Almost Paradise

Chapter 18

Ardy's POV

I am so blessed na meron agad akong mga kaibigan pagdating ko dito sa Pilipinas. Although my first two days of staying here was not that easy. My cousins left me at the mall then I got lost. HAHA. But at least it led me on meeting these new friends of mine. Kahit na napaghinalaan pa ako ni Janelle na snatcher. Ha! May magnanakaw bang ganito sakin kagwapo?

But my Aunt explained na meron daw talagang ganun dito sa Pilipinas.

I am really close sa Aunt Milley ko. She is like a mother to me, sya kasi ang madalas kong nakakasama kapag pumupunta sya sa amin since I was still a kid kaya it wasn't a problem to me moving here with her...for good. Although may dalawang anak na syang di ko alam kung babae ba talaga. Pareho kasi silang sobrang gulo, sobrang pasaway. Mas matino pa nga yata ako kung ico-compare sakanila. I don't know if it was because they grew up not being with their dad because that jerk left Aunt Milley right after giving birth with their second daughter. A total son of a bitch, right? HAHA.

Aunt Milley's very open sa lahat ng mga bagay sa buhay nya. Almost everything kinukwento nya sakin. Yes, sakin lang kasi mas gusto nya daw akong kausap kesa kay Dad o kay Mom dahil puro lang daw pangangaral ang naririnig nya mula dito like...she fell in love with a wrong guy, she always end up with a wrong decision and all that she knows is only having fun...na sa tingin ko ay kabaliktaran lahat. For me, she's cool. I know na since day 1...all that she wanted to do is to experience life. That's it. She told me before na she was being controlled by my grandparents, my dad's and aunt's parents. Dalawa lang naman sila. She told me that everything was under their control. Starting from the food to eat, dolls to play, friends to be with, school, profession, person to fell in love with and down to the clothes to wear. All of those were according to their will. She grew up being jealous with my dad because he was free to do whatever he wants to do because he was a boy daw while my aunt was a girl so she must follow their parents. And of course because of those, nasakal daw sya. It wasn't the life that she wanted to have. Although naiintindihan nya raw na it was all because of their love and concern for her but it became too much. Na-experience nya lang yung buhay na gusto nya when their parents passed away because of a plane crash. Few months after nilang magluksa, she started living her own life the way she wanted it to be...until she met this guy na minahal nya and THEY GOT MARRIED SECRETLY na kahit si Dad ay walang alam na kinasal pala ang kapatid nya. Nalaman lang ni Dad na nag-asawa na pala sya the moment na iniwan sya nung lalaki.

Of course, normal lang kay Dad na magalit because her sister was abandoned by a guy after giving her two kids. I still remember that Dad even told me not to be like my aunt who never used her brain in making decisions and always end up being wasted. I just said yes but as I grew older and mature, I got to realize and understand everything about her.

Maybe their right that she can't come up with right decisions pero dahil lang iyon sa nasanay siyang hindi siya ang nagde-desisyon para sa sarili nya kundi ang parents nila. It was her first time to decide by her own and ang mali lang don eh puso nya ang pinakinggan nya instead of her brain. First time nyang magmahal kaya akala nya he was already the right guy for her na. She just enjoyed her life and for me, nothing's wrong with that. Kaya siguro naging ganun nalang kakukulit yung dalawang anak nya kasi hinahayaan nyang maging masaya ang mga ito sa mga bagay na gusto nilang gawin. Ayaw nya lang na sakalin din ang mga anak nya tulad ng mga na-experience nya before.

Kaya ngayon, I am secretly celebrating na I'm living with her because my parents also controls me for some things like the course I am taking up right now. They forced me to take engineering while I really wanted to be a doctor. But at least today, I can do whatever I want to do kasi pinapayagan ako ni Aunt Milley. Kaya kami sobrang nagkakasundong dalawa dahil parehas kami ng interest and we understand each other. That's why nagdadalawang-isip sina Dad kung patitirahin ba nila ako dito together with her kasi alam nila ang mangyayari pero they got no choice, they can't afford my studies abroad.