Choices

First Confrontation

Tam found himself walking to the Supasun-Tay's house the next morning. He really needs to talk to Kam. He wanted to clear some things that had been bothering him for years.

When he arrived at the house, he was met by their household help. He asked if Kam was awake and she said yes, he was at the lanai.

The lanai was the place where the pool was. It was where he first saw Kam after five years. He went to the lanai, and he found his Nong singing while playing the guitar.

Tam was awestruck. He had forgotten how he found Kam's voice soothing. The soft singing was comforting him in such a way, he never knew he needed.

Kam loved music, he would listen to them all day if he could, Tam knew that. But he also knew that Kam has one heck of a singing voice, not the competitive singing contest type of voice, but a soothing balm to your pained heart kind of voice. Back in the days, Tam would always make Kam sing for him whenever he feels down, much to the complaint of the younger one. But he always did it anyway.

Tam leaned on the side of the wall and listened. He realized, yup, he missed his singing too. But then he told himself, he missed everything about his Nong. He feels that the five years his nong was away, so much was taken away from him.

He smiled when he realized that Kam was singing a classic oldie, somewhere. Oddly, ever since they were kids, Kam always gravitated to old music, like really old. Songs from the 1990s or even older than that 80s or 70s even, Tam was surprised but later on he realized that his Nong acquired that habit listening to that type of music that his parents were listening to.

There's a place for us
somewhere a place for us
Peace and quiet and open air wait for us
somewhere

There's a time for us
Someday there'll be a time for us
Time together with time to spare
Time to learn, time to care

Someday, somewhere
we'll find a new way of living
Will find there's a way of forgiving
somewhere, somewhere, somewhere

Tam must have made a sound because Kam suddenly turned to him. He walked closer to Kam without breaking eye contact.

Kam put down the guitar on his side and raised and eyebrow at him.

'Can we talk? It's been a while since we have seen each other.', Tam said.

Kam shrugged his shoulders and gestured his hand to his side indicating that Tam should sit down. Tam looked at Kam who was staring at the water.

'So how have you been?' Tam asked.

Kam turned to him and looked at him in the eye. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said, 'Okay.'

'Okay? That is all you are going to say, okay?' Tam frowned at the younger man.

'Not okay then.', Kam retorted back.

Tam's frowns deepened as he was getting annoyed with this type of behaviour from his childhood friend. Kam seems to have changed, not for the better. He did not like it, not at all.

'Kam!'. He was exasperated.

'What?', Kam's brows wrinkled. 'Seriously, Phi Tam, you are so uptight. Relax. What exactly is it that you want to hear?'

'I don't know!' It's been five years; surely, in those years that you were gone, you have something to tell me, right?' Tam asked.

Kam frowned at him,'If you have something to ask, then just ask it.'