‘I’m so sorry, Eli! But I had to take extra shifts and couldn’t fetch Matteo right now. The announcement was told pretty late so I couldn’t tell you in advance ☹’

Elijah sighs. The message has been reread a couple of times while ignoring the apologies written after that. He never bothered to ask for an explanation but it seems his ex-wife thought it’d be ideal to do so, leaving him with a large block of texts that he simply ignored. She also tries to compensate him for the problem which he never thought about. 

She thought she was troubling him with a favor and all Elijah could do to reassure his ex-wife was replying, ‘okay.’ The ambiguity of such reply has been a staple with their communication. Although, whatever her thoughts were on his writing style were left unsaid and Elijah rolls his eyes at the idea for an alternative.

He checks for notification and nothing was added after his response. He wonders if she calmed down from it. However, time wasn’t kind to her and the extra hours she got from her job likely meant less time to write than she wanted to.

His regret surfaces and his thumbs hover over the keypad, itching to type in a better answer. With more words and clarity. He tries once then twice and yet all of it were erased. Nothing came out the way he hoped for, its structure and formality have come out forced.

Elijah clicked his tongue, disliking the empty slate of the message bar. He couldn’t go on to extend his attempts and dumps his phone inside his bag.

He’ll find an alternative soon.

The bus stops and the driver announced their arrival to the school. Elijah got out of his seat, slinging his bag on his shoulder and pays the commute as he leaves. The door closes from behind and he slouches at the heat from the outside. The air conditioning might have cool him off from his short travel to the bus stop but it leaves as easily as he walks towards the entrance of the school.

“Fucking hell,” he cursed under his breath and felt his forehead moisten with sweat. The summer heat wasn’t dying even when it’s in the late afternoon.

Still, he persists with the objective and quicken his pace to the gate. The concrete fence seems endless when he was drowning in heat and the sight of the tall red gate with the school’s logo cause Elijah to run up to it. His pants deepen with each step and sweat glides down to his chin, feeling the sensation tingle as he finally reaches his destination.

“Yes!” Elijah exclaimed, resulting at the attention he received from his voice. He shies away from the crowd and went inside through the smaller gate. He greeted the security guard with a sheepish expression and knew he was still being looked at as he enters the school grounds.

He faced the parking lot then to the playground on the side. The bright red strings he sees from the parents were ignored. It wasn’t like he’s the only one without a partner but assuming the skepticism he had on fate was another.

Elijah decided to check the playground first.

As he got there, Elijah wasn’t greeted with the laughter from his little boy nor a happy expression on Matteo’s face. Sadness was a word he doesn’t want to associate with his son but it seems Matteo had gotten acquainted with the emotion.

Matteo sat on the swing, barely moving at all. His little boy holds on to the chains and watches as everyone else had their share of fun in the area. The parents were on the benches, conversing with one another and ignoring that one sad boy they could’ve forced their kid to be friends with. Elijah sighs, troubled by the situation, and tries to do it himself.

“Matteo!” Elijah calls out to his son and waves his hand. Matteo’s focus snaps away from the group of kids playing tag on front of him and gazes to Elijah. “Matteo, my boy!” Elijah shouts louder this time and ran up to his son.

He smiled and his son lose the frown on his face, replacing it with a grin.

“Papa!” Matteo calls him and extended his hands to Elijah who have finally got to the swings. “I thought Mama is going to fetch me. Why are you here? Where’s mama?!” Despite the happiness drawn on his face, Matteo still shed some of his confusion and tilted his head toward his dad.

“Mama’s busy with work and so she wanted me to get you,” Elijah explained and went behind his son. Matteo understands his goal and exclaimed, “Push me high, papa! Push me!”

“Gonna make sure Matteo finally flies to the sky then!” Elijah pushed, gently, at first. Hesitant at the force but was encouraged by the laughter from his son. He grins, confident with his attempt, and began to push a harder than before. With each push, Matteo swings higher, that Elijah had to back away to not get himself hit by the swing.

The kids around them paused the game they were playing and awed at the height difference Matteo had with the ground. His son hasn’t stopped shouting as well and he was sure the rest of the kids will soon gather at their direction.

Elijah reverts back to the gentle pushes and eventually hears a whine from his son at the fun coming to an end. “Aw, papa, why did you stop?” Matteo whines and looks from behind with a pout.

“Swinging too much is dangerous, Matteo,” Elijah answers and brushed his son’s hair down. The wavy strands didn’t straighten out but they managed to stay in place. “Besides, I’m sure there’s kids that wanted to play with the coolest kid in the playground.”

Matteo was confused and Elijah only points out at the kids huddled on front of them.

A boy, probably in the same age as Matteo, steps forward, curious but overall hesitant. Matteo hasn’t noticed the boy but Elijah observes him, eager for a friend his son could be with.

“Um,” the boy starts and Matteo faces him in an instant. Elijah notices that his son tighten his hold on the chains too. “Do you want to play with me?” The boy questions and continues, “I got a ball.”

“Who? Me?” Matteo was clearly confused at the offer.

“It’s not like I’m talking to anyone else.” The boy shrugs and extended a hand to Matteo, breaking what distance they have with each other. Matteo looks at Elijah, expecting any sort of reply from his dad. Elijah, then, returned the gesture with a soft push on the shoulder and motioned his son to accept the offer.

There was no harm in making a friend and the boy seems friendly enough. Although, the boy was assertive but it’s a harmless kind of confidence.

“Oh,” Matteo voices out, hesitant at first but got out of the swing. The handshake was initiated once his son managed to reciprocate the handholding, albeit slower than a snail’s space and with a shaky movement. Eventually, Matteo was pulled away to the other side of the playground and into a reclusive corner where it’s only the two of them playing with a ball.

Strange, Elijah thought, nonetheless optimistic at the friendship blooming.

He sat down on the swing and holds on to the chains. The kids had dispersed a while ago, clearly disappointment. They were sadly mistaken to think he’d push them on the swing like Matteo. However, his eyes trailed at the ball passed by his son and the boy whose name is still a mystery. The two were more engaged in a conversation than the toy.

“I didn’t think you’d be the one to fetch Matteo, Sir Ocampo,” a voice commented and Elijah looks to his side, watching a woman he knew comes closer and stood beside him. She was Rosaria Agbayani – also known as Miss Rosie, Matteo’s adviser. “I wasn’t notified by Ma’am Lisa or… her soulmate, that is but I’m glad to see you here.”

Elijah noticed the stumble of her words when mentioning Adam and he can’t blame her for being hesitant to state the man’s name, really. She knows about the family dynamic and probably more with how much she’s staring back to the group of parents watching them. Their staring didn’t fade as he gazes at them, probably unashamed at the thoughts in their head.

“Glad to see you here, teach,” Elijah greeted her, “I kind of forgot to tell you about it but since you’re here, and that you have figured it out, then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, there isn’t.” Her tone stated otherwise and watches a student getting dragged out of the playground. Elijah definitely recalled the kid approaching them during Matteo’s swinging session and almost followed to the area the boy had taken Matteo to.  

“Um-“

“Whatever you’re about to say isn’t something new,” Elijah intervenes, predicting the issue she’s about to address.

“But he’s seen as a bad omen…” Rosaria pressed further, concerned. “I’m glad children are curious and naïve to a lot of things but parents do ingrain questionable belief in their head.”

 “Then it’s the parents’ fault for believing something that hasn’t been scientifically proven,” Elijah replies back, looking at his son’s adviser and observed her frustrated expression. She wasn’t a skeptic but she doesn’t believe at the treatment his son was getting from others in the school.

“And he’s not a bad omen, he’s just a kid who was unfortunately born out of a bad situation,” Elijah added, “one his parents thought would definitely make the world a better place for some reason.”

He grimaced at the belief he holds back then. The arrogance and optimism he carried, with an idealistic vision of the being the family others would look up to whenever they think of a skeptic-made family. Now, he ends up on his least favorable imagination he had back then, licking his wounds with torn pride and bitterness of the future.

He was sure his annulment and career stroke the egos of fated pairs in the area at the moment. Elijah wouldn’t doubt that parents saw him as a caricature to scare their kids away from questioning their faith.

Other parents followed suit and have gathered their children as well as their friends out of the playground. The parents’ strings flow around the area, tangling itself on the children’s neck and arms as well as their uniforms. The shine wasn’t bright, thankfully, but the time had made it seem like it and as the sky darkens, Elijah can’t help but stare at destiny mocking him.

He gulps at the treatment and eyes stings at the halt of ball passing from Matteo and his friend. Both looking around at the adults hoarding children out of the area. The kids have verbally expressed their disappointment, whining at the play paused for another day and a few cried at the shouts they received. Tantrums spread across almost every kid but nothing stopped the parents from their objective.

Elijah felt the seat of the swing unbearable to sit on and felt the urgent need to gather his son in his arms.

“Sir Ocampo!” Rosaria shouts his name but he ignored her calls and went to the corner where his son was holding the boy’s forearm. The boy had been called by an older man from the entrance of the playground but he shook his head at the requests. The boy wouldn’t let go of his son as well.

“Matteo!” Only, when Elijah came forward that the boy lets go and Matteo was gathered in Elijah’s arms. His baby holds his collar, tightly, and placed his head on Elijah’s shoulder. “Let’s go home, alright? Let’s go home. You-you’ll meet your friend tomorrow, okay?”

Elijah walks, leaving the friends to part way without a word. He didn’t look back either and wondered if his son has bid his friend farewell but didn’t ask. His heart was beating fast and hard, his pants deepens and anxiety took hold of his mind. Fear was an emotion Elijah wasn’t known to hold on to but he feels a hand on his back, dragging its sharp nail higher and higher until it flicks on his neck.

He shivers at the sensation.

Grabbing his son’s bag at a table nearby, Elijah sprints out of the playground and into the open ground near the parking lot. The place was starting to become deserted.

“Am I going to stay at another school again, papa?” Matteo question and Elijah dreads to answer but he persists, especially with the misery he hears in his son’s tone.

“I don’t think so, Matteo – maybe someday but I don’t think your mom wants you to enroll into another school again until you’re in high school.”

“Yes! I get to play with Christian tomorrow, yeah?” Matteo was hopeful. Tomorrow is still hours away and whatever consequences Christian will face from interacting with Matteo will inevitably affect their friendship.

 “Yup,” Elijah lies and gritted his teeth at the tomorrow he’s scared to encounter.