"Thank you Darren, thank you for everything."
"You are always welcome babe."
I approach him and bid him goodbye.
"Celina, what is the meaning of this?" ang boses ay nanggaling sa loob ng bahay. It's him, he is here! Lumabas siya ng bahay at nakaunod sakanya si Tita Mary na halatang nagaalala at natatakot para sa akin. Halata rin kay titan a nakasagutan na sila ni Dad kanina bago pa man ako nakauwi.
"Dad..."
"Good evening Sir." Bati ni Darren kay Dad.
"There is nothing good in the evening gentleman; will you please take your leave? I need to talk to my daughter."
"Dad wag mo naman please bastusin si Darren. He is my boyfriend."
Hinawakan ni Darren ang kamay ko at napatingin naman siya sa akin. It's like he's telling me that it's ok.
"Ok sir, I'll take my leave." Sabi naman ni Darren kay Dad
Nang akmang aalis na si Darren ay bigla akong nagsalita "No, Darren stay." I said with a firm voice
"Kuya, Celina, Darren, can we please talk inside the house. Nakakahiya kung dito kayo mag-uusap. Please, let's take this inside" sabat naman ni tita Mary, pumasok na kami a loob ng bahay.
"Celina, explain this to me!" Pasigaw na utos ni Dad, kasabay ng pagbagsak niya ng mga pictures na hawak niya sa glass table.
Pictures ko iyon as Hiyo. It was taken during my last event.
"Dad I'm sorry but I won't stop this."
"What do you mean you won't stop?"
"Dad I love dancing!"
"I know! That's why I'm letting you do ballet!" Sagot naman ni Dad
"No Dad! Not that! This is something different than ballet!"
"Yes! It really is different! This is dirty dancing! This is not elegeant at all! Hindi kita pinalaki para sumayaw ng malaswa sa harap ng maraming tao Celina!"
"It's not dirty dancing Dad! It's modern dancing!"
"Celina! Stop answering back at me! You will stop doing this shit and you will never see this guy ever again!" sigaw naman ni Dad at dinuro pa niya si Darren. Sa sinabi niya hindi ko na napigilan ang pagpatak ng mga luha ko.
"With all due respect sir, but will you please listen to our daughter just for once." Sagot naman ni Darren
"You boy! Who gave you permission to talk!?" galit na tanong ni Dad kay Darren
"I'm just saying that it's time for you to let her do what she wants. She's not your puppet." Sabi naman ni Darren na ikinabiga naming lahat.
Dahil sa sinabi ni Darren lalong nagalit si Dad at mabilis siyang naglakad papunta kay Darren at kinuwelyuhan ito, mukang sasaktan niya ito kaya naman hindi na ako nakapag pigil pa.
"Dad! Don't you dare hurt him!" sigaw ko, hindi naman naituloy ni Dad ang dapat niyang gagawin.
Napatingin sa akin si Dad with a shock look in his face. This is the first time na nasigawan ko siya ng ganun
"Dad all this time ginawa ko lahat ng gusto mo. Sinusunod kita kahit ayaw ko naman yung mga pinapagawa mo sakin. Simula ng bata pa ako, ikaw lagi ang nasusunod sa lahat. Ikaw ang nagpatakbo ng buhay ko."
"Dad, I tried my best to be the best daughter for you. I wanted you to achknowledge me, kahit minsan lang, kahit sana isang beses lang! You know what Dad? Buti pa yung ibang tao napapansin yung mga ginagawa ko for you. Buti pa sila! At least other people know how to praise me! When I was in elementary I got second place in my class, so you didn't show up at my graduation. I was the best in everything! I got more medals than the first honor but you still insisted that I am not good enough because I was just second!"
"Celina what are you saying!? Lahat ng ginagawa ko para sayo!" sagot naman ni Dad
"What!? Para sakin? Talaga lang ha! When I was young I wanted to learn how to play the guitar but you said no, and instead you enrolled me to a piano class. Kasi sabi mo, ang babae dapat piano ang tinutugtog, dahil sabi mo ang guitara ay pang lalaki! And then when I was in High school I wanted to play sports, pero ano nanaman ang sinabi mo? Ang sabi mo hindi pwede, na dapat mag focus ako sa academics kasi nakakahiya na maging second place naman! No Celina!! Don't do that Celina! Do this Celina! Be the best Celina! That's not good enough Celina!"
"Dad when will it be enough? When will I be the best for you? When will you acknowledge me? When will you learn to accept me? When will you love me? When will you stop blaming me for Mom's death?"
"I'm sorry Dad, but this time I am not letting you control me again. I'm sorry pero this time, I am a bad daughter. I hope you'll understand."
Hindi na nakapagsalita si Dad.
I ran out of the house and Darren followed me. Agad akong pumasok sa sasakyan ni Darren at agad rin naman siyang sumakay sa driver's seat.
"Celina, are you ok?" tanong ni Darren
Hindi ako sumagot at patuloy lang ako sa pag-iyak.
"Celine you did great. You were able to let it all out. It was bad kasi we talked back to the elder but it was great. I'm proud of you."
"Darren please take me away. Pwede bang ilayo mo muna ako?"
"As you wish..."
Darren drove away and brought me to the cliff where he took me before.
"Darren bakit dito mo ako dinala?"
"To see the view. Para kumalma ka. Para marelax ka."
"Thank you. Thank you for staying by my side."
"Dito lang ako lagi sa tabi mo Celine. I will never leave you."
He smiled at me and I smiled back. He pulled me for a hug .
"Tara labas muna tayo ng sasakyan para makalanghap ka ng langin." Sabi ni Darren as he pull out from the hug.
Nang nasa labas na kami walang kumibo sa aming daawa for maybe five minutes. Nararamdaman ko naman na hindi mapakali si Darren at parang may gusting itanong pero alam kong piniligilan niya dahil sa akin.
"Itanong mo na yang nasa isip mo, baka hindi ka makatulog nyan." Sabi ko naman sabay tingin sakanya at ngiti
"What do you mean kanina by your father blaming you for your mother's death?"
