Five Years After

03

It had been a busy week and I needed to see Val to unwind. Pagka dating ko sa kanila, Chino was also there, reading a graphic novel.

"Hi Chingks, nasan si Val?"

"Kumuha lang ng coffee. Bat di ka kasama nila Seb?"

"They left early, I had surgery. God, I hope they don't feed him a lot of sweets." Napasapo ako, thinking of what Ace and Seb were feeding Justin. They took him out for the day and I had no idea where they were taking him but basta lang iuwi nilag buhay at hindi sugatan anak ko.

"Is Jaxx with them?" he asked without looking at me, turning a page of his book.

"Jusko, I hope not!" I shot him a nervous look kahit na hindi sya tumitingin. Madalas kasi to nagdidilang anghel si Chino. Baka malaman ko na lang na kasama nga nila si Jaxx. That's not how I'd like him to meet his son. But I needed to tell him soon.

"Kelan mo ba balak sabihin?" he asked as if reading my mind.

"I don't know. Soon. I don't even know how. Pano ba Chingks?"

"Mukha ba akong may anak na tinatago ng apat na taon sa nanay nya?" siningkitan nya pa ako ng singkit nya nang mga mata, halos nakapikit na sya.

"Gee, thanks for the insight." I said sarcastically.

"How soon is 'soon'?"

"One day soon when I have enough courage."

"So, never. Good that we're clear on that." He went back to reading. Wala talagang kwentang kausap to si Chino minsan. I was about to protest when Val returned, coffee in hand.

"Cara, hey! Alam mo ba I have a new IPL machine, you should visit soon!"

Hindi na namin napag-usapan ang aking dilemma dahil puro derma procedures, pagpapaganda, at chismis sa clinic nila ang pinag-uusapan namin hanggang sa tumawag na si Seb dahil isasauli na nila si Justin. I told them we were at Val's.

Justin immediately ran to me when he saw me. "Mommy!"

"Hello, my love. How was your day?" I smiled, and before any one of us could speak, Justin talked about his day with his tito's and how he was fed cotton candy, slurpee, chocolates, and all the unspeakable junk. I narrowed my eyes at Seb who immediately excused himself para mag banyo.

It was already dinner time nung umuwi kami sa bahay.

"Mamá, can I go to the hospital tomorrow?" Justin asked out of the blue while we were having dinner.

Mamá? Ang sosyal naman ng tawag niya sakin, parang haçiendera lang kami. I still get surprised at how a child learns a language. Hindi ko talaga alam if tama ba na nagpapalit palit kami ng language sa bahay at sa opsital – minsan English, minsan Tagalog. Dagdag pa yang Dora na Español. Tinuturuan pa minsan ni yaya Elena niya ng Bisaya. Mas magaling pa nga magbilang ng 1 to 10 in Bisaya si Justin sa akin!