Prologue
"First day of school, anak?" Tanong ni daddy.
"Yes po," sagot ko sa mababang boses.
"Okay. Mag-aral kang mabuti. In case na hindi tanggapin ng kuya mo ang kumpanya ay ikaw ang maghahandle nito. Make me proud, anak."
Tumango ako. Yeah, yeah. Ilang beses ng sinabi ni dad 'yan and I'm starting to get irritated this early in the morning.
Naramdaman yata ni mom ang pagkayamot ko kaya hinawakan niya ang kamay ko at marahang ngumiti sa akin. Napabuntong hininga ako at pilit na ngumiti sa kanya.
I'm drving my own car on the way to school. At an early age, dad tought me on how to be independent. He almost treat me like a boy. He's been pressuring me to take Mechanical Engineering since high school. That's why, I didn't know that my dream really is. And I think I didn't really know my self at all.
I've been living in the shadows of my kuya. My father's attention was all about Kuya Ali, but, I'm not jealous of him. I understand that he had a rough childhood and my father's guilt taunting him like a wildfire.
Simula noong nalaman niya ang nangyari kay kuya noong bata pa siya ay hindi na muling nakatulog ng maayos ang aking ama. Nagsisi siya na hindi niya pinilit ang mama ni Kuya Ali na sumama sila sa Italy. Kung sana ay ginawa niya iyon ay baka buhay pa ang mama ni kuya at hindi siya ngayon nakikitira sa ibang pamilya.
Madalas kong makita si dad na malungkot habang umiinom na mag isa. Kaya, ginagawa ko ang lahat ng gusto niya para gumaan ang kanyang pakiramdam.
So here I am, taking my class in engineering. I hope that I can manage this course. Because I think, I got my mother's brain cells and kuya got dad's. Goodluck na lang sa social life ko. Gosh!