Track 43
1732 Words
It’s the new year and the Silverio house feels colder than it ever did. Dante sits on the bench of his garden enjoying a cup of black coffee, listening to the old songs playing on the radio like he always does every morning. Kiko deciding to be with Julian’s family sparked a domino effect among the brothers. After announcing that intention, Huan too, booked himself a flight to Korea to see Cho Rong’s family. Then the youngest also left for Singapore. Only Jigo remained.
Dante has no objections. Jigo takes care of household chores very well. When he’s not making music, that boy is doing chores, sweeping, mopping the floor, dusting and cooking. He even does their laundry every two days. Jigo is so good at being a housewife that because of him, Dante never needed to call for someone to come and clean the house every week or someone to do the laundry. Jigo has filled all the gaps and more. Even the youngest, the only one Jigo can order around, who is undeniably not good at tidying his own space would get up and help when Jigo asks. Everyone will find An-An every Saturday morning, wearing sunglasses and yawning while dusting vases, and polishing their windows and their glass doors. The youngest is the easiest to boss around, you only need to promise to feed him after.
Although they still hold the tradition of having breakfast with Axong and Candy’s family every morning, it is undeniable that the boys always looked forward to eating at Asyong’s house the most. It has something to do with their uncle being a chef once upon a time. Asyong makes everything palatable and he even packs everyone a lunchbox when they need to go to work. If not for the injury he sustained some years ago, Asyong would probably still be in the restaurant business. Dante thought of having the foodie son of his to take an apprenticeship with Asyong as a second career option if An-An never decided to continue his studies. But the boy got to his senses eventually and is starting school again this year. Everything came into their proper places anyway, because Jigo asked to learn how to cook more dishes from Asyong. It’s still a win.
Dante is bored, he realized, as he forces his thoughts to stop drifting further away.
Kiko, who had always been an early riser, often comes to join him on this bench of his, reading through his own mail or just enjoying the early morning sun and the music. His sons had never left him in his own company since they came. There is always someone whom he can talk to at every point of the day. Even Bivi would chat him up every siesta. Now that they’re not around, he’s looking for all sorts of things to do. Just yesterday, he asked Jigo to spend a day at the golf course with him. They went with Asyong and also George so he could stop fawning over Beibei.
What to do today?
He’s in deep contemplation when he hears Asyong calling him for breakfast. There are only three of them older people at the dining table. Candy said the husband and wife left early for Beibei’s check up.
“What about Jigo?”
“Caught a cold, so I let him sleep in. He’s still feverish when I went to check.”
Dante can only sigh. This is the third time that Jigo has caught a cold. It seems that Jigo also cannot raise his weight and is dangerously teetering over the underweight category again. He used to be this cute child with chubby cheeks that everyone adored onscreen. Then he became an idol. Dante wonders if it’s because Jigo’s mindset is still in idol mode where he had to maintain a thin appearance, no one knows. The kid always comes up with nutritional dishes yet they can never tempt him to eat more than the portion he takes for himself.
Dante contemplated on it until the afternoon when HB showed up at his house, greeting him a happy new year. He was happy for a moment to have someone to chat with but then he remembers that the girl only comes to visit when Kiko is around.
“Hey, Kiko and Bivi are with Julian, didn’t you know?”
“I’m not here for them, uncle.”
“You’re not? Who are you here for then? Huan is also not here. Did you come for me?”
“No, uncle. I’m here for him.” HB points behind Dante where Jigo is standing at the base of the stairs, wearing a hoodie and hiding his hands on his pockets as usual. The girl opens her suitcase and takes out a box from it. “Christmas present.”
Dante nods. HB gave everyone a gift but missed Jigo. “So, you did not forget him.”
“I wanted to give it in person.” She answers, handing it to him. “Happy New Year, Jigo.”
Jigo responds just the same.
Dante watched over them with confusion. “In person? Why? Is the gift special or…”
“It’s mediocre. He’s the special one. I wanted to see him on the first day of the year and I needed an excuse.”
“Jigo? Of all people?”
“I like him.”
“Aiya!” Dante leaves them for the kitchen, grumbling while Jigo laughs and coughs at the same time. “I don’t know what’s going on but… Agh. How come I never know what happens in my own house?”
“Can I open it?” HB nods. Jigo peels the tape off carefully and pulls out two pairs of track suit, deep green and bright red. Very Christmas-y. “This is a replacement of all my clothes that you haven’t given me back, isn’t it?”
HB nods. “So, I also made you this.” She shows him a thin brown leather material with his name engraved therein.
“A bracelet? You made this?”
“It’s an anklet. I can’t give you a bracelet, it might interfere with your guitar playing.”
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.” Jigo turns away again, to clear his throat. “I didn’t get you anything though. And I’m a bad gift giver so just tell me if there is anything you want.”
“I want a hug.”
Jigo stammers. “I… I have a cold. I can’t pass it on to someone else. And you don’t want it at the very beginning of the year. You’re all alone. No one will look after you.”
HB hugs herself instead. “You’re wrong. I’m going to live with Uncle Asyong in the meantime.”
Dante reappears. “Asyong? Why?”
“The night of Georgie and Beibei’s wedding, Lucille slept with Bivi and Kiko kicked me out of his room. So, I went to Kuya Huan and he took me to sleep at Uncle Asyong’s. In the morning, I asked if he could adopt me and he agreed.”
“So Kiko kicked you out. That won’t happen again, I’ll make sure you’ll always have a place in this house.”
“It’s okay, uncle. I’ll stay at Uncle Asyong’s house from now on. The view is nicer.”
“What do you mean? I have a garden and a pond.”
“Uncle Asyong has a pool.”
“I have a gazebo.”
“He has a treehouse and a dagi-dagi.”
“I feel betrayed. You want the finer things in life, ha?”
The girl shrugs and finally bids them farewell. As soon as she’s out of sight, Dante confronts his son.
“She likes you? But you don’t like her?”
“I like her. I like her more than she likes me as it seems.”
“Are you together then?” Jigo shakes his head. “Why not?”
He takes a deep breath and proceeds to tell his father the short version why. It left the father speechless.
Jigo’s thoughts kept going back to his earlier encounter with HB. The girl managed to melt his heart with her words.
I wanted to give it in person.
It’s mediocre. He’s the special one.
I made it for you.
I like him.
Every word is echoing in his head. She managed to soothe and appease his disappointment at Christmas when he saw everyone receive a gift from her while he didn’t. She raised his heartbeat dangerously. Every word she uttered, her every gesture, the way she looked at him, everything about her exhilarated him and suffocated him at the same time. Even now, as he lie in bed, his face is aflame.
He stands to get some air.
I want a hug.
He should have given her what she wanted. Because he wanted it to. He regrets not acting on instinct and now blames his self-control.
“Jigo!”
Jigo scoffs. HB is waving at him from the tree house at Asyong’s property. How can he be so lucky as to have that right in front of his room? For the longest time, Jigo thought the treehouse is merely a decoration because he hasn’t seen a ladder going up to it. But then he forgot that HB is a monkey, she likes climbing trees and having her feet dangle on strong branches like the first time they met. Even without a ladder, she must have found a way to get in there.
Jigo shakes his head and takes his phone out, waving it for her to see, indicating that he’s going to call. He scrolled through his contacts down to the letter M. Thing is, Jigo took it seriously, the words she said to him once, that HB could mean anything he wanted. So, when he finally got her number, he saved her as My Heart Beat, placing a heart emoticon in between the words. And that contact name will never change. One phone call is all they ever had, this one only their second.
“Yes?” HB answers.
“Is it nice in there?”
“It is. It can fit five grown adults in here.”
“Can I come?”
“Only if you bring food.”
- Writer
