Fleeting Moments

Chapter 21: Ring

He frowned which made my eyebrow twitch. He was acting weird. Hindi naman ako mapapagod nang sobra dahil isasalansan ko lang naman sa cabinet ang mga damit niya. Ako pa nga ang naglagay ng mga damit niya sa bagahe kaya nakita ko na lahat. Ano pa ba ang ikinahihiya niya?

"Ako na kasi," pagpupumilit niya at puwersahang tinanggal ang kapit ko sa zipper.

"Bakit ba?" tanong ko. Hindi na ako umalis sa sahig. Mukhang ayaw niya pang iayos ang gamit niya dahil isinara niya ang zipper ng maleta.

I looked at our old cabinet. Pati ba naman iyon, katatakutan niya? We no longer have any of Lolo's clothes.

"Basta," he answered. Pinanliitan ko siya ng mata.

He looked away before standing up. I looked back at his luggage with a weird feeling crawling in my mind.

"May tinatago ka ba sa 'kin?" I asked him directly.

Agaran ang pagpaling ng tingin niya sa akin. Eyes wide, he shook his head repeatedly. My frown deepened.

"Wala, Frankie," aniya bago dali-daling bumalik sa tapat ko sa sahig.

Napanguso ako. He shouldn't have answered. Lalo lang tuloy akong nagduda. Or maybe I shouldn't have asked that question in the first place, but I couldn't help it. I like it when we're both straightforward. After all, our relationship got rocky when we started keeping things to ourselves.

"'Di ako naniniwala, but okay." I shrugged before standing. Pinagpagan ko ang pantalong suot. I was not mad. It's just that I don't believe him, pero hindi ko naman dinadamdam.

"O, ito na nga, sige na," kakamot-kamot sa ulo niyang sabi bago buksan ang maleta niya. I raised a brow.

"I'm not mad, Ryo," I assured him. I really wasn't, but he looked like he didn't believe me. He reached for my hand, and I was forced to sit back down on the floor.

"Wala nga talaga." He sighed. "Sige na, mag-ayos na tayo ng gamit."

I eyed him suspiciously. Hindi niya natagalan ang titig ko at yumuko na sa mga damit niya. I picked up a few of his shirts lying on top of the others and stood up to put them inside the cabinet.

Dahil ayaw kong magpabalik-balik, hinigit ko na nang tuluyan ang isang drawer para sana dalhin na sa sahig. Pagharap ko, naabutan ko siyang may mabilisang tinagong kung ano sa likuran niya.

My eyes narrowed. Wala palang tinatago, ha? What was that, then? And why does he look like he was going to piss on his pants anytime soon?

"Ano 'yon?" I asked and sat across him with his luggage between us.

Halata kong nagulo ang mga damit niya at mukhang mula sa ilalim ng mga shorts niya kinuha ang kung anuman ang itinatago na niya sa likuran niya. I shook my head. He was miserably failing in this hiding game.

"Wala," sagot niya, nakayuko na. I watched him put some of his clothes on the drawer.

"Huli ka na sa akto, itatanggi mo pa." I clicked my tongue.

Bumalik sa akin ang tingin niya dahil doon. Ilang segundo kaming nagkatinginan lang. I blinked rapidly and looked away when I realized that he could have thought that I was talking about something else.

"Hindi si ano'ng tinutukoy ko," pahabol ko. I saw him gulp. "I don't care about her anymore."

Natahimik kaming dalawa. The growing silence made me frustrated. Hindi naman iyon ang ibig kong sabihin e!

Kasalanan naman niya kasi na ayaw na lang niyang ipakita sa akin ang itinatago niya. I couldn't help but be curious most especially a while ago that I caught him hiding it from me.