Lost in the Pastel Hues (Sunset Avenues #3)

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

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"What took you so long to find me?"

Umangat siya nang kaonti at tinignan ang aking mukha na parang pinapaniwala niya ang sarili sa pamamagitan ng pagtitig sa akin.

Gusto kong magtampo dahil bakit noon lang niya nalaman na may kapatid palang naghahanap sa kan'ya? But even if I wanted to, I didn't feel the need to do so. We could no longer change the past and what happened in that past.

Ang mahalaga ngayon ay narito na siya at magkasama kami. "How did you find me here?" tanong ko.

"It's not important kung paano kita natagpuan, Jade o Paige. Ang mahalaga ay nandito na ako at magkasama na tayo," marahang sambit niya.

Humigpit ang yakap ko sa kan'ya. It was as if I have found my mother sa katauhan ng kapatid ko. I have found my strength again.

At the middle of it, naalala ko iyong mga panahon na hinahanap ko siya. Iyong panahon na dinala ako ng mga paa ko sa Paoay Church. The time I was clinging onto hope dahil iyon na lang ang pinanghahawakan ko para makita ko ulit siya.

"Akala ko hindi mo na ako hahanapin.." hikbi ko.

I have already considered myself strong but there will be that one person that brings the vulnerability in us, to remind us that it's okay to feel vulnerable sometimes because they got our backs. 

"Pwede ba naman iyon?" she chuckled.

Kinalimutan ko ang problema ako. Ang mga isyung nakabalot sa pangalan ko. What matters most at that moment is I already met her.

Dumiretso kami sa aking condo unit sa New York. I have never been happier at that moment. It wasn't actually her finding me at that moment that made me cry. It was the truth that she found me and she caught me just in time, when I thought that I was to leave everything behind. 

"Lumaki akong hindi ko taglay ang pangalang Celestina. Promice Celestia ang binigay sa aking pangalan at kilala ako sa tawag na Prami, kaya siguro hindi mo ako natagpuan sa probinsya noon. Teka nga pala, paanong maalam ka sa tagalog?" She turned at me with amusement in her eyes.

"I spent many years of my life living in the Philippines, Ate and even in the slums.." wika ko. "I learned to adjust to the language eventually." Nag-iwas ako ng mga mata.

Her eyes got misty and I knew she already had the hint of what happened to me with the decades we were apart. Humingi siya sa akin ng tawad nang paulit-ulit. Kahit alam kong wala siyang kasalanan sa nakaraan ng aming pagkatao. Kahit alam ko naman ang totoo..

She doesn't know that she has a sister. Kamakailan lamang niya nalaman nang matagpuan niya ang sulat ng yumao niyang lola. At pinili niyang hanapin ako.

The first day of her stay in my condo, she cooked meals for me. May sinusunod akong diet but I couldn't resist her cooking.

Kinukwento rin niya sa akin ang mga karanasan niya sa trabaho noon. May café-restaurant ang kapatid ko and she has branches in the Philippines. Pinatayo niya iyon gamit ang sarili niyang ipon. I am planning to visit it once I go back to the Philippines.

"Si Lola Tere iyong nagturo sa akin na magluto. At alam mo ba...lumaki ako sa dalampasigan. With her following me around dahil natatakot siyang pumunta ako sa baybayin. I don't know how to swim, you know.."

Nakatitig lang ako sa kapatid ko. She was telling me stories about her childhood. I could picture it in my mind. The stories of her childhood were filled with colors. And in my dark state, I'd rather chose listening to those than to reminisce what I experienced in the past years.