Holding on to His Promises

Chapter 1: Trip to Lolo Max's Hacienda

"Hi, Auntie Rona!" Nilapitan siya ni Kirby at nagmano sa kanya. Auntie nodded at him.

Nilingon ko si Dylan at pinanlakihan siya ng mata. He seemed like he was hesitating to approach my auntie. Pero lumapit din siya kay Auntie Rona at nagmano. Hinayaan naman siya ni Auntie ngunit wala itong reaksyon.

"Ipasok mo 'yan sa loob," she ordered wearing a straight face.

"Uhm, Auntie, may I invite them to come inside the house?" May pag-aalinlangan na sabi ko.

"No, they should go home. Gabi na," she said while her eyes were locked on Dylan.

Dylan just gave me a meaningful look like he was used to be treated like that by Auntie Rona. Well, palagi naman talagang mainit ang tingin sa kanya ni Auntie. I just apologized to him through my facial expression.

Dylan and Kirby both left, while Auntie Rona and I walked into the house. Nilapag ko sa lamesa ng kitchen ang paper bag. Sinilip ko ang laman niyon, at nakita kong mga groceries iyon.

"Auntie, you know it's already Christmas vacation. I want to enjoy it. Uh . . . may I come with Kirby and Dylan?" lakas-loob na tanong ko rito habang nilalagyan nito ng bigas ang kaldero.

"Saan kayo pupunta?"

"Sa lolo ni Dylan."

Napatigil siya at tumingin sa akin. "Hindi ba nag-usap na tayo tungkol diyan?"

"But Auntie, I just want to see horses there and some planted vegetables," I said in a pleading tone. "I want to be with them. Besides, uuwi naman daw kami before noche-buena."

She stared at me for a while before she said, "No." Bumagsak ang mga balikat ko dahil doon. "You'll stay here. No more buts."

I felt how my lips become thin in dissapointment.

"But―"

She looked at me with strictness on her face. "Do you want me to get mad, Demi?"

Of course not. I didn't want her to get mad, dahil siguradong hindi na naman niya ako papayagan na makipaglaro kina Dylan at Kirby.

***

Palabas na ako ng gate ng bahay namin nang matanaw ko si Kirby at Dylan na nilalagay ang mga gamit nila sa loob ng kotse ni Tito Travis, ang daddy ni Dylan. I didn't want them to see me, so I hid from them and just went back inside the house.

I badly wanted to go with them. I wanted to experience a Christmas vacation with my best friends. Dylan wasn't always around every Christmas vacation, because they were having a vacation at his grandfather's hacienda, while Kirby was always having a quality time with her mom.

I wished I had parents like theirs who would always be with me every Christmas, but sadly, my parents were working abroad. They were just sending me a present every Christmas because they were just going home when my birthday.

Naabutan ko si Auntie Rona na nag-aayos ng plato sa lamesa para sa tanghalian namin. Umupo ako sa isang upuan roon at wala sa mood na hinawakan ang kutsara at tinidor ko.

"Bakit hindi ka pa kumakain?" She told me when she noticed that I wasn't moving. I was just staring at my plate with a sad face.

I didn't respond. Nilaro at ginalaw-galaw ko lang ang pagkain na nasa plato ko. Ramdam ko ang pag sulyap-sulyap niya sa akin hanggang sa marinig ko ang pagbuntong hininga niya. Napaangat ako ng tingin sa kanya nang tumayo siya at tinungo ang pintuan palabas ng bahay. Napasunod lang ako sa kanya ng tingin hanggang sa makalabas na ito ng tuluyan. Muli ko lang binalik ang tingin ko sa plato ko at sumimangot.