Mhorfell Academy of Gangsters (Now Published Under PSICOM Publishing)

Chapter 6: Single Arrow

12:23 o' clock on the afternoon. An hour and a half before our scheduled third class for this day. I'm on my duty to clean the table we used when Dereen called for a delivery service from the nearest fast food chain.

These girls really did wave their strings of connections to save the four of us from the three school hours that were supposed to spend today. I don't know what kind of reasoning they did but I'm thankful being saved for three hours of being watched by someone I don't know and the whole studentry.

"We're sharing this room with that nerdy girl with eyeglasses, right?" Fiacre shouted from the bathroom, removing every trace of the alcohol's effects.

I put the rag near the sink first before answering her. "Yes. She's Riell. That reminds me, Dereen, where is she?" I asked.

Hindi naman namin siya nakita o nakasalubong sa daan naming pabalik dito sa dormitory o ni sa kaninang drinking contest. Kung wala siya kanina, posibleng hindi niya kami sinundan pero kung wala rin naman siya rito, siguro nasa klase na iyon.

"Ah, kaninang paglabas ko para kunin ang delivery, nakita ko siyang may kausap eh. Lalaki. Siguro boyfriend." Kibit balikat na sagot niya habang prenteng nakaupo at nagbabasa ng magazine habang nakapatong ang paa sa coffee table.

Napatango tango na lang ako. I don't have a say on that after all.

Umupo naman ako sa couch na katapat ng couch na inuupuan nina Dereen para magpahinga sandali. On my right, I can see Rennei memorizing the arrangement of her stuff made by Fiacre. Siya kasi ang tipo ng babae na mukhang wala masyadong pakialam sa paligid pero sa totoo lang, ayaw niya ng makalat. Gusto niya, organisado lahat.

Kapag natulog kang gulo-gulo ang kwarto, pagkagising mo, ayos na ang lahat na parang hindi dinaanan ng bagyo o kung ano pa man. That's Fiacre's cleaning power.Mas matindi pa sa kahit anong brand ng panglinis.

I sigh by watching the four of us alone in this room. It's like what we've been before on our condominium unit. Yes, we bought one before. 'Yung para sa amin lang. Hindi kasi namin gustong nasa bahay lang kami noon. Sadyang napauwi lang kami sa kanya-kanyang bahay nang ipatawag kami ng mga kamag-anak namin pabalik hanggang sa nagkahiwa-hiwalay kami kesyo para sa bakasyon o pagpapatapon sa ibang bansa.

We're not suffocated on our own houses. For us, they're houses but not homes. There's no place like home, they said. But how can you really define a house as a home? Maybe, before when I was still happy playing with mom, dad, uncle, brother, and my cousin. That incident made us what we are now and the reason why we, the angels of the past became the bitches of the present.