Chapter 8

From the back of the car, Tina could see Kanor staring intently at the empty passenger seat next to him. Her ama shook his head, jacked the car key, and started the car. She shifted to the side to see Betoy sunk on his seat while staring into space. Tina still had the horrified gaze Betoy had on his face on the back of her head. She regretted answering with such an unthoughtful way. The fireworks consumed her, and when Betoy stood up and ruined the moment all she could feel was disgust.

No, she shouldn't blame the fireworks. All day her big brother was acting strange, as if she knew he was not acting himself in the first place. When she met him for the first time after being reincarnated, he appeared to be too giddy from excitement. It was sweet of him to lend her a hand when walking up the stairs, and then all of the sudden, when they reached the room, he was in dismay. He went from being dependable to being awful, and then when they went to the pool, he was all aloof. After a little pep talk with their ama he went back to being kind and sweet, and now she couldn't tell what he was anymore. "Mood swings are normal!" His voice echoed inside her thoughts, but something about shifting from personality to personality wasn't normal to her. This was not normal.

"Kuya." She removed her seatbelt and slid across the seat next to her big brother.

"Are you okay?" She didn't know what to say to him after what happened. All she could do was ask a question with an answer so obvious. "I'm fine." Betoy answered and gave a smile. It seemed so genuine that it could get anybody fooled, anybody not inside the car anyway. Kanor saw Betoy's face from the rear-view mirror and could tell it was another weak attempt of lying.

"Are you really though?" Tina asked. Her eyes were locked on him like a puppy asking a treat from its owner.

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent fine, more than you at least, you look tired." Betoy obviously didn't want to be the center of attention. And now he's concerned? His mood was all around place!

"Please stop, this is not about me." Tina frowned.

"It has always been about me isn't it?"

Kanor saw Betoy's gaze shifted to him from the rear-view mirror. He tried to avoid eye contact and looked straight on the road.

Another question that Betoy couldn't answer. He's sick of it.

"Where did Tina come from, why is she here?" His tone was sharp.

"Nobody needs to answer that." Kanor replied.

"She's here because of me isn't it? To stop me from being like this anymore isn't it?"

"Nobody knows." Kanor said, "She appeared by the door introducing herself to be our dead pet fish, that's the only thing we all need to know."

Not knowing what to say, Tina faced away as if she was embarrassed about the truth.

"Is she some kind of cheap dumb replacement?" Betoy shouted.

Kanor tried to keep his calm by looking at the road, still avoiding eye-contact and gripping the wheel firmly. "No matter what she is, she is your sister. No more asking such useless questions." He said casually.

"Useless?" Betoy voiced cracked, "What if she's just a thief? A freeloader? Wh-what if she's a psychopath? She barged inside our house and stated she's our dead pet Tilapia, do you expect me to believe that?"

"I told you nobody knows!" Kanor couldn't keep himself from yelling. The car stopped in a jolt, all of them flew from their seat, and Tina fell to the carpet floor. It was like she was in the aquarium again; she couldn't say anything, she only watched in horror as two overpowering figures towered over her.

"Accept what's coming to you, she is my daughter and your little sister, that's what God decided!"

Betoy removed his seatbelt and stood up, "If God decided to let me die, would you?"

"Yes!" Tina answered. Both stares went to her. "I mean..." She wanted to stop fighting but she barged in the wrong time. "I expected you to believe I was given a second life to be part of the family…" The words that came out of her mouth slowly faded as she continued. "Because, that's what I want to believe as well."

Judging from her tone, she wasn't sure where she came from or why she's there. Kanor was right, nobody knew. Betoy threw his hands up and crossed them across his chest as he sat down. "As if it all matters anyway." He wore his seatbelt and faced the window beside him.

Kanor grunted and started the engine. He told Tina to buckle up and after that the silence continued.

Kanor perceived that it will come to this and he was afraid of it. Kanor and Tina didn't want Betoy to question anything; knowing the truth would just make everything hard to accept. The truth was, even if it's been said many times it still was, they didn't know anything.

Tina had entered from the opened door, holding the knob and pressing all her weight on it so she could stand. What had met her was Kanor. He was wearing a filthy apron. He was shocked to see an unfamiliar face inside the house, but his worries had overwhelmed his astonishment. The little girl was tired, her legs where trembling and her face was like she had woken up from a nightmare. He asked if she was lost, she had responded with only three words:

I don't know.

After offering her a seat on the couch inside the living room, Kanor asked a lot of questions: What are you doing here? Where did you come from? She answered with the same three words until the scent of Kanor's cooking had overwhelmed her. That's when she knew one thing… She was their dead pet Tilapia and she was reincarnated into a twelve-year-old girl.