Filipino, or she'd talk in a very conyo way. Napansin niya rin na hindi nito kayang bigkasin nang madiin ang letter 'R'.

Dos suddenly blushed. "How do you say it ba? I'm not that acquainted with our language kasi. We rarely use our language in States kasi, since my father is Spanish and he only speaks English aside from his language."

For the second time, he laughed. Yet he found her cute, which was weird, so weird he shook his head to stop entertaining the thought, hoping it would stop. But it didn't because he felt uneasy.

"It's....it's kunyari," he corrected her, stammering. He couldn't look at her, afraid he might find her cute for the second time. He instead laid his eyes on the television as he wetted his lips and force stopped his jiggling leg. "And...and it's su-supposed t-to be ayaw mo lang a-akong kaparehas..."

She chuckled, her eyes looking alternately from his reddened face to his jiggling leg. Then she stated something a woman by heart like Uno never thought of being probable.

"Uno...I fear that your....sexual preference is...shaking...because of...me..."