Glittering Gold | ONC 2024

Chapter 5: Time for a Smoke

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Danilo slept on a park bench for two hours after talking to Dulnuan. He woke up at 5 a.m. to take the first available jeepney to head back home.

He'd had a good day yesterday, drinking with his buddy and fucking a girl he'd just met. But the best part of it all was seeing Dulnuan again. His fear of the spirit dissipated with the time he spent with her.

As he rode alone on the jeepney, he looked out the exit, feeling the chilly morning wind blast on his cheeks. Dulnuan lingered in his thoughts as he stared blankly at the pavement over which the vehicle ran.

He admitted to himself he liked her--the way she spoke formally, the way she smiled, and the way her dark hair blew away with the wind. All men during her time might have fallen head over heels infatuated with her, including the chieftain of her tribe. And he could likely turn into one of them.

"End of the line," the jeepney driver said.

Danilo jumped out of his thoughts and realized the vehicle had already stopped. He got off on the side of the road and followed a narrow alley to his home, checking his watch--5:09 a.m. His mother would be furious again.

When he reached the front door, he turned the knob and found it unlocked. Slowly, he peered inside. No one appeared to be in the living room, but whispers came from the kitchen.

He entered with stealth, staying on his toes, not making any noise. All he needed to do was get to his room, and he'd be safe. But before he made it, his mother came out from the kitchen, rushing to hit his ass with a broomstick.

"Where have you been!"

"What the fuck!" Danilo lowered his hand to protect his bum, catching the swing. "Shit!" he cursed in pain.

"Ma, that's enough." Danilo's brother, Marko, held their mother by her shoulders, struggling to take the broom away. Danilo didn't expect him to be home.

"Let go of me," she demanded. "You've been out drinking again."

"Danilo, just leave," Marko said, looping his arms around their mother's waist. "Go!"

"And where am I supposed to go?" Danilo asked. He hadn't had much sleep. He was hungry. And in a few hours, he'd be off to work. He could at least take a bath if his mother allowed it.

"I don't know. Anywhere," his brother replied as he tried to calm their mother down. "Go wherever you go when you're out all night drinking and doing whatever the fuck it is you do."

"But--" Danilo protested. "I just got home."

"And now you're leaving. Just go, Danilo. I'll text you."

"Fine!" He flared his nostrils at his struggling mother, who still had her broom raised and ready to swing. Walking past them, he glared at his brother and slammed the door shut as he left. "Fuck my life!"

He regretted coming home. He should've just stayed at the park and waited a couple more hours for his boss to arrive. Soon, the boat stalls would open, and he'd call on tourists to ride them.

Taking another jeepney back to town, he contemplated his life and blamed the circumstances of his birth. If only he were born rich, he wouldn't be ass-broke, starving, and stinking like the gutter. He wouldn't have to endure his mother's nagging about not getting into college or being successful like his siblings. He wouldn't have had a father who needed to sell merchandise at night and get murdered by a robber.

If only he had money to get away, he would leave everything behind and never contact his damned family ever again. He unfathomably wished this with all his heart.