Vagabond

Chapter 4: Deal

Kanina pa ine-explain ni Cali na hindi sila in good terms ngayon ni Tito Clark. Reason? Ghosted nga raw siya during his wife's pregnancy with his son. At ang bine-blame niyang dahilan ay ang asawa niyang si Kit at ang pagpapakasal niya rito.

I don't really want to side with Tito Clark, but I doubt that Tito would ghost him without a valid and inevitable reason. Kasi tingin ko naman, wala lang din kay Tito kung sino ang asawa ng anak niya. Ayokong i-accept ang sinasabi ni Cali na ayaw nila kay Kit. Sobrang shallow kasi n'on if alam naman nilang lahat na accepted siya ni Mamila.

I mean, si Mamila nga ang parameter namin kung iiwasan namin ang tao o hindi, so what could be the reason why Tito Clark avoided reaching out to Cali, especially baby na ang usapan?

Hindi rin kasi ako nag-reach out kay Cali for the past few months because Audree's health is declining. Pero nabanggit ko naman sa kanya na may emergency ako with Dree. He said okay, and that was fixed.

Rex is out of reach. I couldn't call her kahit ilang attempts ko pa until I learned na ipinadala pala siya sa Cordillera. Kay Cali ko pa nalaman na nasa bundok pala siya for her training. Which I had a bad feeling mula nang malaman ko ang agreements ngayon na meron ang Afitek. Tito Clark's on-the-job training in Afitek had no "mountain military training" at puro office and gun handling lang, kaya nagtataka na ako kung bakit biglang may military training na. Another weird situation na tingin ko, hindi papayagan ni Tito Clark kung malalaman niyang ipinadala sa bundok ang baby girl niya.

Kaya sobrang suspicious na hindi nagparamdam si Tito Clark during Cali's wife's pregnancy tapos ipinadala pa sa bundok si Rex for a military training. Parang hindi naman kasi 'yon gagawin ni Tito dahil lang masama ang loob niya sa kids niyang dumadamay sa failures ko sa life.

So, there we went to West at inabot na kami ng gabi. It was already seven and we were sure na tapos na silang mag-dinner. Charley's feeding in his baby bottle at nag-drive-thru na lang kami ni Cali kaya hindi na namin kailangang magtiis sa gutom habang na kina Tito Clark.

Hindi pa kami nagdo-doorbell, nakita na agad kami ni Tito mula sa balcony. He was crossing his arms and shaking his head.

Siya na ang nagbukas ng gate para sa amin at pinapasok na agad kami kasi raw mahamog at may baby kaming dala. Naririnig ko lang ang word na hamog kay Ninong Leo. He called Luan "batang hamog" every time na nagta-tantrum

'yon, and I thought, yeah, we have to bring Charley inside kasi baka magaya siya kay Luan paglaki.

I could feel the tension inside the house na never ko pa yatang na-feel mula pa noong sobrang baby pa kami ni Cali. The heavy atmosphere was creeping inside my skin, hindi ako sanay.

"Maupo kayo," alok ni Tito Clark. My eyes wandered, and saw Tita Sab in the kitchen on our right side. Lumipat ang tingin ko kay Cali na nakatingin lang sa baby niya habang nilalaro ang kamay.

"I hate you so much," Cali whispered as we sat down on the black couch.

"It's for Mamila, Bal."

"Mamila's in a peaceful place na. Puwede ba, huwag mo na siyang gamitin to justify your stupid plans?"

Nagsisikuhan kami ni Cali nang maupo sa harap namin si Tito Clark.

His silver hairs are showing even after dying it black. He's already 60 last June, but he looked ten years younger.

Probably because of his regimen. He got Charley's face. Lucky kid. Hindi maitatago kung sino ang tunay na lolo.

"'Pag nagsasama kayong dalawa, alam ko na agad na hindi maganda ang pag-uusapan natin," sabi ni Tito Clark at nag-cross pa siya ng mga braso bago sumandal sa kaharap naming couch.