Whispers of the War

Wakas

WAKAS.

The Whispers

            “YOUR SON IS stupid, Nadia! He can’t even make a good decision! Such a disappointment!” rinig kong sigaw ni grandma mula sa study ng bahay namin. Natigilan ako sa paglapit dahil do’n. Napakurap, unti-unting napaatras hanggang sa tumakbo na ako palabas ng bahay.

My grandmother on my mother’s side is at it again. Ever since I was little, they’ve been comparing my achievements to my siblings. They’ve been expecting me to exceed my siblings’ achievements since I am the youngest. But I did nothing but to disappoint them.

It wasn’t intentional though. It’s their fault for expecting too much from me. It’s not my job to meet their expectations. My only job is to make my parents proud, and I did. Even for just little things that I do, my parents will always be proud of me.

But it’s really different with my mom’s family. They’ve been throwing their trashy attitude to me. I didn’t care at first. But when my mom started saying sorry in behalf of her family, that, I couldn’t take it. She has nothing to do with the words her family is throwing to me. I don’t like it when my mom says sorry where in fact, it’s not her fault.

I drove to Ate Athena’s school. It’s their try-outs today for the applicants for their team. I don’t want to stay in the house and hear my grandmother saying things to my mom. I don’t like it.

I’ve been disappointing them for a long time but they’re most disappointed when I didn’t go to the NBA G-League. Their words worsen, but still, I didn’t say anything. Nasasanay nalang ako. Habang tumatagal ay wala nang epekto saakin ang mga sinasabi nila.

Pero sa tuwing sinisisi nila ang mga magulang ko dahil sa mga “kapalpakan” na ginagawa ko, hindi ko kinakaya. Kaya umaalis ako ng bahay kapag nandoon ang grandparents ko sa mother’s side.

“Oh? What are you doing here?” Salubong saakin ni Ate, they’re on break when I arrived.

“Grandparents,” simpleng sabi ko at nagkibit-balikat. But it has a different effect on my older sister. She looked at me with a concerned expression. I just smiled at her to assure her that I’m okay.

“Hey, I’m okay. Nandito ako para mag-espiya sa bago niyong players,” pagbibiro ko pa, para mas kapani-paniwala. Inirapan lang ako ni Ate.

“We recruited great freshmen, and our newly recruited libero is high caliber!” Ate Athena smiled proudly while looking at their players that are resting on the bleachers.

Taka akong napatingin din doon. She’s always proud of their players. And now that she’s the new team captain, she’s even more proud. But there’s something in her that’s really happy when she mentioned their new libero.

“A high caliber libero?” tanong ko. Ate nodded and faced me.

“Yeah. Her,” may itinuro siya. Sinundan ko ang direksiyon niyon. And right there, I saw a girl drinking from her water bottle, soaked with sweat with a white towel on her shoulder. She’s wearing a number two jersey. Kumunot ang noo ko.

“Is she…” nabitin ang dapat na sasabihin ko. I saw my sister smirked.

“Yeah, we got her, Adriana Guevara.” May pagyayabang sa boses ni Ate. Alam ko iyon. Darn, kahit saan siyang school mapunta ay swerte talaga. Yabang worthy.

I know her name but I never did saw her before. She’s famous in this field, she’s making a name. Who wouldn’t be famous if you’ve been occupying the ‘Best Libero’ and ‘Best Receiver’ title on under-eighteen volleyball for four years? My sister’s right, she’s a high caliber.