Mindanao Study Center

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

NAME OF AUTHOR: Bengan, John B.

DATE PUBLISHED: July 01, 2018

ABSTRACT

She had spotted another boat moving toward their side of the river when one of the boys swimming below the shed called out her name. “Your father,” said the boy. “They say he’s coming back.”

Raquel had seen him before, the son of that woman who sold lotto tickets in the neighbourhood. He and his friends usually picked a spot by the bridge and would stay there until the afternoon. When it got cooler, they would head down the river.

“Tomorrow.” She had come to the shed to watch the boats arrive, a habit she looked forward to lately after school. “Your parents and my father are friends?”

“No,” the boy said. “You crazy? He might shoot them.”

Laughter scattered across the water. She pulled a piece of wood sticking out from the post she’d been leaning on. She aimed for the boy’s head.

But they were already swimming back to the bank, squealing as they beat their arms in the weak light. Not far from them, the boat cruised, taking passengers to their homes in New Matina, the patchwork of houses around Bankerohan. The river twisted up to the highlands, away from the bay that seemed to touch the sky. Once the boys had climbed over the embankment, their leader looked up to the shed. Not done with her yet.

“Your father is a killer,” said the boy. “He should not come back.”

She flung the piece of wood, the weapon, looping away from the boys like a boomerang she’d once seen on a neighbour’s TV, the sound of the motorboat drowning their laughter.

 

READ MORE : https://www.asiancha.com/content/view/3199/673/

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