He Was My Cousin

Chapter 30

Chapter 30
The Talk

"Kinakabahan nga ako, e."

I kept my eyes shut but I laughed out loud. "Si Engineer Jiro Cervantes, Gerard O. McGill Academic Excellence in Structural Engineering and Academic Excellence in Construction Engineering and Management awardee no'ng undergrad, kinakabahan?"

"Pa'no mo nalaman 'yan?!" he asked, surprised. He was laughing now too while combing my hair with his fingers. "I never mentioned that!"

Iminulat ko ang mga mata ko at agad bumungad ang mukha ni Jiro. I grinned teasingly, "I told you I'm your stalker." I tapped his nose with the tip of my finger. "Inabot ko kaya hanggang dulo ng Facebook timeline mo," I confessed which made him laugh harder.

Napatikhim ako bigla nang maalala ang mga panahong 'yon. I realized, "I regret not going to the University grad... I should have seen you graduate."

I only attended my college's graduation. 'Yung para sa mga educ Octoberians lang. 'Yung Univ grad kasi noon ay tuwing end lang ng school year. I could have marched then but I opted not to because I chose my masters. Sabay sana kami ni Jiro dahil five years ang program niya.

"Those awards were given during college grad, and you can't attend without tix. Paano ka naman makakakuha ng ticket kung halos magtago ka yata sa box para lang hindi kita makita sa JMU? At tinakbuhan mo pa ako sa airport?"

"'Di ako tumakbo sa airport, 'no! 'Wag ka nga! Tska kung si--" simula ko ngunit isinara ko agad ang aking bibig bago pa may lumabas na kung anong salitang maaring pagsisihan ko.

"What?"

Kung si Paolo nga nagawang makakuha ng ticket para sa college graduation ko...

Iniwas ko ang aking tingin. "Wala. Sabi ko kung nando'n lang sana ako, magrereklamo ako kung bakit wala kang laude samantalang 'yung magna niyo wala ngang special award."

He laughed, "Gano'n talaga. He was jack of all trades - construction, structural, geotechnical, transpo, water and coastal eng'g, pati sa minors... while I was good with construction... and construction and construction... and construction. Uhm, what else? Ah, construction!"

Tumawa ako nang malakas. Not because I found his joke ridiculously funny, but because I actually get what he meant. Kadalasan kasi 'pag may halo na na tungkol sa field niya, hindi ko naiintindihan 'yung joke or pun niya. O kaya naman 'pag nagki-kwento siya tungkol sa trabaho, I get lost because I didn't understand a thing, and most of the time he forgets we don't speak the same language in that sense.

Sometimes I think this was the con of dating an engineer who truly loves what he's doing... na minsan masyado siyang na-eengross na nakakalimot siya na ako ang kausap niya - na para sa akin iisa lang lahat ng pader sa bahay namin; na para sa akin tao at hayop lang ang may karapatang ma-stress at hindi 'yung biga ng kwarto niya - but then one out of the multitude things I love about Jiro was his passion... for his family, for his craft, for his career. I wouldn't complain on that.

Ngumuso siya. "But seriously, kinakabahan talaga ako. Can you sit in my class on the first day?"

Tumawa ulit ako. Sa susunod na buwan na kasi siya magsisimula bilang instructor sa JMU. He knew the subject well, he even had his slides ready for his lectures. So I said, "I really don't get why you're getting nervous."

"I'll be speaking in front of a large class for a good hundred twenty-minutes," he said, horrified as the idea of it resurfuced his mind.

I got up. Nag-indian seat ako sa ibabaw ng kama at gano'n din siya. "This is so not you, Ji. You present yourself well with everyone. Kayang-kaya mo 'yun. You even present your plans with board members, what's with you now... getting nervous about a bunch of seventeen, eighteen-year olds?"