Pronouns

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 12 (𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑)

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔(𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑽𝑬)

WE arrived at the mall, and the professor immediately went straight up to the supermarket to get her beloved groceries. While here, I am following her like a goddamn dog while pushing her cart, which is full of things that keep adding up out of nowhere

"Ma'am, papakainin mo po ba yung buong Pinas?"

Tanong ko sa kanya dahil halos mapuno na yung shopping cart namin tapos balak na naman niyang magdagdag ng dalawang karton na gatas.

"Look at this, Dela Haye. It says BUY ONE TAKE ONE. What a deal, right?"

I nodded in agreement because of her excitement as she showed me the attachment on the milk she was holding.

Iba talaga yung kasiyahan ng mga matatanda noh?

"You know what? Let's get two." Pinigilan ko agad ito sa gustong gawin at binalik yung iba sa aisle.

"One week lang po bago mag expired yung gatas. Masasayang lang pag hindi niyo naubos."

"You talked with sense for the first time." Napatigil naman ako sa pagtulak ng cart dahil sa sinabi niya.

Wala ba akong kwentang kausap? Grabe talaga yung tao na'to.

Napabusangot nalang ako habang kinukuha yung pinapaabot niya sa aking detergent at binigay sa kanya. Parang mas type niya raw pala yung katabing brand kaya inabot ko ito kay miss saka binalik sa pasilyo yung unang pinakuha niya sa'kin.

"Excuse me...."

Bumaling ang tingin ko sa nagsalitang babae sa tabi ko at kung hindi ako nagkakamali ay ako yung kinakausap niya.

"Pwede bang paki-abot nung sanitary napkin sa taas? Hindi ko kasi makuha." Ngumiti pa ito sa akin habang nanghihingi ng pabor.

Tinignan ko ang tinituro niya at kinuha ito, pero bago ko pa man mabigay yung sanitary napkin sa kanya ay bigla itong inagaw ng kasama ko na parehas naming kinabigla.

"She doesn't work here. Go ask somebody else to get your own pads."

Nilagay niya sa cart namin yung napkin at siya na yung nagtulak nito palayo. Nagkibit balikat nalang ako at kumuha nalang ulit nung pinapaabot nung babae.

"Here, sorry about that."

"It's okay. Tama naman yung kasama mo, pero buti nalang hindi ka kagaya niya noh? Maganda nga pero ganun yung ugali." Balak ko na sanang sundan si miss pero napaharap ulit ako dahil sa sinabi nito.

"Pardon?"

"She's pretty rude and arrogant, isn't she?" she chuckled as if she'd just cracked the finest joke ever, but I simply gazed at her. "You can hang out with someone much better, girl. Kung gusto mo---"

"I'm sorry if you misinterpreted my politeness for friendship, but as you CAN'T see, I'm no kind like you think, I just feel bad for you," I peered at her blankly and took a step closer to confront her.

"You're right, she's pretty......pretty smart, pretty intelligent, pretty talented, pretty face, pretty perfect. Don't describe her with words that don't even sound good when combined." I grabbed the toilet paper and handed it to her.

"Here's some tissue. Your ass must be jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth."

Iniwan ko itong may hindi makapaniwalang ekspresyon sa mukha at pinuntahan si Ma'am na nasa counter na pala at hindi man lang ako hinintay.

"Ang sakit mo na talaga ma'am, palagi mo nalang akong iniiwan." Pagdradrama ko sa kanya pero inirapan lang ako nito as usual.

"Aren't you the one who just left me behind because of your newfound friend?"