CHASING MY LIFE - MY HAPPINESS

CHASING MY LIFE - MY HAPPINESS

"Seven minutes before call time," - Vince, while trying to button up his polo in a span of seconds - "I have to be there." 

"Son, your dad is about to go. Hurry-up or the two of you will be late." His mom declared.

Vince, running towards the door, assuming he had done all his necessities before leaving, it was not until he realized something's off. 

"Mom... " him, while searching his room, looking for an answer - "why you didn't tell me today is Saturday? We have no classes!" He complained.

His mom, annoyed in her face, bringing with her his dad, blasted the room with her dim aura.

An annoyed mother had spoken, "VINCE!" All CAPS. She's terribly irritated. "You're about to compromise your dad's important meeting because of your undisciplined-spoiled attitude. You have been losing track of your time, not once but twice-"

"In a row. Only for this week. What's happening to you, son? Never have I encountered this from you for almost what? Possibly 16 years." His dad interjected.

"Hold-up!", as I raised both of my hands. " two weeks ago, I told you that there will be times, that I will start to forget things such as... this. I'm busy with my studies; with my homeworks, and besides haven't I told you to remind me, mom? I am completely perplexed right now."

He continued. "I changed my priorities for I got overwhelmed by the sudden build-up of expectations that I didn't wish for; by the pressure from the program I enrolled with, and from the both of you, my parents-" He breathed out. Vince, trying to control his composure. "I don't want to disappoint this family. Being everyone's 'cup of tea', a 'breadwinner', to fail, to show weaknesses... I can't fathom with the idea" he lammented.

And there was silence. 

"Honey-" His mom, pointing on his dad's wristclock. 

"O' shoot. I'm late. Got to go. We'll talk later, son." He enunciated 

"Change your clothes and have some proper breakfast. Your aunties will be here by nine. And go wear a decent suit after." Her mom exited.

Sighed. 

"If it wasn't for my parents, I won't even bother taking-up Medicine as my program, neither will I fake my smile in-front of my relatives." He grieved.

Exhausted.

"I. Want. To. Perform; To. Be. A. Performer. But. How?"

Vince changed his clothings - decided to wear an all black outfit in a woven silk; and made his way to the kitchen. 

"Mom, do we have coffee?" He asked.

"Surely we have, son. But you are not given possibilities to have it." She answered firmly. 

"But mom-" He paused midway. He realized that there's no point in arguing, his mom won't give him the chance, no matter the reason. One-rule: obey thy parents, even if it means sacrificing your happiness.

"As I said, it's not for you, son. I prepared you a healthy breakfast: green-leafy vegetables; fruits reach in Vitamin A, B, and C; and milk. Now eat it up. Coffee will destroy your organs." She demanded. All eyes on him.

"MOM" - He's furious - "I am not a vegetarian to begin with. And stop forcing me to drink this stinky milk. You're destroying my appetite." Spoken in rage.

"Speak to me when you are independently capable to feed yourself. As of now, you can't. So you must do nothing but follow." 

He conceded defeat.

"At this moment, I'm craving for freedom." He mumbled.

"And by the way, didn't I tell you to wear a PROPER suit. Does the recitation of oxford's definition for proper will be needed in order for you to visualize what I meant?" Rhetorically askin'.

"Okay, mom." 

Vince, again, irritably went back to his room to change. "Oxford's definition or your own standard? Stop mixin' the two." He sighed.

Minutes had passed. This was followed by a few good minutes as he took his time in preparing

"Vince, wow, what a decent gentleman you are." Fake. "It's been a month since the last time we saw you... you grew taller -"

"And handsome, darlin'." Another fake. 

"Fake smile. Fake praise. Fake words. Fake Family." He whispered.

And continued. "Please have a sit, tita... tito. Mom, will be here in a minute. I will prepare you some foods." He smiled. Also fake.

"Sweet. But no need, darlin'. We're full." 

"Marites -" Mom called, and averted her gaze to me. -"Son. Get us a bottle of Tequila and a serving of potato chips, please get it done under 15 minutes." She exclaimed.

"What am I? A slave - a robot? And why me? We have maid. In fact, we have lot of maids." Another sigh coming from Vince. "Noted, mom." He added. Monotonously leaving the vicinity.

"Where's Andy, haven't seen him for a while?!"

"Off to work. He got some important meeting this morning." Her mom replied.

"How about your son, Vince? Is he doing good in school, Amber?" Asked by his aunt. "You know we can't afford failures in the family, right?" 

Vince, overheard their conversation directly from the kitchen.

He's hurt.

"He's doing great, Marites. Rest assured." His mom babbled.

Angered.

"Hard Agree. I observed his attitude when we saw him earlier. It seems to me that Vince is well-mannered and polite. You disciplined him well, Amber." His uncle interposed. Smiling. 

Fake.

"Absolutely. This happened when action speaks louder than words. What you see, is what it is. And guess what, he might be their top 1 in class-"

"He will. No doubt." Her aunties interjected; smiling; fake.

"Finally, we will be having a soon-to-be doctor in the family. Indeed, a prominent achievment." His auntie exclaimed, proudly. While he is not. 

"I just lost track of time and they didn't listen. Perhaps, they have their own world, with a different time-frame, and I wasn't included, neither my choices in life." He smiled.

"Son, hurry-up. Where's the Tequila?"

"All I want is to chase my own dreams - to follow my heart, and living my life in contentment." He whispered.

"Coming-up!" Answered in wide - wide smile.