Soft Hands
1846 Words
Faster, I run through the crowd, being careful enough not to bump on any of them. I can see her crossing the street and the green pedestrian signal is almost over so I run even faster. It just happens that when I crossed, the light turns red.
“Oh, sh*t!!” The car almost hit me! The driver opens his window as I pass by and curses at me. “I'm sorry!” I apologize while running. Other people are looking at me so I look down, feeling shameful.
Then there she is, stopping in front of another cafe. Why am I following her in the first place?!! I could've just left her here and be on my way! But it's too late to do that now because she's within my reach. She enters and I follow. Just like what she did in the cafes earlier, she did the same here and the following cafes she found in this downtown.
I'm getting worried about her reputation in this place. I'm sure that the cafe owners won't forget her and what she did! It's like a slap in the face if someone just barges in, orders a coffee, only takes a sip, leaves it behind, and be on their way. I don't even get why I'm still following her!! Even if I stop now, there's no use! The time for checking attendance has passed ages ago!
After, for like half an hour, she finally visits the last cafe. I found her patting her face with her towel. She sits on a bench in the park under the shade of a tree. She grins looking at me as I approach her.
“I can't believe you,” I tell her as I'm catching my breath. “why did you have to do that?! You didn't even hear everything I said!” I sit on the bench beside her at her right, fanning myself with the advertising card I got from a saleslady.
“That was so fun!” she laughs.
“No, it isn't,” I argue. “You have no manners—don't you know that?”
“It's fine, I paid each of them.”
“And that's another thing. You're so carefree in spending all you want. I don't care if you say you're filthy rich but you need to stop spending so much or you'll go broke before you know it.”
“Don't worry about me. I know how to budget my savings. I run businesses, so I'm good at counting money and be aware of what I have left.”
“Ugh, never mind,” I sigh, giving up on arguing with her. If it's her money, I don't have the right to tell her how to spend it.
“So, let's go back to the campus.”
“I don't have the motivation to go back there now. I don't have anything better to do there but just loiter around. Also, the attendance should be over now.” Glaring at her, I yell, “We missed it because of you!” She just laughs at my face, not showing any remorse at all!
“I'm sorry,” she apologizes while laughing. “What happens, exactly, if we have a single absence?” she asks, chuckling.
“They're gonna make us do community service for a day—probably.”
“That's not that bad,” she reckons.
“It's a waste of time!”
Rolling her eyes, she says, “You're overreacting. I'm sure it won't be that significant.”
“Easy for you to say! You don't know how things work here yet.”
“But at least, we're gonna do community service together. It'll be fun, hehe.”
“What?”
She smiles looking at the ground while I'm here wondering why what she said somehow left me petrified. She's telling me that she enjoys spending time with me? Nobody has ever said that to me, let alone said it indirectly.
I clear my throat and my anger has gone away. I ask, “So, what are we gonna do now?”
“Good question! We have a lot of time to spare for this afternoon. Come on, give me an idea.”
Why is she asking me? I don't have an idea what to do, that's why I asked her. “I told you, I don't have an idea.”
“Oh, just tell me what hobbies do you have.”
“Playing video games and watching anime—that's all.”
“Oh, I forgot you're a boring person.”
There she is again. “Hey!” I scold her.
“Maybe we should go to an arcade. Yeah, that would be great! Let's go!”
She stands up and walks away, not waiting for my answer. I like arcades because of the games I can play but the downside is that they cost so much! But it wouldn't be a problem for her because she's “filthy rich.” I don't wanna look like I'm exploiting her so I'll just gonna come along with her.
We head for the mall and she talked to me a lot about Japan and compares it with this country. Obviously, Japan is much more impressive in terms of technology, architecture, public transportation, and others.
“You don't have to compare my country to yours,” I beg her. “We know how much better Japan is.”
“What? I'm not saying that Japan's better.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“My point is that I kinda like the Philippines more because it's so easy to live here. You can easily get a professional job unlike in Japan. There are so many applicants there that could be better than you. So, it's a great deal to be hired. One of the things I love here is coconut juice. I love how it tastes! Do you know where to get a fresh one?”
“At the public market.”
“Let's go there first!”
“Do we have to?”
“Yes, of course!”
“But I warn you, the public market is not a pleasant place to breathe.”
“Why?”
“You'll know.”
“I've been to public markets before so I'm guessing that you're overreacting again.”—her famous last words. Minutes later, we arrive at the place and she coughs, “It stinks!”
“Told ya.”
The public market is just a street full of vendors at the left and right. The jeepneys and cars can't drive faster because of the people crossing the street every second. Most of them are carrying plastic bags full of raw ingredients. The ground beneath us is muddy and littered with pieces of rotten vegetables.
“It's worse than I thought! Are all your public markets smell like this?”
“Not all but this is the nearest.”
”Sheesh!” she exhales through her mouth while covering her nose with her towel. “Come on, take me to where the coconuts are.”
“Okay, but don't get lost. The way is crowded and packed.”
I lead on this time then my chest jumps a little when she grabs a hold of my hand. Never I have felt a girl's hand clasping mine. Her small hand is so soft and warm that makes me afraid to grasp back or I could hurt her. She's behind me so I turn around to look at her. She's covering her nose with her towel using her right hand. Her left hand is holding my right hand. Squinting and wrinkling her nose, she tries to endure the smell. I don't need to cover my nose because I'm used to this just like the other people around us. The way she looks like... I'm beginning to wonder if she's a girl in heart.
I shake myself from that thought because I know that she is a tomboy and lesbian. I'm cringing at myself.
“Follow me,” I tell her and we start to walk. “And be careful not to step on a mud puddle. It's very dirty.”
She just nods and I turn my face ahead. The way she's tugging my hand is making me nervous. It's not until we went to this alley with lesser people that I let go of her hand. I feel relieved.
She sighs, “God, this place is much better than that! Are we near?”
“Yeah, there it is.” I point ahead of us. There is a shack full of fresh coconuts at the distance.
There are lesser vendors here so the road is not that dirty and the smell is not as bad. I feel relieved too because I was enduring the bad smell for minutes. Even my eyes are tearing up because of the relief.
“Yosh!” she cheers, walking ahead of me.
She asks the vendor to open a fresh coconut for her and I just walk as steady as ever because I'm tired. She sure has a lot of energy. By the time I arrived, I discovered that she bought two coconuts. They're sitting on the bamboo ledge of the shop.
“This is yours,” she points at the other one before grabbing the other and starts drinking it with a straw.
I grab it and we walk while drinking. Then I'm surprised that she already finished it, giving off a sigh. “That was good!” she exclaims.
“Wow, you can still drink so much after drinking a lot of coffee,” I remark.
“I didn't drink them that much and I sweat them out so... yeah.”
The sky is getting dark blue. It's already dusk so I ask her, “Do you still want to go to the mall?”
“Yes, of course.”
I'm tired but I think I can still carry on. “Okay, but we need to go around if you don't want to cross that stinky street again.”
“Oh, please do,” she begs, throwing the coconut at the trash near us. I did the same because I just finished drinking mine.
I know this place that well because I went here before, shopping for the requirements we needed in school. This place is a good place to search for things. Almost everything you need can be found here. This northern part of the downtown area is less crowded and much more peaceful. The street is also clean. The headlights of the cars have been turned on as well as the street lights. As she told me the other day, I walk on her left side—which is near the road and her on my right. It's evening now and we're still walking but I know we're near. She keeps talking about people and stuff until she mentions something about Irene.
“What?” I exclaim. “You met her?”
- Writer
