Bitter yet Sweet

Chapter one

M A R K

After I parked my motorcycle, I pulled the helmet on my head and clipped it under my arm as I walked to my locker and shove it inside then grabbed my books and shut it close as I saw Cloud and Shun passed. Shun's hand was inside Cloud's back pocket of his jeans, I bet so that he could fondle Cloud's butt. They're one of the happy and gay couple that I knew.

I wasn't judging their sexuality. I didn't really give a damn because I used to have a crush on Cloud. He was freakin' adorable and cute and you could see a girly aura in him. But he had Shun now, the popular cousin of a singer s***h dancer and even though they knew he's bi and he already had Cloud, girls were still swarming him. Wew! Lucky s**t.

I ran to the hallway when the bell rung for the first class.

***

I yawned for the ninth times while staring at the board with boring eyes. I only wanted to sleep, insomnia crawled to my bed last night that no matter how many sheep I counted I couldn't freakin' fall asleep! So instead of wasting my time counting those countless sheep in my head, I just watched the latest updates of Naruto and One Piece episodes.

"Enjoy your summer vacation!" I snapped from my trances and heard my classmates roared in happiness. I dashed out the classroom when Jhon Stephens blocked my way.

"Someone's not so happy for summer vacation." He said.

"I'll be spending my summer in a rural area so, no. Not happy at all." I said and I heard him chuckled.

"Really? Too bad. We're planning on going to the beach next week, you'll gonna miss half of your damn life."

"Shut up, Jhon." I bumped his shoulder and went out of the classroom.

I wanted to go with them. Beach means lots of chicks in their bikinis to flirt with. But I couldn't. I promised mom to go with her to the province where our ancestral house was located. It has been nine long years ever since I stepped my feet on that area. I only remembered the cold air there during nights and the tall huge redwood trees. I was lost there one time when we played hide and seek with the neighboring kids together with my older brother.

I grabbed my helmet from my locker before slamming it shut and walk to the parking lot where my motorcycle was.

When I entered home, I saw mom wearing her backpack while looking at her reflection on the full length mirror near the television set.

"Dora?" Mom turn around and walk like she was a runaway model on her pajamas.

"Oh! My handsome son is back! And where's your I'm home hug?" She spread her arms open.

"No! I'm not a kid anym—urfh!" She hugged me like she was hugging a teddy bear. I felt my bones cracked. She was a black belter in taekwondo and I wouldn't dare mess with her. That was why I was a good boy. . . in home and whenever I was with her. "I'm dying here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, not sorry." She pinched my cheeks and I fumed in anger.

"Mom! What the f**k! I'm not a girl!" I tried to make my voice angry.

"So you dare oppose me?" She said challenging me. What the f**k!

"Fine! No!" I threw my bag to the couch and went to the kitchen. "So, how many days are we gonna stay in the province?" Opening the refrigerator, I grabbed the fresh milk and poured some to my glass.

"Hmm. Just a month." I choked on the milk and coughed.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, baby. Why so shocked?" She entered the kitchen, the back pack was gone.

"No! I thought just a few days only or weeks." I wouldn't make it to the beach. Damn!

"Okay, it's either we will stay there for thirty days or in four weeks. Choose among the two." She said while grabbing the frozen meat from the freezer and soaked it in a basin filled with water making it overflow.

What the f**k! Thirty days or four weeks is still one f*****g month! I wanted to scream and thrash like a b***h, like one of my girlfriends do when I broke up with them. Mom did a good job bringing the s**t out of me always. And I couldn't fight back, I mean, I could but I wouldn't because she would kill me like what she did when I was fifteen. I was a delinquent back then. I didn't remember what started that fight but I shouted on her face and raised my middle finger. She was so furious that she almost snapped all my bones in one move. I couldn't walk without my crutches beside me in one month.

I didn't even know how the hell did dad handled her. He even told me that they had a fight two days before their wedding. He was limping during the ceremony. I was so proud of dad because he didn't run away because if dad was me? I would definitely a run away groom. Lol. I might be a battered husband but it really didn't bothered dad. And he wasn't a battered husband, surprisingly, but I am! I am a battered son!

"Fine! One f*****g month. Ugh!" I stomped my feet in frustration then I heard her chuckled.

"You'll gonna love it there, Mark. I swear." She washed her hands.

"I'll pray for that thing to happen before I sleep tonight, mom." I said and walked out.

"Please do pray for me too." She shouted when I reached the stairs. I rolled my eyes.

***

It was still five thirty in the morning. My stereo was singing the songs of eighties while I was packing my clothes. Yes, I love old love songs compared to the modern love songs. I didn't know, maybe because I could feel the emotion of the singer. They poured their heart together with the song. I was singing when mom shouted.

"Are you packing your whole room, Mark?"

"Yeah! Wait, I'm still packing the bath tub, mom!" I shouted back while zipping my back pack.

I brought two back packs containing two weeks worth of my clothes, laptop, phone and mp4 with the earphone. I walked down the stairs and saw five big back packs plus one on mom's back.

"What the f**k, mom! Who's the one packing the whole room then? Not just the room, you're packing the whole house! C'mon, just bring the house there." She glared at me. Woah! How intimidating!

"Whatever! Get your ass down here and help your beautiful mother load this shits in the truck." She said pulling two of the back packs.

I was driving my motorcycle and mom was driving her truck. She loved that old pick up truck of hers. We stopped a couple of red lights and continued on the journey. Glad because there were only few vehicles on the road, for Pete's sake, it was still five in the morning. And after how many minutes or hours maybe had passed, my ass was already complaining and my arms are going numb, I finally saw the tall big trees meters away from the asphalt road and I could feel the cold air hugging me.

We were almost there! I could feel it! Well, I was kinda excited. I heard my mom horned behind my back and I slowed down. We're here!

I stopped after a black and gold gate and yanked my helmet. Mom's truck stopped and she threw a bundle of keys at me.

"Open the gate, please," and I did.

We unload our baggage from the truck.

"Did you renovate the house?" It seemed like almost the whole lot changed. It was painted on white paint before and they replaced it with gray and melon. It kinda looked good and new to me.

"Yes, we did. Last year? I think." She said.

"I was expecting a haunted house but dang, it failed my expectation." I chuckled.

"Too bad, we hired caretakers after this house was renovated. They cleaned and trimmed the lawn two times a week. They did a very good job!"

"You gotta invite them to dinner, mom." She chuckled.

"I know right."

*****