Everything in Between

Chapter 3

He's standing there wearing a black simple shirt and a short. I pressed my lips together before looking away. Ilang beses na ako nitong nakitang umiyak. No one see me cry before not even my mother. She said that crying is for coward but I saw her cry everyday my father beat her.

"You're crying! " he said. Bumalik ang tingin ko sakanya. Nasa harap ko na ito ngayon. Inangat nito ang kamay nya at dahan-dahan pinunasan ang luha sa pisngi ko gamit ang hinalalaki ng kamay niya.

He's tall. He's only seventeen. Hanggang sa balikat lang ako nito. Nanatili ang daliri nito sa pisngi ko.

"You're crying! " Pag uulit nito na parang manghang-mangha ito sa tuwing nakakita akong umiiyak. I looked away this made his fingers fell.
"Why are you crying? " he asked.

"Bakit ka andito? " I asked him too.

"I ask first, answer my question before I answer yours. " he said firmly. I shakes my head.

"You can't cry without a reason, Ascella. " the way he said my name gives shiver down to my spine, and made my heart beats.

"Anong ginagawa mo dito, Favio? " I asked him again.

Ilang segundo ito bago muling mag salita at para sagutin ang tanong ko.

"I want to see if you treated your wound. " sagot nito bago ibaba ang tingin sa paa ko. I nodded my head.

"Tapos na, kaya makakauwi ka na. " sagot ko bago tumalikod sakanya at naglakad paalis ng ilog. Napahinto ako ng hawakan nito ang kamay ko.

"Is there something wrong at your house?  I heard the voice of your mother and she's shouting. " he said. Bigla akong kinabahan dahil sa sinabi nito. My mother...

"Makakaalis ka na, Favio. " matigas kong sabi habang mariing nakatingin saakin. He shakes his head.

"Your father is hurting your mother." he said. I shake my head. I want to shout and tell him yes, that man is hurting her and I'm here running away just like what she always wanted me to do. I feel like I'm the coward here, unlike my mother who's facing the anger of my father for me.

"Pamilya ko 'to, Favio. Labas ka dito, kaya umuwi ka na at baka hinahanap ka na sainyo. " sagot ko bago tumalikod at mag simulang mag lakad palayo sakanya.

"I'm here, Ascella. I won't tell anybody what I heard form your house but if you want a friend to talk to I'm here! " I felt sincerity in bus voice but there's a glint of pity there.

I gulped hard, trying my best to not let my voice break. "I don't need a friend. We're not friends, Favio. " malamig kong sagot bago iwan sya doon. Hindi ko na muli narinig ang boses nito. Pumasok agad ako sa kwarto ko at agad binaon ang mukha a unan.

I cried hard. I want to tell Favio that I needed his help, bus family has influence in every police station here but the voice of my mother pleading me to not speak about what happened to our house every time my father comes home and high form drugs.

Noong napadalas na ang pang bubugbog ni papa kay mama ay nagtangka akong mag sumbong sa police para matulungan ito pero mismo si mama ang pumigil saakin para gawin iyon. She begged inform of me to not tell anyone.

She said that my father was not in his normal self but I saw him hurt her, kahit hindi ito nakagamit. The punches and the groan of my mother when my father fist touches her stomach. I once saw her vomit blood but she told me she's okay.

She always tell me that she's okay, na kaya nya pa kahit alam kong gusto nya nang sumuko.

Nagising ako dahil sa liwanag ng sikat ng araw na tumatama sa mukha ko. Dahan-dahan kong binuksan ang mga mata ko na mahapdi dahil sa pag iyak ko kagabi. Hindi ko namalayan na nakatulog na pala ako mula sa pag iyak.