The Golden Retriever

Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed since that day. At that point in time, assignments and projects had already begun to pour in. The squad had less and less time for lunch, let alone card games. As a result, it fell to Trent, who had the most stable grades, to be able to play against Alicia. Trent had an undefeated streak until Alicia's first day. Since then, he's had zero wins. Despite this, he's never raised his voice against her in an aggressive manner. He groaned in frustration at his draws, yes, but never at her. For him, it was something akin to paradise; pretty girl playing cards with him under a mango tree while the breeze gently swayed the branches, it was as if he was soaring high. One day of course, the sun in paradise had set. Alicia was absent for the day, her constitution not being able to withstand the viral infection going around. The rest of the squad had stayed at home, unable to reach the school thanks to the tremendous flooding.

"Oi, English, paminawa mi sa imong pag-binisaya beh" Throughout the years, he had trouble speaking Cebuano even though it is his mother tongue; he was raised to speak English for all of his childhood. This created a side-effect wherein any attempt to speak in Cebuano resulted in accented, stuttering and halting speech.

He turned around and faced the speaker. Trent was two heads below his opponent.
"Good morning, Paul. Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" Trent replied, ignoring the jeers from the 6-man pack in front of him. "Unfortunately, I'm busy trying to enjoy the sound of the rain. You kind of add noise to the music. On top of that, I already took a shower this morning; I don't need a second shower, so could you please step back 5 feet from me? Thank you."

Needless to say, Trent needed some time in the clinic after that encounter. By the time he got out, the students were already dismissed. He packed his stuff and began the walk home. Better said, the place where he sleeps. He gives the Saint Michael Orphanage some credit. He learned order and discipline within its walls. There, he had his first steps, his first words, his first friends and his first solid meals.

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The walk to the orphanage was an irksome trudge. The ground gave way under his feet as his ankles sank into the mud. The vehicles passing by weren't having much luck either. Their tires merely dug themselves deeper into the mud, treating pedestrians behind the car to an unplanned, herb-less mud mask. Fortunately for Trent, his mouth was closed and he'd been taking his daily dose of Vitamin C. Otherwise, he'd be sick every time the rainy season came. He came up to the front porch. The orphanage itself wasn't really that small, it wasn't really that big either; just enough to house 47 more kids. He didn't mind it, he just wished that whoever his parents were had the decency to at least show up for one birthday. He just wanted them to drop by. Just one day was enough for him. Just pop in for a cup of tea or something. Anything, really. He'd take any reason only if they answer why they didn't bother to keep him in the first place.

Wow, that was depressing. Okay, Trent, happy thoughts.

He turned the knob and swung open the door. When he went through the threshold, he was immediately crushed in a hug from their "temporary foster mother".

"You're filthy. Go upstairs and change quickly before you catch a cold."

He didn't bother arguing. He could barely feel the now closed umbrella in his hand through the copious amount of mud. He took of his shoes and put them in a plastic bag before ascending to the second floor. A brief shower later, he lay down on his bed. He switched on his phone. Despite being an old phone, it served him well. Besides, Scott had given it to him two years ago.

Dressed in his casual grays, he flipped through his messages. No texts.

He sighed inwardly, and turned over in his cot. He didn't bother answering the call for dinner; his legs can barely support him and his chest hurts from the beating he took.

The phone buzzed. Groaning, he picked it up and read the text.
"Dude, get over here, I need your help -Scott"