Drastic Waves in Bondi

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What are you really doing here, Thesia?" tanong ni Kuya Henry sa akin. "You're supposed to do girly stuff with Rasha before she leaves, right?"

"Don't you want some help, kuya?" I retorted. "Kuya Emmett's not here and won't be around for the next few weeks until his training is over and I guess you're stuck with me."

He shook his head, squinting his eyes over me.

"What?!" I scoffed.

He smirked. "I know you've got something going on in your head right now." Humalukipkip ito. "So, tell me, Thesia. What are you planning? Do you have some hidden agenda to do things around here? I know you won't like to stay and sell ice creams under this humid weather. You've got bad plans. I know that when you're lying."

May customer na bumibili at siya ang um-attend para magbenta roon. I grunted, rolling my eyes. He really knew me well and maybe masyado ngang halata ang ginagawa ko. When he finished assisting what the customer needs, sa akin naman napunta ang atensyon niya.

"So?" he started. "Tell me what's the point of you being here? I know, you're helping a lot here, but if you've got something else to do, go for it."

Napasinghal ako. "Okay, for real, the only thing that I wanted to be here—"

"You want to see naked lifeguards?" he concluded.

Nanlaki ang mata ko sa sinabi niya. "No! That's not it! That's not the point, alright? You know that I've been doing lives, right?" I questioned and he nodded. "They made me want to interview Valerio."

"Who?"

"Valerio Ratcher. That famous Bondi lifeguard."

He shook his head. "No. Still don't ring a bell... but what about him? Do you like him?"

"No! That's not the point of the interview though. He had an interesting life story and I've done my research on who he is and I feel with all the things I've read and watched about him, there's something inadequate to those stories and I feel like I should step up to tell a story that people never knew about him."

Napangisi naman si kuya saka ito umiling-iling.

"And what kind of response is that?"

He shrugged off. "I don't know... but if there are already stories about him all over the internet. I don't think you shouldn't do it since you're just gonna add up another pile of his story. What I'm saying makes sense, right?"

"I know, I know. I get what you are trying to say. But what I've been thinking is, I'm going to tell a story about him that people may never heard of before. Do you get it, kuya? Or not? Or maybe we should stop talking about it?"

Kuya Henry chuckled and he attended a customer. Hindi niya sinagot 'yong tanong ko, but I know he's not dumb enough for this so he knows what I was talking about. Napaupo naman ako sa gilid habang hinihintay kong mag-reply si Rasha sa message ko. When she's taking too long to respond, nagpaalam ako kay kuya na maglalakad-lakad muna ako sa tabi ng beach—if that helps me or whatever.

Before I leave the food truck, kuya called me so I turned to see him before I go.

"Hey, Thesia," he called. "Do what's best for you. If you think that's going to make you happy, do it."

"Well, I don't know if that's some kind of advice that I should follow, but thanks, kuya!"

He chuckled as I walked out of the truck. Bitbit ko ang shoulder bag ko na kung ano-ano lang din ang laman. I thought I would be spending all day sa food truck din so kung ano-ano lang din ang pinagdadala ko. As I left the area at tumungo papunta sa life guard house kung saan hindi kalayuan, sa ibaba ay nakapaligid ang ilang trainees na kasali sa training ngayon.