Beauty And Madness by ANYA RAYNE

Kabanata XIII

KABANATA XIII

“WHERE the hell have you been, you idiot! You fed me to the sharks last week! Pinapunta mo ako do’n ‘tapos ikaw naman pala ang mawawala! Paano ko sasabihin kina Uncle at Auntie kung nasaang lupalop ka ng berdeng mundong ‘to kung ako mismo’y hindi alam kung saan ka nagtungo!”

Helion made an act of cleaning his left ear with his pink finger and looked at her disinterestedly. “Done already reading me the riot act?”

Lalo lamang nagpainit ng ulo ni Britanni iyon. “Hindi ako nagbibiro, Hel! Seryoso ako!”

Marahas na bumuntong hininga ang kapatid. “Okay. Fine. I’m sorry. Pero alam ni Deanne na mawawala ako. Sana siya ang pinakain mo sa mga pating.”

“And you think that will save me from being put on the spot? Kapatid kita, you idiot. Of course masama ang magiging reaksyon nila kapag nalaman nilang wala akong kaalam-alam sa mga pinaggagagawa mo. It was bad enough that Uncle isolated me and said awful things about Clique. Pero ‘yong tanungin nila ako kung ano’ng mga pinaggagagawa mo at wala akong maisagot? That suck!”

Kapansin-pansin ang pagdidilim ng anyo ni Helion nang mabanggit niya ang problema ng kanilang Uncle sa club. “Uncle has no business running around and complaining about how we operate The Clique. Sa susunod na tanungin ka niya, tell him to get off his high horse and face the fact that the club is our number one source of income.”

“Helion, wala naman siyang masamang intensyon.” Pabuntong hiningang sabi niya, pagod nang makipagtalo pa sa kanyang kapatid tungkol sa paulit-ulit na isyu ng sama ng loob ni Helion sa mga kamag-anak nila sa Davao. “Kilala mo naman si Uncle, eh. Ayaw lang talaga niya sa mga gano’ng bagay. He thinks it was a total debauchery to mankind.”

“Which was an exaggeration at its finest.” Helion rolled his eyes. “You see, Britanni, this is the exact reason why you were placed in that position. Between the two of us, sis, you’re the best bet dahil ikaw ang may plain at boring na kaisipan. Alam nilang wala kang gagawing katarantaduhan. When Clique was built, they knew instantly whose idea it was. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t envy you. I’m happy with being your proverbial hitman, doing your dirty laundries for you. But I won’t take shit from them, Britanni. Never. I’m trying hard to feed the Legion and if they don’t like how I do it then they are free to get lost.”

Sa puntong iyon ay napatingin na siya kay Anthony na nakatayo di kalayuan sa may sala at hawak ang teleponong nakadikit sa kanan nitong tenga. Sa hula niya’y may kausap ito but he just seemed to be listening and staring at her instead of talking and focusing himself on the other line.

Sinusundo siya kanina ni Anthony para pumasok sa unibersidad nang magpakita sa kanila si Helion. Hindi niya alam kung ano’ng gagawing sermon sa nakatatandang kapatid kaya’t minabuti na lamang niyang papasukin ang nobyo sa loob ng bahay kasama si Helion para paghintayin.

Napabuntong hininga siyang muli. Talking to Helion never made any sane sense. Why should it start making some now?

“Fine. Bahala ka sa buhay mo. Pero kung anuman ‘yang ginagawa mo, I just hope to hell it’s not something illegal.”

Nagkibit ito ng balikat. “Maybe it is.”

Instantly, her irritation surged up and she glared at him. “You just try, you idiot. Try and do something I don’t like and I swear to God, I will—”

Whatever it is that she will do to his brother ay na-interrupt nang maramdaman niyang may yumakap sa kanya mula sa likuran. Naramdaman niya ang mainit na hininga ni Anthony sa likuran ng kanyang tainga. “Awat na, baby. Dumudugo na ang tainga ng kapatid mo. Let that be enough of a punishment.”