SOME DAYS

PANG-APAT

****IKA-APAT NA KABANATA****

     He woke up from the loud banging on the metal, it was the surging water waves hitting their ship. The vessel began to budge from side to side forcefully.

     He cracked his one eye and looked outside his clear window and saw how the dark clouds are forming like a battalion of soldiers ready to fight, they were blue, grey and black and the thunders painting them angry silver lines. The big beads of rain falling down like it was in wrath, rippling down the surface of that big body of water. The vessel moved back and forth in the rising of the furious ocean waves.

     He took his phone out of his denim pocket and check what was time is it.

     2PM

     How the hell he slept that long? Bumangon sya at hinanap ang t-shirt that he was wearing yesterday. He walks outside his cabin and looked for Xavier. Nakasalubong nya ito sa hallway.

     "What's happening?" He's not used to transporting in ship.

     "I dunno."

     They both went up the captain's deck to check the situation.

     "Just a normal sea storm, Sir. We will just need to passed by this trench then the sail will go back to normal smoothly again." The captain said with a heavy Italian accent.

     Him and Xavier said okay then went down the captain's deck.

     "I didn't saw you last night, did you even eat?"

     "I was at the bar area."

     "You drank by yourself? Ni hindi ka man lang nagyaya, bruh?"

     "You're too annoying to be with anyways." He moves his head sideways and heard his neck popping. "Now, come to think of it. I'm hungry."

     "I've already eaten, you eat alone, jackass." Then the tall guy left him.

     He went to the kitchen and make himself some sandwich when he remembered something between the word hungry and package.

     Fuck!

     He made another batch of tuna sandwich and got milk and water from the vessel's fridge. He took some apples and grapes, too, and stepped outside that room and walks down the hallway papuntang lower deck.

     He saw Carl with a different companion. Tinanguan lang nya ito at binuksan naman agad nito ang pinto para sa kanya ng may pagtataka dahil ang dami nyang dalang pagkain.

     "I'll eat inside." He said trying not to sound suspicious.

     He locked the door immediately from the inside, nang nasa loob na sya ay mabilisan syang kumilos para buksan ang tarpaulin cover at mabilisang hinawi ang red velvet cloth.

     When everything was lifted, he saw the kid sitting on the middle of the cage, he was bowing his head, his face facing his folded knees and both his hands covering his ears. He can hear his silent sobs and his sniffing.

     Nang maradaman nito ang presensya nya ay nag-angat ito ng mukha. His nose red and his face wet from crying.

     "Hey..."

     Lalo itong umiyak ng makita sya.

     "I thought you're not going to be back here...!" Lalo itong umatungal but he proceeds closer to the cage's bars and gripped the cold metal tensely.

     "I'm..." The boy looks so pitiful and that made him speechless kaya binuksan nalang nya kaagad ang kulungan at pumasok sa loob. "You must be really starving. Here, eat these." He kneeled down until they're the same length and put down the tray on his side pero umiyak lang ito lalo.

     The boy stretches his hands and grabbed his left arm and hugged it like a stuffed toy, ayaw syang pakawalan, his tanned skin getting wet from the boy's tears.

     He rubs his head gently. "Hey, eat now." He said in a gentle voice.

     "I was really scared because there were loud noises and it felt like we are hitting on something strong. This place keeps on shaking I don't know what is happening."

     "There's a sea storm, that's why the vessel is shaking wildly."

     "Sea storm?"

     "Yeah."

     "It's scary..." Nag-angat ito ng mukha and He wanted to weep, too, because he looks so kawaii.

     "Tsk, scared cat." He said. "Now eat."

     The boy didn't want to let go off him pero tumunog ang sikmura nito.

     He sat down in front of the hybrid and watch him eat his meal.

     "You want?" His small voice asked.

     "Hmkey..." He reaches for the extra sandwich he made and they eat silently but every five seconds, the kid would look at him like he's going to vanish any time.

     "Why are you looking at me like that?"

     "I...I... I don't know, too..."

     "Tsk, what kind of answer is that. Do you know that it's rude to stare?"

     "It's rude?" Takang-tanong nito.

     "It is. So, stop staring at my face." He said sounding annoyed.

     "Okay." Then his gaze went down his chest and grabbed the glass of milk and started licking it.

     "Good." He watches the kid licking the glass of milk he felt really disturbed. "Why are you drinking that way?"

     "I'm used to doing this way of drinking, er..." After licking his milk, he proceeds with eating his apple. Just like yesterday, he drools with apple juices.

     They finish eating without talking but the boy just keeps on staring at his chest this time. He looked down his own chest to see if there's something wrong with him.

     "Bakit ka nakatingin sa dibdib ko?"

     "You said it's rude to look at your face, so im just gonna look at your chest instead."

     "Why?" Tanong nya.

     "I'm scared that you'll leave me if I take off my eyes on you." He explained still looking at his chest.

     "Weirdo."

     He stood up at niligpit ang mga pinag-kainan nila and went out of the cage. Nang nilapag nya na ang tray sa lamesa, he heard a water dashing on something inside the boy's cage.

     "Sir..." His small voice called him.

     He turned around and saw the boy's eyes starting to bream with water, he looks like he was about to cry again.

     Kunot-noong nilapitan nya ito and he notices that the boy's shorts pants were soaked.

     "I peed..." He said then he bursts into bawling like an infant.