The Kid

When I went home tonight, I met this kid. He was either an albino or at least someone with foreign blood coz he was really pale. He also had this big eye-glasses that magnified his eyes. He literally chatted me up as I got off the taxi. Our conversation went like this:

Me, shuts door of taxi, turns around

Kid: Ate, ano po pangalan nyo?
Me (taken aback): Uhhhh... Bakit?
Kid: Kayo po ba ung nakausap ko kagabi?
Me (relieved): Ay, hindi... Hindi ako yun. (He stares at me for a moment longer.) Bakit andito ka pa sa labas, gabi na ah.
Kid: Ganitong oras po talaga ako gising (wow, ain't that a weird statement coming from a kid. Even I, at his age, haven't awakened my nocturnal side yet.)
Kid: Ate, san po kayo nakatira?
Me (alarm bells started ringing in my head): Um, jan lang (points vaguely in the direction of our apartment). Ikaw, san ka nakatira?
Kid: Jan po sa F8. (looks down) Alam naman po ng mama at papa ko, pinayagan naman ako.
Me: Ahh.

I move towards our apartment. Unfortunately, he followed, shooting rapid-fire questions as we went along. I dodged as best as I could and tried to walk slowly.

Kid: Ate, may celfone po kayo?
Me (suspicious): Um, meron
Kid: Pwede po patingin?
Me (really suspicious): Ha? Bakit?
Kid: Tingnan ko lang po. (I chuckle but make no move to show him my celfone. Two seconds later...) Ate, patingin po ng celfone nyo.
Me: Hehe, bakit?
Kid: Tingnan ko lang po.
Me: Hehe. (changes topic, a bit desperately) Late na ah, di ba dapat tulog ka na nito?
Kid: (doesn't answer)
Me: Umuwi ka na, nakakatakot dito sa labas, mag-isa ka lang.
Kid: Okay lang po, dito lang naman ako...

I reach our apartment without shaking him off (damn). I take a long time rooting through my bag looking for my keys, stopping at intervals and hinting he should go home already. He doesn't take the hint.

Kid (watching me root thru my bag): Ate, ako rin o, may susi. (shows me his keys. I laugh.) Meron din ako nyan.
Me (laughs): Syempre, magkaiba naman yan. (opens door partly) Cge... uwi ka na.
Kid: Ate, di nyo po sinasara.. nil-lock ung ito ? (points to our deadbolt, which was left unlocked by my housemates since I wasn't home yet)
Me: Sinasara din.

He wasn't satisfied. He went to the open door and looked at the lock, jiggling it. I watch him, surreptitiously blocking the entrance. He glances at the inside of our apartment, then spots the TV.

Kid: Ate, ano po brand ng TV nyo?
Me: Umm...
Kid (enters our apartment): Tingin lang po ako. (looks at our TV). Ah, JVC. (spots the printer) Printer po to?
Me: Oo.
Kid: Eh nasan yung computer? Ginagamit nyo po to?
Me: Oo, pag kelangan.
Kid (sees my housemate's DSL modem, picks it up and examines it): Di ba ito yung kinakabitan ng mga linya ng telepono, pag marami?
Me: Oo.
Kid: Asan yung telepono? (looks around) Ah eto.

He goes on to randomly picks things and examines them, keeping up a running commentary. I watch him furtively, keeping a close eye on what he touched. At one point, he asked me about the occupants of our apartment, and as usual, I kept my answers short.

Finally, I was able to shoo him out (LOL), citing tiredness (which was true enough, by the way, it was freakin 12.30AM), and again telling him he should be in bed like a good little boy. As he went off, I could see him looking around, probably looking for something to entertain himself. Poor kid.

If it wasn't so creepy and a bit surreal, I would probably have enjoyed the experience.

As it was, I was tired and it was midnight - a kid hanging around asking personal questions and following me home was NOT your usual occurrence. Maybe I'm just not good with kids, or maybe I'm just too paranoid. Maybe other people would have taken it at face value and even made friends with the kid - maybe he WAS just weird in the sense that he was wide awake at such a time and his parents allowed him to roam around. Maybe I'm the only one seeing it as weird or creepy.

Whatever. I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow to find out it was all part of some elaborate scheme and we've been tricked or something (*knock on wood*).