Thirty-two

💛Daniel 💜

I punched hard against the punching bag. It waged backwards and came towards me, I dodged and kicked it. I kicked with the first leg then with the second leg all at the same time.

I punched and punched for over ten minutes before I stopped. I was really sweating. A bottle water popped up before me. I looked to see a boy, wearing black shorts only. He should be one of the guys that have been coming here since yesterday. When I came to the gym yesterday, I was so impressed. It was huge and well equipped. Some teenagers were already working out when I arrived.

The manager recognized me and met up with me

He introduced himself as Sam and he told me that the gum had been opened for a week now. But then he said no payment was made by the gymnasts for that week, as a way to make them stay.

I understood him and thanked him for helping with an official tone. Non of the people knew I was the owner though, except Sam

I took the bottled water from the guy and thanked him. I opened it and gulped it down.

Guy: I've been watching you, you're good at boxing. From the way you handled the punching bag I could tell

Me: thanks

I covered the bottle and dropped it

Guy: by the way I'm Roque

Me: I'm Dan

We shook hands

Roque : it's nice meeting you

Me: same here

Roque: so are you American?

I shook my head and punched the bag

Me: I'm.. Asian!

I punched the bottom of the bag and pushed it. It came waging back and we dodged

Roque : I'm American actually

Me: I can see that

Roque : so what exactly do you do?

Me: boxing

Roque : wow... I'm an amateur boxer. Hoping to get better

I smirked

Me: let's see what you can do. Punch it

He wore gloves and began to punch it. Well, he's good. Needs a little help

💛Andy💜

I tucked my hands into my joggers pockets and sighed at Roberto. He's been following me about and trying to make me talk. I stopped in front of the lockers and sighed

Me: what Roberto!

Roberto: seriously? When did you start hiding things from me Andy? For crying out loud I'm your best friend

I chuckled and placed my hand on his shoulder

Me: I can't believe I forgot you're my best friend. My buddy..

He scoffed quietly and crossed his arms

Roberto: I thought you said you didn't like the black girl

Me: yeah... That's because I was trying to hide it

I pocketed my hands again

Roberto: so you actually like her?

Me: yeah. I do

Roberto: and you're dating her?

Me: yeah

I smirked

Roberto: she's pretty. You're really lucky you made the move before I did.

I chuckled

Me: and what makes you think she'd accept you?

Roberto : hey, you might be cuter or more handsome than I am but dude, I've got what you lack.

Me: and what's that?

He smirked

Roberto : charm

He licked his lips

Roberto: I've got the charm

I chuckled and looked at a junior student coming

Me: work your charm on her. Let's see

Roberto: let the charm king do his work

He walked to the girl and pulled her arm

Roberto: hey

Girl: uhh hi

In Cebuano now

Roberto : mind going out with me tonight?

Girl: not really. You're weird

She wriggled her hand out and walked away. I laughed and walked to him

Me: so much for a charm king

I walked away leaving Roberto there.

Where is my girlfriend? Haven't seen her since the end of the first period.

I met Loretta talking with a boy. Is he asking her out? Nah, I highly doubt that

Me: excuse me. Loretta may I speak with you?

She turned and faced me

Loretta: yeah

I pulled her hand forward

Me: where's my girlfriend?

Loretta : awwn. Well she's at the library. Getting a book

Me: thanks

I looked at the boy then at her and left. I walked to the library and entered. I went to the novels section and watched her looking through the Magic book shelves.

I walked to her

Me: hey

She turned and smiled

Ugwa: hey

I wrapped my hands around her waist and placed my chin on her shoulder

Me: what book are you looking for?

Ugwa: a book about witches.

She looked up at the top shelf

I released her and searched for it with her.

Our hands were already together.

Me: why do you like stories about magic?

Ugwa: they're interesting. And mind blowing

She found a book and pulled it out

Me: Another Home?

That was the title of the book. She opened it and went through it

Ugwa: hmm, it's not totally about witches but there's dark magic in it.

Me: hmm, don't be a witch okay?

She chuckled and I kissed her cheek

Ugwa: let's go. It's almost recess and I'm hungry

We walked out quietly

Me: you brought a cake for me right?

She nodded and smiled at me

We walked out of the library after she showed the librarian the book and went straight to class

Ugwa : it's one day ahead of USA right?

Me: yea. Why do you ask?

Ugwa : I need to call Daniel

I nodded and she looked up at me from her book

Ugwa : why do you hate Daniel?

I sat down and she did too

Me: I don't like his character. He's too proud and has a high temper.

Ugwa : but he's a good guy

Me: to you only. You're the only one he was good to. And I can't help but wonder why

She sighed and squeezed my hand

Ugwa: I want you to like him

I chuckled

Me: like him? Like what about him? Like the fact that he hits whosoever he wants to either young or old? Like the fact that he looks down on everyone like we're nothing? Ugwa, forget it. You don't know Daniel. I have no idea why he became your friend and was good to you but I bet if you knew the real Daniel, you'd feel inferior around him because of the hatred he shows you.

Ugwa : is Daniel that bad?

I sighed

Me: while we were in the 10th grade, I saw his missing phone on the floor. I took it and contemplated if I should give him or leave it there. Well, as I was still thinking, he came around and saw me holding it.

I looked at her. She was keenly listening

Me: I was standing on the school balcony. He angrily waged towards me and threw me off

She gasped

Me: I spent four months in the hospital. I even went for surgery in USA

Ugwa: gosh! How can Daniel do that? God!

Me: it's just him. Full of anger and bitterness. Sometimes I wonder why he's like that. I feel there's a reason

Ugwa : Daniel

Me: hey, I'm not saying you should hate him. I like your friendship with him. He appears cool and happy while with you. That's something I've never seen

She chuckled

Ugwa : but why don't you usually fight back when he's at you?

I spoke in Cebuano

Me: I can't kill myself

Ugwa : what did you say?

I laughed

Me: I didn't see any reason to fight back. It will make no difference between me and him.

Ugwa: so... What if someone punches me, you won't hit him back because you are not the same with him?

Me: well, they'll be a reason for me to kick his ass back. Because he touched my princess and in my kingdom, no one should touch my princess

She smiled and sucked her lips. Now I wanna kiss her.

The bell rang for recess and we went together

💛Ugwa 💜

I rubbed my temples as I sluggishly entered the house. I'm really tired. We had a Science experiment that lasted for two hours before closure and it was frustrating for me.

As I entered the living room, I heard dad ranting and raving.

Anibe was angrily climbing the stairs

I thought dad went to Australia. Why is he back so soon and what is making him angry again?

I walked to him and greeted. He didn't answer. He just stormed out. What the heck happened here?

I went upstairs to Anibe's room. He was packing his things

Me: Anibe what's going on?

He didn't answer. He was boiling with anger and was dumping his things on the bed then into a luggage

Me: Anibe!

Anibe: get out!

Me: what?

Anibe: I said get out!

His eyes were red and I knew that leaving was the best thing to do.

I went to my room and dropped my bag. I didn't remove my uniform. I went back to his room though I stood by the door

He was cussing and taking whatever he wanted to take. I wanted to call him again but I didn't. I went downstairs and mom was coming upstairs

Me: mom what's going on?

Mom: where's Anibe?

Me: his room

She raced past me and went to his room. I followed her

Mom: Anibe! What are you doing?

Anibe: getting out of his hell of a house!

He closed his luggage and zipped it

Me: what!

Mom: you're not going anywhere! You hear, you're not gonna leave this house!

Anibe: watch me

He pulled up the bag and walked towards the door. Mom held his hand but he snatched it back and pushed me away from his front. He hurried down and I could see mom was going to cry.

Me: Anibe come back here!

I hurried after him

He didn't even answer my calls. He just walked into the living room and rolled his bag on the floor

Me: Anibe please

I ran and caught up with him, I grabbed his hand and he stopped walking and looked at my hands on his arm

Me: please Anibe, let's talk about this

He didn't stop looking at my hands.

Anibe: get... your... dirty hands off!!

His voice was so harsh. Unlike the brother I knew. I gently released him and watched him leave without looking back. My tears fell.

I walked to the parking lot and watched him enter his car and drive off.

I entered the house and saw grandma consoling mom that he'll come back

Me: what happened?

Mom: he got a maid pregnant

My eyes widened

Mom: the girl's parents called your dad and he came back immediately and confronted Anibe who denied it. He called Anibe a bastard and accused that he wasn't his son. That's why Anibe left

Me: gosh!

I palmed my forehead

I heaved a sigh

Grandma : Ugwa dear, why don't you just go and change and get something to eat

I nodded and went upstairs. I changed and sat on my bed

Anibe had gone too far but then dad was wrong to say that. It hurts to be called a bastard by your own father.

I took my phone and some cash then walked out. I went to the driver and took the car keys from him. My drivers license had been ready for almost two weeks now and I took it too.

I entered my car and drove out to God-knows-where.

I stopped at a restaurant and came out. It wasn't a fancy restaurant though. It was really beyond standard but I entered nevertheless. I saw one of our maids there. Though she isn't wearing our house uniform, I still recognized her. She went outside towards the kitchen with an older woman

I sat down close to the counter. I overheard a conversation between her and the woman

Maid: Tonia just called me mother. That he had a serious and terrible fight with his father

Woman: is his father that strict?

Maid: he didn't seem like that to me. She also told me Anibe denied the pregnancy

My eyes widened. So she's the very maid?

Woman: he might be too smart for us. But we have to stand our ground.

Maid: what if he still doesn't accept it, mother our chances are very slim

Woman : no it's not. His father would definitely give us some money for you to abort it, or maybe we should tell them to pay us and we would go away and raise the child without disturbing them. They'll give the money. They have the money

Maid: what if they finally accept the pregnancy, and I give birth but the baby is totally white. Then they ask for a DNA test

Woman: wow, I didn't expect that. But we'll know what to do then. Just keep claiming he is responsible for the pregnancy. Besides, he slept with you, didn't he?

I didn't hear her say anything. Maybe she nodded. Then the woman started speaking in Cebuano. Thank God the important information, she spoke it in English.

So Anibe isn't responsible for the pregnancy?

I stood up and left immediately before they would see me