TBW Novella: Happy Ever After

HEA05

TRI

"Ito ba 'yung lagi mong kinekwento sa'kin?" Magiliw na tanong ni Allison habang pinipisil ang pisngi ni Cha-cha.

Pagkatapos naming tumulong sa court ay sinamahan ko na si Allison na bumalik dito sa'min. Si Helia at Dax ay kinailangan dumaan muna sa clinic dahil may mga bagong dalang stocks si Dax na ilalagay doon.

"Hello po, ate ganda! Ako po si Charlie Amadeo. Paglaki ko po gusto ko ring maging teacher kagaya ni Teacher Tri! Bibili ako maraming notebooks at pencil at ibibigay ko sa mga bata!" Madaldal na sagot naman ni Cha-cha.

Napangiti ako. Ito ang unang pagkakataon na makilala ni Allison si Cha-cha ng personal dahil nang unang bisita sa'kin dito ng kaibigan ay wala ito.

Allison shot me a glance and smiled. "You see that? Ang laki ng impluwensiya mo sa mga bata."

I mirrored her expression. No words needed because I can feel how much she's proud of me. Sa loob ng tatlong taon na madalang man kaming magkita, ang komunikasyon namin ay nanatiling matatag.

"Lahat ng nakakatanda at mga taong nasa paligid ng mga bata ay mayroong malaking impluwensiya sa kanila. It's our choice if we'd like them to see the good through us or not."

Tumango-tango siya. "But what if they are surrounded by people like, let's say, who unconsciously doesn't know good? What if the devil doesn't know he's the devil?"

Kumunot ang aking noo sa tanong niya. "What?"

She shrugged. "Heard that somewhere. Siguro sa mga pinapanood ko sa Netflix."

I almost rolled my eyes at her but as we walked back towards my house, her question echoed inside my head. I once used to think that my father was a vile person. Maybe, he was. But, somewhat, I understand why he did those things. He wants power to protect himself and his family. It's selfish, I know. But what if, at that time, my father didn't know that he was evil? My family is far from perfect and we have a fair share of fights, misunderstandings, and intolerance but at the end of the day, we all want the best for each other. And my parents once thought what was best for me.

I opened the door of my house and turned the lights on.

In this life, we will encounter people who do things they believe is the right thing and they will do it by all means, not caring if they are going to hurt the people they love. It's selfish. It's vile. But like Allison said, there are phases in our lives when we have no idea that we are the person we refuse to believe that we are. And in the end, we're going to realize that we are not perfect by the things we've done and regret, but we will wake up and learn that we can have another shot of chance to do the right thing next. If it's not yet too late.

"You're thinking about it." Ani Allison pagkapasok namin sa loob ng bahay.

Binalingan ko siya. "Ang?"

"What I asked you a few minutes ago."

I let out a sigh and nodded. "Naalala ko lang si Daddy at Mommy. You know I didn't really like them when I was younger, but they changed."

"May sagot ako sa sarili kong tanong." Aniya at umupo sa maliit kong sofa.

"If the devil doesn't know that he's the devil, perhaps, he's really not. Maybe, like what you said, we're just influenced by the environment we're in. It doesn't mean we are the person our environment made us."

"When did you become a philosopher, Allison?" Pagbibiro ko kahit alam kong noon pa man ay malalim na siyang tao.

"Ang ibig kong sabihin ay dapat hindi maging hadlang para sa mga batang ito ang kinalakihan nila para isipin na mayroong mas magandang kinabukasan ang naghihintay sa kanila sa labas nito. The real world is cruel and they will be overwhelmed once they stepped onto it, but they have to remember that they have the choices whether to be good or not."