by M.G. Marquez
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
GUJI
I caught Fred, Klein, and Jason talking about a wager. Fred was compelling the two to give him money because he won. They’ve been fighting over this for weeks now. Unbelievable.
“See? I was right! Boss Janella will wear a pair of mismatched slippers,” he said proudly.
“You’re the one who fetched her so you cheated,” said Klein.
“You weren’t there so you don’t have evidence,”
“Oh c’mon, Fred. I know that you’ve been dying to win against us. Cheating won’t do you any good,”
“Why don’t you just accept the fact that I won?!” By that, the three of them punched each other, locking heads and calling each other nasty names. I shook my head and jogged up the stairs.
I walked to my Dad’s office to talk about my Championship game on Sunday. I want him there since Janella’s out for work this weekend. School ended two weeks ago and she said she wanted to do something this vacation. So I let her go.
When I was about to open the door, I heard my dad shouting.
“I didn’t! How many times do I have to say that to you? It was an accident!” I heard him saying. “No please… I’m begging you. Don’t do that. He’s the only one I got –”
That’s when I decided to walk in. Standing by the frame, I looked at him who’s sweating so badly. “Dad? Who are you talking to?”
“No one special. Just my assistant who’s giving me headaches,”
“Oh?” I walked across the room and sat on the chair in front of him. He put his phone down and sat across me. He laced his fingers and placed his head on top of it.
“Where’s Janella? Don’t you have a date?”
“She’s in Baguio today. Working –”
“Why didn’t you go with her?” I saw alarm in his eyes that made me confused. No one’s going to eat her there, right?
“Er it’s not my thing. She could go wherever she wants without me accompanying her. Sometimes she needs time for herself. Don’t worry Dad. I’ll fetch her this Sunday –”
“Do you know who her companions are? Can I get their numbers?”
“Uhm Dad? Who is the boyfriend here, me or you?”
“Guji,” from being hysterical, he became composed. “I want you to go there now. Make sure she’s okay.”
I sighed, and opened my palm in front of him. “My keys, please.”
MAGGIE
Yannie loaned me a camera of my own. The gay was overwhelmed with the outcome of the last photo shoot I did, so she rewarded me. I have to repay her on a monthly basis and that isn’t bad at all. The gay gave me work over summer. Be their photographer for their magazines and calendars. Fun. I even asked Yvan if he wanted to come, he said yes.
“Hey beautiful,” Yvan sat beside me, munching a cornbread. “What’s that?”
“Oh this? Yannie gave me this,” I used the camera to take a picture of him. Cute. “Nikon D800E, the latest model Nikon released this year. I’m supposed to repay Yannie monthly,”
“I never thought she could be that nice. She looks at you disgustingly. In case you don’t know,”
“She’s just jealous of me. My boyfriend’s hot.” I chuckled.
“You already have a boyfriend?”
“Didn’t Guji tell you about it? Your best friend sucks at being your best friend. Fantastic,” I shook my head. “By the way, how about you and Lyn?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you confess to her? I heard all of it,”
“You did?” In an instant his cheeks blushed. I laughed. I teased him about it and he kept on denying, saying it was just a practice and I misunderstood everything. “No, I didn’t.” I said. “You’re just plain embarrassed I heard everything you said. Lover boy,”
He was about to protest when my phone rang. Fred’s requesting a video all. I made my phone stand and accepted the call. The jerks shouted at once.
“HOW DARE YOU, BOSS.”
“Excuse me? What did I do this time?” I asked while my seatmate was giggling. I elbowed him and that made him shut up.
“You chose money over us. What kind of friend are you?!” Fred said.
“You find that gay more important than us? WE’RE REAL, STRAIGHT GUYS. We can do better!” Jason added.
“Don’t ever EVER come back to us –”
“GUYS SHUT UP. I’m sorry that I got to miss your Championship tomorrow, but shit this, I got this awesome girl because of that gay,” I showed my new camera. But they got angrier, saying I exchanged my friends for a stupid, non-living thing. I face palmed.
“Okay guys, let’s talk about this. How about when I go home this Sunday, I’ll bring home goodies from here to make up for my absence? Sounds great?”
“Not bad, bitch.” Via butted in. “I want strawberry wine, jams, bags, and a boyfriend,”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend already?”
“I want two. Got a prob with that?”
“Well, you can have Yvan if you want –” I was cut midsentence when something swift went past me. A small, sharp pointed thing. I held my breath, as well as they. I turned around and saw a tree with a dart sticking on its bark. I gulped.
A dart just went past me. Again.
“Tell me that’s nothing,” I whispered.
“Janella, Yvan, go inside as fast as you can.” Fred said in a serious tone. “Now.”
While Yvan and I were packing our things and were rushing toward our cabin, Via and the others were asking me what the hell was happening. Yvan locked the door of our room and was quiet the whole time I was explaining to the others what kind of situation I was in.
“What did Guji’s dad do anyway?” Pao asked me.
I sighed. “It was an accident. He was drunk and wasted that night,” I turned to Yvan who’s watching me carefully. “His car crashed into a woman and she died. The woman, I’m afraid, was the wife of an Italian Mafia Boss. And for years, he’s been seeking revenge. Ten years ago, he got Guji’s mom. His mom’s death wasn’t an accident,” I told Yvan who once told me about that. I turned to them again and said, “That may sound crazy and unreal, but it is true. Ten years ago, the school bus Guji and the gang were riding on nearly fell on the cliff. That’s not an accident. Guji’s scar wasn’t caused by an accident. And now, one of his apprentices is after me. I only have 54 days to live.”
“Why didn’t you tell us right away?”
“I don’t want any of you to get involved. Three is enough.”
“Does Guji know?”
I shook my head. Then Pao said, “We’re going to tell him –”
“NO. Don’t do that!”
“Okay. So what do you want us to do, huh?” Via crossed her arms in front of her, her eyes demanding. “Wait until you die, cry, and bury you with guilt in our hearts? No Maj, we ain’t going to shut up about this. Bye.” Then she ended the call.
I was staring out in space. I felt a hand on my head, messing my hair up.
“Since that day, I wondered what ‘perfect’ really means. Is this it?” I looked up to him and sighed. I said, “I guess.”
He hugged me and whispered to my ear that, “I’m here. I’ll protect you.”
After the day’s shoot, Yannie decided we have to have fun. A bar was standing near our location so we went there. We’ve been drinking, laughing, and insulting Boss Yannie’s sense of fashion the whole time. After my third bottle of T. Ice I imagined Guji scolding me so I pushed away the bottle Bhelitz offered me.
Not another one, My Mental Guji said.
I saw Shiela grabbed the microphone from the entertainer at the stage. I’m guessing that she’s already drunk by the way she walks and talks. Oh, Shiela.
“I heard someone’s a singer here,” she said. She looked at the person seated beside me. I elbowed him. He snapped. “Why don’t you sing for us, Yvan Cantos?”
“Uh no, not now.”
“Oh c’mon, go for it!” I pushed him ‘til he stood up. “Two songs ain’t that bad.
Go go go!”
“Two songs?”
“Yeah, two songs. One is never enough, you know.” He shook his head and walked at the stage. He requested a guitar and called me to hold the mic for him. Bastard.
He tuned the guitar and later on, strummed the tune of the song ‘Out of My League.’ I know that song from anywhere. That’s one of my favorites!
“This song is dedicated to a very special person who I’ve been following for years,” he began saying. “I always see her back… walking away from me. So I keep on running and running after her just to eat away the distance. But it’s no good. She’s still unreachable. And now that I’m just a step away… someone had taken her first.”
I reached for a tissue paper in my pocket and used that to wipe off the sweat on his forehead. He jolted, I laughed, the audience cheered. “Too hot, Lover boy?” I asked.
“Hey now, don’t do that!” He said, laughing.
“Just sing. We don’t have forever to hear your voice, do we?”
While staring at me, he finally began the singing the first syllables of the song. I can’t help myself from smiling. His voice never changed ever since. It still melts my heart.
“It’s her hair and her eyes today,
That just simply takes me away,
And the feeling that I’m falling further in love
Makes me shiver but in a good way,
All those times that I have sat and stared,
As she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair
And she purses her lips, bats her eyes as she plays
With me sitting there slack-jawed and nothing to say
Cause I love her with all that I am,”
When I stared back to his eyes, I realized that I am actually staring at someone really beautiful, pure.
“And my voice shakes along with her hands,
‘Cause she’s all that I see,
And she’s all that I need,
And I’m out of my league once again,”
“I wonder why you’re still single,” I asked him once we’re outside the bar, drinking lightly and enjoying the stars. “Did Lyn turn you down? That’s cruel if she did,”
“Cheat with me.”
“What?” I gaped at him, a bottle almost slipping from my grasp. I just laughed. This guy is so funny. “You’re crazy –”
“Maggie, cheat with me.” He reached for my hand and held it firm. My heart’s racing and my lungs were failing me. I’m getting confused minute after minute. What is he talking about? “I have loved you for years and I just can’t stop. Before, there’s this huge gap between us and I’m just looking at you, taking stolen pictures of you. But now, I can talk to you, laugh with you, I get to know you more and more and that’s making me fall for you deeper,”
I looked at him in the eyes and saw that he wasn’t joking. I looked away and covered my ears. “I am not listening, Yvan. Lalalala ♪”
“Maj, please listen to me. I love you. I loved you first. I loved you ever since you’re a kid. I’ve been chasing you and been wanting to tell you I love you, but I’m just too afraid to say it. I love you and I want to be selfish. You can escape your problem with me. You are safe with me. Come with me instead,”
My clenched fists were now trembling in anger. Of all people, why would Yvan tell these things to me? He’s a friend. He’s one of my best friends. I opened myself to him, told him every single thing about me because I trusted him. I trusted him that he won’t cross my line and be someone who will stay as a friend. He took advantage of my friendship.
“I’m not that drunk to confuse my heart with whom I really love. I love Guji. And I’m not going to cheat on him because my life’s in danger. No. I’ll stay with him even when times will be rough,” I stood up and turned to leave. But he pulled me back.
Pulled me to his lips.
He kissed me. Deep. Passionate. Desperate. It didn’t last long because I pushed him and punched him hard on the face. I’m angry. Mixed up. Betrayed.
“Shit! THIS IS SHIT!”
I ran away.
