things remembered

gin blossoms and "as long as it matters". ketchup fries. road trip to tagaytay. the blue-green corolla. you letting me drive your car even if i was hardly able to drive. long conversations on tuesday nights. my exes hating you. your exes hating me back. a really bad pirated copy of dos ekis. beeper 150. flat tops. summer at taal when the dog barked in the middle of the night. chess games. basketball and 21. a single pink rose for every single time i got depressed. tuesday nights. that webby flesh between my fingers. deciding not to. sharing the same last name. when we tried and when we let go. promising to be best friends. 160 kph at skyway. algeciras st. one burgundy place. long distance calls. everyone believing you were mayabang.

i don't have pictures of us together. i don't have your cards and letters anymore. i don't have anything to remind me of the 14 years of friendship, except for your rotc medal which you made me keep.

it's still there in my bedside drawer. when i go home this weekend i'll see it again. i'd get to feel its cold metal against my fingertips. the gold has turned a bit rusty now, but i remember how you were so proud of it. you told me to keep it until the day comes that you ask for it.

we'll see each other again this saturday, my best bud. i'll bring it with me and i'll show it to you, how i never forgot our promises. i hope i can show it to your mom and dad, to cheche, cedric, chaycee, and chico, and tell them that they had all the reasons in the world to be proud of you. i hope i can pin it on your shirt and tell you that the time has come for me to give it back to you.