I Would Hate To Be You

Chapter 20 [#stuffboazsays]

Chapter 20

Remind me to never hike again! Like, ever!

Ang sakit ng buong katawan ko. Namamaga pa rin ang mga muscles ko. The pain all over my body is still overwhelming to think that it's been days already! Kahapon, nakiusap ako kay Kuya Boaz na ilibre niya ako ng whole-body massage because I cannot anymore . . . Good news was, na-relax naman ako kahit paano so thank you very much. The bad news was that as soon as I took a bath the following day, sumakit ulit.

Setting that aside, another good news was that hindi na masakit ang paa ko. I don't know if it was because of Papaya River's water or Jonas' cute picture (which sinauli ko naman the following day, though gustung-gusto ko ng iuwi), or the fact na si Japh ang nag-alaga sa'kin during the time when I was being the biggest trouble.

But despite this pain, the silver lining was that I got to know Japheth that night, at a level I never thought was possible. 'Yung game of questions moment namin na 'yun ang pinaka-highlight ng trip ko. It felt like he allowed me to see a different side of him. And boy did he talk a lot during that time. Not the talk-like chatty Atom levels, but still . . . it was good enough.

However, the morning after that, it felt like we went back to normal. Nung dumating na ang mga kasama namin mula sa summit, it felt like someone pressed the rewind button—back to the jump-off point-to not talking, to me just glancing every once in a while.

But, I also realized that maybe it was because he wasn't around certain people. Maybe he feels uncomfortable because there were just too many strangers.

And that thought was enough for me to be relieved. After all, I can't overthink . . . I mean, he's Japheth Ephraim, for crying out loud.

And so, I talked to Jin the whole time going down. Hindi naman sa nagrereklamo ako. Siguro feeling spoiled lang ako because of the moment I had with Japh. Jin wasn't a bad company. In fact, he was so funny that there were times when I thought it would be so much fun to be friends with him even after the hike.

Pagbaba namin, nagkaniya-kaniya na kami ng uwi. Japheth went with the organizers. Jin was with his cousins and his friend. He asked if I want to hitch, I respectfully declined. I didn't want to trouble another set of people. So, nag-commute ulit ang ganda ko.

And now, a few days later after that hike, my body still aches. . . and there's still this Add Friend button whenever I look at Japheth's Facebook profile.

****

APRIL 28

"Papa, OMG, saan galing ang mga 'yan?" natatawang tanong ko sa tatay ko pagpasok niya ng bahay.

May dala siyang walis tambo at plastic na puno ng mga talangka.

Napakamot siya ng ulo. "Napadaan kasi ako sa palengke, tapos nakita ako ni kumpareng Ferdie. Bilhin ko na raw 'tong mga talangka niya para makapagsara na siya ng pwesto. Ito namang walis-tambo, bitbit ni Mercy, galing daw ng Baguio. Binenta niya rin sa'kin nang makasalubong ko siya riyan sa labas."

Papa and his habits, really.

Sobra ang pagkapusong-mamon niya kaya every time na hinihiritan siya ng mga kaibigan niya, pagbibigyan niya palagi. Kahit sobrang absurd ng mga binebenta nila sa kaniya at kahit na hindi naman namin kailangan. Mahabaging langit, 'yung last time na dinala niya ay paso. Paso! We don't even have a freaking plant! Bumili pa tuloy si Mama ng lupa at buto sa palengke para lang magamit namin ang dinala ni Papa. Jusko.

Lumapit si Mama sa kaniya at kinuha ang bitbit niya. "Mag-tatay nga talaga kayo," natatawang sabi ni Mama habang nakatingin sa'kin.

I didn't try to argue with her, though, because it's true. Papa and I are the same. Magkaiba lang kami ng mga binibitbit sa bahay. For me, the recent one was Jonas—nung naligaw siya. Before that, there was Bill and Angeline—both of them I found in the street, hungry. So, I brought them home. Pero hindi ko na sila nakita after that.