Choices

The Silent Observer

After 20 minutes he heard a motorcycle rolled in below the tree house. Pop has arrived. Sak sent him a message telling him that he needed company. Ask and you shall receive. Pop climbed up the wooden steps and into the tree house, carrying a bag with chips and drinks in them.' He lifted the bag to show it to Sak.

He nodded at Sak and who also nodded his acknowledgement.

'You beckoned?' Pop teased but when he looked at Sak's serious face, 'What happened?'

'Tam exhibiting low level rage is what is happening' Sak replied.

Pop nodded, 'So what brought it on?'

'Dao.' Sak sighed.

Pop frowned and asked, 'Dao? What did Dao do now?'

'Something I never expected her to do without asking us.' Sak sighed.

'I guess it is something to do with Kam?' Pop pursed his lips as he said it. Sak nodded. 'So what exactly did she do this time?'

'She told Tam about Kam's preference and why Kam had to leave and study so far away.' Sak said. Pop's eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his eyes. He was so surprised. 'What made her do it?'

Pop had known about Kam's preference for a long time. He saw it coming a mile away. He knew Kam had a crush on their friend but like Sak he thought it would fade away. He knew that Sak had an idea also but he knew he preferred keeping it a secret; it is not as if it is harming anyone anyway. It was just a childhood crush.

As they were growing up, he realized that Tam had this unhealthy obsession with Kam; he has to know all the time where he was. Bullying Kam was not an option if you want to live. It was during their high school years when he noticed that Kam's eyes had changed. His gaze would linger longer, his smile would be much sweeter, but his beautiful eyes would always sparkle at the sight or even at the mention of Tam. It was obvious to all those who see them, he even thought for a while it was mutual. After all Tam had never shown any interest in any female in the vicinity, in school or anywhere. His sole attention was on Kam, only him and no one else. He was like okay the affection is returned but he thought how do you even tell two of your friends that they were in love with each other?

He was pretty surprised when one day, Tam said those words. 'Siri and I are dating.' His surprise was so unexpected that he was waiting for a punchline that didn't come.

It was also the reason why he said these words at the campus one day, 'If I were him, I would choose a school to be far away from you.' He was referring to Tam, he would rather that Kam be as far away as possible from him. This will help in the long run. Since Kam hasn't really been far away from Tam, and he was afraid that the moment Kam finds out about the relationship which they kept secret from him, a decision that he didn't want to do but did anyway since Tam asked him and Sak to wait until Tam was the one to speak about it. For Pop, staying away from Tam would make realize what it is that he really wanted. If it turned out to be Siri, Kam would be able to move on. But then, when Kam graduated, he moved away, he would bet his entire inheritance that it was because of Tam and Siri.

He never told Sak or Dao and especially not Tam that before Kam left after his graduation, he and Kam talked. He saw how Tam reacted when he found out about Kam going to Oxford; he also saw how hurt he was. After the graduation party, he called Kam and asked him to meet at the tree house.

Flashback

Pop was reading one of the books that were on the shelf at the tree house. 'Speak no Evil by Uzodinma Iweala.' He snorted and said to himself how appropriate.