Sindak

KABANATA 45

"No, no, no! Don't you dare f*ck with my mind Mom!" I am livid almost instantly, "She can't be...wha--" I could barely speak sa sobrang gigil sa sitwasyon, "What is your proof...huh? O baka naman hinala mo lang? Remember na hindi ko pa nakukuha ang side ni Daddy sa mga suspicions and allegations mo sa kanya! And maybe you know me well enough! You know I will not stop right here. I will not stop until I get to the bottom of this!"

"P-please don't confront your Dad. Nakikiusap ako sa 'yo, Jeff...anak." She began to sob.

"And why not, huh?! After you've upset me with these revelations that my girlfriend could possibly be my--" Napamura ako nang pabulong dahil hindi ko masabi ang salitang'sister' "hahayaan ko na lang 'to?" Hinatak ko si Mommy sa isang sulok. I lowered the tone of my voice dahil sa mga dumadaang tao sa hallway. "Mom!" Bulong ko; may halo itong panggigigil, "You can't just say that I've possibly committed incest and just let this go without confronting the root of all these complications! Alam mong magkasama na kami ni Jasmine sa iisang bahay, and you know that we are already sharing the same bed! Hindi mo naman siguro iniisip na our relationship is platonic. Tapos ganito? Biglang sasabihin mo na sist--F*ck!" Napatampal ako sa pader, "How can you even think I am just going to accept that, huh?!" Napataas ang boses ko.

"W-wag kang maingay anak." Sumusulyap ito sa bandang likuran ko. "Baka marinig ka ni Jaimie."

"O eh ano ngayon kung marinig n'ya?!" Mas nilakasan ko na ang boses ko. "Hindi ba s'ya miyembro ng pamilya natin, ha?! You know what? I'm going to tell her and confront Dad ngayon mismo!"

"Please Jeff..."humahagulhol na si Mommy.

"No! You listen to me Mommy. I will confront Dad! I love Jasmine and I'm going to marry her soon enough. You cannot stop me. Dad cannot stop me. Nobody can stop me! Not even if you say that she's my sist--" Damn it! I can't really say it. "Not even if Dad confirms your allegations that she is indeed one of his daughters and that she is...s-she is...m-my sister!"

"S-son, please. H-hindi ko naman kayo pipigilan ni Jasmine eh. Marry her, I'll stay out of your way. But please don't confront your Dad. No, please, Son!" Halos lumuhod na ito sa harapan ko.

I pulled her up, "Can you hear yourself right now? Do you know how f*cked-up you sound, Mom? You are not going to stop me to marry my own sister 'wag ko lang i-confront si Daddy?!"

"I-I..."

"What?! Pinandilatan ko s'ya ng mga mata.

"I know I just said she is one of you Father's daughters but..."

"But what?!"

"But I did not say she's your sister."

I don't know if it's psychological, or maybe my blood pressure abrupty spiked up, but I suddenly felt a weird vibration behind my head.

"What did you just say?" in a very low tone. I was almost whispering.

"Please don't tell your Dad." She covered her mouth as tears trickled down her eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me that I am not my father's son?"

"Shhh..." she tried to cover my mouth and began to act like a paranoid woman. She was looking around, making sure nobody's listening to our conversation.

"Are you trying to insinuate that he doesn't even know?" I muttered.

She began to sob and weep severely. It took a good two minutes before she calmed down. "Look Jeff." She's trying to fix and compose herself, "I know how it feels to love someone too much, you will do everything to make that person stay with you whatever it takes...whatever the odds maybe. Kung mahal mo talaga si Jasmine. Hindi ako tututol. But it's very possible that your Dad knows her, and she can almost recognize your Dad as her biological father. If you want to keep her...we have to keep her away from your Dad. And he must never know that..."

"...That I am not his biological son?" It's surprising that I felt more relieved of the fact. "Who's my father then?"

"S-some guy."

I chuckled sarcastically, "So 'yun lang ang pangalan ng Father ko...'some guy?' does he even have a name?"

Copyright ⓒ DyslexicParanoia (Angela Atienza), 2014, All rights reserved.

"Why do you have ask?" Her bearing began to change. To be totally honest to myself, medyo kinilabutan ako sa paraan ng pagtingin n'ya sa akin.

"Don't I have the right to know?"

"What for? Wala na naman s'ya. There's no chance for you to meet him anyway"  Her gaze is unlike the mother I know. She creeps me out by the second.

I pretended I did not notice. "Why not?"

She paused and spookily stared at me for almost a minute. "He wanted to take you away from me while you're still in my tummy. He is not supposed to know I'm pregnant because that's not part of the plan. My plan was...to marry the man of my dreams. And I'm going to build a family and a home with him..." Umabante s'ya nang lakad.  Napapaatras naman ako. Her face is menacing. Something that I've never expected she'd have.

"That doesn't answer my question, Mo--"

"Walang p'wedeng kumontra. Wala ring p'wedeng sumira sa pagsasama namin ng Daddy mo. Kung ayaw mong hantungan ni Jasmine and sinapit ng tunay mong Papa at ng kanyang ina...listen to me very carefully, son--"

"W-why? What happened to them? What did you do to the--"

"Your Dad and Jasmine must never meet!" She hissed. "Siguradong paghihiwalayin n'ya kayo. But you can never tell him the truth about your real father either 'cause I am going to deny it. Mabait pa nga ako sa 'yo 'di ba?"  Ngumisi s'ya. "Binibigyan kita ng pagkakataon to run away with her. Go...run away with her. Mag-abroad kayo, doon kayo tumira sa malayo. But you have to keep her away from your Dad."

"Hindi mo pa rin sinagot ang tanong ko, Mom.  What happened to my father and her mother?"

The sinister grin I wish I never had to see was all over her face again, "Don't worry. They are at peace now. I guess six feet under the ground is far enough to keep them away from my family." Tinapik-tapik n'ya ang pisngi ko.  "Let me know if want Jasmine to join them. Madali naman akong kausap."

[ITUTULOY]