FRIENDLESS: The Untypical Outcast

11-Truth and Lies

"So Ruesher, now that you know your name. I'll tell you about our family."

I smiled at my dad at super excited ako sa aking mga malalaman.

"So basically, I am your dad. My name is Ryan Lee. Sabi ng nanay ko noon tatay ko daw ay Korean pero I've never seen him. Then, you have 3 siblings, at lahat sila ay girls. Ikaw ang unico hijo ko at ikaw ang pinakamatanda sa inyong apat.  And that's our family!"

"How about my mom dad?"  Takang tanong ko kay daddy.

Napansin kong biglang lumungkot ang mata niya.

"Tapos. . .nag-aaral ka sa Stravidore, it's a school for elite people. If you are not aware, we are rich because I own an electric company and we have many businesses. Major stockholders din ako sa ibang company. In Stravidore, ang sabi ng teacher mo. . ."

I cut him off. "Dad, I'm asking for my mom. Who is she?"

"Tapos sabi nga ng teacher mo, academic achiever ka, marami kang kaibigan. . ."

"Dad. . ." I pleaded. "Sino po ang mommy ko?"

He stopped for a while and looked straight to me.

"Anak. . .baka hindi mo kayanin?"

"Dad kakayanin ko po, if she's dead or what I'll accept it."

"Hindi pa siya patay."

My dad held my hand. "Ruesher. . .I don't know what you would feel after knowing about her, about their family. . .I. . ."

Then my dad cried. Hindi ko alam pero naiyak na rin ako sa sitwasyon.

"Dad please. . .I'm begging you. . .I deserve the truth."

"Son. . .I am very sorry. The truth hurts, and I don't know if you can handle it."

"Dad. . .sige na. . .tell me. . .tell me everything."

"Okay son. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything." My dad took two deep breaths and started narrating.

"Your mom is Cerise Samburne. I met her in United Kingdom. I was a scholar in Oxford back then, while she is a cashier at a nearby pastry shop na malapit sa tinutuluyan ko. I always buy my breakfast in that shop kasi hindi ko maharap magluto. Almost everyday nagkikita kami, at ayun na nga na develop ang pag-iibigan namin."

"Nang maka graduate na ako, I asked her to come with me in the Philippines and without thinking twice ay pumayag agad siya. 3 years na kaming mag-on noon kaya naman gusto ko na siyang pakasalan. Noong sinabi kong magpaalam siya sa magulang niya ay biglang nag-iba ang aura niya. Sobrang galit ang nakita ko sa kaniyang mukha. Inamin niya sa akin na naglayas siya because her parents are not treating her well. Kaya naman minabuti na lang namin na wag na lang magpaalam. 2 days before our flight, may mga limousine na nakapark sa harap ng pastry shop. Akala ko kung sino ang mga yun, and it turns out na gusto nilang kunin ang mommy mo."

"They grabbed your mom at ako naman, to the rescue, tinulungan ko siya. Pinagalitan pa ako nung mga humihila sa kaniya and in the end ayaw pa rin sumama ng mommy mo. Sinabi nung isang matandang lalaki, 'I am giving you one last chance Cerise, one last chance.' Then everyone left."

"Your mom explained to me everything, yung lalaking nagbanta sa kaniya ay ang kaniyang ama. Mr. Levi Samburne, the owner of the biggest food corporation in UK. At kaya siya umalis sa bahay nila ay dahil super pressured daw siya, she has no freedom at balak siyang ipakasal sa anak ng ka business partner ng kaniyang daddy. She asked me na umalis na daw kami and we must hurriedly got married para daw hindi na makialam ang daddy niya at para hindi na daw siya maipakasal dun sa anak ng business partner ng dad niya."

"We went here in the Philippines, I've started working while she is pregnant. Luckily, God gave us 4 children. After 8 years of our stay here, walang Mr. Levi Samburne na bumubulabog sa amin. We lived peacefully and happily. Pero yun ang akala namin."

"6 months ago, tawag ng tawag dito ang daddy niya, pinapauwi siya because she must marry the one decided for her. At kahit anong paliwanag ang gawin niya sa kaniyang daddy, sadyang matigas pa rin ito. He wants your mom to go home. Sabi ng lolo mo, if she won't go home, he will hurt me or he will hurt our children."

"Sabi ko sa mommy mo, huwag na lang niyang pansinin ang lolo mo, siguro hindi naman siya halimaw para saktan kayo. Boy I was wrong again. Halimaw nga siya. . ."

Then my dad stopped and he cried hard. 

"Ang hindi ko lang talaga mataggap, siya ang nag-utos para sagasaan ka. Pinasagasa ka sa isang sports car, running almost 200 kilometer per hour. "

Then I froze.

"Nasikmura niya iyon anak. . .Pinabunggo ka niya so she can get your mom back. You are just a little boy and he tried killing you. Sana ako na lang. Look at you now! You are suffering from the pain that he had caused us. And I am sorry son, dahil sayo binuhos lahat ng lolo mo ang galit niya sa amin ng mommy mo. I am sorry anak. . .I am really sorry."

My dad is crying very hard right now at ako naman ay nanatili pa ring tulala sa aking mga narinig. 

After some time, itinuloy na ni daddy ang kanyang sinasabi.

"After the incident. . .your mom left us. Mas gusto niya na lang daw na maghirap siya sa UK kaysa saktan kayo ng lolo niyo. Wala akong contact sa kaniya. Now she's gone. Kaya anak, tanggapin na lang natin na starting today, it will just be me, you, at ang mga kapatid mo."

I nodded and my dad hugged me. I started to feel anger on my heart. My own grandfather did this to me?How cruel?!

Umiiyak na lang din ako, because I really can't believe what i've just heard. Sana kasinungalingan lang lahat ng ito. Sana panaginip lang lahat ng ito. I badly want to wake up from this nightmare.

I don't want to feel pathetic for myself, kaya naman I've projected that I was strong. I started feeling cold towards people kasi they might betray or hurt me someday. Kung kadugo ko nagawa akong saktan, paano pa kaya yung mga hindi diba?

Sinabi ko na rin kay daddy na huwag niyang sabihin sa school na may retrograde amnesia ako, ayokong kaawaan nila ako. That's why buong bakasyon ay minemorize ko lahat ng bagay na kailangan kong malaman tungkol sa Stravidore para kapag pumasok ako ay wala akong problema, para hindi nila mahalata na there is something wrong with me.

When I was in sixth grade, everything seems normal, puwera na lang siguro ang ugali ko. Medyo nahalata kasi ng mga kaklase ko na I suddenly became serious pero sinabi ko sa kanila na very traumatic lang talaga yung car accident. Well, I told them about the accident but not my amnesia.

Okay na sana ang lahat pero ang isa ko na namang problema ay si Dash, she is claiming na best friend daw kami. Ewan, I feel sorry for her kasi baka nga naman totoong best friend kami pero I've decided na iwasan na lang siya.

Ayon nga sa mga naririnig ko sa mga kaklase ko, she is a bad one. Nagnakaw na daw siya kay Cherry, illegal business nila at marami pang iba. Kaya naman nagduda rin ako sa personality niya. How come she's my best friend kung ganoon siya. Kaya kahit anong pilit niya sa akin, hindi ko siya pinapansin.

Minsan naawa ako sa kaniya kasi she is being bullied pero minabuti ko na lang wag makialam. If I cared for her in the past, it doesn't matter anymore.

I've lost my memory, and I think I'm a new being after that.

And this is me. Ruesher Silver Lee version 2.0.