by Ace Campillo
‘Because someone was not answering his phone.’ My dad glared at me.
‘Well, as you saw, we were busy defending our castles,’ I said. My grandfather, who was just looking at us, finally joined in the conversation.
‘Let them enjoy their youth, they are not forever kids. I was enjoying your child-like play. Reminds me of the time when John came home crying because someone apparently had destroyed his work of art.’
‘Dad!’ He glared at him.
‘What?’ He raised his hands with palms open and shrugged his shoulders.
‘For how long have you been looking at us? I mean, how much did you see?’ Andre was curious to know.
‘Let’s just say, we saw enough to know that you were fully enjoying,’ my mom said.
‘You were so immersed in your activity that you did not realise that we were already watching you.’ He pointed at a table close to us and added, ‘we were just seated there looking at you the whole time.’
‘That’s an exaggeration, but we were there for a bit,’ my grandfather interjected.
Andre seemed to be embarrassed with what he heard, but he tried his best to hide it. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and said, ‘C' mon.’ It was time to go, so we quickly went to the shower room to rinse off and to change our clothes. My grandfather asked us if we still wanted to do something else while we were in town, but we all agreed that we had enough. Although, I said that I might buy a souvenir, so I could say that I had been here recently. We all went to a souvenir shop, but it's only my mom and me who bought something. I bought a shirt with a print at the front that said, ‘I Love Byron Bay’. My mom, on the other hand, bought a pearl necklace. After that, we drove back to the house and stayed there for a bit. It was a shame that we were not able to use the pool, but we saw the trampoline in the backyard and decided to play in it. We crazily jumped repeatedly until we grew tired of it, and we decided to finally rest on the couch and watch the telly. I was becoming quite bored, but I did not complain because I knew that the trip was not meant for me.
I looked at Andre, and I saw that he had fallen asleep. I tried to be as quiet as I could. I grabbed my phone and remembered to message Erin about what I was up to. I was in luck because Erin was online on Messenger. We exchanged words that ranged from innocent and sweet texts to the naughtier ones. She told me that she was about to go out with his mother to the shop to buy some ingredients for dinner. Her aunt’s family was visiting them, and she had to help in the kitchen. Even though I still wanted to continue with our banters, I had to let her go. Now, I was back to being bored. I wonder where my parents were; the last time I checked, they were just at the back of the house, and they were talking about some adult stuff. They were probably talking about grandpop's transfer to Sunshine Coast, and I was excited.
Half an hour later, Andre woke up from his nap. He asked me what time it was, and I had a look at my phone. It was about 6pm. I was then about to ask my parents if we were going soon, but they reappeared at the lounge. My mother said that it was time to head back home as it was getting late. We bid our goodbyes to grandpop, and we went to the car. And soon enough, we were already on our way home. We tried to convince Andre to stay one more night at home but politely declined and explained that his uncle would be too worried if he did not come home. However, he reassured us that he would be coming back like always.
Chapter 5
It's been an uneventful next couple of days, and Erin and I continued to hang out at school. I wanted to take her out more often, but it's har since I mostly rely on my allowance. We would usually go to the bleacher's area to sit down before going for our table tennis practice. I surely could ask for money from my parents, and I knew that they would be very much supportive of it, especially my mom. They would even probably start planning my wedding straight away, but that celebration would be more for the fact that they were able to prove that their son was not gay. I knew even before that they had feared about it, and my mother was not too subtle about it. She always pointed out the fact that I never once got into a relationship, but it was not like I didn't want it. It just so happened that I was not lucky enough to be in one. I always end up getting rejected, or just plain friend-zoned, it's not even funny. The truth was, I had ever known that I liked both genders, but I personally chose not to act on my feelings. But even so, I was not able to meet guys who I wanted enough to have a relationship with. I thought it would have been easier just to say I was gay and present my gay boyfriend than to have none at all. However, I was never lucky in that aspect of my life.
I was not always lean. Back when I was in 8th grade, I was still 167cm weighing at least 80 kilos. I was bullied all the time for being obese. Some kids would defend me, but most of them made fun with how I looked. My mother would even comment on my appearance, but I got used to all the nasty remarks. I loved the food as much as I hated the weighing scale my mother bought me for my birthday. Such a savage queen! However, I knew that she only did to better myself, and I was quite accepting of her ways. I only lost so much weight when I started liking a girl when I entered the 10th grade, but the girl turned me down. From that point, I maintained my weight ever since, and I felt much happier with myself, knowing that I looked better with my slender body. I was able to get some attention that I never experienced before, and I was able to be more physically active. I was in the middle of my dramatic reminiscing when Erin held my arm, and it snapped me back to the present.
‘I haven’t seen your best friend today?’ Erin asked.
‘Have you taken a liking at him?’ I jokingly sobbed and pouted my lips as I pretended to rub my eyes.
‘No, silly.’ She looked at me and quickly added, ‘it’s just a bit strange that he does not go with you anymore. I hope I’m not taking much of your time.’
‘Of course not. I’m quite happy to spend time with you, and I know that he is happy for us,’ I responded.
‘You still have to be sensitive with your friend's emotions, though. If what you told me about his story was accurate, then I would be checking on him from time to time if I were you.’ She said.
‘Yes, ma'am.’ I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
‘I'm serious, Jeremy.’ Her voice almost had this threatening tone, and I nodded and agreed with what she said.
It's one of the traits that I liked about her. She always tried to look after other people. She was like miss congeniality of the campus, and I appreciated her concern for my best friend. I was not verbalising it loudly, but I did notice that Andre had been quite distant for the past few days. He still would come to our table every lunchtime, and he still would approach me now and then in the locker area, but I felt that he was somehow keeping his distance away from me. He would not even go to my place after class anymore, and I did not even bother asking him why. I realised that I was taking my good friend for granted, and so, I told myself that I would talk about it with him the next day. However, the day came, and there was no sign of him. I thought that he could just be late for class, but the first subject started, and he never turned up. As soon as the morning subjects were finished, I waited for him at the cafeteria at lunchtime because I reckoned that he might have decided to skip the morning classes and turn up in the afternoon. However, I waited, and I did not see any Andre. I was a little bit concerned, but it's not the first time that he was absent for a day. It's just weird that he did not send even one text message to me. Then the words of Erin started to sink in. I was losing time for my best friend. Although, I was still confident that he would not have minded me spending some time with Erin since we just started dating. It would still be a bit saddening if he ever felt that I neglected him. He was already like a brother to me, and it would be painful to imagine him being lonely. I texted him once after class, but I did not get a reply. I went home after practice, and I told my mother about what happened.
‘Don’t be a drama queen,’ she said as she took the clothes out of the dryer.
‘But mom!’ I followed her around as I
quickly added, ‘he usually texts me if he is going to be absent for school.’
‘He might have just run out of data, or maybe his phone got broken, you never know. You will probably see him back at school tomorrow.’
‘Maybe,’ I answered.
‘He's already an adult Jeremy. I think he knows exactly how to live his life; you should too.’ Her words were quite sharp. It's as if she was trying to throw shade at me, but at the same time, it hurt because it was true. I glared at her and let out a sarcastic laugh. She looked at me and smiled.
‘I know you're concerned about your friend. I'm just saying that there's no point in getting worried for nothing.’ She reassured me. I was surprised to hear her say those words because she's not usually good with her words, but she's able to calm me down a bit.
‘Thanks, mom. I'll try to see if he goes to school tomorrow.’
‘That's alright. I just have a question.’ She had a curious look on her face. I got suddenly nervous about this random conversation that we were going to have.
‘Who is this girl you are dating?’ She had a huge smile on her face.
‘Oh her—’ I looked down and scratched the back of my head.
‘What? Don't ‘oh her’ me. Tell me something about her? What's her name? Is she from the same class? How did you meet her?’ The barrage of questions was making me dizzy. This was precisely the reason why I did not want my mother to know, but at the same time, I'm happy to see my mother act this way.
‘Geez mom, one question at a time,’ I told her.
‘Don't ‘geez’ me or you'll get punished later,’ she said as she glared at me. I rolled my eyes and let out a big sigh before starting to speak.
‘Well, her name is Erin. She’s not of the same class as me, but we usually see each other during table tennis practice; that’s how I got close to her.’
‘Is she your girlfriend yet?’
‘No, not yet. We’re still getting to know each other.’
‘Oh puh-lease, you don't have to make your dating stage long. Look at your dad and me. It was like a whirlwind romance, but we're still together until now.’
I usually felt very awkward, talking about love and relationship with my mother, but this conversation suddenly had an interesting turn. I was close to my mother, especially when I was little. I was candid with her that I even told her the smallest details when I had a crush as a young kid. However, I grew up, and I started doing things that I did not want my mother to know. This time, I wanted to continue the conversation because this would be the first time that she would be sharing how my father courted her in college.
‘How did you meet dad?’ I asked.
‘I’ve already told you before. You were not just listening.’ She answered. I tried remembering any prior talk about it, but I couldn’t remember any.
‘No, you didn’t,’ I said as I pressed further, ‘Did you go to the same school as dad?’
‘Nah, I met him when we had our school play. Your dad watched the play with his parents. I was the female lead of that play.’
‘Really?’ I was again shocked to hear this for the first time. I did not even know my mom sang much more, act.
‘Yeah,’ she had a proud look on her face and continued, ‘I did more things than you when I was in High School.’ And there it went again, the flawless shades that were thrown at me. I couldn’t be any prouder of her talent. I sighed.
‘But anyway, he took the time to search for my number, and he sent me the first message.’ She further added.
I still wanted to know the rest of the story, but my mom's attention got diverted when the phone suddenly rang. Of all the time, it must be now. I never heard that phone ring, just now! I told my mom I was going upstairs to do my homework, but it was somewhat difficult to concentrate. I couldn't locate my best friend, and I wanted to hear more about the love story of my parents. However, I needed to regain myself from all these things. I was clearly overly dramatic for nothing, and I needed to concentrate on finishing my projects tonight.
Then came the next day, I sat on a bench that's close to the school gate, so I could see everyone walking past it. It was to catch Andre the moment he arrived. However, I waited until the school bell rang, but he didn't show up. The most disturbing part was the fact that he never replied to any of my messages. I sent him another message. I tried calling his number, but it only went straight to his voicemail, and it added more to my frustration. I was distracted the whole day, and Erin noticed it when we were having lunch.
‘Are you alright?’ She asked.
‘I’m just worried,’ I answered.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Andre has not attended school for two days now. He usually texts me every time he plans to skip school, but I did not receive any message at all this time.’
‘He’s probably just sick or something. With him not texting you, well, he might not have any mobile data, or his phone might not be working.’ She sat closer to hug me before quickly adding, ‘you know where he lives, you can visit him if you are really worried.’
‘Yeah, I am planning to skip practice later so that I could check on him. Do you want to come with me?’
‘My parents would probably not be happy if I did that, but I’ll make sure to tell coach of your reason for not attending. I’m sure he’ll understand.’
‘Thanks, Erin,’ I hugged her back and kissed her on the forehead. We were not yet official, but we were already doing some stuff that only couples would do. I realised that we only needed a label, but we already had a mutual understanding, and I was quite happy about that.
Time passed by very slowly, especially during the last subject. I just wanted the day to end so I could finally go and visit Andre's house. And as the school bell rang, I ran towards my bicycle to start my journey. However, on the way there, I got lost several times. I was not very familiar with the place as I thought I was. It was a labyrinth going to the inner part of Sippy Downs. All this time I thought Buderim was quiet, now I could say, it's much better than this part of town. The silence of the area was deafening. I could not even see a single person walking as I travelled the area. I was exaggerating. I did see a couple, but it's quite different. I continued pedalling; looking at the name of the streets and the number of the houses. And after several times of going backwards and forwards, I reached the house. I assumed it was. I visited him once before, and it never happened again because I did not like his uncle.
Looking around, I could not see Andre’s bicycle, but there was a car parked on the driveway. I gathered all the courage and pressed the doorbell. I waited for a few seconds before I pressed it again; this time, I heard footsteps from the inside, and I heard the door unlocked and slowly opened.
‘Yeah?’ Andre’s uncle stood before me. I meant I saw him before, but man, did he get old in a very short time.
‘Oh hey, is Andre home?’ I asked.
‘No,’ he answered as he attempted to close the door, but I told him to stop.
‘Where is he then?’ I insisted on asking.
‘It’s none of your business,’ he angrily responded.
‘I would go straight to the police to report a missing person if that’s what you want.’
‘Why you?!’ He got infuriated and motioned to go outside of the house to hit me; however, I was not fazed.
‘Here, I’ll offer you my face to hit so you can land straight to jail for hitting a minor.’ He stepped back.
‘Who told you to back away, c' mon.’ I urged him, but he further stepped back and said, ‘stupid queer’. I was mad with what he said, but my primary purpose was to ask where Andre was, and I could not be side-tracked.
‘I just want to ask where your nephew is. I’m sure it’s not too hard to answer, is it?’
‘His grandmother is visiting at the moment, and he is with her. I don’t know when they are going back, okay?’
I still had other questions, but it was better than not getting any answer from him at all. I rode b
ack to the house, and my mother was surprised to see me back so early. I told her that I went to Andre's house to check on him, and I told her that his uncle said that Andre is with his grandmother.
Andre's uncle, whose name was Henry was not like that at all before. My mother told me that he was then a successful businessman who owned a shop that sold cars and car parts. However, as more things got handled online, he had more difficulty managing the business. He was advised to get someone to help him sort out stuff for the digital part of the company, but he was too stubborn. It so happened that he received a supposed email from his supplier asking him to urgently change their bank details so the money that would be deposited would go to the correct account. Soon after, the transaction was made. However, there were no supplies that got delivered. He called his overseas partner to check, but he was told that they never received payments from him. It was still pending on their system. It became later evident that he was scammed, and it had a domino effect on his business. It lost a lot of money due to delays in shipping and production. He tried to save it, but his buyers ultimately lost confidence in him. The business took a tumble and never recovered. He even faced lawsuits for contracts that were already pre-arranged. He filed bankruptcy, and he never recovered professionally and personally.
I arrived home a bit relieved that Andre was not missing. I entered the house and my mother welcomed me. I told her that I dropped by Jeremy’s place.
‘How is Henry?’ My mother asked.
I frowned at her for asking how Henry was before asking me how I was doing, but I knew my mom. I’m used to it.
‘He became quite aggressive when I asked him about Andre. I think he was drunk at that time,’ I said.
‘Quite a shame that he became like that…’ She slowly shook her head and quickly added, ‘so, were you able to find out where Andre is?’
‘He said that he is with his grandmother.’
