DROUGHT

BUCK

What a beautiful day! I woke up with a very uplifting spirit, like I was new even though I was down yesterday. I put a towel on my hand to cover my head from direct sunlight because I want to be productive today. I looked at myself in the mirror and told the man in the mirror how handsome he was. I got the shovel and the rake because I want to plant vegetables that I can get from the neighbor. Like Mary, I want to survive the family as well; that is why I will produce something that we can eat, and if you think about where I can get water for my veggies. Mary will do the rest. I looked up at the sky and could still see the big thing that sucked all our water. Science, until now, cannot explain it. I heard on the news that the lost cities are already found; how funny are they real? Even the sunken ships from world war I and two. There’s a lot of garbage, too, and of course, the living things underwater are all dead; Lein wore a dress because she doesn’t have something to wear makes me itchy. With my rake and shovel, her dress doesn’t match. The dress she makes me wear smells like it was in the cabinet for a long time, but it is good that I have something to wear rather than being naked. I went to the neighbor’s house beside Sammy’s and opened their storage room.

“Hi, Mr Roman”, I greeted when I saw the old man staring at me while getting all their seeds in their storage room.

“This would be a wonderful day; I will make food for us. I will plant, and if you are thinking, where can I get the water? My wife Mary will provide us.” I said, and I came closer to him and whispered, “She is an expert in everything” then I laughed while putting everything I would need into gardening. I took his tobacco and winked at him while his face was in awe at seeing me.

“Who is that girl?” The old woman asked her husband,

“I think she is Sammy’s niece, ” the old man answered.

“She mentioned her wife, Mary.”

“I don’t know”, I heard them talking while watching me leave their house.

I put the rake and the shovel down and look at the field where I will plant the project veggies I plan. I have seeds in my belt bag. I am still determining what kind of seeds they are, but I can grow them. The soil is cracking because of the dryness. I tried to touch it, but its texture is like sand now, and the seed will not grow in this soil. It is so dry and hot. I lit the tobacco with the match I took from the couple’s house. I coughed in my first puff, but when I puffed and puffed again. I have already used to it, and now I smoke like a pro. It is good that I am out because I have been waiting for this for so long to take over. I pick up the shovel and dig while the tobacco is in my mouth. It is too hard to dig in very dry soil; that is why I tried to use my hands for my digging could be faster, but the ground was too hot, burning my hand. I tried to use the rake, and I was not even half what I was doing. I am already sweating too much. I unbutton my dress to let air get inside to give coolness, but the sun is setting bright, making the wind hot. I remove the towel from my head and wipe my sweat. I feel itchier, but it is nothing because planting is important to me now. I saw Josh standing and secretly watching me. I don’t know if he is spying on me. I call him. I whistle to get his attention, but he pretends he cannot hear me.

“Josh”, But he is not looking. I am trying to figure out what he is doing on the other side of the road.

“Josh, you will look at me, or I will go there and drag you?” I asked him, and he suddenly looked at me. See? I know that he can hear me. He doesn’t want to mind me. He immediately crossed the road and walked toward me.

“Come here, boy. The old man needs you here.”

I saw him shake his head, and he walked slowly toward me. He looked around to find the old man because he couldn’t believe he was standing before him. I took the tobacco out of my mouth and came closer to him. I made him look at me, and then I smiled to calm his tension because I knew Mary had scared him yesterday.

“I need you to get water, put it in an empty bottle and bring it here discreetly”, I whispered to him while looking around to ensure that nobody could hear me because, nowadays, having water is a crime and indeed punishable by law.

“Did you understand?” I asked him. He didn’t answer, but he nodded and left.

“Excuse me, what are you doing on our ground?” The old woman asked me. She is eighty years old, only six years ahead of me. She is Roman’s wife.

“I will plant veggies.”

“What?” She asked, and then she laughed. She probably needs a hearing aid.

“I will plant veggies for us”, I answered louder.

“Oh,” She said, looking at me; her grey eyes told me more about her. She can’t hear well, and she can’t see correctly.

“You are Sammy’s niece?” She asked. I looked at myself and saw a young woman wearing a dress and with tobacco. She is Sammy’s niece, but Buck is taking over now.

“What?” She suddenly asked.

“I am Buck”, I answered. I know she will not believe me because I am a man wearing a dress in a woman’s body with a woman’s voice, but that is okay because I understand.

“I am sorry?” She asked surprisingly.

Josh arrived with a bottle of water, and he gave it to me secretly like a drug. We don’t want anyone to see that we have a water supply. We don’t want another stealing, and we don’t want the government to take it away. When I was done with it, I threw my tobacco on the ground and heard the husband call his wife. The wife went to him, and I saw him shake her head. I don’t know what the husband asked her that made her shake her head. I watched them go inside their house. They have been sweet to each other until now, and I felt jealous. I wish Mary and I could still do the same and be sweet together until we age.

I kneel and wet the ground to make it a little softer. I saw the water gently rising; I immediately covered the bottle. I put the seed, covered it with soil, and watered it again. I looked at Josh, who was still wondering what was happening to me. I stood up, tapped his shoulder, and said,

“Thank you for going with my wife to get water” I stared at him, and he couldn’t still look at me.

“She is difficult and crazy, but she is worth it.” And when he is not replying. I continue planting my seeds while he is watching me, uncomfortable. I kneel and dig through the wet soil with my bare hands. I noticed that the ground could dry quickly, and he was still staring at me silently with his confused eyes.

“What?” I asked, and I looked up at him, but he suddenly looked away. I stood up and faced him.

“Do you have a problem with me?” I asked him.

He looked at me and asked, “Are you sure you didn’t remember anything?” I took a deep breath and answered.

“I remember my wife, Mary, but I don’t know what she did.”

“Yeah, you didn’t remember anything.”

“Remember what?”

He scratches his nose and looks away again. He looked like he didn’t know the right words to say because he kept looking around, avoiding any conversation with me.

I heard the police mobile beep and saw a police mobile parked in front of us. The two policemen got out of the car and walked toward us. I took another tobacco from my belt bag and lit it. I smell trouble seeing the two gentlemen walking toward us.

“What are you doing there?” One of the police officers asked,

“Nothing, just wandering around”, I answered and puffed at my tobacco.

“You are too pretty to puff tobacco.” One of the police officers said.

I smiled and said, “It is none of your business, young man.”

“What brings you here?” I asked them while frowning because the sun’s heat was hitting my face.

“I got a report about the killing of our men, and I wonder if I can see the suspects here” I laughed and said, “I think you got the wrong place to search” When I saw Josh’s unease when he heard about the policemen that Mary killed. I know he got tense because he was there. I puffed on my tobacco again, looked at the policemen, and asked, “Do you know who is the killer?”

“We have a description, but we will not tell.”

“Great”

One of the police officers bent down to pick up the water bottle on the ground. I rolled my eyes because I knew they would ask me about it.

“Water bottle here, huh.”

They looked at the two of us and asked, “Where did you get this?”

“That’s from the military when they gave supply here”, I lied, and the two looked at each other. They know that I am lying.

“But it is not your schedule yet for the supply.”

I rolled my eyes again and took a deep breath, and when I was about to smash the shovel to their face, we suddenly heard a rumble, and the ground shook. I saw big stones falling and the trees from the mountain. The ground is shaking, and that is the effect of the dryness. Drought can cause an earthquake. I suddenly remember the couple inside their house. The mountain behind their house is eroding; if I do not move, the soil will eat their house, and they will be buried alive.

“The couple,” I told the policemen, and I immediately dropped my tobacco and ran to the house to save the couple, and the two officers ran after me.

I saw the husband making coffee and the wife sitting in her rocking chair, unaware of the erosion. I immediately grabbed the two, brought them outside the house and put them in a safe place when I remembered the two police officers, their purpose, and what brought them here. My personality suddenly shifts from Buck to Mary. I picked debris and hit one of the officers on the head, making him fall to the ground, and I hit the other police officer too, and now they are lying on the floor unconsciously and immediately went out of the house. I watched the mountain eat their home from apart with the two officers inside.

“No,” The wife said with a shaking voice when the eroding and the earthquake stopped. I looked at the two of them, and they hugged each other. They want to cry, but even their tears are already dry.

“What happened to the officers?” Josh asked,

“Ask Mary”, Buck answered.

“What?” He scratched his head and took a deep breath. I looked at him and said, “I save your ass, young man; you think they will not believe me if I told them you are the one who killed the two?” But he didn’t answer.

“They will not believe me if I tell them that Mary killed their buddies”, I added.

“But they will believe me if I tell them that you are the cop killer,” I told him while pointing at him, and he didn’t say anything.

“Mary, made you a hero in front of the family,” I said, but he shook his head and said nothing. He looks dismayed after all Mary’s sacrifices. He is not a grateful boy; I hope Mary will not punish him.

“Where are we going to live now?” The wife asked her husband,

“I don’t know”, The husband answered with sadness. Their house is gone, and they have nothing, only their clothes.

“Thank you for saving us,” The husband told me.

“But where are we going to live now?” He asked. I looked at Josh, and Josh looked up. He pretended that he didn’t hear the poor man’s question.

“Let’s go home, bring the two with you”, I commanded Josh, turned his back, and heard his footsteps following me. There are better times to plant vegetables than this. The seeds will not grow anyway; I just give it a try. I saw Hope smelling the plastic beside the road.

“Hey, girl,” I called her, and she ran to me and wiggled her tail.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and she barked. I looked at the plastic that she smelled when I saw a cloak. I stare at it, and I remember that the crazy man is wearing it before the dryness starts. I immediately picked it up and checked if it had blood, but I didn’t find any blood or stab marks. It means that he is still alive. He just dropped his cloak, but where is he now? I looked around, hoping to find him, but I failed. He is not around, only his cloak.

“Where are you?”

“Come on, let’s go home,” I told Hope, and she happily followed us.

I want to find the crazy man and ask him what is happening because I have a gut feeling that he knows the answer. He warned us about the dryness, but we didn’t listen. They didn’t listen because I was the only one who believed in him. Especially since the drought is happening right now, if I need to travel to the whole of Masbate, I will do it just to find him because there is something in that man who can provide me with the answer.

“Get inside,” I told Josh.

“I am already tired. My foot is aching; I don’t have my walker with me,” The old woman said. Josh brings them inside.

Do they see what I did to the officers? It doesn’t matter. I can tell that the two died in a tragedy for trying to save me and the couple. Cop killer, my ass. Huh! My words against them, just in

case they know about it, are strong. So I am confident that no one will believe in them; besides, they can see me as Lein, not as Mary, Buck, Ellen or even Curt.

I looked back to the couple’s house, and it was gone. The soil covers it, and the secret with the police officers is also buried. They will not tell the family about the cop killer because there is no cop killer.

“Cop killer”

“You are a cop killer.”

“Shut up!”

I saw another police mobile pass, and I was excited and surprised when I saw Miller driving the mobile. He looked in a hurry and didn’t notice me. I followed him with my eyes and with excitement to see him again.

“He is still alive”, Ellen whispered with a smile.