Chapter 1: ANGRY

“What a waste! She’s a beauty but she’s too reserved”

“Thick-faced bitch! If I know, she’s just pretending to be conservative but I bet, during night, she’s as wild as a porn star.”

“Yeah! If I know, she must have tons of sugar daddy.”

“Hey! Look! Isn’t that Ellis? I tried courting her before but she declined my confession. I wanted to get angry but I never heard her having a boyfriend, at first, I thought she said no to me because she has another man on her mind but I think she’s just an introvert. She’s really beautiful!”

That’s just some of the things I hear a I make my way towards the school gate. School is already done but they are still scattered on the hallways. I actually don’t care if their wasting their time gossiping on the corridors but a few people are talking about me, like seriously? Why whisper when the whole word hears what you are saying?

I tried walking faster so I can reach the school gate quicker. When I reached the school gate, I quickly rode a tricycle and told the driver where to drop me off. The transportation fee I pay is expensive because I ride the tricycle alone and since I live in the middle of forest, with no other house aside from ours,  I pay for the return fee too.

After forty-five minutes of riding the tricycle, I paid the driver, three hundred pesos. I went out of the tricycle and thanked the driver. Our house is surrounded by a fence made of cement with a bit fancy metal design above. The metal gate is painted in black, as soon as I opened the gate, I saw my grandmother sweeping the leaves and dirt on our front yard while my grandfather is sitting on a rocking chair made in rattan on our veranda. They waved at me so I waved back at them. I also gave them a huge smile. I approached my grandmother first, I blessed on her and kissed her cheeks.

“How’s your day, apo?” Lola was smiling as she asks me about school. Even though in reality, school is boring for me, I still gave her a smile before saying “It’s fine, Lola! I learned a lot and I’m really excited to graduate this year!” in a lively tone. I am in my fourth-year student in a community college in town. I took Agriculture as my program since we have hectares of farming land. And since I am the only granddaughter of my grandparents, I know that I will inherit everything. “That’s good! Go inside and eat! Your Lolo and I went down to the town earlier and he bought Jollibee, your favorite! Its on the table, go on!” I was delighted when I learned that we have Jollibee, its my favorite fast-food here in the Philippines. So that’s why Lolo’s car is parked differently from what I remember earlier, because he went to the town.

I almost run to the house but I kept my excitement since I haven’t greeted Lolo yet. I blessed to Lolo and kissed his cheeks. “I know your hungry” I laughed and nodded at him before going inside the house. I dropped my school bag to the chair in front of my study table in my room then grabbed my iPad before going to the kitchen.

I saw the spaghetti, large fries, two burger steaks and two pieces of chicken on the dining table. I took a plate and put some rice on it, I put quite a lot. I was about to take a bite on my burger steak when I heard Lolo screaming from outside. “Hija! We cooked gravy, it’s in the casserole by the stove!”  I quickly looked for the gravy and saw almost half of the casserole full of it. I grabbed a small bowl and filled it with gravy. I went back to the dining table and started eating”.

I opened my iPad and watched Spirited Away, I have watched it lot of times but the scenes still gets me, every time. Good thing my grandparents decided to install Wi-Fi router, it was really expensive since we live far from the town. Our Wi-Fi connection is really strong even though we are in the middle of the forest on a mountain, that’s why I can watch movies online.

While watching and eating, I heard our dog, Minchin, barking. Minchin is a golden retriever, we had her for almost a year now. The barking become louder as seconds pass, she’s probably running towards where I am.

“Minchin! Do you want this?” I showed her a piece of chicken when she arrived on the dining area. She barked so I gave it to her. I stood up to get his bowl and put dog food in it.

“Lolo! Lola! I’ll just walk around with Minchin, outside.” It’s already past three in the afternoon. Our class ends at two n the afternoon. The threes are making a shade that’s why the sunlight does not directly pierce my skin. The leaves danced with the wind. The air feels fresh, unlike when I was still living in Manila.

Holding Minchin’s leash, I started walking away from the house. I remembered when I was still living in Manila with my mother and father. Growing up, I was a happy kid, I often play with my classmates, I was close with them unlike now. My parents were the best I could ever ask for, they were busy with their own works but they never forget to give time to me, they were busy but they were still able to shower me the attention I needed as a kid. We would go to church every Sunday and we will eat outside, after. We go to different places, near or far.

Growing up, I felt really happy and blessed, my life was perfect with my parents. But maybe, destiny was angry at us, that happiness ended quickly.

On the day of my graduation from grade school, I was really happy, especially my parents. They were extra happy. They felt proud of me when I graduated with honors, both of them went on stage to give me my medals. We went to my favorite fast-food, Jollibee. That day, we also went to Enchanted Kingdom, they said it was their gift for me. It was really late when we decided to go home. On the way home, as I remember, I was sleeping at the back of the car, my dad was driving and my mother is sitting on the passenger seat. I woke up with the from a loud sound and the force when dad forced the car to stop, pushed me to roll off of the seat. I fainted from the impact and when I woke up, mom and dad are gone. They said, our car crashed into a huge truck, they said I was lucky because I wasn’t injured or anything. I had a few bruises but no serious injury. I did not care about the bruises I got, my mind was focused on the fact that my parents are gone. I was silent for days, people couldn’t talk to me, I did not want to talk. One day, my grandparents took me from the hospital and brought me to this secluded province. We’re living peacefully but after years, I still don’t know where my parents are buried. I tried asking my grandparents but they just said that its somewhere in Manila. I’m curious to why we never visit them, all these years I have not seen my parents’ grave, not even once. Is this province that far from Manila? Well, we’re in an island province, maybe its really far? Maybe, after I graduate in college, I might try to visit my parents’ grave. They must be sulking already, their only daughter has not visit them.

I wiped my tears that escaped my eyes. I looked at Minchin whose looking at me. I played with her to get my mind off of the memories I am reminiscing. I kept on playing with Minchin until I heard a noise from somewhere near us. Its rare to see someone here, almost half of this forest is owned by my grandparents. Dis I stray too far?

Out of curiosity, I followed the sound to where its coming from. It sounded like something bad is happening, maybe it’s the sound of an animal being choked by a snake? I can here the dried leaves, breaking.

At the back of a huge tree, I saw to men… fighting? I don’t know if I’m slow or they’re just too fast. I can’t keep up with their movements but I’m sure their trying to hurt each other. Both men are topless. What are they doing? Are they boxers and they’re training right now? Or did they argue about something and ended up punching each other? What should I do? Should I stop them? They could kill each other due to the intensity of their fight.

I haven’t decided what to do yet but it seems like my body has its own mind. My body started arching towards the two men. As I make my way, the two kept on fighting. I think they haven’t noticed me yet since they kept throwing punches.

Even though I felt a bit scared of what’s happening, I continued walking towards them. What I did not expect is to see them rolling towards me. I think they tripped because of one of the roots from a tree near them. They separated and ended up just near my feet. I looked over them but got embarrass by the position they are into. Good thing I am wearing shorts not skirt. But to make sure, I looked at what I was wearing. A black oversized shirt, white shoes and denim shorts. Phew!

“What are you…” I got cut off when I got shock because the three of us talked at the same time.

“Who are you?” They both asked.

“…doing?” I continued my question.

They both stood up and dusted their pants and body. I covered my eyes with my hands when they looked at me. They don’t have any shirts on, I don’t want to see their stony stomachs.

“Tsk!” I don’t know who among the two clicked his tongue.

Before I even remove my hands from covering my eyes, I heard footsteps running away from me. I remover my hands from covering my eyes and saw no one. They’re gone. I looked back to check on Minchin, I unknowingly droped his leash while I was walking towards the men a while ago. I was surprised to see Minchin angry.

Is she angry because she saw them fighting? Yeah, that’s probably the reason why.

“That’s bad, right? The dog went back to being happy when I talked to her. I played with my voice on purpose, Minchin loves when I baby talk her.

I tried forgetting what happened a moment ago and just walked back to our house.

When Minchin and I got home, I aw Lolo and Lola sleeping on their room. I went to my room and studied a few lesson that will be discussed tomorrow. I don’t want to drop from honor roll, I don’t want to lose it now that I’m a few months away from graduating.

It was already six in the evening when I finished studying and doing some take-home activities. I checked Lolo and Lola in their room and saw them sleeping soundly. I smiled at the sight of them.

I went to the kitchen to cook our dinner. I prepared the rice and while waiting for it to boil, I started cooking the main course. I fried a few chickens and I also cooked the shanghai that Lola prepared.

 After almost an hour, I prepared the dining table before waking Lolo and Lola. They were happy after seeing that everything is ready. Before eating, I prepared Minchin’s food so that we could all eat at the same time.

I grabbed a gallon of ice cream from the freezer. There’s Vanilla and Rocky Road flavor on the freezer, I took both of it. I put the plates on the sink and planned to wash it after. For now, I’m going to enjoy my dessert. I took a small bowl, spoon and ice cream scoop. I put ice cream on our bowls and started eating. But before that I made sure that my grandparents had taken their medicines. They’re already old, although their both still strong they still have to take medicines prescribed by their doctor. They do monthly check-ups to make sure that they are healthy and have no illness.

I kept glancing towards Lolo and Lola. I have something that I want to ask them, a question I’ve been wanting to voice out for a long time already.

“Lolo? Lola?” I started. I feel really nervous because this is the first time, I will open this topic after the accident. I have no idea how they would react to this matter. Ever since they brought me to this province, I never mentioned anything about this matter. Before, I understand why they never once mentioned about this, because the memory of the lost is still fresh and they might still be affected by what happened to my parents.

“What is it, hija? Is there something you want to tell us?” Lolo was the one that answered me but I know that both of their attention is on me.

“There’s something that I want to ask, Lola, Lola” I tried so hard to look on their eyes and not on the table.

“What is it, hija?” Lola said while still eating ice cream. Even Lolo is still eating. I’m the only one who stopped eating . I’m not even done yet, my bowl is still half full but I can’t eat because I find it hard to swallow/ My nervousness is blocking my throat.

 “I think what she’s trying to tell us is that he wants to join the contest for beautiful women. While we were in town earlier, I heard a few people talking about contest, they said that there will be a beauty pageant held in town” Lola butted in. I was about to talk when she suddenly opened up about some pageant. Because of that, my nervousness, doubled. How can Lola think that I wanted to join some random beauty pageant? I never took interest in those things.

“Is that it, hija? Then go! You are so beautiful! I’m certain that you will win. Don’t worry, your Lola and I will look for the best tailor in town so that you can wear the most beautiful gown the town has ever seen.” My Lolo’s voice went high, reflecting on how excited he was. Do they want me to join a beauty pageant? I want to laugh because they seemed excited to the idea of me joining some pageant. It seems like they prepared to pay for anything that will help me win the contest.

“Your Lolo is right, hija. You’re so beautiful. I’m sure that in this town, no one is more beautiful than you” Lola added. Back in our school, a lot of officers have asked me to be their organization’s muse. I have also been asked by the school council to represent our school but I declined all of it. I really don’t like the idea.

“That’s not it, Lola, Lola.” They fell into silence and tried thinking of something. I was about to talk when I got cut off… again!

“Maybe she’s planning to go on outing with her friends? Where do you and your friends plan to go, hija? We will let you go as long as the place you’re going to… is safe. And promise us that you will stay out of trouble.” I took a deep breath. Never in my life that I mentioned to my grandparents anything about friends. They might be thinking that I have a lot of friends at school even though in reality… I have none. But I think its better if they think I have a lot of friends, I don’t want them to worry about me having no friends.

“Yes, hija! Your Lolo and I will allow you to go, But promise us that you will take care of yourself, wherever you are going. You know that you’re the only one we have” I felt sad, I am fully aware that they only have me for a family as I only have them as mine.

“What is it, hija? Tell us?” Lolo might have noticed from my reaction that joining some random beauty pageant or having an outing with friends is not I want to ask about.

I took a deep breath before answering.

“Lolo? Lola? Aren’t we going to visit Mama and Papa’s grave?” I couldn’t take it. I was so nervous. I couldn’t help but look down on the table while playing with my fingers that is resting on my lap. I was in that position for almost a minute before I gathered the courage to look at my grandparents. I once again, took a deep breath.

I was stunned by the reaction I am seeing from my grandparents. I did not expect them to react like this. I got extremely bothered by their reaction. Why? I am dumbfounded, I couldn’t understand what’s going on. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? No! But why? Why do they look so…

ANGRY?