Facing Crossroads

XVIII - Expect the Unexpected

                                                            Theo

As soon as I stepped out of the backstage, another familiar man caught my sight. He wore a black suit, black tie, too formal on such occasion like this. When Dean Cantalejo motioned for me to join them, I knew right away that I needed to face one of my nightmares.

Another boogeyman. When will they all go away?

“This young lad here is the scriptwriter,” he said, clapping my shoulder. The Dean of the Engineering department knew me very well, since he always presented me certificates and medals. Being in a dean’s lister was one of my best consistencies. “He’s a scholar.”

The small man beside our dean smiled widely. “And what is your name, boy?”

I cleared out my throat, trying not to glance at the other man- the man who I was familiar with. “My name’s Theo, sir. Theo Faustino.”

“And the director? Where is he?”

Our dean looked around, so did I, wanting nothing but to get out of their circle. “Actually, it’s a she. Jellaine Mendez. Maybe she’s still at the back.”

Mr. Cantalejo motioned his hand to the small man. “This is one of our VIPs, Ben Castillo. And this one here, as you know, a man of few words, is Mr. Thomas DeLuna.”

Subtly inhaling a lungful of air, I met DeLuna’s gaze, matching his stoic expression. “Sir,” I greeted.

“Mechanical Engineering, is that right?” he asked, with his usual monotone.

“Yes, sir.”

DeLuna turned to the two men. “Can we take a moment?”

Without hesitation, the dean motioned his hand, stepping away from us with the small man trailing him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in gritted teeth.

He kept his intense stare. “Your mother says you have a play today- “

“Stop talking to her!” I snapped in a low tone, balling my hands into fists.

Thomas DeLuna is my father.

“Son- “

I shook my head, forcing myself not to walk away. “Don’t. Just not here.”

He took a deep breath. With my five-eleven height, I was much taller than him now. We had the same looks, as what my mom used to say, much to my dismay.

“I have to go.” I was about to turn when he reached for my arm, stopping me. I found it hard to breathe the same air that he breathed.

“You have to decide after your graduation, Theo. That’s the extent of it.”

Smirking, I pulled back my arm. “You already know my answer to that. I’m not leaving. We’re not leaving.”

“You have to think about it again.”

Instead of responding, I just stared at him and walked away.

My father was the second-in-command under the Rusco syndicate, one of the notorious organized crime group in the Philippines. And Hector Rusco was my godfather.

****

“Hang on,” Shay said on the other line.

Lying on my back on my bed, I swayed my feet while waiting for her to return. This was the first time we talked over the phone. She called me all of a sudden, saying that I left my jacket at the backstage after the play.

“Yeah, it has a small cursive ‘t’ on the upper left part,” Shay said.

“That’s really mine.” I remembered my mother sewing that ‘t’ on some of my clothing.

“Like what I told you, right?” she said with a chuckle.

The line went silent for a second and it felt like too long for me.

“So, you called me just to tell me that?” I said, shifting on my side, gazing to the window’s direction.

“Yeah, well… Like I said, I’ve got nothing to do here. You busy or something?”

“No.” I shook my head, even though she wouldn’t be able to see. “Congratulations again, Shay. You did great. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Theo.”

“Had we known about your secret talent, we would have insisted you joining the club earlier than this.”

I heard her laughed on the other line.

I didn’t know why but it made me smile like a fool. “You have a nice laugh.”

“Oh, thank you,” she replied. “You have a nice smile.”

My forehead creased, not expecting that. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, when you really smile, like smile smile, your eyes kinda smile too. And I think that’s what makes it nice.”

Wow. I didn’t give much thought about my smile.

“By the way, I’m curious,” she said after a pause.

“About what?”

“About your kryptonite,” she said. “I thought about it. And I think I shouldn’t have said your kryptonite sucks, ‘cause it doesn’t. Maybe we have the same weakness about people leaving us behind. And it really is scary to be left alone. I really hate endings.”

“As long as it’s a happy ending, why not?” I replied.

“There’s nothing happy about that. It ended so it’s still sad.”

“It actually depends on your perspective about happy endings, Shay.”

“I didn’t know we needed perspective about happy endings.” She sounded like a child, refusing the thought out of her head.

“Everything in life is about perspective. How you see things depends on your perspective. Maybe from your point of view, happy endings still suck because no matter how happy it was, it still ended. But for others, it was a conclusion, a closure, that despite of wanting more, you’re finally contented and ready to move on.”

I heard her gasp a little. “That’s deep.”

I cleared out my throat. “I used to have a lot of friends growing up as a kid. Then one by one, I saw them leave, until my mom was the only one left by my side. We used to change our address at least every year and maybe that’s the reason why I had less people in my circle. But now that we finally settled here when I entered college, I gained some trusted friends and they stayed. But my girlfriend doesn’t, so…

“I’d called Sandy lucky if she stayed as your girl but…”

“She didn’t,” I chimed in.

“Yeah. So it’s her loss, Theo.”

“Are you giving me that there’s-a-lot-of-girls speech?”

She chuckled and I could tell she was shrugging her shoulder. “No. I’m just saying that you’re a nice guy. Hey, how long were you guys dated together?”

I counted in my head. “Four years.”

She groaned.

“And how about you and Rocky?”

“Two.” I heard her cleared her throat.

“What do you feel now that you broke up with him?” Actually, I didn’t know why I asked her that.

She didn’t respond right away. “I feel free. And maybe happy.”

I smiled at that. “See, I think you’re finally seeing the happiness in endings.”

“Yeah, but not in all endings. You have a point about that, Theo, but we all don’t think like you.”

“I know, Shay,” I mumbled. “I’m just trying to help you out about your new beginnings and all that.”

She laughed softly on the other line and said nothing.

I lied on my back again, my head resting on my other arm. We let silence filled the air, nobody speaking. I didn’t know what she was thinking as we talk of the people who used to be our strengths. The people who we thought would stay forever.

As early as ten years old, I had learned that people come and go. Their memories would eventually fade in time as another one replaced it. That’s how life goes. It was a never ending cycle as long as we live.

“Shay?” I called out after a while.

“Yes?”

I wanted to see you have a happy ending. I didn’t say that out loud since my cell phone vibrated, alerting me of a text message.

“Hold on,” I told her.

Opening the message application, I saw a name I hadn’t seen for quite a while, more or less than a month now, I guess.

Sandy: Theo, can you call me, please?