Loud music and blinding strobe lights. That's what surrounded Bubut that night. It was his third year attending the underground tattoo convention, although everyone knows that it's not only a 'tattoo convention'. The event wreaks of sex, drugs, alcohol and a whole lot of rock n' roll. He has friends who invited him three years ago. He thought it was an average tattoo convention, but turns out, it was a night of highway to hell.
Gusto nyang pumupunta doon dahil sa tugtugan. Galing sya sa isang malaking pamilya ng mga musikero. Galing sa isang sikat na sikat na banda ang Lolo Paps nya. Dati namang rockstar ang Dada nya. Ang Mama naman nya ay dating gitarista ng Dada nya at composer din ng isang malaking recording company. Idagdag pa na lumaki syang napapaligiran ng buong angkan ng banda ng Lolo Paps nya.
Bubut loves music. He really does. Pero sa ibang paraan nya minamahal ang musika. His love for music shows in the way he designs musical instruments. Nagsimula iyon noong naikwento sa kanya ng Dada nya ang tungkol sa drumstick na dinesenyo ng first love nito para sa kanya, at gitara naman para sa lalaking pinili nito. Bubut was 15 years old then.
Simula noon, nagkainteres na sya mag design ng instruments. Instruments that will carry memories. Meaning. Friendship. Love. Instruments that will bridge two people. Katulad ng drumstick na iyon para sa Dada nya at sa first love nito. Katulad ng gitara na iyon sa first love ng Dada nya at sa lalaking pinili nitong mahalin. And maybe, it will be the same with the keyboard he designed. Maybe it's the bridge between him and the girl whose name remains to be unknown.
Bubut walked the huge hall of an underground warehouse. It was dark in there. Only strobe lights that flashed to the beat of the loud music gave light. Even the stage where instrument duels are held was dark. One section of the warehouse was slightly lit though. The tattoo area. A lot of tattoo artists have set up booths and are working on their masterpiece which will be judged later in the evening. He never wandered that area since he's not into tattoos. He's only there for the loud music and drum duel. After all, he is the reigning champion.
He was already on his 5th cup of beer when the drum duel started. A lot of talented drummers busted crazy beats on either side of the stage, but they didn't shake him. Drum legends ang nagturo sa kanya. He always took summer classes in a premier music school.
When the prelimenary drum duel ended and his contender was announced, he stepped up on stage and played with the drumsticks between his fingers. Lalaki ang kalaban nya. Magaling ito base sa napanood nya kanina. Mabilis ang kamay. Precise ang bagsak ng bawat beat. But he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve that was passed on to him by two generations of family friend drummers.
"First up, is our reigning champion for 2 consecutive years! Scream your lungs out for the unbeatable beats of Thunder!"
Thunder- iyon ang alias nya. Isa iyon sa dahilan kung bakit patuloy syang dumadalo sa underground convention kahit illegal iyon. Everyone who goes there has a choice to be anonymous. Hindi mo kailangan ibigay ang pangalan mo. Kaya kung magkahulihan man, hindi ka madaling masusundan ng trouble.
Nakakatawa mang pakingan, Thunder ang napili nyang alias. Blasting everyone's world with colourful beats. And that's what Bubut did- colored everyone's world every time he hit the drumset. Parang sa bawat bagsak ng drumstick nya ay may lumalabas na kulay doon.
Everybody was jumping and screaming while he played. But there was one person who stood still. She watched him from the crazy crowd. She was wonderstruck by the color of his beats. Her world has been feeling dark lately, and seeing him play made the darkness seem to disappear.
