If Kalyeserye Was A Drama || Ikaw! Ikaw, Ikaw, Ikaw!

The dim light of the streets was quickly lost in the gloom, the silence that fell on the neighborhood drawing a stark contrast from the loud beating of Duhrizz’s heart. The sound of her heels clicking against the stoned walkway under her feet echoed against the trees that surrounded the two story house, her breaths even despite the growing excitement she felt running through her body.

Stepping inside the house, Duhrizz walked towards the stairs, waving her hi’s and hello’s to the people she passed. A grin crossed her lips when she heard screams push through the narrow hallway, the butterflies in her stomach flapping their wings incessantly that, for a minute, she thought she was going to vomit. Malapit na, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner and silently let herself in the room her guest was in.

And there she was, kicking and yelling as she fought against the heavy set man that slung her over her shoulders. Her wrists were bound behind her back with a rope, and if it weren’t for the little light coming in from the windows , Duhrizz would’ve missed the purple bruises that peaked out of the torn and tattered edges of her guest’s pink dress. “BITAWAN NIYO ‘KO SABI! ANO BA!”

Duhrizz was quiet as she watched, her eyes tight as she took in every minute movement, watched her thrash and listened to every grunt and every yelp that flew past her old alalay’s lips. She waited for the guilt to come over her but it didn’t — in its place was a sense of content over the fact that, finally, she felt like she won.

“SIRA BA PANDINIG MO?! SABI KO BITAWAN MO AK — “

“Itigil niyo na yan,” Duhrizz said after awhile, her voice full of authority that it surprised even herself. She waved a hand and ordered one of her men to put the alalay down, nodding once towards the other as she walked towards the chair behind him.

“Remember me?” Fingers wrapping around the backrest of the chair, she dragged it loudly across the floor.

“SINO YAN?!” Her breaths came out through parted lips, her fingernails digging deep into her palms as she sat there — unable to move or even see what was going on around her. “S-sino yan?”

“Hulaan mo,” Duhrizz sang as she slammed the chair so loud that it echoed against the four walls of the cramped and dark room. “Bigyan kita ng clue, you want?” Her hand hovered above the yaya’s head, opening and closing it into fists before she finally reached over and yanked the blindfold off her eyes violently. “Help me, yaya. Please. I’m so scared,” she teased as her guest’s head jerked forward, her eyes blinking open as it adjusted to the newly gained light. When she gasped in shock, Duhrizz spoke: “Hello, Divina.”

“Duhrizz, tulungan mo ako, please!”

“At bakit ko gagawin yun?”

Divina narrowed her eyes, her lips pursed into a line as she tried, desperately, to twist her wrists out of the ropes.

“Alam mo, ya,” she trailed as she pushed herself off her seat and circled around her old alalay. “And tagal tagal kong inisip kung bakit ikaw yung gusto ng lola. Tagalaba ka lang naman. Taga luto. Tagabigay ng gamot.” Stopping short right behind her, she bent down right next to Divina’s head and continued. “I have to ask: nag — ”

“Duhrizz, hindi ikaw ‘to!”

Letting out a breath, Duhrizz rolled her eyes and motioned for one of the men to dump the bucket of ice water he’s been holding on Divina.

“Let someone else finish before you speak, remember? Of all people dapat alam mo yan, because Lola said it,” she said as she patted the shivering Divina. “Can I finish now?”

Divina looked up to meet Duhrizz’s gaze, wincing from the cold that pricked like needles on her bare skin. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came, only whimpers as another bucket of ice water was poured on her.

“Lahat na ginawa ko, Divina!” The blonde bellowed as she slammed her fists on the arm rest of Divina’s chair. “Lahat na ginagawa ko just so that lola would look at me the same way she does with you. Pero ano? Wala diba? And I did everything! I studied abroad when she told me to. I got a job on top of trying to keep my grades up just because she said that it would make me better! Lahat, Divina!”

Pushing herself off of Divina, Duhrizz began to pace on the floor, pinching the bridge of her nose as she pushed back all of the things she did for her lola, all of the sacrifices she had to endure just so that she can receive just a fraction of the attention she gave Divina. “Even after I broke the engagement with Steve because she didn’t approve, alam mo yung sinabi niya sa ‘kin?”

Divina tried to speak but she was too busy trying to catch her breaths from the bitter cold that clung to every inch of her body.

“Ikaw! Yaya this. Yaya that. Parati na lang ikaw,” Duhrizz said, her voice steady, as if she didn’t have an outburst earlier. “Ang bukambibig ni lola kahit hirap na hirap na ako, ay ang mabait at maalaga niyang alalay.” She poked Divina on her shoulders and waited for her to look up. “Sa tingin mo ba, ya, if I was the one kidnapped, lola would worry as much?”

All Divina could do was nod.

“Lies.”

“D-D-Duhrizz…”

The blonde hung her head as she let what she was doing sink in, her heart beating inexplicably loud that it hurt her ears. Bah-bum. Bah-bum. It surprised her that the guilt she expected still wasn’t there but she didn’t care. Not anymore.

“You think this is hard, Divina?” she asked as her eyes raked over the thin body that shook so uncontrollably. “Hindi pa ako tapos sa’yo.”

A beat.

“Make sure that she doesn’t get out of this room!” Duhrizz ordered. With a hand clutched on the door handle, she allowed herself one last glance of Divina. “And keep her alive. Ayaw ko magtapon ng basura.”