"Are you okay?" I asked Polius when he hadn't moved from his place for quite some time now. Maybe what Celine had said had made a big impact on him. I thought they were okay and saw happiness in his eyes when my half-sister, Celine, confirmed their relationship. "I don't know," he answered and shook his head. "Are you okay with this? All of what's happening now. Are you really a part of the group? Or are you just doing this because of her?" My hand formed a fist and tried to have the rope loosen."Don't ask me like that, Merchaiass. I am doing this because I want to." He's swayed. I'm certain that he is. He doesn't want to do this and was forced to due to my sister's request."Okay, if you say so. But remember this, Polius, regrets come after what you thought would be the best. If your mind tells you that it's wrong, then it is. Our mind serves as the protector and the doer, while the heart is only for pumping, producing, and delivering blood. Nothing more." I remained silent after
"I clothed you when your father threw you out! You can't do this to me!" I was still in my seat, tied. While Taddeio was threatening Mr. Manore, he's not holding anything now. Maybe he threw it somewhere. "You didn't. I worked hard, Pops. You only helped, and you're not an exemption to the rule. You made it with me, and yet you, yourself, did it. Now, deal with the consequences." The old man was shocked to death when Taddeio aimed to hit him with a hammer. I didn't know where he'd got that, but it stopped in mid air as if Taddeio was controlling his hand not to hit Mr. Manore."I know that you couldn't do it, young man. Our lives have been interconnected ever since you got close to me. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me. Believe me, Taddeio, it wasn't my intention to go against your back," Mr. Manore pleaded, his hands clasped and attempting to kneel on one leg. I saw how Taddeio started to bring down the hammer while the landlord was assisting him. "Right, you d
After a lot of debating between me and Taddeio, we came to the decision to go to my hometown and talk to my parents. I need to do it for me to live without doubt, fear, and misery."Are you okay?" I looked at the man in front of the steering wheel. He's one of those who stayed in my darkest times. I held his hand above mine and smiled before answering, "I'm okay because you're here with me. Thank you.""What's with you today? Where's my baby? Is this really you, Cai?" I rolled my eyes at him and threw his hand back to him. I know I'm starting to become softer, but I don't think it's a bad idea, right? I mean, we're boyfriends now, and we should do what boyfriends do."Forget about it. Jerk," I said, lowering my voice when saying he's a jerk. There's something in me that doesn't want to call him like that. I mean, I'm quite shy by just thinking that he's my boyfriend and I'm new to this thing."I'm also happy, baby," was blurted out by Taddeio.I didn't mind him and watched the trees
Knowing all of this was holding my consciousness from waking up. Even though I already knew the issue about my father's buying Mama from the group, I still wasn't expecting that Papa would say that. He's not the type that will admit everything that he's done in the past. He's more than that.Right now, we're here sitting around the table while Mama is preparing everything. She hasn't changed that much; she's still the woman that I left months ago. I smiled at the thought that Papa wouldn't hurt Mama again because he promised me earlier."Is there something wrong, baby?" A hand was placed above mine when my gaze focused on my mother, who was taking care of Papa's food."Nothing... I'm happy, Tads. That everything is in its proper place. I know that... Nevermind, my heart is full of joy now, and I don't want that to change." I smiled after saying it. I don't want to start a conversation about what happened before we went here. My conscience won't be happy if I ruin the mood right now.
It’s been two days since I moved out and cut ties with my family. I don’t think I can bear their judgmental stares. It feels like I did something that made them hate me, even my presence. I think they were waiting for a chance that I would be the one to banish myself from them, and they succeeded. Well, I don’t want to talk about them now. I am no masochist. My sister and I were close before, but not until her ex-boyfriend came into the picture. To be honest, our relationship stayed the same. From what I remember, I caught her ex boyfriend cheating on her. As a good brother, I punched that guy, and my sister sided with him. My papa doesn’t like me as much as his family. They were the complete opposite of Mama. I'm thinking of asking him why he didn't seem to like me. I mean, I’m not sure if I was, but being parents, they should accept their child for what he or she is to be. I was currently at the side of the road, sweating from a long walk just to find a cheap apartment near the sch
“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked after he said it.“Nothing. Just be careful next time,” he said, and then turned his back to me. He started to walk towards the cabinet and get something from it. It’s a white shirt. Oh, neat. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him while he was busy dressing himself. Is this a sign of being a pervert or not? Staring isn’t a crime, right? Never mind. I remained in my previous position, and he caught me again... staring at him. He smirked again and said, “Gotcha!”I glared at him and stood up.“I’ll go,” I simply said after a moment of silence.“Okay, be careful. Don’t go near that guy again. He’s just a crazy man. People said here that he’s nice, but he has a mental disorder that he chases the person who’s watching him while doing his work. He doesn’t want that, he hates it.” “I see. Thank you again, Taddeio.”“Don’t worry about him. As long as you keep your distance from him, nothing will go wrong for you. You’ll be safe,” he added.I moved my head to indi
I’m done preparing and I’m ready to go out now. A loud bang welcomed me; different things were swaying in the air, and I was lucky enough to dodge those. I continued walking towards the kitchen carefully when a strange thing caught my eye. It was a red room—just like the other one that I saw last night. But, it’s not the same tenant. It was an old woman, looking nice with a fan in her hand. She greeted me, and I greeted her back. She seems okay, I think . . .I reached the kitchen together with the old woman, named Sarah. She has been a tenant here for almost a decade now. She added that she witnessed what happened in this apartment. We talked a lot, and we parted ways when she saw her husband in the kitchen. Wait... he was the guy from last night. The one that I thought would kill me. His wrinkled face lightened when he saw Sarah, his wife. His gummy smile seemed to be pleasing in his eyes. He offered food for his wife, but Sarah gently declined it. Her eyes landed on mine and plaster
A new day ahead, and a new problem to attend to. I’ve done my morning routine and am currently walking down to the kitchen. I was walking comfortably when I felt a presence behind me. I looked back but there was nothing to see. Maybe I’m just hallucinating because of the things that happened these past few days. I continued walking and I felt again that there was someone who was following me. I pretended to not notice it and found a way to know who was behind me. I finally reached the stairs, and this is the way to find out who it is. I waited for a minute and there was no human being who passed. I climbed the first step and peeked if there was someone, but there was none. I’d just shrugged the thought off and was ready to continue walking down when I felt an arm encircling my stomach.“What are you looking at?” said the man who was behind me. Wait, I know this scent. The menthol that first invaded my nose the moment I was in a stranger’s room that night. I’m sure that this is Taddeio.