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Home / Emotional Realism Maikling Kwento / When Being Honest Isn't Always Good / Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Lahat ng Kabanata ng When Being Honest Isn't Always Good: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

10 Kabanata

Chapter 1

It was census time, and the police were doing house calls.My seven-year-old son, Archie Burton, blinked and asked, "Why are you writing all this down?"The officer patted Archie's head. "It helps with national statistics, and it keeps kids safe from human traffickers."Archie nodded, then shot up with a sudden look of revelation. "Oh, I get it! You're looking for kidnappers! That's my dad! He said so himself yesterday! He kidnapped me!"The officer's smile froze.I stared at Archie in utter disbelief. When I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes, my mind went completely blank.Archie loved using the "truth" to hurt me.Just yesterday, I'd cut him off from eating too many snacks, and he called me an evil dad, saying he didn't want to be my son anymore.Hot-headed, I shot back, "You're not my son anyway. I kidnapped you!"He argued right back that he didn't believe me. Yet here he was now, taking a joke he claimed not to believe and serving it up to the cops as the "truth".Th

Chapter 2

Back when Archie was in kindergarten, he used to brag to me all the time about how handsome other kids' dads were.At the time, I asked him, "Am I not handsome?"Archie stared right into my eyes and said, "You're not handsome at all! You're the ugliest dad in the whole kindergarten!"I froze, stunned. Seeing him smiling with his eyes crinkled in delight, I couldn't help saying, "It hurts my feelings when you talk like that."To my surprise, Archie replied seriously, "But my teacher said good kids always tell the truth!"I was struck dumb. A faint sensation of unease crept over me.Usually, a child saw the people who raised them through a natural filter of love, looks included.But Archie was different.Later, when he started elementary school, I spent 100 bucks buying him a superhero backpack he'd been begging for.When my mother-in-law, Lauren Cole, found out how much it cost, she pointed a finger at my nose and scolded me for throwing money away.Archie simply used her nagg

Chapter 3

After the officer left, Archie tilted his head and sized me up. A flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes when he saw that my expression remained entirely calm.I couldn't help asking, "Why did you say those things to the officer just now?"Archie put his hands on his hips and threw his head back before replying matter-of-factly, "Because I'm a good boy who always tells the truth! If anyone's to blame, it's you, Dad! You're the one who got mad and said I was kidnapped!"That was the moment I knew for sure. He'd told the cop on purpose, all to punish me for the things I said in the heat of the moment yesterday.Clenching my fists, I asked him, "What if I really did snatch you from human traffickers but kept you because your birth parents were bad people? Would you really call the cops and send me to prison?"Archie nodded without a second's hesitation. "Yes! Like I said, Dad, I'm a good boy who tells the truth!"My heart plunged straight to the bottom of my stomach.Elsie had

Chapter 4

The police arrived incredibly fast. I'd barely thrown on a jacket when they practically kicked down the front door.Archie burst into tears and ducked behind one of the officers for protection. Pointing a trembling finger at me in panic, he yelled, "My dad's a kidnapper! He said he kidnapped me!"The officers didn't catch it, but I saw the cunning sparkle in Archie's eyes earlier.It was that same gloating satisfaction he always got whenever he used the "truth" to mess with me.An officer pressed his baton against my shoulder. His voice was heavy with authority as he said, "Open up the safe. We need to inspect the contents."Woken by the commotion, Elsie hurried out of the bedroom. The moment she heard the word "safe", panic seized her. "You can't open that!"Seeing her reaction, the lead officer signaled his partner to start picking the lock.Looking at the array of tools scattered across the floor, I turned my gaze toward Archie. "Archie, your mom told you earlier today that i

Chapter 5

The police officer sighed and contacted Archie's biological parents, just as I requested.The remaining smile completely faded from Archie's face. "Dad, where are you sending me?"When I didn't answer, he ran over to look at the document.There were too many words he couldn't read, but the moment he saw the photos attached, his face bunched up into a tight grimace."Who are they? They look so mean! Dad, I don't like them."The officer couldn't hide his pity. He crouched down and explained, "They… are your biological parents."Archie's mouth gaped open, and then, as if something suddenly clicked, he whipped his head back toward me."Dad, why are you teaming up with the police to trick me? Seriously, you really can't take a joke. Are you acting this mad because you really are a kidnapper?"The string of accusations slammed into me, but my expression remained entirely unbothered. I just met Archie's eyes with cool detachment."No, Archie. The people in those photos really are you

Chapter 6

Silence settled over the room as my eyes landed on the newcomers.The woman was heavily built, while the man bore a long scar stretching across most of his face.Their eyes burned with malice and calculation, darting repeatedly between the house, myself, and Archie.For a split second, it felt like looking at a grown version of Archie himself.The officer frowned. "Are you two the child's biological parents?"The scarred man, Dexter James, nodded. "Look at my son, striking it big! Getting himself raised on someone else's dime before coming back to look for us!"He wore a smug, triumphant grin as his eyes swung toward Elsie and me.His expression turned hostile in an instant. "So you're the ones who adopted our kid?"He wiped sweat from his brow and stared at the central air conditioning unit for a long time before turning back to me."When you adopted him back then, I thought you were just a pair of broke nobodies. Didn't expect you to be living the high life! If I'd known, I

Chapter 7

Dexter sat down on the couch and crossed his legs. "When you came to adopt Nugget back then, you were wearing ragtag clothes, so we figured you were broke!"Turns out you're living in total luxury. As his birth parents, you owe us ten grand or so in compensation, wouldn't you say?"Elsie and I exchanged a glance, reading the exact same thought in each other's eyes—just as expected.Years ago, when we visited Dexter and Regina's home, we saw a hovel stripped to the bone, a houseful of starving children waiting to be fed, and the calculated greed on their faces.So, we kept our jobs and income to ourselves, telling them instead that we were just a newlywed couple from a neighboring village who couldn't conceive.They had already planned on abandoning Archie anyway. Seeing us dressed in ten-dollar bargain bin clothes and holding out a gold bracelet, they readily agreed to let us adopt him."You gave us just a single gold bracelet for the adoption back then. Ha! You're handing over t

Chapter 8

I couldn't help but recall what had happened half a month ago.On Children's Day, Archie wanted a present, so I bought him that gold-inlaid emerald pendant hanging around his neck. Yet, he still demanded the toy car on top of it.Having tapped out my paycheck, I coaxed him, promising I'd buy it for his birthday next month.Still, he threw tantrums for days and threw passive-aggressive jabs at me nonstop. "Dad, to tell you the truth, you're really cheap.""Dad, people online say if you're broke, you shouldn't have kids. Honestly, I think they're right."Now, Dexter was pinning Archie down by the shoulders. He ripped the necklace right off Archie's neck and shoved it into his own pocket before raising his chin at me. "You raised him for six years, and this is all you gave him? If that's not abuse, what is?"I pulled my gaze away from the raw, red mark on Archie's neck. "I never abused him. Aside from tuition, every penny spent on him went toward his extracurricular classes."Thr

Chapter 9

However, no matter how hard Archie tugged at the door handle, the door he used to know so intimately refused to budge.I spoke softly. "I stopped counting on you a long time ago. You said it yourself before that you wouldn't take care of me when I got old. Remember?"Archie's expression shifted drastically, and he scrambled to explain. "Dad, I only said that on purpose to make you mad! It wasn't the truth!"My voice remained devoid of warmth. "I know."I let out a faint chuckle. "Except, that was your truth. Have you forgotten? You're the boy who loves telling the truth more than anything."Archie never thought the very phrase he loved using would end up backfiring on him.His face flushed crimson, and he was left speechless.Archie didn't want to leave, and Dexter and Regina didn't want to bring a "jinx" back home either.They had a massive shouting match outside our front door that dragged on for ages, until the officer finally stepped in. "If you don't take him with you, it'

Chapter 10

That familiar voice and signature phrase made me glance back at the teenager.He was filthy from head to toe, his clothes full of holes, and the soles of his shoes completely detached.It brought back a conversation I'd had with the local police officer a few years ago when I went to register Elio's birth."Remember that boy you gave back a while ago? Man, those birth parents of his are absolute trash. They tried to sell him off to another family, and he only escaped because he called the cops on them himself. He wants to come back to your place now. Would you take him in?"I shook my head. "No. I have my own child now."The officer let out a heavy sigh, though all he added was, "Figures. You treated him so well back then, yet he reported you as kidnappers to the cops. Nobody in their right mind would dare raise him again."I hadn't seen him once in all these years.I'd assumed that with his cunning mind and tactics, he would be doing just fine.Never did I expect him to wind u

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