Pork Soda

Eleven

I was eating out when Martial had called me.

I was in a small and quaint building a bit far from the Malacañang Palace. The restaurant's ambience was soft and calming with delicious smells roaming about and entering the noses of the goers of this place - the perfect atmosphere for me. We sat in a private booth. America was on my right and Mindanao and Visayas were on my left. Across from me was Philip who had Israel sitting on his left and Gregorio and Luzon on his right.

We were all filled with laughs and smiles. Philip, America, and Gregorio were cracking jokes as we ate. I, along with Visayas, stayed silent and only joined them laughing a couple of times. There were a couple of offensive jokes - mostly about Martial - so whenever those jokes come, I always awkwardly laugh, not knowing what to say or what to do.

They might have forgiven Martial, but I know that they can never really forget what he did, and they hate him for it. I can understand. If I were them, I would have hated my brother too.

Right now, Philip and America were battling each other to see who could hold their beer the longest. Philip's face was a little pinkish after a few glasses, but America still looked fine. Despite the fact that America will win in the end, Philip isn't going to back down any time soon and keeps drinking.

"H-hey... Are you sure you don't want to stop, Ili?", Israel asks worriedly.

"Don't worry too much, Angel," Philip hiccups and gives his lover a smile one would call charming had it not looked like his mouth was drooping from time to time. "I-I've got this."

"Ha!", America laughs. "Face it, Phil! I'm so gonna win."

"Kiss my puwit, Joe!", Philip slurs. (butt)

We all laugh. There's no way Philip is going to win–

Something vibrates against my thigh and I realize that it's my phone. I fish my still vibrating phone from my dress pants and see that someone was calling me. Well, not someone. It was Martial.

I excuse myself from the booth to take the call. I go out of the restaurant and stand by the door, on hand in my pocket. I flip open my phone and accept the call, pressing it against my ear. The signal around here is pretty bad so the caller doesn't answer for a while.

In those few minutes of waiting, I take in a deep breath and sigh, feeling a bit freer now that I'm outside. It was too cramped in the booth. I feel the soft night breeze brush against my face and hear how the birds chirp as they rest on trees to sleep. The street isn't empty, despite the time. It was never empty after Philip took over. Of course, everyone wanted to walk out at night and enjoy the coolness of it since they didn't get the chance to when the curfew was imposed.

I smile. I'm happy to have met Philip and his family. I'm so grateful that they had taken me in despite circumstance. I hope this peace lasts. Maybe it could last–

"R-Russ...?", I hear Martial's voice. It' s soft because of the bad signal, but I can still hear how shaky is breath is and how tired and pained he sounds. "Help!"

"Луси? What's wrong?", I ask worriedly.

"It hurts, Russ...," I hear him whimper.

"I'm coming home now," I say. "Do you need me to bring Phil–"

"No!", he exclaims, but he doesn't sound angry. I start to worry even more.

Martial had gotten pregnant with twins by some human nine months ago today. He was due any moment, but I didn't think that he would be due now when neither I nor his family are there at home. I knew I should have stayed home! I left thinking that Luci would be alright by himself, he even assured me that he'd be fine, but I was wrong. What's even worse is that the house was far away from here!