Kabanata 5

RIA

Why?

The house we are in is crowded with kids.  And all of them were looking at us.

"Ganda ng buhok niya mama!"

"Mama bakit tayo nandito? Maglalaro pa ako ng holen kina Brenda eh."

"Tatay, ang puti ng bata. Baka kilala niya si Sofia the first?"

I just smiled at them like I was happy to see them. My little sister is beside me playing with her barbie doll. Like we were freaking surrounded with baby Chuckies.

"Mga anak yan ng Auntie Daisy mo, si Maria at si Bethany." the lady with the crooked teeth said to the kids.

"Mama, bakit ang buhok niya parang kakulay ng kapit bahay nating adik?" Said the little boy with a bit of something under his nose. Jesus, these kids sure know how to have good hygiene.

Most of the people here are friends of my mom, grandma, aunts and uncles. And the house is full of english speaking people thinking I'm dumb enough to understand them. Then some guys outside the house were smoking and drinking beer. They reek so much it just makes me puke out everything I ate this morning.

"Ma eto na bayad oh." A girl with white skin came with some jean shorts and a freaking crop top.

"Anak magbihis ka nga doon. Nakakahiya sa mga bisita oh."

"Aysus, uso to ma, huwag kang mag-aalala. Basta maganda naman ang anak mo." She said to the lady which I can recall my aunt here in Cebu.

She looked at my way and I smiled. She smiled at me widely and waved.

"Hi, I'm Keisha. What's yours?"

"My name is Maria."

"Oh, you come here in the Philippines to swim?"

I made a confused look. She then smiled and explained,

"Swim at beaches and you go to places right?"

Okay, she was referring that we are visiting the Philippines to go vacation. Why didn't I think of that?

"No, we're going to live right next door." I replied. She looks through the window and sees our house. Yes,  seems like my mom did have a planned house for us to live.  What a happy thing to know. 

"You mean that house out?"

I nodded. Although it was a house that is too big for our family, but I know why they made it big.

"Wow, so rich huh."

"No,"

"Don't lie!" She exclaimed. I laughed shyly. Damn she is very talkative that I hate her already.

She sat beside the vacant side chair on the left and faced me.

"Do you know Kylie Jenner?"

"Do you have make up in your face?"

"Do you go partying out bars?"

"How is the snow in America?"

"Do you like Kim Kardasian?"

She just kept going on and on with these random questions. And what is it about Kylie Jenner. I mean, Kylie Jenner is great and all but this girl right here thinks she wants to be Kylie so bad. Girl,  please spare me with the Kardasian trivia please.

"So, how you like the Philippines?"

I heaved out a big sigh after what she said.

"It was great." I smiled widely at her. I'm good at lying. Does that count as a hidden talent of mine?

"Oh that's nice. You try eating Lechon, it's our specialty here at Cebu. And we also have chicharon. It's really good because it's meat. " The girl said and tapped my hand lightly.

I told her I'm fine because I wasn't hungry at all. But the girl called her mom and then her mom called my mom.

"Maria, maging mabait ka and eat some food." My mom called. I shake my head to tell her I'm not hungry. But she just kept on calling me until I gave up.

When I was about to get a paper plate, the little bitch (a.k.a. my little sister) tugged my shirt and almost exposed my bra strap.

"Ate, please put something delicious."

"No way, get your own plate. This is mine." I said. She puppy eyed me until I shooked her hand.

"Mom, can you give me a plate?" My little sister gave up and asked to my mom. Ha! Little sneaky bitch.

It was seven in the evening in the Philippines and all of my aunts and uncles were tired. It was also my mom's decision to go into our new house next door.

"Maria, magpaalam na tayo sa mga tiya at mga tiyo mo." I got up from where I sat and went towards my relatives.

"Nako, itong anak mo ate ang ganda. Morena beauty at matangkad. Siguro pwede siyang isali sa Binibining Pilipinas?" Said My Auntie then cheered. Oh gosh, if you only knew me lady I could get disqualified because of my attitude.

I opened the door for my family to get in the house. I looked and scanned the house from rooms and ceiling. It was kinda good.

I went upstairs and carried my bags to my room. I opened the door and it led me to a small yet simple room. It had a single bed, a table in which I can study on, a closet, T.V. and a couch. The place was clean but I wanted to style things up a bit.

The white crisp paint on the walls was just bland for my style. I look at my phone and saw that it was one in the afternoon, I have more time to design the room up.

I unpacked my paint brushes and also the paint.

Later, I moved the furnitures to the center of my room and placed some scotch tape on the ends of the wall.

I stared at the wall, trying to visualize the art that I'm going to paint. I've always admired some modern artists. But I wanted to mesh up the ideas of modern and expressions.

So I painted, and I enjoyed it a lot. As a visionary, I wanted the people to come and see that modern art can be made up with a lot of art designs and styles.

The wall was living. The yellow-orange sky, the sleepy yellow sun fading to the sea, and the wide deep sea colored in tangerine and yellow, the reflection of the sun mirrored from the vast sea. Reminded me of home, Malibu.

How could I ever move on from such a wonderful place? A place where I grew up, spent my childhood years and made friends?

But now, it was impossible to go back. Since Malibu is only a piece of my memory that I would treasure for the rest of my life. I shouldn't be this dramatic, I will be back. Someday, I will visit there and relive it again.