Unbind the Strings

Eleven

"Ingat kayo, anak. Namiss kita, mag iingat ka palagi, nak. Mahal ka ni daddy." I tried so hard to not look back and just continued to walk outside.

I saw Jay leaning on his car. He told me siya naman daw kakausap kay Daddy. Before he went inside, I held his hand to stop him.

"Pakisabi naman kay Daddy na kumain sa tamang oras, saka 'wag kamo siya mag papagutom, ha? Sabihin mo ingatan niya sarili niya saka mag sumbong siya kapag sinasaktan siya 'ron..." I asked him a favor and my tears started to form again.

"Shhh, don't cry na. I'll tell it to him, okay? Don't worry I'm not mad at you, you have nothing to do with this. Wait inside the car, okay?" I just nodded and gave him a short smile before going inside the car.

I can't help but cry inside the car. I missed him so much. I wanted to hug him back and tell him everything's alright pero para ko na ring sinaktan si Mommy pag ginawa ko 'yon. I patiently waited for him inside the car. 

He went back and he stared at me for a while. "It hurts seeing you cry like that...don't worry I already told him what you said. I also told the police to look for him inside. You'll see him soon, okay?" he held my face and smiled.

"Here, he asked me to give this to you." inabot niya sa'kin ang isang bracelet na may nakaukit na 'Cathan'. Naiyak na naman ako pagkakita ko sa inabot niya. "He took that off before going inside the cell."

"Thank you...dami ko ng utang sa'yo." I said to him. 

"I'm doing this for you, not for anybody else. Ayokong nakikita kang nasasaktan." he said before starting the engine of the car. We went to grab some ice cream on the way home. We were eating the inside the car and he just played some music. 

"Kadiri naman 'yang ice cream mo. Pistachio?" he told me while I'm getting a scoop of ice cream.

"Kesa naman sa'yo, cookies and cream? Laos na 'yan!" I said while sticking my tongue out at him.

"Lapit na recognition natin. I'm gonna miss you, bigtime." he said while glancing at me.

"Daya mo kasi hmp. Behave ka sa UP, ha? Susugurin talaga kita 'don kahit malayo 'yon." pag babanta ko sakanya. 

"Kahit malayo ako, ikaw lang mahal ko. Tandaan mo 'yan. 'Wag mo ko igaya sa iba, I'm a man of my words." 

"Wow hahaha! Siguraduhin mo lang, ha?" he chuckled and we finished our ice cream. 

"Baka ikaw makahanap ng iba dyan, ha? Akin ka lang." 

"Paano kung makahanap ako ng iba, anong gagawin mo?" I randomly asked him. 

"I'll fight for you, syempre. But, I can't force you to stay with me kung 'di na ako 'yung gusto mo. Your happiness is all that matters to me, 'di ba? Kung 'di ka na masaya sa'kin, I don't think I have a choice but to let you go." he said seriously.

"Bakit 'di ka gumawa ng paraan para ikaw ang piliin ko?" 

"Edi pinag mukha ko lang tanga sarili ko. Letting you go is not in my choices pero kung 'di ka na masaya sa'kin, I have to do it. Ayoko naman maging selfish, 'di pedeng gusto ko lang lagi. Gusto nga kita, iba naman gusto mo, anong magagawa ko?" he looked at me and raised his brows.