Fourth of July

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

HER POV

"Shit! Chelsea, wake up!" I rubbed my eyes and slapped my cheeks multiple times para lang magising ako at mawala 'yung antok ko.

Simula noong makauwi kami ng bahay galing Zambales ay hindi ko na nagawang mag-pahinga. I was bothered the whole time because of what I've overheard sa usapan ng kambal. At hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin mawala sa isip ko 'yon.

Sa harapan ko ay nakapatong ang laptop na ginagamit ko at nag-kalat din ang ilang sachet ng kape. I don't really like coffee, I dislike coffees but I had no choice, I needed to drown myself by drinking coffee as if it was the only thing that would keep me up all night.

Kanina pa 'ko nag se-search ng article tungkol kay Gabriel. Hoping na sana ay may mahanap ako kahit isa. Pero gaya noong una, no results found pa rin.

"Have you tried searching for your father's name?" Muntik na 'kong masamid sa kapeng iniinom ko nang marinig ko 'yung boses ni Cedrick.

I almost forgot that I was talking to him over the phone. Nasa Zoom meeting kami kasama si Elysha. Though Elysha had nothing to do with this matter but she insisted to join our meeting. Dahil hindi rin naman daw siya makatulog.

"I'm sure wala namang lalabas na article about my dad." I confidently and proudly said. Hindi naman siya gano'n ka-famous, kaya sigurado ako wala naman ding lalabas na articles about him.

"Why don't you try searching? Who knows, malay mo may makita ka." Elysha said na agad sinang-ayunan ni Cedrick.

I sighed and ended the call on my phone. Sa laptop nalang ako nag-online at sumali ulit sa meeting namin. Shinare screen ko 'yung nasa laptop ko para naman makita rin nila 'yung ginagawa ko.

"Fine, let's do this." Once again, I let out a heavy sigh and hoped that luck will be on my side this time.

Bago pa 'ko makapag-search ay nag-vibrate 'yung phone ko at nakita kong galing 'yung message kay Elysha. I looked at her through my phone and glared at her. She just gave me just-open-it look.

From: Ely

Sched ni bff ngayon, 'di ba? Ano'ng balak mo?

I chuckled and shook my head. I'm sure he's too busy on their taping so it's fine if I spend the whole day dealing with my dad's issue. Besides, ayoko munang isipin ang kung sino-sino ngayon. Tinago ko na muna 'yung phone ko dahil makahalata si Cedrick, hindi pa naman niya alam 'yung MWF-TTHS na napag-kasunduan namin ni Ely.

Inayos ko 'yung upo ko at nag-tipa na sa laptop. I searched for "Javier Alcaraz Death" but like what I expected, I found nothing.

"See? Wala, sabi ko sa inyo eh." Sabi ko at nag crossed-arms pa.

Cedrick got up from his bed and fixed his hair. "Ako nga. Stop sharing ka muna."

I nodded my head and followed what he said. First, he searched for "Former politician, Javier Alcaraz's Death", then he found nothing. But he didn't stop there, he tried searching for the second time. He looked for "Capt. Javier Alcaraz" and then few articles were shown.

Agad na nanlaki ang mga mata ko. Puro pictures palang ni Papa 'yung lumalabas. Most of the pictures of him, he was wearing pilot uniform. Licensed pilot din kasi si Papa bukod sa pagiging politician.

I felt a hot liquid of tears rolled down from my eyes so I immediately wiped them off. I missed him, just by looking at his pictures.. memories were flashing back on my mind.

"Papa.."

"Save your tears for now, Gavin. You have to see this." Ani Cedrick at clinick ang isang article.