Wind and Sail

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dayn’s PoV

“May kailangan pa ba tayong bilhin dito?” tanong niya nang makabalik na kami sa sasakyan.

Halos nabili ko na lahat, ang request na lang ng ibang kaklase ko ang natitira na kailangang bilhin.

“Wala na, tara na sa department store,” sagot ko. I stretched my arms and slowly turned my head to the right until I felt a stretch in the side of my neck and shoulder. I repeated it on my left side.

He saw me stretching. “You still good? You can sleep muna, I’ll wake you up kapag nandoon na tayo,” he said while he maneuvered the car.

I shook my head. “No, I am not sleepy. Later gusto mo ako na mag-drive pabalik?” tanong ko sa kaniya. I pull the lever on the side of the seat and adjusted it a little bit backwards, then leaned to it.

“Huwag na, ako na. Magd-drive ka pa mamaya, hindi ba’t naka-motor ka lang papunta sa school?”

“Oo, sigurado ka?”

“Oo naman, dapat pala nagpahatid ka na lang sa driver ninyo. Gusto mo hatid na kita sa bahay niyo? It’s fine, you know.”

Napabangon ako sa pagkakasandal at tumingin sa kaniya. “No, no. Oh my god, I don’t want Ate asking me questions that are… you know what I mean.” I leaned back again.

He gave a breathly, gleeful laugh and nods. “Okay, yeah, I totally get it,” he says.

He gets it. In what way? Is it just because he agrees, or the same thing happens to him when… ugh no. I dismissed the thoughts and relaxed my body,

“Dayn, love, wake up.” Somebody is tapping me on my arm gently. Hindi ko narinig nang malinaw ang sinabi niya. ‘Wake up’ lang ang narinig ko.

I opened my eyes, and everything is blurry for a second. When it all cleared up, I saw Sxan beside me, he’s waking me up. Oh s**t, I slept when I told him that I won’t.

“Shocks, sorry, I slept, hindi ko namalayan,” sabi ko. I glanced at the windshield to see where we are. I saw a lot of parked cars, so I assumed we are already at the mall.

“We’re here, come on. Get up.” He picked up my bag that was on the floor and handed it to me. “It’s fine, don’t worry. I’m glad nakatulog ka kahit malubak ang daan,” he added.

Hinawakan niya ang siko ko habang pababa ako ng sasakyan.

“Ano iyung sinabi mo sa akin kanina?” I asked, pertaining to the part where he was waking me up.

“Alin?” He looked at me briefly. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Kanina, noong ginigising mo ako. You said something prior ‘Wake up’,” I asked curiously.

He thinks for a while. “Huh? Wala naman ha.”

I creased my forehead. “Really? Okay, maybe I misheard it.”

Pumasok na kami sa loob ng mall para bumili ng automatic bins para sa room. Habang naglalakad ako ay tumunog ang cellphone ko. I pulled it out of my bag to see who it was.

Another classmate of mine had sent five thousand pesos. Ipinakita ko iyon kay Sxan, natawa na lamang kami pareho. Mabuti naman at malalaki rin ang ibinigay nila dahil mahal ang mga nire-request nil ana bilhin namin. Hindi naman talaga kailangan ng automatic bin, maarte lang talaga sila. Ayos lang basta hindi ako mag-aabono. Sinabi ko naman na bakit pa kailangan na bumili ng mga ganoon kung madalas naman na palipat-lipat kami ng classroom.

“We are building a room, just for us to hangout.” Everybody was confused to that. I wasn’t because we already had a meeting about this.

“What room?” somebody asked.

“Well, it’s built na, but it has no furniture, and other stuffs. It’s literally empty. Everybody in our class is welcome since we’re by block naman. We are classmates until we graduate, yeah, we are all stuck together. So, I figured, why not create a space exclusive for us. There are rules though, you can’t bring friends there to party. You know the drill, college na tayong lahat. Last year iyon pinagawa kaya ngayon lang siya halos natapos. So, who’s in?” I was so shocked when the president said that, I mean, everybody was in that meeting, now she’s delivering the news to everybody in class,

We all agreed on that. No parties, no s*x, everything that happens in a men frat house is not going to happen there. There will be beds, coffee machine, shower, tables to study, sofas. It’s like a condo for everyone, or a BnB, it’s like a hotel lobby, with beds for sleeping, that is what I think the difference. Everybody is going to have an access key card.

 “Who’s going to pay for everything?”

Yeah, that. “Us, everybody. Don’t act as if you can’t pay. Y’all can, don’t be stupid. When we graduate, we sell everything, we’ll put up a garage sale, and hopefully, half of the price you paid will be refunded. We’ll create memories in that four cornered room, or should I say house?”

I can hear whispers all across the room. When it faded the president asked, “So what do you say, guys?”

Smiles flash across everybody’s faces. I think majority agrees. I agreed as well when we talked about this in a meeting we had, I think it’s a great idea. They asked if the teachers approved to this, they answered that consents are needed, so the secretary started handing out the consents.

Kisses checked everybody’s papers and found that everybody had agreed to pay any amount they want. The paper also included the thing about the refunds. I don’t think my classmates care about the refund. I mean they just signed and gave the papers back.

The money went up from sixty thousand to almost two hundred thousand pesos. Huwag daw kaming mahihiya humingi kung sakaling kulang pa. When we all visited the place, it was pretty large, large enough to cater every one of us. Flooring is tiled, painted walls, installed air conditioners, two large shower room for women and men, three cubicles, lockers for everybody, there’s a large white board on the wall. Furniture na lang talaga ang kulang. Mukhang matatagalan kami sa pagsho-shopping nito.

Si Sxan ay nasa likod ko, siya ang nagtutulak ng cart samantalang ako naman ang namimili.

Dalawang large sofa set, five bean bags, lamps ang binili namin para sa sala pa lang. Napagpasiyahan naming na magpacustom na lang ng mga chairs at dalawang mahabang table kung saan kasya kaming lahat. Pag-uusapan pa naming kung ilang bed ba ang kailangan, o huwag na maglagay. Mattresses na lang sana para naitatayo kapag hindi nagagamit. Bumili na rin kami ni Sxan ng mga iilang appliances tulad ng electric kettle, microwave oven, stove, at refrigerator. Hindi naman namin kailangang makumpleto, hindi naman kami roon titira.

Habang naglalakad pauwi ay nakita ko ang Hermès. Naalala ko na kailangan ko palang bumili ng bagong pinggan ko dahil nabasag ko ang isang plato sa set.

Lumapit agad ako sa counter para magtanong.

“Hello, I’m here to buy the Balcon du Guadalquivir oval platter, the small model please.” I then handed him my card.

Tumango siya sa akin at umalis para kuhanin iyon. Iginala ko muna ang mata ko, tinutukso ako ng mga bags pero hindi naman nila ako matutukso dahil hindi naman sila ang ipinunta ko rito--- Oh, s**t, is that….

It’s the dinner ware set na palaging ubos sa website at sa stores na pinuntahan ko noon! Agad akong lumapit doon para tingnan. Nawala na sa isip ko na may kasama ako. It’s the Voyage en Ikat set. It has blue green, blue, fuschia, and gold color combination.

“Are you kidding me? I’m going to buy this,” I say, fascinated by these plates that are inside the glass shelf. Siguro nalalapit na ako sa Tita era ko kahit na mag t-twenty pa lang ako dahil nagugustuhan ko na talaga ang mga ganito. Simula noong niregaluhan ako ni Mama ng plato galing Hermès, tuwing nakakakita ako ng bagong labas ay binibili ko na agad kung kaya ng budget. Well, kaya naman talaga, may shopping addiction ako at spending problems pero sinusubukan ko naman na pigilan, kailangan ko rin mag-tipid-tipid kahit papaano. Wala pa akong pitcher na ginagamit sa loob ng kuwarto ko kaya this would do.

“Hi, Ma’am. Ang ganda po, hindi ba?” I smiled at her and agreed. “Kararating lang po niyan, ilang stocks lang po ang dumating niyan,” sabi ng sales lady na kararating lang.

“Kaya nga po, e. Nung nagpunta po akong States, wala na nito, ubos na nga po agad. Kaya nga nung nakita ko rito, himala kako at nagkaroon ng stocks dito,” chika ko sa kaniya.

Ngumiti siya sa akin, binuksan niya ang shelf at kumuha ng isang plato para ipahawak sa akin. My smile widened. I gave it back to her after a few minutes.

“Miss, pwede ko po bang makita lahat?” I pleaded. I was so excited when she started putting the wares on the table.

Lumingin ako kay Sxan, tumitingin-tingin siya sa mga bags at scarfs.

Sinabi ko sa saleslady na bibilhin ko ang mga plates muna kasi mapapatay ako ng mga magulang ko kapag nilahat ko ito. Iginaya niya ako papuntang counter para magbayad. Masasaktan na naman ang credit card ko, pagdudusahan ko bang bayaran ito?  Luminga-linga ako dahil wala na sa likod ko si Sxan. Napansin ko na may nagtaas ng kamay at ikinaway iyon. Nakita ko si Sxan sa isang tabi, nakaupo, magka-cross ang paa habang nakasandal, at nakangiting kumakaway sa akin. Ibinigay na sa akin ng babae ang pitcher na nasa kahon at paper bag. I said thank you then went to Sxan. My mood is so happy, I can’t let anyone ruin it.

“I see that you bought plates, huh? How much was it, yung red?” he asked. “It looks nice.” Umayos siya sa pagkakatayo.

“I think it was about four hundred dollars?” I answered to him.

“Ah, so nasa twenty thousand?” he said. I nodded yes. “Eh ‘yung kanina? ‘Yung pinakita sa iyo nung babae, ‘yung green na may dark pink ba ‘yon? Binili mo rin iyon?”

“Ah oo, nasa two hundred iyon.”

“Oh? Mas mura iyon?” he said.

 “Uhm, no? It’s almost two hundred thousand pesos for those four plates,” I correct him while we walk out of the store.

Nasamid siya noong narinig niya ang sinabi ko. He looked at me in a great degree of shock. “Two? Two hundred… t-thousand? For a plates?!” His mouth is half open and his eyes shaped circle.

I nodded yes. “Yeah, it’s worth the price though, I’ve been looking for this. Akala ko nga hindi pa ako pagbebentahan kasi baka akalain nila hindi ko kayang bilhin. Hindi ko naman talaga kayang bilhin lahat, I mean kaya ko naman pero hindi ko talaga kaya, e.”

“What?” he asked, his face is so confused right now. “Plates. You could’ve bought plates inside the department store? For only about ten thousand pesos, maganda na. Makakabili ka na ng daan-daang plato sa two hundred thousand mo.” he cried.

“Bakit? Maganda rin naman ‘to ha?”

“Ano iyan? Ipangdidisplay mo or ipangg-gift mo? Well, that’s reasonable though.”

“No? Gagamitin ko ‘to sa kwarto ko. I mean ‘yung red, hindi ‘tong bagong bili ko. Baka ipang-display ko na lang ito at ipamana sa next generation.” I explained. “At saka tagal ko na rin itong gusto, no.”

His face looks confused right now. “So, you’re telling me that this wasn’t the first time you spent that much money for plates?”

“Bingo. Yes.”

“What the… kung ako ‘yung pagkain, ako na ang mahihiya na ilagay sa plato na ‘yan.”

I laughed at what he said.

“High maintenance ako, hindi pwede na hindi ako mabibili nito ng mapapangasawa ko,” biro ko. “Charot, hindi ko naman kailangan ng pera niya. Hindi pa nga ako nakakapag-asawa nakakabili na ako ng mga ganito, e. All I need is love from him, that’s enough.” Pabiro ko siyang siniko habang tumatawa.

Inakbayan niya ako. “Paano ba iyan, edi I have to work harder pala to provide for you.”

It’s obviously a joke so I laughed at it. “Baliw ka talaga,” I said to him, of course in a funny way.

“Yes naman. Baliw talaga sa’yo,” banat niya pa.

We both laughed our way out to the parking lot.