catching odds ¦ ryujun

077

wednesday; 13:01 [azeal]

"tita? what's going on?" amber asked innocently as she was sitting next to me.

andito kami ngayon sa bahay nila ate. to settle everything up.

"baby, samahan mo muna si zephy maglaro doon sa play room okay?" wika naman ni ate at tumango lang si amber saka tumakbo papunta sa play room niya kung nasaan nandoon din si zephyr.

the attorney we hired cleared his throat and started handling us papers.

"according to the investigation prior to the case, hindi nga si chan ang rapist."

napatingin naman ako kay chan na tahimik lang na nakayuko.

"chan? bakit? bakit mo inako ang kasalanan ng kapatid mo? why didn't you released these evidences that could prove your innocence before?" naiiyak na tanong ni ate.

as for ate, she didn't know who raped her. as she stated, the room is dark that she couldn't see who did that. it was her instinct to think that it was chan since she's in their house and chan's brother is just an uninvited guest there. nawalan pa ng malay si ate she was raped dahil tinurukan siya ng pangpatulog. she woke up, remembering everything, being traumatized. she kept it secret, hindi niya sinabi saamin dahil natatakot siya. she even fought in the court alone.

"i'm sorry. i felt like i failed to protect you kaya kasalanan ko rin. i also deserved to be imprisoned. dinala kita saamin at nang dahil doon ay napahamak ka pa tuloy. and the way you pushed me away, disgusted of me, loathe me, that broke my heart real. so i gave up. pinangako ko sa sarili ko na aayusin ko ang buhay ko pagkalabas ko." he explained.

i somewhat pity chan. he's innocent yet he had to suffer. being labeled as the rapist and an ex-convicted is prejudiced by the norms.

"how did you know about amber?" tanong naman ni iver.

"i met her sa academy. and then nakita kong sinundo siya ni real one time. at that time i had the instinct na baka anak ko si amber. so i secretly took a hair of her para maipa-dna test. i'm sorry kung hindi ako nagpaalam. alam ko kasing hindi mo ako patatanggap real, lalo na ang lumapit sa anak mo... sa anak natin."

napaiwas nalang ako ng tingin dahil ayokong maiyak.

nagpaalam na muna ang lawyer namin at lumabas dahil may sinagot na tawag. isang katahimikan naman ang bumalot saamin.

"ate?"

i took a deep breath, gathering all of my courage.

"bakit si iver?" pumiyok na tanong ko.

kasi all this time we were deceived by the truth. ang daming nangyaring nagpabago saamin. nagkandaleche-leche pa ang lahat. nadamay pa pati ang inosente kong kaibigan, si seint. bakit humantong pa sa ganito ang lahat?! bakit ngayon pa ito lumabas ang lahat? kung saan ang rami-rami ng nabago?! putangina, ayoko mang sisihin si ate pero what can fucking do?!

"i'm sorry, azeal." humihikbi na wika niya. "i assumed that it was him kasi meron naman talagang nangyari saamin. and natatakot rin akong aminin sa sarili ko na baka nabuntis ako ng gagong yun which i thought it was chan. sorry kung nasira ko kayo dahil saakin. sorry kung nadamay pa kayo."

i was even so shocked when she kneeled beside me, holding my hands.

"i'm sorry azeal. i'm sorry iver. sana mapatawad nyo ako."

.