You Woke Me Up, Moron (Hatdog Series #1)

13

What will you do there, Alvarez? Wala kabang bahay?!

Inis akong bumalik sa kwarto pagkatapos maghugas ng kamay. Ilang beses akong bumuntong hininga upang ikalma ang sarili. Minasahe ko rin ang sentido ko ngunit wala iyong nagawa. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ako naiinis sa tuwing naiisip kong magkasama silang dalawa. Kinuha ko ang cellphone at sinubukang doon ibuhos ang atensyon ko. Naglaro ako pero sa tuwing natatalo ay lalo lang akong naiinis. Hindi 'to makakatulong sa akin kaya naman sinubukan kong makipagusap nalang sa iba.

MGA MUKHANG HATDOG

Sin: Hey.

Cid, Ish, Jake typing...

Cid: WOAH

Ish: TOTOO ANG HIMALA

Jake: Gago! Buti may signal dito, nakita ko ang himala!

Ish: I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!

Ish: Mga pre, mga pre! Sya unang naginitiate ng chat pre!

Cid: Baka nilalagnat yan? Tawagan nyo nga si Manang Tin.

Jake: Tanga, oo nga. Confirm nyo muna kung si Sin nga yan!

Ish: Teka, teka tatawagan ko!

I shook my head. Crazy idiots.

I was about to reply when I heard Manang Tin's voice, outside of my room.

"'Nak, nilalagnat kaba?" she asked, there's a sound of worriedness in her voice. "Tumawag si Ish 'nak. Okay ka lang ba?"

I sighed before opening my door. "I'm fine, Manang. They are just fooling around."

Hinawakan nya ang noo ko. "Mabuti naman kung ganoon! Hay nako talaga si Ish, hindi na ako nasanay sa batang iyon! Papagalitan ko nga iyon!" aniya, tumatawa.

I smiled a bit. Nagpaalam na sya sakin kaya naman muli akong tumingin sa phone ko habang sinasaruduhan ang pinto. Nakita ko ang ilan nilang mga chat bago ako muling nagtipa.

Ish: Tinawagan ko na! Titingnan nya raw sa taas.

Cid: Baka naman nahack acc nya?

Jake: Oo, nahack! Nakita ko acc nya nagshashare ng porn!

Ish: TOTOO BA

Ish: Tanga mo, @Jake. Hindi naman!

Jake: Pasensya kana ha, gb! HAHAHAHA.

Sin: You crazy motherfuckers, it's me.

Sin: Dinamay nyo pa si Manang.

Ish: IKAW BA TALAGA YAN

Ish: WEH

Ish: SELFIE NGA

What the hell?! Do I look like someone who takes selfie?

Jake: SEND SEND SEND

Cid: SEND!

Imbes na kumalma ako ay mas lalo lang nadagdagan ang inis ko. Itinago ko ang cellphone bago humiga. Itutulog ko nalang 'to.

It's already 6 in the evening when I woke up. Agad akong tumayo at bumaba. Binuksan ko ang refrigerator at kumuha ng tubig bago ko ininom iyon. Unlike earlier, I'm calm this time.

Umupo ako sa tabi ni Manang. Nanonood sya ng Home Along da riles, iyong dating palabas. Gusto ko rin ang pelikulang iyon kaya nakinood ako. After that, I went upstairs, holding a cup of coffee. Pumunta ako sa balcony at doon umupo habang tanaw ang kalangitan. That's where I decided to call my Dad.

I dialled his number while I'm sipping my coffee.

"Son," he firmly said.

I took a sigh before answering. "Hey, Dad."

"Everything's fine?" he asked. I heard some other voices too. They're probably at the office, working. I heard Mom on the background, discussing something on someone.

"Uh, yeah. I know you're busy so I'll make this short," I said, scrunching my nose. "I'm just informing you that Manang Tin will be coming home to their town to celebrate her son's birthday. "

Minutes of silence passed. I also heard him sighed. "I don't want this, Son."

I knew it.

I scoffed. "But this is what I want."

"But you're going to be alone!," his voice raised a little.

"Then come home," I said in a serious tone. Alam kong nagulat sya sa sinabi ko.

Ano bang nakakagulat roon? Humiling lang naman ang anak na makasama nya ang magulang nya kahit sa maikling panahon. Is that too much to ask?

"Son.." he whispered.".. we already discussed this right? We can't."

I nod. "I know.." I said in low tone. "..I just tried. I'll hang up now."

With that, I ended the call. I stood and lean to the railing. I quickly took a sip while watching those people passing by. There's no harm in trying, right? After all these years, hindi ko pa sila nakakasamang muli. The last time I remember was when I celebrated my 9th birthday with them. I'm 18 now. I continued watching from above until I noticed Ethan with Larine. They're walking on the side of the road. Ethan's saying something to Larine which made her laugh. I bit my lip aggressively and look away before going inside.

Binagsak ko ang katawan ko sa higaan at tsaka marahas na ginulo ang buhok. Kaunti na lang ay iisipin ko nang hindi nareject 'tong si Ethan. The way he looks at her, it's clearly different. Damn it!

Is he forcing himself on her?

Ganoon ang ginawa ni Alvarez noon sa kaibigan ni Ish. From what I heard, she also rejected him but he insisted.

I sighed. Maybe I should ask Larine about it? No. No.. That's not who I am.. Damn it! She's changing me!