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.
Taddeio had finished feeding me by the time I told him that it was my last bite. He didn’t give me a chance to complain; he’d just looked at me seriously, and I backed down. For now, I know I’m not sane anymore as I did that heinous thing last night. I had so many what-ifs that were rumbling inside my brain. What if I stayed? Will he be saved? What if I didn’t run that night? Am I a cold corpse now? I sighed, and as much as I wanted to erase those memories, that face, the emotions, and the pleas, I couldn’t. I don’t know where to start. I wanted to go back there and see if he was still breathing. I wanted to clear this conscience as I can feel that I am being attacked like a spear which is perfectly aimed into my heart and mind. I am aware that there are so many possibilities that may happen or have already happened. These questions will have concrete answers if I ask Taddeio about them. But, where is he? After the feeding session earlier, he said that he was just going to put those bo
I'm still confused about what's happening around me. It feels like I'm a stranger trying hard to fit in, to know what's going on and don't know about the proper assimilation. I don't know where we were; only Taddeio knew this room. After what happened earlier, he seems to be occupied now, which was the real opposite of his personality. I know that he's like this when we're not alone. I've noticed it when we're conversing with the other tenants here in the apartment. Earlier in the kitchen, you couldn't hear a single word that came out of his mouth. I mean, he was so calm and serious at the same time. No emotions, just his mysterious stares. Now, we're just sitting here at the very end of the room. The atmosphere was so awkward and quiescent, and as much as I wanted to break it, there was something that halted me from executing it. It can be compared to my mouth being zippered or sewn shut. I'm being stopped by a certain thing that wants it to remain like it is. I was so drawn and lost