“THANKS for this, Mark,” Tamara told her friend as she opened the box of her new smartphone. After the live band, they went to a 24-hour café to have a midnight snack before going home. “I badly need a phone to find work online,” she said and smiled excitedly. “I promised I will pay you as soon as I get a new job.”
“When will it be?” Mark shook his head. “Are there still no updates with your suspension?” he asked. “It’s been a week.”
Tamara sighed. “I’m not counting on it.” She lowered her head. “I’m accused of medical malpractice that could almost kill the patient. I wouldn’t get surprised if they rebuked my license.”
“Tamara, that will never happen. Just look on the brighter side, okay?” Mark reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know the hospital directors will give you another chance. You’ve got outstanding attendance and performance in the past three years. I know they’ll reconsider your suspension.”
She smiled. After all, Tamara is still thankful to have such a friend like Mark. He was there when Wil started to lose time with her. He was also by her side when she and Wil broke up, and now he’s here with her when she lost her job. She’s still blessed.
“Thank you, Mark.” Tamara stood to hug him. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I chose to stay on your side because you looked weak,” he said and laughed. “Remember your first day at the hospital? I was the one that first approaches you because no one wanted to be your friend.”
Tamara narrowed her eyes at him. But everything that he said was true. Tamara looked wasted on her first day at the hospital because she spent the whole night cleaning Wil’s mess in their house.
“I’m still thankful up to this moment because you saved me from embarrassment during that time.” Tamara laughed. “Now that you mentioned it, I realized that you’re always on my side since then.” She knotted her forehead and looked at him. “Mark, do you have a crush on me?”
Mark’s lips parted. It seemed that he didn’t expect her question. “What are you saying? You’re just a little sister for me,” he said and looked away.
Tamara laughed when Mark remained silent. She threw the tissue to him. “I’m just kidding!” she said and started to explore her phone. “You should have given this phone to me earlier so that I took photos of my favorite bands while they’re performing on stage.”
“It’s a surprise,” he said and leaned on the table to look at her phone’s screen. “Do you like it?”
Tamara nodded. “Oh, by the way, send me the photos that we took during the live band. I’ll post it on my social media accounts.”
After finishing their food, Mark dropped Tamara in front of her apartment. She wasn’t aware that it was already two A.M in the morning, and Mark still has a dayshift duty a few hours later.
“He’s really a party-goer,” she said while getting her keys in her bag. “It’s a good thing that I’m jobless and single now, I don’t have to wake up early to prepare Wil’s clothes and breakfast, and at the same time, I don’t have to get pressured by my patients.”
She pushed open the door and was welcomed by deafening silence. But at the end of the day, she’s still alone. Tamara sighed. This is just like the days that she’s with Wil. The only difference is during that time, she thought she was not alone. But that’s just her thoughts because her what she truly feels is otherwise.
Tamara opened the lights in the living room. She plopped on the couch and stared at the ceiling. That’s where her eyes caught the joss paper hanging in the middle of the roof. She couldn’t remember putting it there. She looked at the window, the joss paper is still there and to the kitchen and to her room. Then why is this one oddly placed in her ceiling?
A cold swoosh of wind touched her leg. Tamara looked down and knotted her forehead. “What’s that?” she asked. The electric fan is not on.
As her chest started to hammer, Tamara began to feel like somebody watching her every move. She looked around her house. It’s quiet… but not peaceful. She checked every corner of her house to see if the rock salts are still there. All corners of the house are secured by rock salt, then why she’s till feeling uncomfortable?
She reverted her gaze to the door of her toiled. Her brows furrowed as she tried to remember if Thaddeus put joss paper and rock salt inside. “Gosh.” She covered her mouth. “He didn’t secure my toilet!” she ran towards her room and shut the door. “What if the bad spirit stayed in my toilet? What if he entered using the bowl?”
Tamara wanted to hit herself with something hard. Why is she scaring herself? She should know it better than her brain is just fooling her. She paused when a cold wind touched her skin.
“Fuck…” she muttered. “I need to call that shaman. He’s the only one that could help me.” She took her phone in her pocket but didn’t find it there. “Shit,” she caught her head when she remembered she left it on the coffee table. “I need to get my phone.”
Tamara slowly opened the door. She peeked outside, and when she was sure that no one was around, she tip-toed towards the living. The whole house is quiet, and it only added an eerie feeling to her. Tamara saw her phone on the table, quickly picked it up, and ran back to her room, screaming like crazy. She caught her chest as soon as she shut the door.
“I should have let him stay here,” she said as she searched for Thaddeus’s number. But then it wasn’t on her phonebook. “Where the fuck is his number?” She paused then remembered that she left it on the old phone that she used before Mark gave her a new phone. “Fuck, my bag is in the living room.”
Going out again, Tamara didn’t waste any time. She snatched her bag on the couch and ran to her room again. But the door is locked!
“What the fuck is happening?!” she opened her old phone and copied Thaddeus’s number. “Shit, shit…” she hissed as her finger missed the call button. “Thaddeus, please answer me…”
Every second that passed felt like years to Tamara. The hair at the back of her head is sticking as if somebody is staring at her back. Tamara wanted to cry when she heard footsteps coming forward. She doesn’t if it’s just her illusion, but she doesn’t have time to think about it.
On the fourth ring, Thaddeus picked up, and Tamara almost cry. “Thaddeus! Thaddeus, please come here to my house now!”
***