Facing Crossroads

II - Family

                                                                                        Theo

We all lived by a code.

Reality slapped me wide awake at a young age. My childhood was forcefully taken away from me, gone in just a snap. Innocence vanished and dreams faded. We all had our story. Sometimes we shared it, more often we keep it. Mine wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be, but our history was something already drawn in our palms. Something I could not rewrite, as much as I wanted to.

At ten years old, I learned that my mother was a pleasure woman at some messed up organization in only God-knows-where. A victim of human trafficking, stripping her with the freedom she was supposed to have. Then my father came into the picture, saving her. She told me he was her hero. Her knight in shining armour. But their fairytale didn’t last long.

Stories like that never did.

In short, she got out from the hell hole she endured her whole teenage years as another door opened for her. But I guess she quite didn’t know it was just another portal back to hell, just with a different devil.

And then she had me.

“What are you thinking?” I heard mom asked as she placed a plate on the table. Our house was something I couldn’t call our own. I only called it home because my mother lived here.

“Nothing,” I said with a shrug.

She smiled, giving me a knowing look. “My boy, always so serious.”

I returned her smile, her cheerful tone was music to my ears. “Are you happy here, mom?” I asked, watching how she tried to keep her composure for me. It must have been hard for her to live the life thrown at her. This town wasn’t the most ideal place for us to settle. But the people and the friends I had in school made me want to stay as much as I hated the idea of being close to my father. After all, this was their territory.

My mother busied herself, filling my plate with foods. She still had her pink apron on, hair kept at her back.

“What, you’re just twenty, and you sound more like a parent to me,” she teased, maybe trying to evade the question. “Will you be so surprised that I’m happy here?” she added after a while when I kept my silence.

I looked away. I didn’t want to see the lies in her eyes. “You’re happy to be around them again?”

Her hand smoothed my shoulder, before tousling my short hair. “Yes, Theo. You’re safe here. That’s what matters.”

I smirked, trying to make sense of our situation. “Am I really?”

This time, when our eyes met, she gazed at me. “I see your father in you- “

My ears rang at the mention of his name and I didn’t mean to push the chair to stop her words. “Don’t. I am nothing like him, mom.”

She pursed her lips, dropping her gaze to the floor. As tension filled the air, I bent down to kiss her and murmured my sorry, snatched the lunch box she packed for me and walked away.

The code was simple.

You abide by their laws and keep your mouth shut.

Vow of silence, everyone.

When being dragged into a family where life was the only p*****t for mistakes, being careful was the right thing to do. And people were right about not having a say in choosing family. We were born into it, ingrained into our blood. So I felt the need to be a man to try to protect my mother. Because I would do anything for her.

***

Parking my minivan near Building C of Laroyo University, I jogged toward the entrance as I pulled out my cellphone. Miss Marjorie, the head of Drama Society stopped me.

“Did she attend the meeting?” she asked, one eyebrow raised. She had round pensive eyes, her eyeglasses resting over her head like headband.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

We started to walk in the hallway, her heels ticking the washed-out white tiles. “Did she give you guys a hard time?” she quizzed. “You don’t have to hide from me if she’s being a brat. Doing so won’t make you a hero.”

I bit back my smile, trying to appear serious. Miss Marjorie was the kind of professor who would gladly straighten out a slacking student and also willing to give second chances. “No, actually, she’s nice. Cooperative, even.”

She gave me an inquisitive look.

Shrugging my shoulder, I adjusted my bag pack, composing myself. “Really. She’ll be great. She’ll be okay.”

“Don’t I know that.” She smiled a bit before heading to the faculty room.

Shane Javier sure already had a reputation. Hers was one of the most beautiful faces in the campus. Her expressive eyes and straight nose, full lips with natural blushing cheeks- sure caught half of men’s population. Well, yeah, including me, when I first saw her in her freshman years. But the wolves were quick in finding her, befriending the sheep, keeping her to themselves, seeking trouble after trouble.

Then in a snap, she changed. In a spun of not more than four months, she seemed to turn three-sixty degrees, and the once fierce but approachable girl became a loner. The confidence she held back then shrunk, keeping her head low, and somewhat creating an invisible barbed wire around her. Maybe it was her defense mechanism. I had a feeling she was trying to blend into the background, hoping nobody would notice her new self. Remembering how she tried to go unnoticed during the Drama Soc meeting, I couldn’t help but to empathized of what she’d been through.

“Hey, Theo!”

I turned around, looking for that familiar voice. Jellaine half-ran toward me, clutching a bunch of thick books on her skinny arms. “Need a hand, J?”

She smiled, giving me all the books. “How’s the script going? I didn’t know Shane Javier’s quite a writer as well,” she chatted, elbowing me. “At least you’ll have someone to help you this time, huh.”

I looked away, clearing my throat. “Yeah. She’ll be a great help, for sure.” I shrugged my shoulder, not really getting into the topic. For all I know, the girl didn’t want anything to do with Drama Soc club. Joining the club wasn’t the choice she wanted to make, I guess. “Hey, J, we really need to be creative with all the fantasy stuff in this play.”

Her mouth hung opened, as if I offended her. “Here you are again, putting the pressure on me,” she said lightly punching my arm.

I laughed at her reaction, knowing full well she was excited at this project more than graduating.

The bell rang and we hurried and started toward the stair, going against the crowd coming down from it. Jellaine followed my track as I tried to make way for us.

I heard her cleared her throat as she picked up my pace. “But do you think Shane will really get into this project? I mean, her father just…” She motioned her hand and I knew what she was referring to.

“I think she’s still at loss,” I muttered in a low voice, walking straight to my next class. “And I know, you can make her move forward. I mean, that’s what you do.” I gave her a knowing smile.

Jellaine grabbed the books from my arms and waved her hand. “I’ll do my best. See you around and say hi to Sandy for me!”

Nodding my head, I opened the glass door and entered the room, seeing my classmates already settled in. I checked the time on my cell phone, an hour and a half before lunch break. And still, no new text message from Sandy. Times like this was where my gut sent me warning signals, alerting me of an old same story about to repeat itself.

I just hope I was wrong.