The Truth Berries

L

       Helen stared at him as he took his seat beside her. She was still at a loss of words since they left the red Fortuner in a hurry and they hopped inside that provincial bus. Miguel did not offer her any explanations for the sudden change of plans and she kept her silence about it until they were already seated inside the bus.

       “Is this still part of your genius plan?”

       Miguel looked at her and smiled.

       “Which one of them?”

       Helen gave him a serious look.

       “I don’t understand why you would leave a decent ride behind in exchange for this back-row seat in a non-air conditioned bus.”

        “Simply because we don’t have enough money to buy fuel for it. Cars are costly things to maintain, if you don’t know.”

       Miguel felt a light nudge of her elbow hit him near his wound. He let out a fake cry but she did not bite it. She just kept that sour look on her face as she stared ahead of their seats. He knew he owed her an explanation at the very least. So he took her hand and squeezed it softly.

       “We ditched the car because they would be surely looking for it. If there is one thing Alex is, that is certainly persistence made into flesh. And I can’t let him find my new place until this whole thing is over. But until then, I need you to trust me, Helen.”

       She felt the sincerity in his words and the touch of his rugged hand gave her a strange sense of security. Helen squeezed back his hand.

      “I do trust you, Miguel. It’s just that I had trouble taking public utility vehicles again after that single incident some years ago.”

       “Why? What happened?”

       Miguel saw her bow her head.

       “My father and I had a tragic accident in a bus when I was still on my fourth grade. A man with a knife climbed into the bus and tried to rob every one of their belongings. There were four other people inside that bus. One was an elderly woman. Then there was an expecting lady sitting at the middle and the other two were young female students babbling about someone from the varsity team. No one paid any attention to the man until he took out his knife and told everyone to move towards the back of the bus. That’s where we were sitting.”

       Miguel listened to her story without making any sound. She has just begun her tragic tale but Miguel could already see its ending from miles away, like it was happening right before his eyes.

       “The man took every woman’s wallet and phone and they all seemed contented that it was all that he took. But my father saw the situation quite differently. Knowing that the man only had a knife with him . . .”

       “He put up a fight.”, Miguel finished the sentence for her and she nodded silently to it.

       “I was so proud of him back then because in my mind, I can already see him standing triumphant over the bad guy, just like in the movies. I really thought of him as the bravest man ever living that time. The only problem was that he didn’t live long enough to cherish the title. The guy left him with the knife still planted on his chest.”, she said as her tears started rolling down her pale cheeks.

       “Where was I at those times?”, Miguel asked her, trying to lighten the mood in the air.

       “That was the worst part. When my dad fell on the floor and the man jumped out of the bus, everybody took their precious belongings back. All of them watched him hold on to his dear life while they were picking up their wallets and phone that were scattered on the floor near him. I remember myself already crying for help by that time, but no one called anybody. Until all of them took off the bus and I was left alone with my lifeless father lying in front of me. I never saw you there, or any police for that matter. So much for paying those taxes, only to find no policeman when you needed them the most.”, she smiled bitterly to him.

       “That explains your cold approach to every policeman that you ever encountered.”

       “Can you blame me for it?”, she asked him defiantly.

       Miguel looked into her eyes and saw her not as the independent and strong woman that she was now, but as the little girl who was deeply hurt by her father’s tragedy – something that she witnessed before her very young eyes. It was then that he realized one thing. That no one in this cruel world could ever judge her and the way that she felt about every policeman. Miguel wiped away a tear from her face with his thumb and pulled her closer to him. She obliged by resting her head on his shoulder while he was promising her that it would not be long before things should return to the way it always used to be.

       “Would it be selfish of me to wish for some things to remain as they are now?”

       Miguel had no answer for her because he was wondering what things she could be talking about. Try as he may to deny it but he knew that she was attracted to him. And he could not even deny his growing affection that was growing stronger and stronger for her either. He was still imagining all other things that she might want to remain as they were when he heard her blow her nose in his shirt. When he looked down on her, she was already wiping her nose clean on it and she had that childish grin on her face again. He found no point in getting angry with her so he just closed his eyes.

       “I could have given you some tissue, if you only asked one.”

       “I’m so sorry. I just got so carried away.”

       “That could infect my wound, you know?”

       Helen laughed playfully.

       “Don’t worry. I can tell that I’m already getting good at wounds nowadays. We could pry open that again, if it’s necessary.”

       He recoiled at the thought of her invading his wound again. What he did not know was that she was watching for his reaction and it delighted her to see him shrinking at the picture in his mind. After that, they both fell silent for a long time as they both tried to guess what tomorrow held for them. Ever since they shared that kiss at the motel, she has started envisioning her life with Miguel by her side. He, on the other hand, was trying to figure out a way on how to keep her away from all the trouble he has yet to encounter. Twenty minutes later, the cool wind entering from outside of the running bus rocked them both to sleep.

       He woke up first after an hour of sleep. He opened his eyes and found her still resting her head on his shoulder. A lock of her hair has fallen in front of her face as she was sleeping and he carefully tucked it beside her small, delicate ear. Miguel then took that chance to look closely at her, for he never had the chance before to look at her long enough to see her real beauty. He noticed that she had a wonderful nose, the kind that you see with commercial models in the television. He also noticed that she never trimmed her eyebrows and that she has been wearing them natural, without any make up. She really reminded him of Nadia in many things but there was one thing that he loved about her face, which even his late wife did not possess. It was her long, curly eyelashes which added fierceness in her every stare. Miguel never saw anything as lovely as that, and he had the scare of his life when one of her eyes opened to catch him staring at her.

       “You like what you see, Sergeant?”

       He quickly looked away like a child caught red-handed with some prohibited magazines. Helen slowly pulled away from his chest and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. Then she looked outside the windows to see where they were now. But when she realized that she could not possibly tell their location because she has never been in that place, she just looked back on him again. However, he was still looking away with a red face. So she touched a finger on his right ear, making him look to her way slowly.

       “Can I ask you a question?”

       “Should I be worried about this one now?”, he asked her back.

       She thought deeply for a while.

       “It depends. Well . . . it’s really up to you.”

       “Well, go for it.”

       “How long have we been travelling together now?”

       “I would say more than a day. Maybe a day and a half.”

       “And you told me this is all because you wanted to ask me some questions, right?”

       “That’s about right.”

       Helen stared at him for a long time. Then she put her face on her hand and leaned closer to him.

       “But you haven’t asked me a single question yet since we left my house. Why is that?”

       “Well . . . I got shot, remember?”

       “You could ask me when we were still on that other car but you didn’t either.”

       “Because we were in a hurry. We might miss this bus, that’s why. It was the last one tonight.”

       “Why?”, she insisted.

       Miguel knew that she was not going to stop. That was something about her, when she knew that you were lying about something. She wouldn’t just let the topic die on its own until her curiosity was finally quenched. So he told her all the truth that he thought she could handle for now.

       “Because I want you first to be standing on solid ground when I ask you those questions. Because whether I or you like it or not, most of those questions would be incriminating. And I don’t want any of us breaking down publicly. We don’t need more drama because I think that both of us had too much of that these past days. So I’m waiting until we reach my place and so should you.”

       That satisfied her. But just when he thought she was going to remain silent until the end of their journey, she threw another question to him. And this time, it was grilling him more.

       “What did you go soft on me so suddenly?”

       He felt needles at his nape. This must be the feeling of being interrogated by an expert, he thought. He started to sweat now despite of the cold wind that kept on hitting them. He looked at her to see that same probing stare again and he swallowed a fistful of air.

       “You think I haven’t noticed, huh? Why is that?”

       Fortunately, the conductor shouted that they have reached the little barangay of Travesia. Miguel smiled at her and urged her to stand up of her seat. But he was shocked when she refused to do so until he answered her question. He looked at the conductor and saw that he was growing impatient now. Miguel saw no other choice. So he took her face with his hand and gave her another deep kiss. Then he pulled away from her and told her confidently:

       “That’s why!”