THE RAINS OF TAMARIND AND OTHER STORIES

THE RAINS OF TAMARIND

Excited and nostalgic I was, setting foot at my old mediocre hometown after 10 years. Wrapped in the burly arms of the man I love, I was swept off my feet from our gray Toyota vios, into the first step in our home and apparently, one giant leap starting our lives together.
"So... How do you like our new home, Mrs. Dayo?" He uttered as he gently put me down and pulled me closer into him.
I wrapped my arms to the back of his neck and replied,
"It's lovely, Mr. Dayo." As I land a soft kiss to his lips.
"Anything but the best for you, love." Then he held my hand and added.
"Come, let me show you the rest of the house."

My eyes wandered around the environs of the house. My love did a spectacular job renovating our ancestral villa which he inherited from his late grandfather, an ancient Hispanic home with a touch of post-modernism surrounded by furnitures of elegant antiquity.
And in the corner next to the glass sliding door to the yard...
Was a chess set made of glass.
"I see you find my grandfather's old chess set interesting. You loved playing chess, don't you, love?"
Yes. I loved it. I said to myself. Feeling a slight pang into my chest as my fingers slides along the chess piece. How odd.
"Want to play?" He invited flashing his playful smile of his.
"Only if you play fair and not let me win. But maybe later, love. I'm feeling a little tired from the trip." I replied smiling crookedly back.
"You better go lie down upstairs and take a rest. I'll just be here and prepare our dinner tonight." He said kissing my forehead and made his way to the kitchen.

And so here I am, standing still at the side of the room, watching the raindrops falling on the wide windowpane of our boudoir. I loved the rain. I loved it. I said to myself, watching the each drop gliding onto the glass as I let my youthful memories stream, taking me frozen back through time when...
I've always known you were the one.

I've always known you were the one. Right from the moment when you picked me up when I fell hard on the asphalt. You blew my scraped knee to rid of the dirt and the sting away and gave me the popsicle you just bought from Mang Atoy. I smiled. Then we raced into the rain, your small hand in mine. How it seemed to fit perfectly.
You were the one, Tony.

Since kindergarten, there's me and Tony. All the way to grade school. But then again, I was born and raised in an awfully small town where kids have known each other as they go to the same school together till highschool.
Yet, that awfully small town seems like one big world when I'm with Tony. There's always something to do, someplace to go in that little world we have. At the end of the day, we would come home all muddy and our uniforms getting torn, expecting heavy spanking from our mothers enraged of us getting dirtied up.
Who would have thought that that childhood friendship would end one night when he said,
"I don't want to be friends with you anymore."
"You're kidding me, right?" I chuckled. Assuming that it's one of his silly jokes.
"No. Why would I be kidding with something like that?" He replied in a stern tone of voice, looking at me, his face seemingly unreadable and expressionless. He was very much serious with what he said.
"And you're telling me this now? On my birthday?"
Yes. It was on the night of my fourteenth birthday. When everyone was inside, helping themselves with foods and punch that my parents prepared to celebrate my year of existence, I was out at the porch with him on that chilly August night.
We just stood there. I was trying to make sense of the exchange we made earlier. Was it something I have done? What did I do? I kept probing myself. He was acting different these past few days. We didn't talk much and I felt he has been avoiding me. I haven't been seeing him for days. Was it because I kept teasing him to our classmate, Ally? Don't you think that's a bit low? He was that petty to break off our friendship? With that everything in my head, I started breaking down in tears. I looked at him and said, breaking up our silence,
"I can't believe you—" with my voice, quivering. Then I uttered once more,
"I hate you, Tony."
Then I turned to walk away when he grabbed my arm. I shoved it away then he grabbed my arm once again and pulled me inside my home, in the middle of our living room, with everyone staring at us. He let go of my arm after I shoved it off once again. I was about to say something when he unexpectedly blurted,
"I love you, Tere."
I stood there speechless, the guests too, were stunned. My parents was there as well. Have everyone heard it right?
"You... what?" I mumbled. His almond browns locked into my eyes.
"I can't take it anymore. I love you."
And that is how our friendship ended. When my bestfriend stood before me and everyone else in the room and professed that he has fallen in love with me.