I remember when I was about eight, and I'd always hangout with my neighbor Steve who was then 14 and was in high school. He'd bully me all the time, teach me new things, let me try out stuff. We'd always do "criminal" acts that deserved us spots in juvi, and at the end of everything we'd end up laughing so hard. He was, well, the older brother that I never had.
And there was this time last year when I got into real trouble and when he found out, he beat me up, punching me in the face so hard, telling me how dumb I was, he didn't stop till I wasn't fighting back anymore, till I was on the floor. I didn't understand it at first, but now I seem to get it.
And the first few times we drank beer together when he would teach me how to tolerate bottles and bottles, to just go and drink.
And how we spent our summers going to his school's park, playing hacky sack, then taking a nap in the dirty grass. The guard would always try to wake us up, but we'd pretend we were in deep sleep.
Steve is moving to Australia tomorrow along with his whole family. 'Pag umaalis ako for vacation, maghahatid si Steve sa airport tapos bago umalis, may kukunin siya sa pocket niya tapos papakita niya sa 'kin. Peace sign. That sounds corny but I dunno, that's what I'm gonna miss the most.
Man, you come back or I'll kill you.
