MIONG: And the Sublime Paralytic

Kondisyon

It was a mess when Miong got home late at night. Appy was sitting still in his wheel-chair, stains all-over his white polo shirt. The refrigerator was open, some of the lettuce and broken eggs are on the floor. A bar stool is knocked over, and the bed's cover was laid flat on the floor. It's a mess. Depsite the chaos, there was Appy, sleeping in his wheel-chair. Peacefully, and beautifully so.

Miong thought that position would have been very uncomfotable for the boy, so he approached the wheel-chair, and gently nudged the sleeping figure. "Let's clean you up."

Appy woke up very gently, like an innocent baby who just saw the world, but as soon as Miong's face got registered by his eyes, he scowled right away. Miong can't help but chuckle.

"Are fucking making fun of me!" Appy shouted.

"No. Let's clean you up. You'll get cold."

Miong led the wheel-chair to the bathroom, setting him up inside the bathtub the way he did before. He's getting more accustomed to this setting, although he doesn't understand himself why he would bother doing this, or why can't he complain quite violently. In addition, the boy has a terrible attitude.

After cleaning up, in where Appy was angrily silent the entire time, Miong cleaned the suite, not even bothering to change from his expensive polo shirt first. The entire time, he left Appy in front of the glass wall facing U.P. Diliman campus. The boy looks eerily peaceful, but his eyes say there's a war within. Appy may be the most expressive person he knows; his expressions are honest, like an open book, he'd say. Maybe this is also the reason why Miong is comfortable with the boy. He can easily trust him, he can easily read him, and his thoughts are genuine.

"I'm done cleaning." Miong announced, parting the white translucent curtains to get into the space. "I've decided to hire a nurse to take care of you while I'm away. I know this guy in campus who willing to..."

"No." Appy said firmly.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. I'm sorry for messing up your pod. But I'll learn immediately. This is my body, I want to use it by myself no matter how limited it is now."

Miong shuffled, reaching the bedsheet cover to flatten it on the bed. "Is that your resolve? It could be hard for you."

"It would be hard. Nothing is easy for the first time." Appy maneuvered the wheel-chair to face Miong. The boy has pained expression, his eye-brows meeting, his eyes strong and determined. "Let's have a condition... between the two of us."

Miong sensed the seriousness of the boy, and to respect it, he went to the long sofa near the feet-end of the bed and faced Appy. "I'm all ears."

Appy breathed deeply, and began, with that firm voice Miong had admired the first time. "I'm very limited for the time being, but I'll make sure to be useful in time, so when I try to do things on my own, you let me."

Miong nodded.

Appy continued. "Don't ever get a nurse. YOU are my nurse. Don't you dare escape your responsibilty."

Miong was about to retaliate about escaping his responsibility thing, but he figured it's not useful to give excuses. He nodded to let the boy continue.

"And don't you ever, EVER, look down on me. I may not be the most perfect person out there, but I don't want you to treat me like someone who's just a nuissance to you. You hear?"

Miong nodded again. "Is that all?"

"Yes."

This boy is just way too demanding. Miong should be throwing this kid away, he should be beating him, telling him he has no right to enslave someone like him. He should be drilling in his head that he's just a peasant, and he has no right to give conditions to someone higher. In reality, that is Miong's character with other people he doesn't need. But this boy, with a fiery glare and intellectual carrying, is just way too interesting to throw away.

"Now hear my own conditions." Miong declared, with the same intensity as Appy's.

It's Appy's turn to nod.

"We have a Sponsor-Scholar, or Care taker-Patient relationship. No matter what I do outside this relationship, don't question it."

Appy nodded. "I don't see why I should care about your personal life."

"Good. When we're in public, at least try to be nice to me. I have a reputation to uphold."

"I'll try my best." Appy smirked, to which Miong rolled his eyes.

"And lastly..." Miong paused for a while, he focused intently on Appy's eyes, which were confused of his momentary pause. "And lastly, I want you to rely on me. I know you want to do things on your own as much as possible, but at least know the reality that you cannot literally do everything. For example, how are you going to get into bed? I'll have to carry you. On the tub? Can you reach the top shelves? In these kinds of trivial things, you need to rely on me. So don't brush me off, don't swat my hands. Like I said before, I will spoil you. I don't know what's with you but... I really want to do something right, even to just one person."

"Miong..." Appy's eyes shifted their emotions. From confusion to worry.

"To care about another person is such a foreign idea to me." Miong continued. "But I can't imagine doing it to anyone else."

"But why? Why me?"

Miong stared directly at Appy's eyes again, which were giving an obvious emotion. "Because I've never seen such human before. Amongst all people I know, you're the strongest, the boldest, and the most honest. I feel like... it's so easy to trust you."

Appy smiled. It's not the first time he's heard of this. People in his neighborhood tend to flock around him because of his transparency. He's a naturally violent person and brutally honest to boot. Only the most intelligent ones stay around him and trust his every words. He has this comfortable aura that everybody can just respect.

Not only that, Appy is so intelligent that he can organize efficient events in his baranggay; being an SK Chairman in Baranggay Revolucion really does its thing. (SK is a youth government in a local government unit). Revolucion is a rich village, and even though he's just a youth government chairman, he easily over-powered the corrupt Village Captain and took over the management altogether.

With this, he's known as the 'Brains of the Revolution.'

Now, in front of him is a man confessing the same thing others did, others who wanted to get to his good side, others who wanted to look good by being on his side, and others who wanted to use him someday.

However, Miong, this person... the most mysterious person he's ever met, has something in his eyes that says, 'please help me.' He doesn't know for what, but he himself is entralled by the man who is mysteriously sincere on taking care of him.

Miong saw how Appy softened his face on him.

Good, Miong thought.

'Because I want you to rely on me. To completely and whole-heartedly rely on me.To the point that I'm the only person you can rely on.'

[Kondisyon = Condition]