Unspoken Favors

"Sige na nay," begged Emma.

"Wag ka na pumunta," said the woman sitting across her on the kitchen table. "Baka kung mapano ka pa."

"Sabado naman yun eh," Emma pleaded. "Tapos na naman exam namin"

"Sino sino ba kayo?" asked ate Lydia. Ate Lydia is Emma's mom, our maid for as long as I can remember. She was scooping icecream into her favorite yelloow mug.

"Mga classmates ko lang"

"Sino sino nga," insisted her Mom as she sat down next to me at the kitchen table.

"Sila Monica, Rose, at Jen lang," enumerated Emma. "Nakita nyo na po sila"

"E diba may mga boyfriend na yung mga yon?" asked Ate Lydia as she handed me the brass colored half gallon container.

"Oo nga pero di namin kasama yun," excalimed Emma.

"Kaya naman palaaaa," I teased Emma and laughed. "may mga guys na kasama," I sung with an annoying tone as I dug the scooper into the rockyroad ice cream.

"Wala no," Emma complained. She threw a mad look at me before turning back to her mom. "Kami lang talaga."

"Eh ano ba papanuorin nyo?" ate Lydia continued her interrogation.

"6th Sense lang nay"

"Woooooooow," I teased her. "Scary movie. Makakailang yakap ka kaya?" I whispered so Ate Lydia won't hear. Emma retaliated by kicking my foot underneath the table.

"San?" asked Ate Lydia after a spoonfull of icecream.

"Magkikita kita na lang kami sa Megamall"

"Sa Megamall? Hay nako," said Ate Lydia with a skeptic tone. "Nakakapunta ka na dun?"

"Matagal na kong sinasama nila Ate Aileen nun"

"Baka maligaw ka eh hindi mo yata alam pumunta don, bat dun pa kasi kayo pupunta?" continued Ate Lydia with her relentless questioning.

"Baka mag bus na lang kami o FX"

"Kinakabahan ako sayong bata ka"

"Sige na Nay"

"Hanggang anong oras kayo don?"

"Eight po"

"Wag na. Hindi na uwing estudyante yung alas ocho"

"Tsk, oo nga. Masyadong gabi na yung 8," I said smiling. I can tell Emma was really annoyed, but watching them while eating icecreamw as really entertaining.

"Naaay minsan lang to," said Emma. She was almost whining when she got interrupted by someone who just entered the kitchen.

"Hello," a voice from the kitchen enterance said. I looked up and recognize the origin of the voice.

"Hi Ma." My mom stood beside me and placed her hand on my head.

"Good Evening po," Emma greeted my mom. Emma got up from her seat to serve my mom some ice cream.

"Ay Ayen, nag long distance si Guy. Tatawag raw ulit sya mamayang 9," repored Ate Lydia. She got up to offer my mom a seat.

"Hayaan mo yun. Malaki na sya," she laughed to pretend that she didn't care, but knowing her, she's excited to hear from the guy who she is seeing for about 4 years. They've been together for a year before my mom confronted me about him but before that, I already I knew that Uncle Guy is not really an uncle when he began staying at our house for months at a time.

"Thank you," said my mom as she took the cup of icecream from Emma. "Whats with the icecream?"

"Emma is asking Ate Lydia if she can go out this saturday for a date," I answered proudly.

"Eeeeeeeeh! Its not a date," Emma said in a very frustrated tone. "Kuya Aldrin ang kulit." I can tell by her looks that if I teased her a bit more, she'll start crying. I stopped antagonizing her and enjoye the icecream.

"Hay nako," sighed Ate Lydia. "Nagyayaya raw yung mga classmate nya, manunuod raw ng sine"

"I see," said my mom. "Ilan kayo?"

"Apat po kami ng mga classmate kong babae," answered Emma. "Nagkayayaan lang po kasi tapos na exams." She knows that she'll be able to rely on my mom for support.

"There you go," said my mom before she turned to Ate Lydia. "Payagan mo na. Minsan lang naman eh." I can see Emma's cheeks tighten to prevent the smile thats slowly forming on her face.

"Eh ang gusto sa Megamall pa manunuod," argued Emma's mom.

"May kasama ba kayong lalake?" asked my mom as she began to consume the icecream given to her.

"Wala po. Girls lang talaga," clarified Emma.

"I see," said my mom. She seems to be enjoying the Icecream. "I dont think there will be any problems". At the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Emma jump.

"Eh gagabihin raw" said Ate Lydia

"Oh... Edi pasamahan mo," exclaimed my mom in an effort to convince Emma's mom to agree. I saw Emma gringing, but the grin quickly tunred into a frown when she heard what my mom had to say next: "Hey Aldrin, you go with Emma"

"Bat ako? I'll be busy on Saturday"

"Anong busy? Didn't you say your finals are over?"

"Eh Ate wag nyo na ko pasamahan kay kuya Aldrin," complained Emma. "Magpapacute lang yan kasi crush sya si Jen eh"

"Nyek. Feeling naman nung Jen eh," I argued. Jen was her classmate and she's been texting me ever since Emma borrowed my phone to text her. "Bat kasi binigay mo pa number ko sa kanya eh"

"Masasamahan mo ba sya Aldrin?" Ate Lydia turned to me, not wanting the discussion to digress.

"Samahan mo na sweetie. Take the car so you wont have problems commuting"

I sighed, nodded, and shoved a big spoonful of icecream in my mouth. I looked at Emma. She just got her permission, but it seems she didn't like the way things worked out.

=======

"Hey don't blame me for the traffic ok?" I argued. "Alam mong ginagawa yung MRT eh"

"Bilisan mo na lang," Emma said. "Nasa loob na sila eh"

We were almost running to the Cinema. The truth is I want to watch the movie but I didn't want to go with her. Her classmates have the tendency to be very noisy, not to mention very annoying.

"I dont want your friends to see me ok?," I told Emma. "Pag natapos na yung movie, kita na lang tayo sa Wendy's. Text mo na lang ako"

"Ok," she said. She was preoccupied with hurrying so she didn't have the time to argue.

We got our tickets and went inside as soon as possible. We peeked at the screen from the side of the cinema and I saw that the ending credits of the previous screening is still rolling. Emma went on ahead to meet up with her classmates while I fell in line at the consession stand. I got a bit annoyed because we could've taken our time. I didnt like being hurried for nothing.

Confident that I didn't have to deal with Emma's friends, I got myself a large coke and a tub of popcorn for the movie (Hey, I enjoy movies ok?). The theater lights were still on when I entered. Leonardo di Carprio was running in the trailer of "The Beach" when I found a good seat a few rows in front of Emma and her classmates. "This should be far enoughnot to be recognized," I told myself. They were at the top right corner of the cinema.

I slouched and raised a foot. I took a handful of popcorn and watched rest of the movie trailers. Soon the lights went out and last few trailers began to roll. I ws getting comfortable when my cellphone beeped. I forgot to put it on silent mode and I got shushed by stragers around me. I took a peep at my cell phone and saw that It was Emma.

san ka? badtrip. i wna go home.

why? whats wrong?

Cnama pala nla mga bf nila. usapan nmin all girls lng. magisa lng me d2. naka2 op.

I raised my head to take a good look at Emma's party. She was at the left end, and beside her were 3 couples. From the light on the screen, I can see that her classmates were busy talking while Emma was holding her 5110, unable to relate in the couples scene.

u dont hav to hav sum1 2 enjoy d movie. d nman kayo nagbayad para makipagdaldalan db?

eh sila jeff nagya2 mag billards mamaya. nakakailang. dpat kc kmi2 lang

yan ksi sbi ko syo mag bf ka na e hehe

nang aasar k p eh. hay nvm. uwi n tyo mamya after n2.

do u want 2 play billards with them later?

uu pero maiilang lng me. uwi na lng tyo.

Emma looked as if she just got cheated in a game. She was leaning away from her friends, with her hand on her elbow, obviously annoyed and getting bored. Her friends were still chatting so I got up, climbed and moved to the Free seat on Emma's left.

"Sorry," I pretended to apologize."There was a line at the snack bar kaya natagalan ako"

Emma was confused for a bit, but she easily catched on. "Umupo ka na. Magsstart na."

"I got us popcorn and coke," I told Emma. "Dammit, isa lang ang straw!" I told myself, but Emma realized this and casually told me she didnt want to drink.

Her friends started saying "hi" and Emma introduced me to her friends as "anak ng boss ng nanay nya". I just nodded and smiled at them.

So I was sympathetic. Big deal. I had to do what I can. She wasn't such a bad girl and she didn't deserve to get her time out ruined. She is a good student and she deserves some fun.

Soon, the movie started and Emma's fingernails started digging into my right arm. An hour and a half, a swollen right arm and a deaf right ear later, the lights went on. The movie has ended and I suggested we eat dinner at Kenny Rogers' Roasters (when it was still cool lol). After that, we proceeded to play billards. I don't want to discriminate but I was a bit uncomfortable playing with Emma's friends from highschool and she knows that. Nevertheless, I didnt want to embarass her in front of her friends, and being the only one of legal age in the group, I kept myself well behaved. All night, Emma was elbowing me and grinning because we were winning the games. Nagseselos na raw yung mga guys sa mga gfs nila kaya wag daw ako masyadong magpa-cute. I just kept a stiff grin, and from time to time I reminded Emma that she owes me bigtime.

We got home around 10:30 pm with 3 worried grown-ups waiting for us. We got a good scolding and grounding. I wont be able to drive for a semester. We got sent to our rooms soon after that.

"Goodnight," I told Emma when were about to enter each others' rooms.

"Goodnight," she replied. We both got scolded but she was able to flash me a smile. A few minutes later, I got a text from Emma.

sori pti ikaw grounded. pero thnx kanina. ty talaga üüü gnyt.


*Lydia is Emma's mom's name and Aileen is my mom's name (Ayen is her nickname). Both are real names btw.