how i drank my first beer: the babysitting

PREVIOUSLY.

"Fine. At least solo kita dito," PaulPaul said while trying to keep a straight face.

"Sira!"

He laughed before taking a swig off his water bottle.

*******

"Dito ka lang naman Mak, di ba," P asked as she stood up from the recliner. "Pabantay si Nicole ha. Ligo lang ako." She left without even waiting for my answer. Not that I would say no. I wasn't planning to go anywhere, anyway. I'm here to contemplate. Gain perspective. In fact, I would rather be without a companion at the moment but Nic's such a sweetheart. I definitely can't say no.

Right now, she's a few feet away from where I'm at, playing with the sand and gravel. Afraid that I might lose track of her should my mind drift elsewhere, I called out and asked her to stay by the seat next to mine. The kid dusted herself off before lying down on the recliner.

"Tito, kuwentuhan mo naman ako," she asked without looking at me. We were both gazing upwards. The sky was cloudless that night so the stars were very much visible. Lucid. Reachable. "Please, Tito," she added as if she needed to.

"Eh, ano naman gusto mong i-kuwento ko?"

"Kahit ano po."

"Little Mermaid?" It was the first thing that came to mind. We were at the beach, mind you.

"Napanuod ko na po iyun eh. Yung di ko pa alam."

It got me thinking what interesting story would a seven-year old kid be unaware of. Love life ko kaya? Blankly, I stared at the rock formation, a few feet from the shoreline. With the waves crashing on its jagged edges, it seemed too dangerous for that old man to be sitting there, at this point in time. Anyway, it has nothing to do with what I came up with.

"Gusto mo ikuwento ko si Frodo sa'yo," I asked the kid.

"Sino si Frodo," she replied, taking interest in what I have suggested. I was preparing myself for a lengthy story-telling when she pulled my shirt's sleeve while pointing towards the sky.

"Tito, look!"

It was an airplane.

"Oh, airplane yan," I said.

"Diyan nag-tatrabaho Daddy ko," she said proudly. I remember P mentioning that Nic's father works as an engineer in an airline.

"Oo nga. Galing naman." I said as we both sat in silence and watched the aircraft move across the Batangas sky in a seemingly leisurely pace.

"Ang tagal niyang umuwi," Nic sighed.

I saw her pouting. There was no mistaking the look of longing in her eyes. I, on the other hand, was lost for words. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the situation. I wanted to say something but I couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't give her false hope. It's hard enough to not know things, but it's much, much worse to be lied to. Instead, I reached out and asked her to sit beside me.

Okay lang yun, Nic.