After Daylight

5. When Karl Alexander Turned Thirteen

KARL ALEXANDER

I made a face as I opened my locker.

"Wow. You're so gwapo talaga KM." My cousin, Kendall spoke sarcastically beside me. She's the bunso of tito Vincent and tita Spencer who is the same age and the same grade as me.

"Shut up KM." I spat and took my binder from my locker before closing it. I had a hard time closing it because it's so full of love letters na puro naman wrong grammar.

Almost everyone call her KM because her full name is Kendall Maia. They call me KM because they got my name from an economist named Karl Marx. Mama just added Alexander in the middle.

"You should at least date one of your suitors." She joked.

I made a face. "Ew KM. I'd rather read economics."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to date KM?"

"Not in my list of priorities." I told her.

"Sabagay. We're still thirteen pa naman." She muttered.

"I would rather date mama than those girls who write me wrong grammar letters." I told her as we took our seat in the classroom.

KM laughed. "Mama's boy."

I rolled my eyes. So what? I love my mama.

KM and I headed to our mom's office after class. Mama and tita Spencer have a business together called Ever After Events. They put it up when tita Spencer came home from Singapore daw though mama said both of them established it when they were in Ilocos Sur where my dad met my mama. I know their story. Dad told me whenever we go out together when he is not busy at work. Dad is a public servant, serving the Philippines as a senator on his second term. I heard he is planning to run as a Vice President though.

Mama and tita were having coffee when we went in their office. They are bosses now so it's their employees who handle the clients while they just supervise them.

I kissed mama on the cheeks and sat beside her, hugging her. Mama will always smell like home.

"Tita Ninang si KM tinapon lang yung love letters na nilagay sa locker niya." Sumbong ni KM.

I made a face. "Sumbungera."

"You should have at least read them." She answered, rolling her eyes.

Tita Spencer laughed. "Oh my. Reminds me of kuya Sandro when he was in high school."

KM opened her bag and tossed me the bundle of papers. "Basahin mo kaya." She said, frowning.

I could only stare at the letters given to me. What a load of work.

---

"Did you give dad love letters before?" I asked mama while we were heading home.

She laughed. "No. But there was this interview before with your ninong Mikael where your dad and I had to write each other letters."

I looked at her. "What did you write?" I asked.

Mama smiled at me. "I don't really remember bunso but you can read it. It's in the library. The magazine is entitled The Gist."

Mama went straight to the kitchen to cook for dinner while I headed in the library to look for the letter. Curiosity ran over me that moment. What did they write in the letter? I wonder what they would think about it after how many years?

I found the magazine in the shelf. The cover photo was my parents when they were still young. They were probably married when it was taken because both of them were wearing their wedding rings. I recognized their first wedding ring. It was a gold ring. Dad gave her four more. Each ring repsents us, their children. It was dad's sign of love for mama because she bore his children.