6Chapter 1: The Knots in My Yo-yo String (Yo-yo Displacement?)
He stared at the ceiling and smiled before uttering his last words. "Captain Hero still rocks."
(n.n)
BOOG!
Just then, a little head appeared in the opening from which he entered.
"Sa'yo 'to? (Is this yours?)", asked the child innocently, while holding the Pokémon sticker-filled yo-yo in front of his eyes.
Jem, with tears streaming down his cheeks, looked up toward the speaker and nodded slowly. After a minute or two, he suddenly got up and made a get for his yo-yo, which he recovered soon enough from the stunned little red capped girl.
(n,n)
Jeremie, who is better known as Jem, lived with his older brother, Jed, and his father. Long had he and his sibling been without a mother. This was an unfortunate loss for Jem, since she was his only friend and confidante (Jed was merely a 'playmate'). She was the ONLY best friend he recognized ever since her death five years ago.
(n.n)
"Mama, Mama…gusto ko po 'yung yo-yo na 'yun! (Mama, Mama…I want that yo-yo!)"
Little Jeremie eagerly let go of his mother's hand, hastily ran toward the bright-colored toy shop, and quickly pressed his nose against the glass window.
"'Di ba 'yun 'yung laging ginagamit ni Captain Hero? Gusto ko 'nun. Para pareho kami! (Isn't that the one Captain Hero always uses? I want that, so that we're the same!)", he exclaimed when he finally pulled away from looking at the toy. He then stared at his exhausted mother, who ran immediately after her son the moment he ran off, with his special puppy dog eyes.
His mother smiled and took his hand. Together, they entered the store. Unfortunately, the medical crew came in a little afterwards and carried Jem's only best friend towards the hospital.
(n,n)
Five years had passed, and Jem still had the yo-yo his mother had given him that day she died. The blue color had faded now, but Jem placed stickers of his favorite pocket monsters to cover up the loss. The string was quite new; it was the most recent replacement of many a yo-yo strings that had been used trick after trick…
(n.n)
"Ibigay mo na kasi! (Give it here already!)"
Punch.
"Ayoko nga! (But I don't want to!)"
Another punch.
"Akin na kasi! (I said, GIVE IT TO ME!)"
Punch after punch after punch.
The fat kid stopped beating up the defenseless Jem when he saw tears welling up his prey's eyes. Taking this for a moment's worth of incapacity, he took the yo-yo that had fallen from Jem's hand and quickly ran towards the other part of the playground where other bullies were frightening those smaller than them.
Jem took shelter inside the old construction pipe. It was huge and empty, as it usually was. He sat down at the very middle of it and started to cry harder…until the little red capped girl came along, anyway…
(n,n)
Author's Note: "Knots in my Yo-yo String" is actually a title of a book (of which I do not own). It's the reason why I'm feeling quite…ehe.