Ride Home

twenty-two

"mama why are you tulala?" xavier asked, snapping me ouf of my trance, ngumiti lang ako sakanya and I pushed my hair back.

Hindi pa rin kasi nagbabago ang itsura ni javi, although his hair was longer and he clearly shaved, si javi pa rin yun eh.

"can I say hi?" tanong ni xavier, tumango ako. Kinuha ko yung susi ng kotse before going down, javi was with juan.

"hi." sabi ko, my heart melted when I saw javi hug xavier, binuhat pa niya ito kahit labag sa loob ni xavier. Ngumiti sa akin si javi, juan actually hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"ang hirap mo hanapin after graduation!" juan said, dahil nauna nga ako gumraduate,

"you didn't call or text, is that my fault?" biro ko, ngumiti lang si juan.

"how are you?" tanong ni javi kay xavier, xavier smiled.

"I'm a Tio now tito javi, I can watch and cheer for dad, I'm gonna be a kuya na!" pagmamalaki ni xavier, nanlaki ang mata ni javi at juan, tumingin sila sa akin.

"I'm not pregnant" sabi ko, kumunot ang noo ko, did I get fat? I don't even look pregnant.

"eh sabi niya brother eh" sabi ni juan, I rolled my eyes.

"Tyler and Andrea" sabi ko, tumango naman si juan, napaka daming sinasabi ni xavier kay javi, like how his family day last year went, and how javi is better than tyler daw sa sack race.

"hey, tara na?" tyler asked, showing his envelope, ngumiti ako.

"sige, see you nalang sa practice." sabi ni juan kay tyler. I held out my hand,

"let's go xav." sabi ko kay xavier, he nodded, hugging javi one more time before running to the car, I walked towards the car na rin.

"xavienne" lumingon ako sa tumawag sa akin.

"it was nice seeing you" sambit ni javi, ngumiti ako,

"ikaw din." sabi ko, before tyler drove off papunta sa restaurant.

The drive was silent, nagpho-phone lang si xavier and ako, hibang pa na nakita ko si javi. After we graduated kasi, nabalitaan ko na nag spain si javi to train there. Akala ko he'll stay there for good, medyo nag drift apart na rin yung friendships namin nila ricci, juan, kobe at noah.

"kelan kayo lilipat?" tyler asked, tumingin ako sakanya,

"nauna na yung gamit namin dun actually, bakit?" I asked him, he was referring to a house na pinagawa ko sa isang executive village sa QC.

"wala lang, masama?" tanong ni tyler, I grumbled.

"daig mo pa si andi sa init ng ulo ah? Buntis ka? Paano ka mabubuntis? Wala naman kayo ni javi?" tyler teased, I rolled my eyes.

"mama saw tito javi kasi ulit kaya ganyan" sabi ni xavier, hinarap ko siya.

"what? I'm just telling the truth mama, you wore liptint pa nga before going down!" asar ni xavier which made tyler laugh.

"tigilan niyo ako." sabi ko, they shut uo pero yung mapanlokong ngiti.

I sighed, seeing javi again made me confused, hindi ko alam gagawin ko, hindi ko alam iisipin ko, he looks younger because of his long hair, mukhang mas fit rin siya ngayon.

"dahan dahan sa iniisip mo xavie, baka masaktan ka ulit." tyler said, smiled sadly at me.

"can I watch you train dad?" xavier asked tyler while we were ordering.

"ako pa or javi papanoorin mo?" tyler teased xavier, ngumiti si xavier.

"both pwede naman!" xavier answered, tyler smiled, nag-order na ako habang nag-uusap yung mag-ama.

"mama can sundo me from school to the gym you guys play at? Malapit lang naman sa cafè" xavier asked, I looked at him. Pointing to myself,

"ako?" I asked xavier, he nodded.

"why me?" I asked. Xavier smiled,

"dad will be busy sa training, plus you won't see tito javi naman." xavier assured me, umiling ako.

"please mama? Please??" sabi ni xavier at tumayo para yakapin ako, alam naman niya na weakness ko kapag yinakap niya ako since ilag na siya sa akin most of the time.

"please mama?" he asked kissing my cheek. I sighed, alam talaga nitong anak ko kung paano ako pasunurin sakanya.

"fine." I answered, he clapped and nodded, nagawa pang makipag-apir sa tatay niya.