Chapter 7
"Make a wish! Make a wish! Make a wish!" Excited na sambit ni Adi sa akin.
Napakagat ako sa aking labi. At her age, I used to be excited like her about birthday wishes.
Nakakainis. I told myself not to celebrate this anymore but look at this, may pasurprise pang nalalaman. I just simply hate my birthday so as much as possible, wala sanang ganap. Ni wala akong masyadong memory about me celebrating it. I don't even have friends to invite with. Kaya para saan pa? If I would allow my Dad kasi to throw a party, siguradong mga business people lang niya ang iinvite niya. Or some of my schoolmates who secretly hates me. Which I also hate, too.
Kung magce-celebrate man, it's just dinner gatherings with my Dad or my Mom. Tradition na namin na the day before my birthday, kakain ako with my Dad while the day after, I'm with my Mom. At sa araw mismo ng kaarawan ko, mag-isa ako. Buying some stuffs for myself. Spending their money lavishly. I prefer it that way.
On my 18th, they want to throw a party for me. Dad wants to host a party for me and Mom would like to do a separate one. Ayoko nga ng party tapos dalawang beses niyo pang gagawin sa akin 'yun? Are you serious? What the fuck.
So I came up for a decision. If they want me to throw a grand 18th birthday party that they want, I also want them to do it on my way.
Ang gusto ko lang naman, magkakasama kami sa isang party na iyon. Is that really hard? Pero fuck, sa halip na pagbigyan ako, nagpataasan pa sila ng pride.
My Mom wants to finally introduce me to the world she's living. Ayaw na niyang itago pa sa industriyang ginagalaw niya na may anak siya. On the other hand, Dad is against it. They argued. Kesyo kung gusto talaga akong ipakilala, dapat noon pa lang! Why prolong the agony di'ba?
18 fucking years. Tinago niya ako. Kaya nasa custody ako ng tatay ko at hindi pupwedeng lumapit sa nanay ko nang hindi patago.
So why would I celebrate my birthday?I could've ruin her career just by merely existing. I am just a mistake. An accident. I shouldn't have lived. Swerte ko na lang na umabot pa ako sa ganito.
"Close your eyes so that your wish will come through!" She giggled. Her voice is full of hope.
"It's true, Adi." Jake corrected him while laughing.
"Yep! It's true that your wish will come true so come on! Mauubos na po yung candle, oh!" Sagot naman ng bata na hindi nagets ang pinaparating ni Jake.
I closed my eyes as told to do so.
Ano bang dapat kong hilingin? A new phone?
I never tried wishing on birthday candles after my 7th birthday. And I told myself not to wish on my birthday candles anymore. Hinding-hindi ako magtatangka.
That was supposed the best day of my life. Iyon ang unang pagkakataon na nakilala ko yung Mom ko and she's bringing cake to the house. She bought that for me. And for the first time, my family became complete. Never thought that it would also be the last.
Sobrang saya ko noong araw na iyon. And I wished na sana palagi na lang ganoon. She made me believe on that goddamn wishes. Pero hindi naman nagkatotoo.
As I open my eyes, Adi's eyes are the one who welcomed me. They're twinkling.
"Would you like to wish something?" I asked her.
"Hey," Pigil ni Jake.
"Will my wish do come true even if it's not my birthday?" She asked innocently.
