Strings of Memory

Chapter 2

Tumingin ako sa mga magulang ko at nakitang may mga ngiti sa mga labi nila. Mommy mouthed something to which I read as it's okay and Daddy nod his head. So I took a deep breath and put my right hand over the strings.

I have been practicing this to show off to my Dad, so this was the perfect place to show it to him. Besides, having them here, just watching over me, was enough to lessen the nerves I was feeling.

I focused all my attention to the bass, and when I finished playing, I immediately looked at my father's face. He's wearing a bigger smile now than before, and I could sense a pride in there too. At dahil doon ay napangiti ako. Yes! I made him proud.

Ibinaling ko ang tingin sa mga kabanda niya at nakitang halos manlaki ang mga mata nila dahil sa gulat, except for Tanya. She slowly clapped her hands, and that seemed to wake her bandmates up. They also began clapping with smiles on their faces.

"You're good, Wynther!" Tori said excitedly.

Tumango naman ang mga kasama niya. "Yes, he really is." Pagsang-ayon ni Harrison sa sinabi ni Tori.

"He's amazing." Sabi ni Youssef. Hearing their praises made my heart thump, at kasabay noon ang pag-iinit ng mga pisngi ko. I'm not used to these kinds of praises.

"He really is. He's a genius." Sabi ni Tanya at tumingin kay Daddy. "Unlike you, Nico." Dagdag niya habang may ngiting naglalaro sa mga labi niya.

The other band members laughed and started agreeing to what she just said. They teased him about how we're so different. How I'm a genius while my father isn't. And the most surprising thing is, my mother seemed to agree with what they were saying because she kept teasing Dad too. All Dad could do was scratch the back of his head and laugh.

I looked at all of them with a confused look. Wait, why are they teasing Dad, like he sucks at playing? We all heard him play. He's really good at playing the bass.

Mukha namang napansin ni Tanya ang naging reaksyon ko dahil tumigil siya sa ginagawa niyang pang-aasar kay Daddy at ibinaling sa akin ang atensyon niya.

"You're curious?" Tanong niya na marahan kong tinanguan. Ngumiti siya bago sumagot. "You see, when we were just starting out, your father really sucked at playing the bass."

Nakita ko naman ang pagtangong ginawa ng mga kabanda nila kaya naman ibinaling ko kay Daddy ang tingin. He avoided my eyes, and that only added to my confusion.

"It's true, Wyn." Napatingin ako kay Mommy nang sabihin niya iyon. What? He sucked at it? I mean, it's quite understandable because he's just a beginner, but I feel like there's more to this than I'm getting. I feel like there's more to the story.

Nang dahil sa sinabi ni Mommy ay nagsimula ulit silang asarin si Daddy. They kept teasing him, and I couldn't help myself but ask. Bago ko pa man mapigilan ang sarili ko, ay kusa nang lumabas ang mga tanong na nasa isipan ko.

"Why did you choose the bass, Dad?" Tanong ko na mas nagpatawa sa kanilang lahat pwera kay Daddy.

Mas lalo akong naguluhan dahil sa naging reaksyon nila. What's with them? Is this connected to why they kept teasing him?

Nang humupa ang tawanan nila ay si Harrison ang nagbigay sa akin ng sagot.

"There's no grand reason why he chose it." Sabi niya at kinagat ang labi para mapigilan ang sariling matawa. Mukhang may naalala siya kaya hindi niya napigilan ang pagtawa. Kaya naman si Tori na ang nagpatuloy ng kwento niya, kahit na siya rin ay natatawa.

"You see, when we were just starting the band, he was originally going to play the guitar. Naalala ko pa nga na grabe ang naging away nila ni Harry dahil ayaw niyang pumayag na hindi gitara ang tutugtugin niya." Kwento niya.

"I remember him saying how he wants to play the guitar because it will make him look cooler." Dagdag niya, na nagpatawa sa kanya. "Lame, right?"

Nakita ko ang ginawang pagtango ng mga kasama niya. This time, si Youssef naman ang nagpatuloy ng kwento dahil hindi na naalis sa pagtawa si Tori.

"Harry doesn't have a choice but to give in dahil ayaw talagang pumayag ni Nico." Pauna niya. "Then he went on to buy his own guitar kahit na hindi pa niya alam kung ano ang dapat niyang bilin. As you may have already known, there are different kinds of guitar. There's an acoustic guitar, an electric one, and so on."

"We tried contacting him that day, but we couldn't get a hold of him. And then, the next day we saw him, he already bought his guitar." He said, quoting the word guitar.

"Nang tignan namin ay hindi naman pala iyon isang gitara. He mistakenly bought a bass instead of a guitar." Dagdag niya at hindi na napigilan pang tumawa. Humugot siya ng malalim na paghinga para mapatigil ang sarili sa pagtawa. "He spent all of his money buying that bass, so we all went back to the shop he bought it from and did our best to persuade the owner to exchange it for a guitar, but sadly, the owner didn't agree."

"So now, he was stuck with the bass kahit na hindi naman talaga 'yun ang gusto niyang gamitin na instrument. That's the story of how he got to play it." Pagtatapos niya sa kwento niya at ngumiti. "He struggled hard on how to play it, but it's what made him who he is today. That mistake led him to inspiring you to play."

Napatingin ako kay Daddy at nakitang namumula ang tenga niya, senyales sa nararamdaman niyang hiya. He scratched his head again before taking a deep breath pagkatapos ay itinuon niya ang atensyon niya sa akin.

"It was a mistake I was glad I made, Wynther," sabi niya habang nakangiti na naging dahilan para muli siyang asarin ng mga kabanda niya.

"You're just trying to act cool because your son is in front of you," sabi ni Tori at tumawa.

"Yeah, that's right. You're just acting cool now, pero noong unang nabili mo yung bass ay grabe ang pagmamaktol na ginawa mo! I couldn't believe that you were capable of doing something like that," dagdag ni Tanya at hindi na napigilan pa ang pagtawa.

They all laughed while teasing my dad, but he didn't try to fight back. He just laughed with them, as though remembering what happened. It might have been embarrassing then and even now that he's hearing the story again, but I think it was a good memory for all of them. I could see how their eyes were shining with happiness as they teased my father.

Looking at them like this, I couldn't help but smile. Seeing them so happy, hearing the story about why my father picked the bass, made my heart pound. I'm glad I got to learn more about him.