———

Judge opened his eyes, bruised face, abrasions and cuts on his skin, swollen muscles and probably broken ribs. He arose from his bed and carefully sat.

He caressed his throbbing head gently.

It hurts so bad— Geez.

Na sa ospital siya obviously. Naalala niyang umalis siya pagkatapos nang sagutan nila ni Mister King. Pagkatapos noon ay sumakay siya sa kaniyang motorsiklo, habang papatawid sa interseksyon nabangga siya ng isang kotse.

Sure thing, he drove fast, exceeded speed limit, beat the red light but he wasn't trying to kill himself.

Promise.

Nagkataon lang talaga na sa pagtawid niya ay akalain mo 'yon, may mas swapang pa pala sa kaniya kaya nabangga siya. He got minor injuries— or if having a broken ribs considered even minor. He couldn't even talk because his mouth hurts. He might've a loose tooth or something.

What a life.

First, he messed up his performance and it was horrible. Second, lose his career which he has been rooting for years and then... this, almost lost his life too.

Ang malas!

Maya-maya pumasok ang mga nurse, ngumiti at bumati ito sa kaniya at sa ibang mga kasamaan sa kwarto. Bali tatlo silang nakaratay roon. On his right side, it was a guy more like a boy. By the looks of it, ungracefully tall and thin— he appeared more as lanky, likely to be a couple years younger than him. On his left, another guy but this time probably his age, dyed red hair and a lot of ear piercing. May leg brace ito sa kanang paa, habang hawak ang gitara at tumutogtog.

His eyes squinted as he watched his fingers doing the work.

Kumunot ang noo niya nang may mapansin siya roon. His left hand's fingers are deformed probably burnt or something. It looked like it has been there for years based on the shiny, rubberlike, brownish keloid scars, present from the back of his palms, covering an ample part of his arm too. Hindi lang iyon. What amazed him more was how he's really good at strumming the guitar given that his fingers was distorted— he'd left with two fingers actually, the thumb and pinky. Dumapo ang tingin niya sa right arm nitong nasa fingerboard ng guitar, it seemed fine. No scars and no burn. Ang left arm lang talaga nito ang napuruhan.

Playing "I feel fine" of the Beatles, the red haired guy killed the song. His skilled fingers manuevared the guitar strings like crazy. Nevertheless the dissability, it didn't seem to affect his performance at all. He's that good.

"Mister Ocampo can you please toned down. Hindi lang ikaw ang nasa kwarto," saway ng nurse.

Nagkibit-balikat ito at binaba ang guitar sa sahig.

"What are you looking at?" The guy snapped when he caught Judge staring at him.

Unconsciously, Judge shook his head.

"Actually that's my guitar," nag-aalinlangang tugon niya.

"Fuck off," the guy said and gave him a dirty finger and dropped his guitar on the floor.

It looked like he lost his fingers 'cause God knew that he would be doing this kind of stuff someday— giving him a fuck you for example.

Judge threw himself down to his bed and stared at the plain, all-white ceiling. Momentarily, he would look at his injured arm, then back to the ceiling and wonder why the hell was he so ill-fated?

"Mister Argon?"

Lumapit sa kaniya ang nurse na may katabaan, maputi at matangkad. Ngumiti ito sa kaniya.

"Mamamatay na ba ako?" He asked, still his eyes on the ceiling and then back to the nurse.

"Kailan?"

The nurse smiled again.

"Your arm is not broken, but it is injured. It's going to require a splint to immobilize it."

Hindi siya nagsalita at nanatiling nakinig sa nurse.

"Doctor Ali will be back in a little bit to apply your arm cast. In a meantime, I'm just going to wrap it up securely. Immobilizing it like that will protect  it from any further injury and help you to avoid any extra pain and discomfort."

"How about my ribs? Isn't it broken?"

The nurse wrapped a stretchy white cloth around his arm. She did it for almost pass a minute.

"Your ribs are perfectly fine. Mabuti na lang at nadala ka ng maaga rito sa Ospital at nakasuot ka ng helmet. Concussions could be very dangerous."

Ilang sadali ay umalis na ang nurse. As slowly as possible, he got up. Napapamura siya kapag napapasobra ang galaw niya at nabibinat ang mga sugat niya sa katawan.

He got a huge cut on his right cheek and a couple of scratches on his forhead. He was busy scanning his face using the camera of his phone, but suddenly, it rang.

"Jules—"

Ang matinis na boses nito ang bumulaga sa kaniya.

"Where are you? Are you okay? Nasaktan ka ba? This is a hit-and-ran, nareport mo na ba to sa police?"

He closed his eyes for a bit,"I'm okay."

"Anong I'm okay! What the hell— you just got hit and you're telling me you're okay? Ano 'yon?"

"Shush... Calm down. Hindi pa ako mamamatay."

"Anong m-mamamatay?" She stammered. After that, he heard her voice cracked from the other line.

Here we go again.

"Jules..."

Pagkatapos noon ay purong hagulhol na ang narinig niya sa kabilang linya. Sniff. Cry. Sniff. Cry.

Jules did that for one good minute.

"Jules stop crying."

"Bakit kasi ang dali-dali mong magbitaw ng mga ganoong salita!"

"Look, I'm sorry okay... Just don't tell dad."

Bigla na lang natahimik ang kabilang linya.

"You told him, didn't you?"

Napailing siya.

What do he expect from Jules?

"Judge naman! What am I supposed to do then? I got carried away when I heard that you're in the hospital, kaya tinawagan ko na. And besides you were not picking up!"

Kumuyom ang kamao niya nang makita niya ang pagbukas ng pinto. Ilang sandali, pumasok ang humigit kumulang limang katao pawang nakasuot ng suit.

He's here.

Pinatay niya ang tawag at inilapag ang telepono sa malapitang side table.

He recognised, Akello, one of his dad's trusted men. Great built, pretty muscular but lean at the same time, an inch taller and years older than him.

Akello gave him a slight bow.

He nodded in return as he stood up carefully.

Deep fine lines, creased brow, pair of deep brutal green orbes.

Tumikhim ito.

Ang bagsik ng tingin nito ay parang kita nito ang buong pagkatao mo. Mapait, kasukmal-sukmal, kahiya-hiyang mga sekreto sa loob mo ay parang batid niya rin.

Dad.

"Mister A-argon," Judge said.

"Anong nangyari?" Gamit ang kalmado at baritono nitong boses.

Handa ng sagutin iyon ni Judge ngunit nauna si Akello.

"It was a hit-and-ran. Our men is already tracking down the car, i'll report everything tomorrow--"

Inimwestra ng matandang Argon ang kamay nito, agad tumalima si Akello at tumigil sa pagsasalita.

"You'll be flying to America tomorrow. I've chosen a great university for you to study business. Pack your things and don't disappoint me."

His jaw clenched.

"No," tipid ngunit sigurado niyang sagot sa ama.

"What?"

Kalmado pa rin ang boses nito na siyang hindi na rin niya ikinabigla.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Sinalubong niya ang mabagsik nitong mga mata. Deep green eyes. Exactly the same as him but his dad— the true Argon was way more brutal and intense.

"Dito lang ako—"

Isang sampal ang dumapo sa mukha niya.

Kinuyom ni Judge ang mga kamay niya hindi nagtagal ay naging kamao itong handang sumuntok ng kahit ano.

"Ito ang gusto kong gawin sa buhay ko. Ito ang gusto ko—"

Isang sampal.

"You never failed to disappoint me Judge."

After saying those words, the old Argon with displeased eyes, stormed out together with his men.

Bullshit.

Malakas na inihampas ni Judge ang telepono nito sa sahig. Shattered fragments of his mobile scattered on the floor.

Great. Now he doesn't have a phone.

Agad niyang niligpit ang mga gamit niya, nagbihis na rin siya. He didn't mind going to the restroom to change. Mga lalaki lang din naman sila roon. White loose tees, black jeans and sneakers, he was ready to leave all his shits.

"Give me my guitar," Judge faced the red haired guy, now holding his guitar.

"Gibson J-160E. Mahal to ah," hinimas himas ito ng lalaki.

"Akin na lang kung ihahampas mo lang din."

Kinuha niya ang guitar mula sa lalaki. "Hindi ko 'to ihahampas."

Madilim na ang paligid nang lumabas siya sa hospital. Sa totoo lang hindi niya alam kung saan siya pupunta— wala rin naman siyang mapupuntahan. If he didn't just quit, pwede siyang matulog sa dorm nilang mga trainee, pero he messed up everything. The least he could do was to save his pride.

Ilang sandali ay napadpad siya sa isang tulay na ilang metro lang ang layo sa Ospital. He looked up. They say stars are born from chaos. They are born only after they first collapsed.

Ang gulo. Ang gulo ng buhay niya.

When will his chaotic life give birth to a star?

A star who will guide him.
A star who will give him a bright light.
A star who will give him hope and peace.

Bumaba ang tingin niya sa hawak niyang larawan.

"When will you come back?"

###