Chapter 17
1495 Words
Lori's POV
Uminom ako ng tubig galing sa ref at humikab. Nakarami rin ako ng inom kagabi. Wala pa si Kian sa bahay kaya di ko alam kung anong gagawin. Wala naman akong karapatan rito.
It's time to have a mew plan.
"Lori, good morning."
"Good morning." Bati ko rin kay Leo na ngayon ay siguradong may hangover. "Are you okay?"
Ngumiti naman siya. "I'm fine, just a little headache." Binigyan ko siya ng malamig na tubig.
Uminom naman siya.
"What?" Tanong niya bigla.
"What?" Tanong ko rin.
"You're staring at me."
"Ah, nothing." Sabay iwas ko ng tingin. I just remembered what happened last night.
Napangiti naman ako. I like what happened last night. I'm his girlfriend and he's my boyfriend now. Para akong teen-ager na kinikilig! I'm so happy about it that I can't help to giggled.
"Are you okay? Namumula ka. May lagnat ka?" Sabay hawak niya sa noo ko. Umiling naman ako.
"Nothing. I'm just happy that's all." Sabay yakap ko sa kanya.
Naramdaman ko na natigilan siya.
"Uhm..."
Lumayo ako sa kanya. "I'm so happy." Sabay halik ko sa labi niya ng mabilis. Nagulat siya sa ginawa ko at napaiwas ng tingin. Nakita ko naman ang pamumula niya.
Ang cute niya!
I promised I will make you happy. I will make sure we all have our happily ever after at the end. Kian, you and me.
"Uhm... uh. Should you call, Yuhan? To f-fetch Kian."
"Right! Wait." Saad ko sabay alis sa kusina at pumunta sa kwarto.
----
Leo's POV
Agad akong napabuga ng hangin. My heart is beating so fast, I can't keep up!
Inhale... exhale, Leo.
Calm down, Leo.
She hugged me and kissed me! Why?! May nagawa ba ako?! Anong ginawa ko?! Bat nagkakaganun siya?! Wala akong maalala sa nangyari kagabi! Did I do something stupid yesterday?!
"Good morning."
"DI KO MAALALA!" Nasigaw ko nalang bigla.
"Woah. Are you okay, cousin?" It's Kyle. Bagong gising rin siya.
"Kyle! Did something happened last night while I'm drunk?"
"Except when I saw you and Lori in the same bed last night, I could think of nothing else." Sabay inom niya ng tubig.
"What?! What did I do?!"
"Ano pa nga ba?"
Oh my ghad! Did we do it? I can't remember anything! Did we really do it?
"How did you know?" Tanong ko sa kanya.
"The door was open." What the?
I could just die on embarrassment!
"Did you saw it? We having...sex." bulong ko sa kanya sa panghulinh salita.
Nanlaki naman ang mata niya. "What?! You had s*x?! Tumira ka agad?! Di mo talaga papakawalan, noh?"
"What? I'm asking you because I can't remember anything!"
"Di naman ako ganuon ka imoral na manuod habang ginagawa niyo yun, gago! You should ask her!"
"Nakakahiya..."
"Do you think something happened?" bulong niya sabay lapit.
"Yeah. She was acting weird earlier."
"Mmm... maybe, something really happened."
Tumango naman ako. If something really happened last night it's the reason why Lori is acting this way.
"Hey~" nagulat naman ako sa pagdating ni Lori at sa boses niyang napaka sweet? "I called Yuhan at ihahatid niya rito si Kian mamaya."
"Good morning, Lori." Napatingin si Lori kay Kyle.
"Oh, you're here. Good morning." Bumalik naman ang kaswal niya na boses. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. I'm just passing by." Sabay mapaklang tawa ni Kyle bago siya humarap sa akin. "By the way, Lolo wants us to see him." And then he turned to Lori. "And you too."
Kumunot naman ang noo ko. "Why? Anong kaylangan niya kay Lori?"
"I don't know."
This is bad. I don't want Lori to get involved to our family affairs. He must want something from Lori. Lahit ano paman yun, di ako papayag na sumama si Lori.
"Lori, don't-"
"I'll go."
"What?! Why?!" Tanong ko.
"It must be important."
"Kahit na. He's dangerous."
"Di naman niya ako papatayin diba?" Sabay ngiti niya at umalis.
Nagkatinginan kami ni Kyle.
"Do you think Lolo knows about Lori being Kian's mother?" Nag aalalang tanong ko kay Kyle.
"I don't know. I hope not. Pero kung hindi yun, ano?"
-----
Tito Benjamin, Tita Clara, Barniel, Benjie and Tara. They are first who arrived at the hospital. They are still outside.
"Kumusta?" Tanong ni Kyle sa kanila. "What do you think will happen inside?"
"I hope his not angry." Saad ni Tara na halatang natatakot.
"Why would he be angry? We didn't do anything wrong." Saad ko naman.
"Really?" Sarkastikong tanong naman ni Barniel sabay tingin kay Lori.
"Who do you think you're looking at?" Galit kong tanong.
"What? What will you do? Halata naman na ikaw at ang babaeng yan ang pakana kung bakit tayo nandito. You are a disgrace to our family, Leo."
Sinaman ko lang siya ng tingin.
"Hey, hey. Let's just calm down, okay? Lori is nothing to do-" Kyle got interrupted.
"Why not?" Napatingin kami sa dumating. It's Steffanie. "She's the mother of Kian and she's a commoner. What a disgrace, Leo? Sa dinarami-rami ng babae, bakit sa babaeng nakatira sa squater pa?"
"Don't talk to her like that! You don't know her!"
"Of course. I know her. She's the woman who pointed a g*n at me."
"What? What did she do to you?!" Tanong ni Barniel kay Steffanie.
"Well, this woman." Sabay lapit ni Steffanie kay Lori. Hinawakan ko ang kamay ni Lori at hinila siya papunta sa likuran ko.
"What? What about her, Steff? Don't you remember why did she do it? Kasi pinahamak mo ang anak namin. Kung hindi niya ginawa yun, ako ang gagawa nun sayo."
"Are threatening me?" Sabay taas niya ng kilay.
"Why? Are you afraid?"
"I can sue her for what she did."
"I can sue you for kidnapping."
"And what army do you have? Alam naman naming wala ka ng pera." Sinamaan ko lang siya ng tingin. Tumawa naman siya at umalis.
"What a disgrace." Saad naman ni Tita Rey nang dumaan siya sa harapan namin.
Mahigpit ang hawak ko kay Lori. Hinagod niya ang braso ko.
"What are you doing here?" Napatingin ako sa bagong dating.
"Dad." Tumingin siya kay Lori na para bang nandidiri siya rito patungo sa kamay naming magkahawak.
"Leo, didn't I tell you that you are no longer a Verzosa."
Narinig ko ang pagsinghap ng mga pinsan ko kasabay ng mahinang tawa ni Stefanie.
Ang huli naming pagkikita ay dito rin sa hospital kung saan nag away kami. Pinapili niya ako kung si Kian o sila. Kung si Kian ang pipiliin ko ay palalayasin nila ako sa bahay at di na ako parte ng pamilyang ito.
Of course, I will choose my son. I will choose them over everything. Lori amd Kian stayed because they trust me! I can't abandon them.
If they don't want me to be part of their family then I'll just make my own.
"Be gone, Leo. You are disgrace to us-"
"f**k of." Nanlaki ang mata ko at halatang nagulat naman sila dad sa biglang pagsalita ni Lori. "He's your son, idiot! How can you say that?"
"Don't talk to me like that, woman."
"He loves you, he loves his family, he cried because he argued with you and you will just abandoned him like it was nothing?"
"We feed him! Got him into a decent school! And this is how he pay us?! Don't talk to us like that, woman! You're just a commoner, know your place, b***h. Leo, I want you to get out of the house. You are on your own now."
I meet his eyes. "Don't worry. From now on you don't have a son anynore."
"You'll comeback to us. You will get tired having nothing and eventually you'll come nack to us." Sabay alis ni dad at mom. Umalis naman ang iba at pumasok na sa loob ng kwarto ni lolo.
"Why did you stay?" Tanong ko kay Kyle.
"Maybe because I can take care of my own now. You're brave. I'm proud of you!" Sabay ngiti ni Kyle.
"Thanks, I guess."
"So, what's your plan now?"
"I don't know. It was so fast I can't keep up." Sabay tawa ko.
"Don't worry. I'll help you."
"Thank you, Kyle."
"First, we will have to find a house."
"Yeah." I don't have enough money to afford one though.
"I got this." Sabay pakita ni Kyle sa cellphone niya at umalis.
Tumingin naman ako kay Lori.
"I'm sorry about what happened."
"You choose me." Gulat niyang tanong.
"What?"
"You choose me and Kian over your family. Why?"
"Because you are my family." Hinawakan ko ang mukha niya. "I love you both. I'll do anything for you, I'll give up everything for you."
"You know, I feel the same way." Nakita ko naman ang luha sa mga mata niya. "I'll do anything, so, no one can hurt you." Sabay yakap niya sa akin. Niyakap ko naman siya pabalik. "I will do everything so they can't hurt you."
I think I really need this, the warm of her hug.
- Writer
