Come Back To Me

COME BACK TO ME – CHAPTER 3

COME BACK TO ME – CHAPTER 3

Christmas Eve. Sana Ngayong Pasko (I Hope This Christmas) was playing through the radio. Zian was in the room he shared with his siblings tidying up the toys scattered on the vinyl carpet. He had folded their futons the best he could and put them aside in the closet.

Hearing his sibling’s laughter in the living room, Zian got up and left the room.

“Ji-ji!” Evie called and ran straight towards her brother. She wore a little gypsy cut red dress. Zian gave a pat on the head before getting the little gift she was holding out for him. It was a bracelet made from coconut leaves woven together.

“Thank you, Eve.”

“You’re welcome! So Papa is coming home today?” she slurred as she sat down on the bamboo sofa in the living, pulling Zian with her.

“Yeah, he is.” Zian helped his sister make more bracelets from the coconut leave she took from outside with Edward. The latter was being watched by their grandmother while playing with the other kids on the lawn.

The small house did not have electricity. The service ended a kilometres from their small village of ten houses. To pass the time, the family would listen to their battery powered radio or hang out in the backyard.

When Zian’s father came back that afternoon, the boy was surprised to receive a brown teddy bear almost as big as he was. He did not remember getting such big toy. He was happy.

“He doesn’t need a toy. He’s already seven. Ed and Evie are still small,” Zian’s paternal grandmother commented unbeknownst that the seven year old heard it. He did not understand why his grandmother said that. Nevertheless, it did it let up his joy. The old Mrs. De Leon never liked Zian’s mother but Zenny would only realize it later on.

The other kids in the extended family came to visit them when they heard their uncle Jamie was coming home from work. They envied Zian for having gotten such gift when they saw it. It did not come as a surprise when the said teddy bear went missing the next month and later was found in the pond by the well where the family would go to fetch water.

Zian was devastated. For the first time in his life, he cried and screamed how he wanted his toy back. It was not only thrown at the pond. It was all tattered, destroyed.

Zenny had just come back from the Parent-Teacher Association meeting for Zian when she found him bawling his eyes out in the backyard. He was sitting and rubbing his backside on the grass, throwing a tantrum over his destroyed plush toy. The boy saw his mother and wanted to stop crying but what he did not expect were her blazing eyes. The next thing he knew, he was getting punished for something he cried over because he lost it.

Zian never received a spanking and his young mind only understood that because he shed tears and screamed over his toy, he was getting punishment. He barely touched his dinner that night. He wanted to look up and see if his mother’s eyes still looked angry, but he was scared.

“Your grandma doesn’t like me. She thinks you’re my son from another man. Your dad is away most of the time. Your siblings are growing faster than I could keep up.” Zenny’s words did not register in Zian’s mind. Hus brain could barely process what had happened a couple of hours earlier. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he blankly stared at his food.

“Eat your food, Zian!”

Only then, the boy flinched and focused his attention to his cold meal.

***

The first day of school after the holiday came and the seven year old was back to his old routine with his cousin Cher, the time his mother punished him, long gone in the back recesses of his mind. Yet, he was more lifeless than when he began the school year.

Zian looked at the familiar faces when he was back at the same classroom. His eyes searched for the friendly ones of Alden Paul but did not see him that morning he arrived.

After recess, the kids were gathered by the teacher and another person was standing next to her – the school nurse. “Today, we are going to have an immunization, okay?” the nurse announced. “It will be quick so please take your seat and I’ll call your name when it is your turn.”

One by one, the students were called. Zian’s name was one of the first to be summoned. The injection was done without a hitch. Alden Paul’s name was called last, his name being the last one of the list. He was present. Zian felt his chest lighten up seeing the boy. He did not understand it back then but he was…happy.

Days would pass and Zian noticed the changed in his classmate’s behavior. Alden was always happy when Zian was called to answer the teacher’s question and he was right. After the holidays, he started kicking Zian’s chair whenever he got the right answers.

At recess, when the kids were busy shuffling around, talking and chatting with each as they had their snacks, Alden never tried to start a conversation with Zian anymore. Instead at times, he would pass by him and brushed against his arm, against the spot where he got his injection, on purpose. Zian’s skin did not heal right after that.

A couple more months passed and the closing ceremony was right around the corner. Zian would finish at the top of his class and Alden, second, followed by his best friend –Rylan.

“So you’re transferring to another school?” Nially asked Zian during lunch one time. The girl overheard Zian’s mother talk with her mom when they had the Parents-Teacher Association meeting after the holiday was over.

“What do you mean,” Zian asked. His mother never mentioned anything about moving—again.

Nially sighed and pouted. “I won’t see you anymore once you moved. I heard your mom say you’re going to another province.”

The seven year old boy shrugged his shoulders and remained quiet after that. The school year would end and the two wouldn’t be seeing each other in the next three years. Zian wouldn’t see Alden either and he wouldn’t know why the boy changed until years and years later.

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