Shipwrecked Hearts

Prologue I put the cigarette between my lips and lit it, the aroma of the tobacco as it smoldered its way down to my lungs gave me liberation. I held the cig and exhaled heavily, letting the smoke fade away into thin salt air. Sumandal ako sa rehas ng barko at pinagmasdan ang kalmadong karagatan, it is the calm before the storm, I can smell it—a hurricane is coming. Pinikit ko ang aking mga mata at muling binalikan ang mga pangyayari, how I ended up here, in a cruise ship of grand voyage, in the middle of nowhere. So how the fuck did I end up here? In a ship full of aristocrats? Oh, right, I was stood up. I was supposed to be married, ngunit hindi ako sinipot ng mapapangasawa. I was about to walk the aisle, who would have thought that walk of my life will become a walk of shame? That’s when I saw that there was no man waiting for me in front of the altar. Why? Because he’s not yet ready to vouch his responsibilities to me. Or at least that’s what people think. What a pussy. And because my loving parents dearly love their daughter so much, they sent me away for a vacation thinking that will cool my head from all the controversies I’ve been through—as the media started discussing theories I cheated that’s why Vanz didn’t show up, or that Vanz found out I wasn’t a virgin anymore since we pledged to do-it after our marriage to make our ‘bond’ more sacred. I can imagine my face being featured in the newspapers and news with a stupid headline. Akira Kara got stood up by Vanz Alfonzos! Akira Kara cheated on Vanz Alfonzos! Daughter of Marine Sky Corp, is a certified charlatan! Well, fuck that. Fuck. All. Of. It. They know nothing. Of course, that said, none of it was true. What is true is that Vanz like to suck dicks, or in short, he’s a gay who likes balls more than peanuts. Teka, in short ba iyon? Anyways, I can’t believe it myself when I found out, but he is anyways. It’s true. Mabuti na lang at hindi talaga siya sumipot sa kasal namin. Right after our supposed to be wedding, dahil sobra akong napahiya nang walang rason, naghanap ako kung bakit ganoon ang ginawa niya. I needed reasons. Valid reasons. But Vanz didn’t give me any, ni isang salita wala, hindi siya nakipag-usap sa akin. Like I didn’t exist. Sinayang niya ako. I mean, isang Akira Kara, sinayang niya? Walang lalaking kayang itakwil ang isang tulad ko. Okay, I’m a little bit full of myself, but it’s true to some extent. That’s why I investigated more on Vanz’s profile, doon ko napagtanto na baklush siya. Bading. Bakla. Beki. Bekibells. Call it what you want! I tried telling my parents, his family, and friends, but they don’t believe me. They think I am lying, because I wanted to get back. Because he stood me up. Pumasok na ako sa aking cabin matapos magyosi at pumunta sa wine bar nito, kinuha ko ang isa sa mga pinakamatapang na alcohol—Vieille Bon Secours Ale, after that, I poured my glass with it and drank it whole, I let the alcohol sip its way down, the warmth of its touch shriveled my senses, I wanted more of it and I’ve got the reputation for always getting what I want. Except Vanz, because of his sexual preference. I should have grown a dick and two balls, I laughed at the thought. I know, nagpapakadalubhasa ako dahil sa isang bakla. I know, I’m pathetic for still loving Vanz despite knowing what he truly is, na berde ang kulay ng kanyang dugo. I know and fuck what I know is all I can say. I’m still willing to forgive him, I’m still willing. Gusto kong ituwid ang baluktot na landas niya. But he won’t let me. Kaya ano pa ba ang magagawa ko? Nagpakalunod ako sa alcohol, the next thing I knew, naubos ko na ang buong bote ng alak. I sighed, I can feel my body heating up, it seems like the alcohol is starting to work as I am starting to feel drowsy and light-headed. “More! More! I want more!” I whined to myself, I struggled to find my way to my cabin’s bar and take another bottle without looking at its label, I’m too drunk to think and read anyways. And what’s the difference anyways? An alcohol will always be an alcohol regardless of its label. Binuksan ko ang hawak ko at diniretsang ininom. “Gah!” Ramdam kong tila tinutusok na ng apoy ang aking lalamunan ngunit hindi ako tumigil. Right now, all I can do is drown myself with alcohol. Naglakad ako patungo sa bintana ng aking stateroom while drinking continuously, alcohol was spilling on the floor, but I don’t give a damn shit. Sumilip ako at may nakitang itim na barkong papalapit mula sa tanawin, I blinked my eyes. I’m probably drunk. My vision is quite blurry. Right, it’s just me and the alcohol talking, letting me see weird things. The bottled alcohol slipped on my fingers while I was outbalanced when the ship started to quiver like there was an earthquake, along with it was the sound of explosion and things in my room falling down, breaking and shattering. Pain started to sip on my forehead. God. I hit my head on the floor. And the next thing I knew, I was knocked out.   Tila tinutusok ng milyong karayom ang aking ulo nang ako’y magising. Humikab ako, pinunasan ko naman ang laway sa gilid ng aking labi, dumiretso ako sa banyo at naghilamos, I let the cold water wake my senses up. Biglang kumulo ang aking tyan, tila nagrereklamo na. Oh, right. I haven’t eaten anything yet today. Kaya naman napagdesisyunan kong dumiretso sa food court ng barko. Naglakad ako sa hallway na pagitan ng bawat cabins, it feels weird. The silence of the ship was deafening, it’s like I was the only person on board. Sa sobrang katahimikan ay pati ang bawat apak ng aking mga paa ay umaalingawngaw. Is there something wrong with my ears? Side effect ng alak? Bago ito ah? Umiling na lang ako dahil sa aking pinag-iisip. Gutom lang ito. Papasok na sana ako sa food court nang may narinig akong mga lalakeng nagsasalita. “Maximo, we’re done looting on the first seven floors.” Kumunot naman ang noo ko dahil sa aking narinig, what are they talking about? Dala ng kuryusidad ay nagtago ako’t sumilip mula sa pintuan. Dumapo ang tingin ko sa mga kalalakihang nakaitim na suot ngunit ang pumukaw ng atensyon ko sa lahat ay ang tila lider nila. He was tall and dark and had long locks of jet-black hair neatly braided backwards, he was wearing a black suit with weird gold and red floral embroideries, like of a pirate. He had an eyepatch. Totally a pirate. I chuckled, I wasn’t informed there was a cosplay event. I took my phone out of my pocket, hindi ko ininda ang pinaghalong sakit sa ulo at gutom. I’m going to take a selfie with him with a big smile and I’m gonna show the fucking world that I am happy and not miserable. I nodded at the thought. And I’m going to make Vanz Alfonzos fucking jealous! Ang gwapo kaya ng pirate cosplayer na ito! I smirked. Tumingin muna ako sa front camera ng phone upang ayusin ang buhok, pagkatapos ay pumasok ako sa food court. “Hi! Can we have a selfie?!” Ngiting tanong ko sa lalaking cosplayer sabay pakita ng phone. Tila nagulat siya pati ang kanyang mga kasama dahil sa aking pagsulpot, “who the fuck are you?” Seryosong tanong niya, tila tinaasan ako ng balahibo dahil sa lalim ng kanyang boses. He had the accent that I can’t distinguish too, it’s like British, but is not. Ngunit napawi ang ngiti ko nang maproseso ang kanyang sinabi. What an arrogant ass! Sinimangutan ko siya, “is that how you treat your ship’s costumer?!” Tinaasan ko siya ng boses. “Costumer?” He asked, confused. After that, he started to look amused. “You seem to be getting the wrong idea here, starfish.” “Starfish?!” I hissed, “mukha ba akong starfish?! Namoka! Huwag ako!” Ngumisi siya, “you have no idea who you’re talking to.” Pagkatapos ay binaling niya ang kanyang tingin sa mga kasama, “I thought every last person here were asleep because of the sleeping gas?” Yumuko ang lalaki, “we are very sorry, Maximo. We made sure to check every corner of this ship.” “Does it look like that?” Sagot ng lalaking tinawag nilang Maximo. Hindi nakasalita ang tila tauhan niya. “What will we do to her, Maximo?” Tanong naman ng isang lalake. “Kill her? She has seen your face.” Tumingin sa akin si Maximo, I stood still, confused, “ano ang tinitingin-tingin mo?” Pagtataray ko sa kanya sabay taas ng kilay. I even crossed my arms. “It’d be a waste to kill her. I have better plans.” He smirked at me. Ano ang kanyang pinagsasabi? Ah! Baka parte ito ng act ng cosplay event? “Ikaw ha, masyado mong kina-career ang pagco-cosplay.” Humagikgik ako at saka lumapit sa kanya, I raised my arm and took a selfie with him. “Ngiti naman dyan.” Utos ko sa kanya. Sa halip na ngumiti ay kinunutan lang niya ako ng noo, “what are you doing?” “Bawal bang makipag-picture?” Lumabi ako sa kanya. “Come on, kahit isang matinong litrato lang.” Nagulat ako nang hablutin niya ang telepono mula sa aking mga kamay, nalaglag ang panga ko nang sirain niya ito gamit lamang ang kanyang isang palad. He literally crashed my phone using his one hand. Hinablot ko si Maximo sa kanyang kwelyo, “ano ang ginawa mo?!” Yinugyog ko siya dahil sa sobrang galit, “sumusobra ka na ha! Asan ang boss mo? Ire-report kita!” “I’m the boss.” He growled. “Ikaw? Pwe! Mukha mo!” Tiniris ko siya sa kanyang tainga. “Fuck! Why did you do that?!” Namumula na ang kanyang mukha habang tahimik namang nanonood ang mga kasama. They seem to be awed to what was happening. “E bakit mo sinira ang phone ko?!” Kung dragona lang siguro ako matagal ko na siyang binugahan ng apoy! Nakakabwisit namang cosplayer ito! Hinilot niya ang sentido ng kanyang matangos na ilong na tila nagpipigil ng inis. Aba, siya pa ang may ganang magpigil? E ako nga dapat mas mainis pa e! “Cuff her hands.” Seryosong utos niya. Nagulat ako nang may isang lalaking humabot sa aking dalawang kamay at posasan, “what are you doing?!” Sinamaan ko sila ng tingin. “Sumosobra na kayo ha! Anong klaseng palabas ito?!” “I don’t know what idea you’re thinking of but you better shut your mouth if you don’t want me to silence you forever.” Maximo growled, tila bumilis ang pintig ng puso ko dala ng takot. “Maximo, now what?” Tanong ng nagposas sa akin. Tinitigan lang ako ni Maximo, tila nag-iisip nang malalim. “Name.” Saad niya. Hindi ako umimik. “Give me your fucking name, starfish.” “A-Akira Kara.” Lame ass, why did you stutter?! I made a mental face-palm. “Akira.”  The way he said my name was so sexy, especially with his foreign tone and husky voice. “I’m Alexander Renaissance, the pirate captain of Renaissance, I’m giving you two options.” Two options? “Die here or join us.”