LA LUNA (ON GOING)

KAPITULO VEINTE Y CUATRO

            ‘YOU KNOW, Mrs. Opeña, I can’t understand you thoroughly. Maybe you should just help me to understand this books instead of telling me your words of wisdom’ natawa lamang si Mrs. Opeña sa inaasta ni Connor dahil ganito pa rin ito kung umasta. Mula bata hanggang magbinata ay hindi pa rin ito nagbabago. ‘You are a teacher of History—just like my mom—and Filipino too, so why don’t you just help me to understand this history books?’

            Naglakad naman si Mrs. Opeña tungo sa kaniya at umupo sa kaniyang tabi. Inayos nito ang kaniyang salamin at tinignan ang librong hawak ni Connor.

            ‘Ano ba iyang mga binabasa mo? Maari ko bang makita?’ tanong nito at kinuha ang libro na hawak ni Connor. Connor let her as he know that she might knew things about this than him and especially the fact that she was a Filipino and History professor before. ‘Libro pala ito ukol kay Mycroft the III’ komento nito.

            ‘You knew him?’ Connor asked curiously while flipping the pages.

            ‘Oo naman, sino nga ba ang hindi makakakilala sa pinagmulan ng mama mo?’ nangingiti nitong bigkas habang binabasa ang mga nakasulat sa libro. ‘Palaging ikinikwento ng mama mo ang tungkol sa kaniya at kung gaano nito kamahal ang asawa niyang si Dolores nuong nabubuhay pa ito’ Connor was silently reading the books but only the English history books is the book he can only comprehend and not the Tagalog ones.

            ‘Do my mom always told you about him? And are you two close?’ he asked afterwards. He took his warm chocolate and sip onto it. Wala siyang kaalam-alam tungkol sa magulang niya samantalang ang katulong nila sa bahay ay tila kilalang-kilala nito ang kaniyang mga magulang. ‘And anyway, what do you know about Mycroft? Do my mother told you something about him that is not written in these books?’

            ‘Marami naming naikikwento ang mama mo, lalo na’t napakahilig niya sa mga ganitong bagay’ sagot nito kaya naman napatango-tango lamang si Connor.

            ‘Anyway… How’s my father these few years?’ Connor asked out of the blue as he was still worried for the health of his father even he was mad to him. Hindi pa rin maikakaila na nag-aalala pa rin siya pa sa kaniyang ama kahit pa na sabihing galit pa rin siya dito. ‘Is he doing better with his new fiancé? And what is his plan to her? Is he going to ask her to live in here after their marriage?’ he seemed curious and Mrs. Opeña knew it.

            ‘Sinabi ko na sa iyo, hindi parin maayos ang papa mo mula ng mawala ang mama mo’ sagot nito kaya naman huminga ng malalim si Connor. If he wasn’t doing good because he still can’t move on—if that was true, then why does he decided to marry someone else? My father was really unpredictable. ‘Kahit na kasama ng papa mo palagi ang mapapangasawa niyang bago at kahit pa na dumadalaw ito sa bahay na ito ay hindi pa rin nagbabago ang papa mo. Napakalamig pa rin nito at hindi pa rin bumabalik ang dating sigla nito’ dagdag pa nito.

            Should I believe? Or not? Perhaps not. Because I know my father wasn’t like that. Ayaw maniwala ni Connor na hanggang ngayon ay ang tanging ina niya lamang ang tunay na minamahal ng kaniyang ama. He thought that his father wasn’t that good enough to baffle him and he will never buy his act anymore.

            ‘How about his plans to his fiancé?’ Connor was reading until he halted to the part that the story and history about Mycroft tells about something about Esperanza. His brows knitted with it. ‘Who’s Pablo?’ Connor asked to himself when he saw the name connected to Esperanza.

            ‘Plano na ng papa mo na dito patirahin ang mapapangasawa niya.’ Connor aren’t surprise when he heard that. He knew his father very well. ‘Ngunit paminsan-minsan ay pumupunta naman na dito ang mapapangasawa ng papa mo. Minsan pa nga’y hinahanap ka niya para makausap at makilala ka, pero hindi ka naman dito nakatira kaya…hindi niya magawang makilala ka’