ANAIS
"Therese..." We sat on the bleacher after over half an hour of playing tennis. I leaned my arms against the back of the bleacher as we watched Scarlett and Maddie play. Nasa sports club kami ngayon. No matter how busy we get, we try to find times to meet up every so often.
"Yeah?" She turned her head to me before chugging water from her bottle.
"How do you not get pregnant?" I asked.
She coughed up the water she was drinking. She coughed a little more before she spoke. "Are you asking me how I don't get pregnant or do you want an advice?"
"The latter. I want to start being active again but I'm scared of getting pregnant." I sighed. I'm not going to deny that I felt threatened noong nalaman kong umaga na nakauwi si Coco galing sa bachelor party. What if he looks for 'it' somewhere else? Ano ba naman yung pagbigyan ko siya paminsan-minsan.
She looked at me as if I was crazy. "Grabe ka, Anais! May anak ka na, hindi mo pa rin alam kung paano?"
"That's exactly why I had Cookie in the first place. Hindi ko alam kung paanong hindi mabuntis. Coco and I had always been careful, he always wears condom, but I still got pregnant with Cookie."
"I got just the thing for you." She said, reaching for her bag and digging her hand inside it. She took out a bottle from her bag and handed it to me. "Birth control. Marunong ka bang gumamit nito?"
I shook my head.
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I can't believe it. Twenty-three years old ka na hindi ka pa marunong gumamit ng birth control. Gosh, buti hindi pa nagkakaron ng kapatid si Cookie."
"We haven't really... um, you know, since I gave birth to Cookie."
"Really? Wow, that's a long time." Her eyes widened. "You really need to take those pills. Basta don't have unprotected sex for one week after taking those pills. Hindi naman instant ang effect niyan. Baka ma buntis ka ulit."
"Okay. Thanks, Therese." I smiled.
"Ano ba talagang status niyo ni Coco? Hanggang ngayon ba nagpapakipot pa rin kayo sa isa't isa." She chuckled.
"Coco's been my bestfriend since we were kids."
"And you've had a kid with your bestfriend." Sabi ni Therese.
"It's hard to see him anything other than my bestfriend. Bata pa lang ako iyon na kami." I explained.
"Wala pa rin nagbabago?"
I slowly shook my head. "I still feel the same way for him as I did since we were kids."
"Ano bang nararamdaman mo for him?"
I paused for a second. Sinubukan kong kapain ang nararamdaman ko para kay Coco. "Well, he makes me feel happy, he makes me smile and laugh. He's a great Dad to Cookie. He's annoying sometimes but in an adorable way. He has the same maturity level as our son but he's sweet and caring."
"Hanggang friends with benefits na lang ba talaga kayo?"
My eyes lowered, avoiding hers. "I guess..."
"Bakit? Hindi mo ba talaga gusto si Coco?"
I blinked, not knowing how to answer her question. I hated how Therese was putting me in a hot seat. She was making me question my own feelings for Coco and how I see him. He was my bestfriend and it had always been like that since I could remember. Ang pinagkaiba nga lang ngayon, he was now also the father of my son.
"Wala ka ba talagang nararamdaman na love para sa kanya?" She pressed.
"Meron naman. Siya ang Daddy ni Cookie saka magkaibigan kami."
"No, not that kind of love. Let's set your friendship aside or him being the father of your son. Don't think about it. Kung hindi mo siya kaibigan at hindi siya ang ama ni Cookie, anong nararamdaman mo para sa kanya? Do you love him as a man?"
"Ang dami mo naman tanong. Lumalabas na naman yang pagkajournalist mo. Are you going to write an article about me?" I joked.
"Why are you changing the topic?" She chuckled teasingly. "Just answer my question."
"Well, what do you expect me to do? Ako ba ang dapat magmake ng first move? I don't even know how he feels for me. Siguro para sa kanya wala lang yung mga ginagawa namin. He's a man, most men will do any girl who'd let them."
"Hindi naman siguro. Maybe you two are just afraid to give it a try."
"He's not trying to do anything about it. Ano naman ang gagawin ko? Ako pa ang manliligaw sa kanya? I carried his son for nine months. Siya naman ang kumilos. I don't want to seem desperate." I told her.
Therese let out a breath. "Magpapakiramdaman na lang kayo? Your son's not getting any younger. He needs a complete family."
"Hey, we're going back home. Kanina pa kayo naglalaro diyan. Magdidinner pa tayo." I told the kids and Coco who were running around the playground. We took Arthur, Cookie, and Toffie to the park and the kids were having so much fun playing together. Coco looked like he was having fun with the kids too.
"Aww!" The boys moaned in chorus.
"Mymy, can we play for five more minutes." Pakiusap ni Cookie.
"Kanina ka pa yang five minutes mo. Dad will be home soon and he'll get mad kapag hindi niya kayo nakita ni Toffie." I told him.
"Besides it's getting dark already. Kapag dumilim na hindi na mga bata ang naglalaro dito. At night, the monsters come out to play." Coco said in a low, creepy voice.
"I want to go home." Arthur run to Coco and hug one leg in fear. "Kuya Coco, let's go home."
"I'm not scared of monster because I'm a monster too." Cookie put his hands over his hips.
"Okay. Uuwi na kami ni Dada." I shrugged and then looked at Toffie. "Sasama ka ba sa amin, Toffie, o iiwan na namin kayong dalawa?"
"I don't want to stay here." Toffie ran to me.
"Bye, Cookie. Have fun playing with your monster friends." Nang-aasar na sabi ni Coco sa anak niya. He carried his scared three year old brother and I took Toffie's hand. We turned and headed out the park when he came running to us.
"Mymy, Dada!" He said, running out of breath. He held both our hands.
"Oh, I thought you want to play with your monster friends?" I asked.
"I changed my mind." He replied.
Coco and I looked at each other and let out a soft laugh. We walked back to our home from the park. Coco was carrying half-asleep brother in one arm, Cookie was in between us and he was holding each our hands and swaying them, and I was holding Toffie's hand on the other. We were like a one big happy family. For a moment, I wished we really were. I wished we could give our little boy a complete family he deserved. Alam ko naman na busog siya sa pagmamahal sa mga Cordova at sa pamilya ko. But I wanted to give him a stable family. Hindi yung palipat-lipat siya sa amin at kay Coco.
"What are you thinking?" Coco suddenly asked.
I blinked, as if coming out from the trance. "Nothing."
"Really?" He asked.
"Mymy's thinking of buying me a new toy." Cookie butted in.
"I see." Coco chuckled.
"You saw it?" Cookie's head snapped to his father, his eyes widening.
"Saw what?" Coco's brows furrowed.
"Her thinking." He asked. "Can you see my thinking?"
"No one can see thoughts." Sabi ni Coco.
"Then why did you say 'I see'?" He asked, confused.
Coco let out a laugh. "It's an expression, baby. It means you understand what the person is saying."
"Oh, I see." He nodded his head.
"You're getting the hang of it." Coco praised.
Hinatid kami ni Coco hanggang sa gate ng bahay namin. Cookie and Toffie raced inside so I was left with Coco and Arthur. Arthur had already fallen asleep in the middle of our walk home.
"Mukhang pagod na pagod si Arthur." I said, rubbing the little boy's back.
"Makipagsabayan ba naman sa dalawang makulit." Coco said.
"Um, Coco..." My voice shook a little.
"Yeah?"
"Can you come to my room tonight?" I asked, nervously fidgeting.
"To your room?" Nanlaki ang mga mata niya na parang hindi makapaniwala sa narinig.
"I'll keep my window open." I told him. I turned and hurriedly walked inside.
Dad came home after an hour and we all had dinner together. Pagkatapos magdinner ay hinayaan ko muna si Cookie na manood ng movie kasama si Toffie sa kwarto nina Mommy.
Bumalik ako sa kwarto ko. I filled the tub with water and slipped a floral scented bath bomb in it. I sunk my body in water and scrubbed every nook and inch of it. I made sure I smelled of roses everywhere. I wanted to smell good for Coco.
I took my seventh pill today. Sabi ni Therese I needed to take it for one whole week before I could have sex. After a lot of years of being celibate, I was ready to have sex with him again. I couldn't wait to feel him inside me again. I was excited but a little scared. I felt like a virgin all over again.
I soaked my body in the tub for almost an hour before getting out of it. I took out the lingerie he gave me and wore it. Humarap ako sa pahabang salamin at tinitigan ang sarili ko. It fitted perfectly on my body. The pink silk bra pushed my breasts up, giving me a hefty amount of cleavage. And the panties, they were playful and sexy.
I smiled to myself as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was so sure he'd drool like a hungry dog who'd seen a steak when he sees me in these.
COCO
Damn it, Miguel Cordova! I cussed to myself.
My older brother asked for my help. He made me contact his bachelor party organizer and asked where the hooker he had sex with was. Yeah, you read it right. The flawless Miguel Imperial Cordova slept with a hooker on his bachelor party. Kaya pala hindi ko na siya nakita nang gabing iyon. He was more fucked up than I was. Hazel would kill him if she ever finds out.
"I've always been the black sheep in our family. Pero iba ka, bro! Nasa loob pala ang kulo mo." I grinned as we walked to the club's entrance.
"Shut up." He said with strained annoyance. "Where the hell are we going, Nicholas?"
We went to a low end strip club. The organizer gave me this address. He said the stripper he hired to dance at my brother's party worked here. My brother forced me to take him to the woman. He was getting paranoid that the woman might one day show up, tell everyone they had sex, and it'd ruin his perfect life and reputation. He begged me to take him to the woman. I couldn't ruin my chance for promotion. Promotion meant higher check. Like any other employee I had to kiss my boss's ass, even if that boss was my brother. He needed to promote me because I went with him and blew my chance of a possible balls deep action with Anais tonight.
Shit! Anais! I lifted my hand and looked down at my wrist watch. Wala naman siyang sinabing oras. She just said to come to her room tonight. She didn't tell me why but the sparkle in her eyes told me everything. Siguro pinatutulog pa niya ang anak namin ngayon. Bro's just going to see the woman and we'd be home in no time.
It was a decent looking strip club. Not as good as the show club we once went to with Kuya Miggy and Dad in Vegas when we visited Audrey but it was a nice place. Mind you, we had the matriarch's permission. Dad's more afraid of Mama than anyone in this entire planet and he'd never do anything to upset Ma. We just wanted a full Vegas experience and everyone knew it wouldn't be complete without going to casinos and show clubs. We drank a little in the club and went home after.
We were let in by a bouncer and led to our table by a hot waitress with an ass bigger than the Kardashians. She took our order and left. The lights dimmed and the stage in the center of the room bathed in red lightings. A woman in black lace bra and bikini walked up the stage. Her figure was of an hour glass. Big breasts, big bottoms, small waist. I quickly recognized it without looking at her face.
"Damn! She's one fine piece of ass." I commented. I happened to know how to appreciate beauty.
She started dancing and she went around the pole in the middle of the stage. She rolled her hips like the professional exotic dancer she was. My mind quickly wandered off elsewhere as she danced. I was thinking the whole time that I could've been with Anais right now with my balls deep inside her like there's no tomorrow. The song ended and so did the dance. Pumasok siya sa backstage at maya-maya ay lumabas siyang nakasuot ng itim na dress.
She walked up to one of the customers sitting alone and started chatting with him.
"What the hell are we doing here anyway?" He asked.
I wanted to punch the shit out of my brother for even asking. "You said you wanted to see her. There she is!"
There was a few seconds of silence as he looked at the woman, then he spoke again. "Do you think she remembers me?"
Kibit-balikat ang isinagot ko.
"What am I going to do? Should I talk to her? Pakikiusapan ko ba siya?" He sounded like a nervous teenage boy.
"I don't know. You did the deed, I'm not going to be the one who would deal with the deed's consequence."
"Damn it! I don't know what I should do." He frustratedly said and took a gulp from his glass. "You know what? Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe we should leave her alone."
Finally! Good idea, bro! I rejoiced internally.
I gestured for the waitress for our bill. We suddenly heard a commotion coming from their table. It seemed like the foreigner guy she was with wanted to touch her but she doesn't want to be touched. Biglang sinampal ng babae ang lalaki. He was about to hurt the woman and we instictively got up from our seats.
I attacked the man before his palm landed on the woman's face. These type of men was what made my blood boil. There's nothing worse than a man who hurts women. My Dad would always tell us to treat women like they were jewels. Once I hit Audrey when we were kids for being annoying and Dad slapped my hands and told me that if I ever hit a woman again, he'd cut them off. For him, it was the biggest sin.
ANAIS
I furiously tapped the screen of my phone with my finger. I scrolled through the phonebook and found Coco's name. I'd been waiting for him for almost an hour now. Paubos na nga yung vanilla scented candle na sinindihan ko kanina.
I decided to put on my robe. I was starting to feel cold, I might catch a cold as I hardly had any cloth on my body. I called him and his phone rang a few times before he picked it up.
"Anais!" The surprise in his voice was evident.
My eyes narrowed when I heard music and people thinking in the background. "Where are you?"
"Pauwi na ako."
"Where are you?" Inis na ulit ko.
"May dinaanan lang ako. I'm sorry. I couldn't say no." He apologized.
I made all these effort for nothing. I blew out the candle. I wanted so bad to throw the candle bottle to the window of his room but I stopped myself from doing so. That would be a bad idea. If Dad finds out about our secret, he'd kill him. Or maybe it wasn't a bad idea after all.
I went to Mom and Dad's to check on my son. Halos patulog na si Cookie ng dumating ako. Toffie was already asleep in Dad and Mom's bed.
"Let's go get you to bed." I told him.
With hooded eyes, he climbed down their bed. I took him to his bedroom and tucked him into his bed.
"Good night, my little monster." I kissed him on the cheek.
"Night, Mymy." He lazily said.
Biglang tumunog ang phone ko mula sa pocket ng robe. I took it out and saw Coco's name on the screen. I was going to ignore the phone call when Cookie spoke. "Is that Dada?"
"Go to sleep." I told him.
"I want to talk to Dada." Pilit niya.
Even though I didn't want to, I was forced to take the call for my son. I answered the call and put it on loudspeaker.
"Anais..." He said. "Anais, please talk to me."
"Hello, Dada." Said Cookie.
"Anak, what are you doing up this late? Nasaan si Mymy?" He asked.
"She's holding the phone right beside me." Cookie answered.
"I see. What did you do tonight? Bakit late na yata ang tulog mo?" I could hear people talking in the background. I was sure he had company with him.
"I watched Toy Story with Mama Val and Papa Axel and Toffie." Kwento niya.
"We just watched it a few days ago. Hindi ka pa ba nagsasawa?" He chuckled a little.
"But I love Buzz and Woody." He pouted. "Dada, are you with your friends?"
He'd probably heard the people talking in the background. He was quite an observant little kid.
"Pauwi na ako, Cookie." He said. "Is your Mommy still there?"
"Yeah, she's listening." He yawned. "Dada, I'm tired. I'm going to go to sleep."
"Can I talk to your Mymy?" He asked.
"Mymy, Dada wants to talk to you." He looked at me.
I shook my head.
"I don't think she wants to talk to you."
"Okay... I love you, Cookie."
"Love you too, Dada."
"I'll see you later?" He said as if it was me who he was talking to.
"It's tomorrow, Dada." Sagot ni Cookie. "Don't stay out too late. It's already dark outside. Baka makasalubong mo yung mga monsters. I love you so muuuuch, Dada."
Coco chuckled a little. "I love you more. Can you give Dada a kiss?"
"Mwah!" Cookie giggled, kissing my phone.
"Mwah!" He made a smooching sound too. "Isa pa ngang kiss."
"Mwah!" He kissed again.
Pagkababa ko ng phone ay yumakap na si Cookie sa paborito niyang unan. I kissed him good night and turned off his lights before I went out. Bumalik na ako sa kwarto ko at ibinagsak ang sarili ko sa kama.
I took one pillow, putting it over my face and I screamed. The pillow muffled the sound. Inis na inis ako kay Coco. Damn him! How could he stood me up? Where did he go? Who was he with? Questions started spinning into my head.
Sa ginawa niyang ito sa akin, hinding-hinding-hindi na ulit ako papayag may mangyari sa amin. Kahit hawak hindi na!
I didn't really realized I had fallen asleep until I was woken up by the feeling of something warm encircling around my waist. I moaned and cuddled closer to the warmth.
"Anais..." I felt warm breath blow on my ear.
My body stiffened and my eyes snapped open. Coco was beside me and he reeked of alcohol and cigarette. I felt hot anger in my chest when I saw and smelled him. My eyes narrowed at him.
"Ano'ng ginagawa mo dito?" I said, pushing him away.
"Hindi ba ikaw ang nagsabi sa akin na pumunta dito?" He smiled, pulling me back to him.
"Kanina yun." I harshly pushed him away. "Umalis ka na nga dito. I want to go to sleep."
"Bakit ba pinapunta mo ako dito?" He asked, bringing his head down to kiss my shoulder while his hand played with the robe's rope. "You smell so good."
"Please, Coco, umalis ka na." I said, trying to pry myself from his hold. He gently let me go and I crawled away from him, sitting on the edge of the bed. He followed me and wrapped his arms around me from my back.
"Huwag ka nang magtampo. Sorry kung na late ako. Sinamahan ko pa si Kuya Miggy." He rested his chin on my shoulder.
He smelled of alcohol and cigarette tapos sasabihin niyang si Kuya Miggy ang kasama niya? He was too sophisticated to even step foot on the place he went to. He had probably gone to a nightclub with Tate and Yvo.
I shrugged his head away from my shoulder. "Umalis ka na dito. I just want to go back to sleep."
"Mag-aaway na naman ba tayo?" He sighed.
"Hindi kita inaaway. Pinakikiusapan kita ng maayos na umalis dito dahil inaantok na ako."
"Not until you tell me why you want me to go to your room in the first place." He gave neck a sniff kiss.
"Because..." I stood up and faced him. Umayos siya at umupo sa gilid ng kama. Tinanggal ko ang tali ng robe ko at tinanggal sa katawan ko. Hinayaan kong mahulog ang robe sa sahig. I confidently stood in front of him in a pair of pink silk lingerie. "I want to know if I look good in these."
His eyes glimmered with excitement and passion.
"You're beautiful." He whispered as if he had ran out of breath. "You have a body of a goddess..."
"Thanks." I smiled teasingly. I turned and bent down to reach for my robe, purposely showing him my butt cheeks. I stood up, slipping the robe back and faced him again. "That's all I want to know. You can go now."
"W-what?" Napakurap siya.
"I said you can go now. Leave."
"You've got to be kidding me." He groaned.
"No, I am not." I bit my bottom lip to supress my smile.
"Anais..." He grunted like a kid about to throw a tantrum.
"Thank you, Coco." I gave him the sweetest smile before heading to my bathroom.
Have fun trying to sleep with blue balls, asshole!