Guitar Luvin'

It's been a while since I had some guitar luvin' and damn, did I miss my precious Red Baron's sweet voice.

That's right. My guitar is named Red Baron. I bet you give names to your precious things too.

Prior to moving to Boni, I spent most of my nights waiting for hours in the bus drowning in the thick EDSA traffic. And when I finally resurface in Diliman, I drop dead asleep on my bed or drop by Sarah's for beer.

Well now, it's different. It just takes me fifteen minutes to get out of the office and back to the boarding house where I'm currently staying. There's no Sarah's nearby so I'm forced to stay at home. There's no Jimmy nor Jade to whom I can share about my day in the office. Just me and my time.

Then I remembered an old friend that used to keep me company for hours back in my lonely dormitory days. An old friend that responded to my touch with beautiful melodies that ranged from the angry to the amorous.
Oh Red Baron, I'm so sorry for leaving you alone in that dark..dirty...small..uhmm.. dirty?...dirteh, dusty bag.

I wiped my baby clean and bought him a new set of strings and picks. And to aid him are a new strap and a new capo.

Have to make up for the lost time.

"Red, remember the first song we played together?"

Snapshots of Sherwin - Album 2

The usual him texted me last night asking me his usual question: "Gcing k p?"

I texted back and pretended that I still lived in the same house - that I could ask him to come over and sleep with me.

"Oo. Bakit?"

"Bored ako. Haha."

That was his signal. I shouldn't have asked the obvious. What should I expect? Our past encounters were as predictable as a prime time telenovela. We text, meet, sleep, then split in the morning.

"Tulog na ba si Jimmy?"

As if it mattered. Jimmy knew what we were doing: our affair and how scary was the pending disaster that his frat discovers his escapades.

It wouldn't hurt for Jimmy to be awake while we did it. I always asked Jimmy to stay in his room during our previous meetups.

However...

The above would have been the case if I was still staying in the same house in Diliman as Jimmy. I moved out a month ago to a place near work. Now I live along Boni Ave. in a small boarding house sharing a room with three other men. It's unlikely I'd ask him over.

As if I could peek into Jimmy's room to verify, I told him, "Oo. Tulog na siya."

...

"Pero may pasok pa ko bukas eh. Kelangan ko na matulog."

Frustrating each other was the hardest part. I indeed wanted to have him in my arms that night.

He didn't reply after.

So a simple chat won't satisfy him that night instead.

I put down my phone, snuggled under the sheets, and shunned every emotion that might have emerged from that thought.

Had to reserve energy for work tomorrow.