(This is the story of Dave Carino, ang kapatid nina Josh and Martin.)
Yes, it finally happened, one of his brothers was getting married. He wasnt exactly surprised it was Josh, but rather surprised that Josh would fall for someone who had a rather unconventional background. Kate, as far as Dave was concerned, was as different from Marie as night from day.
Marie was in many ways the conventional beauty. Physically, she was the ideal filipino beauty. She was tall, and very elegant. Her rosy fair skin was what his Ma called a strawberries-and-milk complexion. Tisay kasi. In terms of ugali, she was perfect for Josh’s “take charge” attitude. She always deferred to Josh even about personal matters. Everything she did revolved around Josh, in fact, she even famously refused to have her hair cut dahil Josh liked it long. In keeping with the whole demure package, she was also very soft-spoken and mahinhin.
Kate, on the other hand, was more fiery, more assertive, and lively. Physically, she will never be considered a candidate for the beauty contest, not because she was ugly. Far from it, Dave thought. Kate had a very arresting way of catching your attention. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence, and glowed when she talks about something she was passionate about. She even had cute little dimples bracketing the side of her lips. Plus she had these long legs that he noticed men kept staring at, him included, not that he would admit this to Josh.
She also had a way of getting in trouble for her rather “uncoventional” activities, and this he knew would keep Josh very busy for a long time. He liked this Kate, malakas ang kutob nyang she can be relied on to keep Josh in check. In fact, she was the female version of himself, as he found out. How he came to find out is a rather convoluted story. The first time he met Kate, they werent even properly introduced.
(A little flashback)
Dave remembered the first time he heard Josh speak about Kate. What was different about it was that it was in conjunction with an odd favor from him. Josh called him to ask him about his help procuring handheld ammos na pwedeng gamitin ng babae. Before Dave would accommodate him though, he made Josh tell him why.
Josh revealed that Kate was a card-carrying member of several NGO’s with ties to human rights advocacies. This was unusual in itself dahil it was an odd pairing: a military man working with intelligence, and an activist. Before he knew it, he found himself agreeing to help Josh carry out his weird surveillance of his future sister-in-law. First, he got her the guns and delivered them to the pair at Camp Dangwa.
Second, he went as far as to secretly shadow Kate wherever she went. This was no mean feat considering that his built and demeanor made him stick out like a sore thumb. He found himself jogging at the park, trailing Kate when she did her morning runs. He even managed to join silent protest marches sa city, para lang masubaybayan si Kate. Sa surveillance nya, he got himself a small room sa boarding house next to Josh’s house to check on her.
“If Kate finds out, and she probably will, bahala kang magpaliwanag sa kanya what you were doing,” warning ni Dave kay Josh.
“Dont worry, leave it to me,” assured Josh.
“Dapat lang dahil you’re the one who has to share a bed with her.”
“Just for a month or so, until the problem goes away. Anyway, you still have a few weeks left saka aalis ka uli.I really need someone to look over her, and you’re the best one for the job.”
Kung qualifications and pag-uusapan, he really was the best one for the job. He also started out in the Armed Forces, like Josh, but he opted to join the Army Rangers. Specially trained sya as a sniper. But unlike Josh, he opted to leave the army after his 28th birthday. He was disillusioned sa nakitang pamamalakad sa military, and he wanted out. After straying for a while, a military vet enlisted his help to join a private security contracting firm abroad ala “Blackwater”. The pay was great, the level of risk was high, and this suited him well. Although banned ang pinoys sa Iraq, he was snuck in and worked for two years in Baghdad. Nasankot sa kaso ang company nya regarding human rights issues uli, kaya hindi inaprubahan ng DoD ang contract nila.
Which was the reason why he was home, and doing stupid stunts like following his brother’s future wife (although Kate didnt know it yet) around the country.
<3
“Uy sis, ayan na sya…,” tili ni Barbie.
“Sino, bakla?,” tanong naman ni Jen, sabay takbo sa bintana ng boarding house nila.
“Sino pa…di si Mr.Yoso…grabe katawang macho talaga sya…feeling ko, lumalaki ang suso ko,” malanding tili uli ni Barbie.
“Hoy, Barbie ha, mamaya mahuli kayo jan na namboboso, sapukin ka nyan. Nakakatakot pa naman ang itsura,” natatawang saway ni Julie sa mga alaga nyang boarders.
Alam na ni Juliet, without even mentioning his name, kung sino ang tinutukoy nina Barbie. A few weeks ago, may nag-board sa kapitbahay na isang mama. Lahat ng batang tambay sa lugar nila na-curious sa bagong boarder ni Aling Iling. For one, hindi sya yung usual na estudyante. Hindi rin naman sya mukhang ordinaryong empleado. Naka Ford pick-up sya, yung bagong modelo. Simpleng manamit, jeans, t-shirt at leather jacket (Baguio ito), or jeans, t-shirt at denim jacket (dahil sa Baguio ito), and the foot wear na favored ng mga locals, leather boots, of course. Few of the boarders bothered na maki-pag-usap sa kanya dahil mukha syang intimidating – parang shady police character.
Patie si Juliet, na hindi naman nakiki-tsismis as a habit, na-intriga din. Not really because of him but nag-sususpetsa sya na baka nga shady character ito. Baka drug pusher, ang hinala ni nya. Minsan kasi, nagkabundulan sila sa daan, at in the process na-kita na na may naka-suksok na baril under his jacket. Kung hindi sya drug pusher, or walang masamang balak, bakit sya packing heat?, logical na rason nya sa sarili. Best to be wary of him, Juliet, warning nya sa sarili.
“Hoy admiring lang naman kami…sino naman ang hindi mag-aadmire nyan…napaka-tikas ng katawan, ang mga braso nya, muscled, ang mga abs nya, fit na fit…kilig sigurong mayakap nyan. Feeling ko, so protected,” itinuloy pa ni Barbie.
“Bahala kayo, basta sinasabi ko, mag-ingat kayo jan….”
<3