CHAPTER SEVEN
MAGGIE
Going home late is not something I plan to do.
It’s past 9 p.m. when I decided to go home from Guji’s house. That stupid jerk. He threw up in my face when I forced him to stand up and study with me. How disgusting! To avenge myself, I dragged him into his bathroom and put him in a bath tub. I filled the tub with cold water and let him drown in there.
Rest in peace, Guji Tarence Kim.
Walking alone in the streets is not advisable to girls like me. There could be someone around the corner who’ll grab me, rape me, throw me into the river to die – I can’t let that happen to me, of course. I walked hastily; head bowed down, and made little movements so as not to draw attention.
Someone pst-ed. I walked faster, prayed a thousand prayers.
I felt a hard grip on my arm, cold. I dared not to look back. I closed my eyes and called all the saints in Heaven, until he spoke. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to go home, Maggie?”
I turned. I saw him, his eyebrow raised. “Yvan? Why –”
“C’mon, let’s go home together,” he let go of my arm and walked forward. I followed.
He let me ride the jeep first, and then he followed. We were not seated side by side because someone seated beside me first. Yvan sat across me.
I plan on taking a nap during the ride, but I changed my mind when I felt something that’s crawling on my thigh. My body stiffened, my heart skipped, my spine went cold. My seatmate, who happened to be a man, had two of his fingers dug on my flesh near the center of my ‘everything,’ moving closer and closer. A paper bag was sitting on his lap to keep his agenda hidden.
You are being molested, Maggie, I told myself but I don’t know what to do.
I looked at Yvan for help.
He’s asleep. And I’m helpless.
I swallowed hard as I move away from this man, but he can’t just let me go. I was fighting back tears, breathing hard.
Then someone grabbed my hand and pulled me. It happened so fast I got confused. The next thing I knew, I was seated on where Yvan seated a while ago. We changed seats.
I looked at him, and our eyes met. There are a million things I saw in there, I don’t know what to read first, or which sentence to compose. He looked away as I was about to say something.
“She’s a girl,” Yvan said angrily, but calm. “Might at least show some respect. Apologize to her,”
The guy didn’t flinch. Exasperated, Yvan repeated, “Apologize.”
“No, it’s okay. Let it go,” I said. Yvan just rolled his eyes, I didn’t mind. All I know is that he saved me and I owe him a lot.
When we took off the jeep and I was about to walk towards my house, he took my arm.
“Promise me that you’ll never go home this late,” he said, eyes full of worry. His eyes were the brightest shade of brown of among I’ve seen. But this time, they were a shade darker. “I’ll talk to Tito Hyun to arrange things for you.”
I nodded at him, holding back tears. When I thought I was okay, I walked but my knees failed me.
I am scared. Too scared. My mind was clouded with rewinds of what happened back there. It’s eating me. Pretending to be okay now won’t help me at all, so I let my knees drop down. My fear of no escape was triggered and now I’m shaking.
Yvan caught me in his arms and soothed my fears. “It won’t happen again. Don’t worry,” His shirt was wet with my tears, and I’m still shaking. “You will be okay, Maggie. I’m here.”
This time, he didn’t let me go in his arms.
There would be a press conference for journalists next week which I will be part of. Yvan will be there too, which made everything great for me.
“Have you practiced?” he asked me when I came into their porch. It’s Sunday so I have a session with his sister, Debi. I gave her my weekends because Guji The Jerk got my Monday-Thursday schedule.
“I could lend you my Canon if you want,”
“No, I’m okay,” I gave him my ‘No, thank you’ wave. He smiled and I got breathless. I pinned my hair behind my ear before I asked him, “Where’s Debi?”
“Asleep maybe. Wait, I’ll go get her –”
“YVAN. Where are my earphones?” Appalled, I stared at the girl whose size was thrice as mine. Have I seen her before? After a few moments of flashbacks, a clear image of girl zoomed into mind.
Wow. Just wow. She’s the one whom I bumped into days ago, and also the one I called Great Wall of China. Geez, what a small world.
Wait. What is she doing in here?
“It was in my room, Lyn. Didn’t you see it?” Yvan said, standing up.
“Of course I didn’t. Why would I even ask you if I did?” Great Wall of China grumbled. “Your room is a complete mess. How can I possibly find my earphones there, huh?”
I shook my head in disbelief. Don’t tell me they’re so close to each other they’re hanging around Yvan’s room? In. His. Room. Just the two of them. They’re sharing one enclosed space, one kind of air, one set of earphones. I can’t believe this.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you there,” Great Wall of China smiled at me, apologetically. I gave her my ‘It’s okay’ wave, though deep inside my heart it’s not okay.
Yvan dragged her inside, saying, “Let’s get inside my room,”
My stomach rose up to my throat, I can’t swallow it down. They’re going into his room. Just. The. Two. Of. Them. What can they possibly do in there?
“Are you okay? You look like you could use a comfort room,” it was just now that I noticed Debi sitting in front of me. I tried to hide my face, embarrassed at whatever she’d seen. “Are you jealous?”
“What? NO!” I exasperated, she smiled widely. Uh-oh. “No. I’m not jealous. Why would I be jealous? There’s nothing to be jealous about –”
“Don’t worry. They’re just best of friends,” her smile reached the top of the sky, suspecting me. I looked away before she could see anything in my eyes. “They’ve been best of friends for about ten years already. Quite long, right?”
I nodded, but she hadn’t unlocked her stare at me. “Debi, don’t look at me like I have a crush on your brother. He’s not my type,”
“I didn’t say anything,” she sang. I frowned.
He’s my type, actually.