Dulce Secretum

10

Chapter 10

There was a time when I was three, Ate Rose at six and Ate Ela at age eight. Neither Mama nor Papa was at home when Ate Belle was bit by our dog—Poppy—after constantly annoying it by poking Poppy's eyes. Ate Ela was so worried and brought us to the hospital with Manong Roy driving us there using his tricycle. I don't remember a lot from this, but this was one of the moments when Ate Ela acted like a mother to us, and it's also when she decided she wanted to become a nurse.

My mother went to the hospital that day, laughing at Rose for getting bit, and at Ate Ela for bringing Ate Rose to the hospital when she could just treat her at home, she thought Ate Ela was too dramatic, still, my mother was grateful to Ate Ela, and was very worried about Ate Belle. When we got home, we just saw Popoy waiting in front of our house as if nothing happened.

I remember greeting Poppy—hugging him and kissing his forehead with my mother behind me telling me to stop because the innocent-looking brown dog with a short tail might bite me.

His name is Popoy because he was a puppy when he arrived and Mama was far too lazy to name him something more creative. I couldn't pronounce his name—just like my own—so we grew to just call him Poppy the same way everyone calls me 'Jaja' because I couldn't say Jasmine.

Popoy ang pangalan niya mula sa salitang 'puppy'. We named him that way because he was a puppy when he arrived and Mama was too lazy to name him something more creative. Hindi ko masabi ang pangalan ni Popoy nang bata pa ako. Sa huli, nagpasya na lang kaming tawagin siya na Poppy mula noon, gaya ng pagtawag sa akin ng mga tao na 'Jaja' dahil hindi ko masabi nang tama ang 'Jasmine'.

My Mom took him in after Tita Gloria's dog gave birth. Masyadong marami na ang aso kina Tita Gloria kung kaya't kami na lang ang nag alaga.

When it was raining he'd snuggle beside me in bed as I read my books. When Mama would go out he'd follow her until the gate. When Papa is eating, Popoy would wait for him to finish so that he'd feed him. Popoy followed my older sister, Ate Ela, whenever she go, and as naughty Ate Rose would be, Popoy still sat beside her as she colored in her coloring books.

Mula bata pa ako, naririyan na si Poppy. Hindi ko maalala ang panahon noong wala siya. He was my family—my brother who had four feet rather than two. He was our protector—my protector.

The night my father went home and hit my mother so severely that she had to rest for a few days was the day that Popoy proved his love for us—not that he still had to. He bit my father after he hit my mother. I remember hearing my father shriek in pain as Poppy barked at him repeatedly... then suddenly, Poppy stopped.

I came out of our room that night only to see Poppy whimpering as he covered his face. My father had hit him with a coffee mug that broke into a million pieces like my heart the next morning when I saw Poppy's body being buried by my sister discreetly in fear that I'd see it.

Suddenly, no one snuggled with me as I read books, no one followed Mama to the gate to make sure she was safe, no one waited for my father to finish eating, no one followed Ate Ela whenever she went, no one sat silently with Ate Rose, no one... there was no more Poppy.

Marami ang nag bago sa araw na 'yon at kung papapiliin ako, gusto ko na lang na muling ibalik ang oras kung saan walang bahid ng pait ang sakit ang aking buhay.

Kung pwede lang na walang mag bago sa aking buhay, pipiliin ko 'yon.

"You have glasses now!"

Bumungad sa'kin si Anie na malaki ang ngiti sa labi. Hindi ko pa man siya natitingnan nang matagal ngunit nakuha ng aking atensyon ang kaniyang pag tangkad simula nang halos isang taon mula ng huli namin pagkikita.