He Was My Cousin

Chapter 21

I've just checked my notes, correction pala sa previous chapter (19): the type of dam that Jiro was talking about is actually called gravity dam not concrete dam, although yes it's made of concrete. Haha

Chapter 21
Boss

"We should have called Vienne! That could have been nice," sabi ni Richival - who also said he's more comfortable being called Rich - sa kalagitnaan ng lunch namin.

Nandito kami ngayon sa Flavors of the East, isa sa mga restaurants ng angkan nila Riyu. Ng mga Garcia. This one's a lot different than RC though. Hindi siya fine-dining and all. It's more marketed for the masses, I think.

Sa totoo lang ay hindi ko naman gustong sumama. In the first place, mukha naman kasi talagang plano nila 'tong bonding na magkakapatid. I didn't want to intrude. Pero mapilit si Rich at si Paolo. Yumi was just okay with it.

"Why do we have to?" iritableng kontra naman ni Yumi kay Rich.

"Para mas masaya," answered Rich, grinning. Bumaling siya kay Paolo na nasa tabi ko. "Ano, Kuya, tawagan ko na?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Can you just shut the fuck up, Rich? Kumakain tayo," sagot naman ni Paolo sa kapatid. Itinuon muli nito ang atensyon sa pagkain.

"Grabe ka! Tae ba si Vienne at hindi siya pwedeng pag-usapan 'pag kumakain tayo?" pilosopong tanong ni Rich. Hindi ko na napigilan at natawa na ako. He's so random.

"That's not what I meant... She's busy and what's the point of bringing her up now?"

Pinaglaban ni Rich ang kutsara at tinidor sa kanyang plato. "Ang KJ mo talaga! Dapat talaga sa'yo nilunok na lang o kaya pinahid sa bimpo."

"Kuya! Kadiri ka!" agad na bulyaw ni Yumi sa kanya.

Nasamid naman ako bigla. Agad naman akong dinaluhan ni Paolo. Inabot niya sa akin ang baso ko ng tubig habang hinihimas ang aking likod. He was looking at Rich furiously.

Rich raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright... Alright, brother... You don't have to kill me. I'll shut up now."

Hindi ako makapaniwala habang tinitgnan silang dalawa. Si Paolo ay tinatapik-tapik pa rin ang likod ko.

I really can't believe this! Yes, nagsasagutan din si Paolo at Japoy... but I've never seen someone who doesn't take Paolo seriously at all! Pero itong Rich...

I don't know, I feel guilty... Mukhang naiirita na si Paolo, pero cute na cute pa rin ako sa kanila. Nag-aasaran kasi silang tatlo tapos 'pag tinignan mo sila, magkakamukha sila! They have their defining features but the resemblance was undeniable.

"Why are you smiling?" tanong ni Paolo sa akin na para bang nawi-weird-duhan siya sa akin. I just shook my head but I couldn't hide the smile on my lips.

Bumaling na lang ako kay Yumi,
"By the way, you graduated in JMU too?"

"Yup, Psych... you're from Educ, right?" pagbabalik niya ng tanong sa akin. Right, she was from CAS as far as I remember. Tumango ako sa kanya. She's familiar to me even if we haven't really talked in the past. Lagi ko kasi siyang nakikita sa school kahit no'ng mga practicum days ko na.

"I really thought you were Paolo's girlfriend back then..." I murmured, almost forgetting that they were in front of me.

"What?!" Paolo said, horrified.