02: The Story of You and Me (Part 2)

***

THE YEAR 2001

“Happy Birthday, Justin! Happy Birthday, Justin! Happy Birthday, happy birthday! Happy Birthday, Justin!” Everyone is clapping and singing happily to a birthday song. Justin smiled as he saw his mother on his right side and his father on his left side. He observed the whole kitchen and saw the birthday party hats on his uncles’ and aunts’ heads. His cousins are also wearing one, even though they are playing in the living room, and don't want to disturb a celebration that is happening in the kitchen.

Justin, a 2-year-old boy now, blew the candle on his square-shaped cake designed with a logo of Superman completed with red and blue icings. He grinned as his relatives clapped.

“We can now eat! Enjoy!” Jane exclaimed and passed the plates onto the table. They started to scoop some rice from the large bowl, rolled chicken meat seasoned with minced carrots wrapped around in a wonton, meaty spaghetti, cordon bleu with mayonnaise sauce, and vegetable glazed with butter. The cake has been sliced by Stan and has been distributed to the kids.

“Justin, what do you want?” Jane asked her child but he just ran away with his cousins and started to play. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest while observing Justin playing with her cousins with his toys.

“Jane, what do you want to eat? I’ll scoop up some for you,” Stan said and put his arms around Jane’s shoulders.

His wife blushed and said, “I just want a slice of cake.”

“Okay, okay. I will be slicing a large amount for you,” Stan said while getting the knife and scooping up a huge slice of it. He put up on the plate and placed two forks.

“Wow. That was a really huge amount,” Jane said while laughing and picking up the fork.

“I will be joining you, my lady,” Stan said sweetly and Jane laughed. They feast on the slice of the cake as their relatives talk happily to each other. When Justin’s cousins are playing around, someone pushes a kid away. The kid got off balance and landed on Justin. Justin got squeezed underneath and he started to cry.

“Justin!” Jane cried out and approached Justin immediately. The kid stood upright, also crying, and ran over to his mother.

“Are you okay? Huh?” Jane asked his kid, stood him up, and looked at his body. Justin’s cry filled the whole room and he hugged his mother.

“It’s okay, my baby. It’s okay,” Jane said and soothed Justin’s back. The kid’s mother, Justin’s aunt named Christina, approached them.

“I’m sorry. Noel always had a knack of pushing kids,” Christina said softly. Jane nodded and carried Justin in her arms. He lay down his head on his mother’s shoulders while sobbing.

“It’s okay, Christina. It’s just a kid fight,” Jane said. Christina nodded and grabbed a hold of Noel’s hands and scolded him silently. Jane sighed and decided to take Justin upstairs. She went to his bedroom and placed him gently on the bed. Justin observed her while Jane was sitting down.

“Justin, can you sleep for a while now?” Jane asked him and he didn’t seem to understand her. She decided to lay down and place her arms over Justin. She sang a tune and Justin’s eyes started to droop.

“I hope my former days won’t fade away

When I was a young child in my mom’s arms

I want my Beloved Mother’s song to repeat

A song of love while I was in the cradle.”

Jane continued to hum to the tune while Justin was sleeping. 

“In my sleep, that’s very peaceful

The planets guard me, the stars watch over me

In my mom’s arms, life was like a heaven

My suffering heart that yearns for the sway of the cradle by you.”

The tears started to pour out of her eyes as she remembered her mother singing that song since she was a kid. She also reminisced about her long lost brother, who is missing for 30 years now, who is also yearning for their mother right at this moment.

“Where are you, Dave?” Jane asked herself as she started to sob. She shifted her eyes towards Justin and saw that he was in a deep slumber.

“Stay by my side, my baby,” Jane said as new tears dripped down and onto the pillow.

***                                        

“That is when Justin first heard the song. But he doesn’t know that her mother is crying at that time. Jane is crying because of his long lost brother who is missing for 30 years at that time. They didn’t know where he was. And that song is the only one she sings whenever her brother is sick or weeping,” Justin told the class. 

“Oh, where did her brother go?”

“Dave must have been so lonely.”

“That long. 30 years is so long.”

The chaos of the class’ questions erupted as fast as a bolt of lightning, breaking the silence earlier. Justin shushed them to be quiet in a soft voice.

“Class, lower down your voices. The classroom next to us is taking their exam today,” Justin said softly. The children nodded, and the solitude succumbed again as they were waiting for their teacher to continue his story.

“Going back to the story, when Justin turned into a 2-year-old kid, his mother and his father drifted apart that they didn’t expect,” Justin said.

***

THE YEAR 2002

"Stan, let's go," Joel dragged him inside the nightclub. Stan is the one who is hesitant to go there. It is late at night and his wife is waiting for him. 

"Joel, please. I have to get home. My wife is waiting for me," Stan removed his arm from Joel's clasp. Joel faced him and said, "You don't want some drink?" 

Stan closed his eyes and exhaled. He held his forehead and said, "My alcohol tolerance is so low. Please, Joel. I need to go home."

"Stan, please. Just this one time. One beer?" Joel still urged him. Stan shook his head but Joel is still eager. 

"Just one beer, Stan. I need to vent out, bro," Joel pleaded. Stan looked at him for a minute, and as a human being who is pitiful with his friends, he agreed. 

"One beer, alright? Jane will be furious at me when I get home drunk again," Stan said. Joel nodded as he guided Stan inside the night club. 

The night club is shimmering with different colors from the disco ball at the center of the room. There are a lot of people dancing at the dance floor, swaying their hips from side to side, some of them are kissing their partners torridly on the lips. Stan grimaced and looked away from the people who were kissing in the middle of the room. 

"Joel, let's drink the beer hurriedly. I want to get out of here," Stan said as they sat down at the bar counter and signed to the bartender to give them two bottles of beer. 

"Stan, don't worry. It's just 10 pm in the night, nothing much to rush on about," Joel said while taking a sip from his bottle. Stan widened his eyes and gasped.

“It’s just 10 pm for you, Joel. Because you don’t have someone who is waiting for you at home,” Stan said, infuriated. Joel glanced at him and chuckled.

“Stan, just chills,” Joel simply said to him. Stan sighed and took a large gulp of his beer. In a moment, a girl wearing black stockings, mini shorts, and a top that shows off her cleavage sat beside Stan.

“Hey,” the woman said seductively. Stan tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. The woman is beautiful, has fair skin as white as porcelain, her face is like an angel. She has jet black hair, perfectly straight, and ends at her waist. Stan was surprised to see a goddess in front of her.

For a minute, he realized that he had been dragged by his beauty, but then he shifted his eyes and shook his head.

‘I must be out of my mind. I have a wife,’ Stan said in his thoughts. He looked at Joel and saw that a woman was also talking to him. He saw how his hands moved towards her waist down to her thighs.

“Joel,” Stan called out to him. Joel looked at him and said, “Don’t disturb me, I am enjoying here.”

He then inched his face closer to the woman and kissed her. Stan got astonished and looked the other way. He drank the rest of the beer as the woman stroked his hair. Stan immediately removed his head from the woman’s touch and stood up. The woman grabbed a hold of his arm and faced him. She glued her body to Stan, traced her fingers through his face, and he felt the electricity in between their bodies.

Stan pushed her roughly and exhaled a large amount of air. As he was exhaling, Stan felt dizzy. He held his head and looked everywhere. The whole room was circling in his eyes, and music became slurry to listen to.

He felt his body get off balance and he dropped to the floor. The next thing Stan knew, everything went black.

***

“You are all 6th graders now, and every one of you will be a teen in the next month or two. But let me remind you, adults are the ones who are allowed to drink alcohol and not minors like you. And love, it is not about lust or any seductive way to get a person to fall in love for you, it is about a natural feeling. The way we feel for God, for our family, and our friends. And of course, your future significant others,” Justin explained.

“But as that happened, Stan never knew that he would be growing apart from Jane. And due to that friend of him named Joel, his whole world changed,” Justin told the class.

***

THE YEAR 2002   

Stan woke up due to the rays of sunlight that hit his face through an open window. He rubbed his eyes and squinted. He stood up and felt dizzy. It feels like several stones are piled upon his head. He brushed his hair and glanced towards his back.

A woman is lying on the mattress, her bare shoulders show off and the comforter is covering his neck down to her feet. The porcelain white skin and jet black hair made Stan jump out from the bed.

He looked at his body and saw that he was naked. He stepped back, looked at the clothes scattered around the room, and how it crumpled in hours. He immediately picked up his clothes from last night and wore them quickly.

The woman who was sleeping opened her eyes quietly and shifted from her position. Her drowsy eyes glanced at her side and stood up when she didn't see Stan. Stan straightened his hair and tears were brimming in his eyes.

The woman looked at him and smiled sarcastically.

"Why are you in a hurry? We are enjoying last night," the woman said while giggling. Stan looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You brought me here, it's not my will," Stan said to her furiously. The woman laughed.

"You were so wild last night," the woman said then traced her fingers on her lips. She removed the comforter from her body, showing the half portion of it, naked.

Stan looked the other way and said, "You are so dirty."

"Woah. It's alright, at least, we made love last night," the woman said softly. Stan glared at her and pointed his finger.

"Let me remind you of this, lady. I had a wife and a child waiting for me at home last night. And what happened today, it can ruin my family," Stan said to her angrily. The woman just looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"If you don't care about that, maybe there is no family that is waiting for you," Stan said and picked up his bag. He left the hotel room and looked at either side.

"I'm screwed up," Stan said as he realized that he is in Garcia's Hotel.