The Audacious Pillars

Chapter 17: Throbbing

Pagkapasok ko sa room ko ay agad akong nahiga. Hapon pa lang pero parang ang dami nang nangyari. That confrontation—hindi ko itatanggi but I was quite scared but I was happy and I have no regrets doing that.

Naalala ko na naman si Esteban. For the first time, he talked without someone urging him to speak. I was surprised with that. Napailing na lang ako.

Blangkong nakatingin lamang ako sa kisame. Isang bagay ang iniisip ko kanina pa, the meeting with Mr. Carson. I'm not sure if they're satisfied from what they asked a while ago but I'm not. It's like marami pa siyang dapat na sabihin sa amin but choose not to say anything.

Why with the sudden involvement ng mafia? My parents did not talk about this ever. If it's really true that a war that intense and big happened 20 years ago, paanong hindi ito nabanggit ng parents ko. But on the other hand, wala naman kasi talaga akong interest sa mga whereabouts nila at alam nilang hindi ako interesado dito kaya siguro hindi na nila naikwento o nabanggit. I just shrugged that thought.

But what's really the reason kung bakit kami naririto? Base kasi sa mga sinabi ni Mr. Carson kanina, hinihintay nila kaming makapasok dito. The stares of the students here are also sketchy. It's like they are expecting something. Also, bakit yung mga parents namin ay tila ipinasok kami dito. No one asked. Ni hindi ako pinilit ng mga parents ko to consider other schools. It's like they are decided na dito na talaga ako.

Base rin sa mga pagpapakilala nila kahapon, it seems like all the eight of us came from a privileged and powerful families. But they all choose to come here without a second thought—even their parents.

Napapikit na lang ako. That talk with Mr. Carson did not help me at all. It only confused me.

Wala naman akong gagawin kundi ang manatili sa kuwarto ko ang hintayin ang dinner. Habang nakapikit ay muli kong naalala ang mukha nung babae sa portrait kanina. Muli akong napabukas ng mata at napabalikwas. Naupo ako sa kama ko trying to shake off her face in my mind but I can't. I don't know but she looks familiar pero alam kong hindi ko pa siya nakita ever. That woman... who is she?

It looks like they are important part of this system dahil ang mga portrait nila ay nakasabit sa dingding ng isa sa pinakamataas na opisyal dito. But what bothers me are the year of their deaths. The exact dates are not in the portraits but the year are. They all died in the year 2002. What happened?

Bigla akong nakaramdam ng kaunting kirot sa bandang sentido ko. Isang biglang pagkirot. Napahawak ako dito ngunit nawala rin naman ito. Inalis ko na lang sa isip ko ang mga bumabagabag sa akin. This is not the time for that.

I looked at the paper na nasa tabi ko. It is our schedule.

On weekdays, except sa Wednesday ay puro academic subjects ang involve. I looked at it at ang daming subjects! Ganito na siguro kapag college. Unlike in senior high school, the subjects that we have is more specific to the course that we are taking. Since we are in first year, almost all of our subjects focus on the general principles and foundations. We have General Principle in Chemistry, Foundations of Biomedical Science, Human Biosciences at kung ano-ano pa. Looking at it gives me excitement at the same time, kaba.

But I have to work for it kung gusto kong maging katulad ni Kuya Preston. I know how hard he studied para makapasok sa med school and I must do the same. Hindi man niya ako katalino, I believe in my strong will and perseverance. I'll be like him. Someday.

Hindi na ako nagpalit dahil hapon na rin naman na at bababa naman ako ulit mamaya para mag-dinner.

As I looked at my subjects, I suddenly have the urge to look at the textbooks and workbooks na nasa study table ko na. I'll try to read those to have a background on the subjects that we are taking tomorrow. Bukas nga pala ay may tatlo kaming subjects.