BEING

4. Good for you

It's 2pm and Ryan hadn't woken up yet. At least that's what his mom thought when she peeked earlier.  But in all honesty, he is already awake. He just hadn't gotten up. He's been reading manga all morning and now his stomach is growling. As much as he wanted to eat three hours ago, the one he's reading right now is very very engaging. He could not put it down let alone pee.

But really, his bladder is screaming for him to let the juices out.

Ack, fine, he thought. He plugged the phone to a charger and left for the bathroom. After releaving himself, he went down stairs to microwave two poptarts. But since he was already on the way and his phone is charging, maybe he could see if his mom made anything.

He was on his way to the kitchen when he heard giggling.

He froze.

"Giggling. Giggles. Plural. More than one" He mentally calculated "Shit!"

He was hit by the realization that not only was he was naked from the waist up, he also just casually strode amongst house guests in the said get-up.

His cheeks started to burn and he quickly turned and ran up the stairs, turned right for his room and slammed the door.

He slumped to the side of his bed and screamed to his pillow.

After reading numerous mangas, the embarrasment hasn't faded. He would pause and punch the bed, and then read again. After a while he gave up, covered his face with his hands and wished he could turn back time.
He napped afterwards and woke up in the dead of the night.

After waking up in a pool of drool, he reached for his phone and checked the time. It was 7pm.

His stomach growled, and he remembered what happened. He turned to his pillow and screamed again. He realized he hasn't eaten all day and his head and stomach started to ache. So he decided to go down and have dinner

He stood up, put on pants and T-shirt, paused while taking a deep breath and approached the door. He reached for the knob and slowly turned it. He took a peek and tried to listen. He wanted to make sure that there were no more guests. After a few seconds of not hearing any voices, he left his room. It was curious that he hadn't heard his mom's favorite drama. She would put it on even if there were guests.

As he decended the stairs, he felt that there was an eeriness about the silence. He shook it from his mind and walked to the light switch. On his way, he stepped on something wet and sticky. He noticed the smell too and although he couldn't place it, he decided to ignore it and hurry to get food.

He reached for the switch and turned on the light.

He looked down and saw blood all over the floor.

A hand covered his mouth and he felt a red hot pain somewhere in his back. He slumped to the floor and then he felt it again on the back of his neck, then his chest. He felt more but everything was fading into the black.

He was in an abyss of nothing but black. In the far distance, he could hear something. It was faint, but he ran towards it. He ran and he ran, until he reached the light.

Suddenly he saw his feet. He was wearing his boxer shorts and he was naked from the waist up... and he heard giggling.

He turned his head and saw three ladies in the living room with his mom.

He looked at the floor, and frantically touched his back, his neck and his chest. His mind raced but he could not comprehend what had occurred. He looked at the ladies again then outside, then to a clock hanging by the TV.

It was 2:15 PM.

The ladies was starting to worry when they noticed him shaking and tearing up. He fled to the bathroom almost slipping on nothing. The acid from his stomach raised up and force its way out as he dry heaved to the sink. His mother entered the bathroom and stroked his back. He started crying again. After managing to calm down, his mom insisted on rushing him to the hospital. Despite of his objections, he went along with his mom. 

His mom's friends went home, and they made their way to the hospital. The doctor had not found anything out of the ordinary on him. His mom was perplexed, but Ryan has not said a word, nor did he let go of his mom's hand.

He kept checking his wristwatch and kept looking at the short hand getting closer to 7. He asked his mom if they could eat out. His mom objected at first, but with his fervent insistence they went to the nearest fastfood chain they could find and ate there.

Deliberately slowing his pace, his cheese burger was starting to feel like mush inside his mouth. As he checked his watch again, he saw that it was well beyond pass 8. He reached for the ketchup packet and emptied it's contents to a tissue. A bit of it got onto his finger. It was red. It was sticky. He lurched as images of the floor with blood came flooding in. His mom was beside him hugging him asking what was wrong. He remained silent and wiped the ketchup from his finger.

--

It was 9 PM when they started to make their way home. As they were approaching, a number of police cars, on lookers, newscasters and camera men were scattered close to the house next door. Immediately there was a loud ringing in his ears. A shiver went up his spine when he saw strechers being pulled out of the house.

As his mom park their car in front of the garage, he saw a cuffed man led out of the neighbor's house. The cuffed man was smirking, nodding to the cameras. Ryan hurriedly exited the car, and opened the car door for his mom. He reached for her hand and led her out.

Her mom was happy that his son has turned chivalrous, but she noticed his expression was that of something else she hasn't seen for a long time. It was when he was a kid and he was being bullied. It's true that her son was an introvert, but whenever someone would make fun of him or his books, he fought back.This was that expression. It was her son's expression when he's fighting.

The commotion next door bought her back from her recollection.  Her son held her hand tightly and was staring at a man that was being led to a police car.

Ryan gripped his mom's hand and leered at the man in the car. The cuffed man stared back to him, then looked at his mom up and down and mouthed

"Good for you"