Off Beat

13th Beat

Man Down

Kakabalik ko lang sa unit ni Kenneth galing bahay. Kahit kulang ang tulog dahil sa walang humpay na pagsuka ng kaibigan ko, I stayed. I just went early to give my courtesy call to my parent dahil di ako nakapagpaalam and also to get my pencils for sketching. Mabuti na lang at maagang umuwi yung tatlo. Yes they have served me well dahil sila ang nag-atupag kay Kenneth habang suka ng suka. The sleepless night, the unfinished requirements, and that driving lesson mishap, kakastress ng sobra. Hapon na ako nakabalik. Pagdating ko pa lang ng apartment ni Kenneth ay tumuloy ako ng kusina, "Ah! My Happy Jar!" sabay yakap sa blue jar na may emboss na smiley.

"Get a grip Emme, think of your tighiyawat," he mumbled from behind the counter top habang kumakain ng brunch. "This clubhouse sandwich is better,"

"Stupid! Wag mo akong papakealaman Kenneth! I'm stressed with you last night and with these school stuffs tapos babawalan mo pa akong kumain,"

"No, I'm not. Yung chocolates lang pinagbabawal ko sa'yo," saway ni Ken sa akin habang binubuksan ang fridge niya at kinuha ang isang pint ng ice cream.

"Argh! The hell I care with my face! I know I'm ugly you dumbass!"

"You're fishing for compliment?" he raised his brow looking at me after my remarks. "Dalaga ka na!"

"No I'm not!" I glared at him.

With the cookies and ice cream tumungo kami ng sala. We were bumming at the living area habang na nunood ng movie.

"Emme, paki bawasan ang lamig ng aircon," reklamo ni Ken. Centralized yung space ni Ken, maliit lang ito pero dapat walang biglang bago sa temperature, dapat well ventilated at walang alikabok masyado dahil sa asthmatic ang lalaking 'to.

"Ayoko," I answered him.

"Giniginaw ako,"

"Ako hindi. Naiinitan pa nga eh,"

"Kasi naman ang taba-taba mo,"

"Asa!"

"Yung mga fats mo naging insulator na ng body heat mo kaya di ka nilalamig e,"

"Sandamuhal kang Kenneth ka! An lakas mong manlait ah,"

"Stating the fact flubby,"

"Shut up!"

"Fat and chubby. Flubby."

"Kenneth!" I shouted then held my hand up with the intention to pull his hair.

"Not the hair Emme!" then he ran away from my reach. "You have those slides to finish, remember?"

And that stopped me from running after him. "Pasalamat ka," I went back on the sofa ang started sketching. He sitted beside me and rested his legs on the table top.

"Thank you then," he answered me back bago ito muling nag-focus sa laro. Kaasar. It's really annoying to have this side of his. Kung alam ko lang, nagpapa good shot 'to dahil sa kalokohan kagabi. I stil have to talk to him about this guy too, yung neighbor niyang kapre. I want to exhaust all my rage about last night dahil sa akala ng kapre na 'yun na pinagnanasaan ko siya but not now, I have to be mad at Ken until he realizes how disappointed I am to see him crawl because of too much alcohol. Ang tanda na niya para gumapang sa alak, ano siya bale? High school? Akala ko pa naman night life scholar na 'to.

Or maybe I'm just thinking too much of negative things against him. Baka naman merong pinagdadaanan 'to that I didn't notice. Gosh! What kind of friend am I? Self-centered and blind. I looked at him sitting beside me. Habang tinatapos ko ang sketches ay nandyan lang siya sa tabi ko na nunood ng football sa TV. Ano kayang problema nito? Should I ask him?