The Bad Girl: Chapter 12 - Matthew

Reina parked a couple of houses away from Sherwin's gate on Sunday evening. She finished what was left of her cigarette and said, "Here goes nothing…"
She got out of the car, flicked her cigarette, and stepped on it.

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Sherwin awakened at the pounding sounds at the door. He reached for his glasses and put them on. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and checked his watch. "Eight o'clock," he mumbled.

"Damn! I slept here again," he silently cursed as he turned the lights on and surveyed the totally cluttered living room. Bottles of brandy and beer cans were scattered all over the place. The smell of tobacco hung in the air.

"So much for having quitted smoking," he thought ruefully.

The knocking persisted, snapping him out of his introspection.

"Reina!" he thought and ran to the door. His heart beating loudly at the thought and beads of sweat formed on his forehead, not to mention his hands feeling clammy.

He tried to fix the place before rushing to the door, trying to make it as presentable as it was the last time Reina was there. But after several futile tries of cleaning up, the knocking grew louder and heavier, almost breaking down the door.

Sherwin gave up and thought, "What the hell…" leaving the clutter and quickly opening the door.

Extremely agitated, the person on the other side of the door brushed past Sherwin and said, "Man, what took you so long?"

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"Holy shit!" was all Reina could say as she tried to hide herself near someone else's gate.

She was already two houses away from Sherwin's bungalow when a car passed by her and stopped at his house. The person got out of the car and walked purposely to the Sherwin's place.

Reina had no choice but to go back to where her car was, continually cursing herself, "Damn! I should have gone to him last night! The other night!"

She regretfully went inside her car, feeling so defeated.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she kept saying as she banged her head on the steering wheel several times.

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow, for sure," she sighed and turned on the ignition.

"I'll make it up to you, Sherwin. Somehow, I will," she promised and sped away from Sherwin.

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"Oh… You," Sherwin was dismayed to see who it was.

"Good evening to you, too!" replied Matthew sarcastically and walked carefully, trying not to step on the bottles and cans.

"Damn! I've only been gone a week and this place got trashed?!" he looked at his cousin incredulously.

"You look like hell, man!" he said again after examining his cousin's wasted appearance. "Failed an exam?"

"Nothing… I just wanted to have some down time," Sherwin said, avoiding his gaze.

"Down time? Smoking again is your idea of some down time?!" A disbelieving Matthew asked. "C'mon man, it couldn't be that bad," he coaxed.

"It's nothing. Just don't mind me," Sherwin almost shouted.

Matt's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh I get it! It's Florence Yoro. You heard she's getting married."

Florence Yoro was one of Sherwin's ex-girlfriends but she's the first woman he fell in love with. She was gorgeous beyond words. She had a charming smile that captivated every man's heart and a very sunny disposition that would make it difficult for anyone to hate her. But behind that beautiful facade is an ugly truth: Florence was gold digger. She loves men who can spend for her and her vanity.

Sherwin was already in his third year in university when he noticed the beauty. He courted her and eventually, they ended up together. His friends tried to warn him about her but he still dismissed the idea and gave her the benefit of the doubt. Days passed and sadly, Sherwin faced the painful truth. She did not love him, only his money. He was greatly devastated that he had to leave Taiwan and continue his study somewhere else. He needed to forget her. He needed to heal from the wounds she had inflicted upon him and his heart. Since Sherwin's mother is one of the members of ABAC's Board of Trustees, he decided to transfer to Thailand.

"Forget her, buddy. We all know what she is…a slut," Matt went to the fridge to get some water. "I'd bet my life she married for money. The guy's old enough to be her dad but damn, he's got a lot of dough."

"Poor Mr. Chang!" Matt shook his head. "He doesn't know he's being used."

"That's it!" Sherwin bellowed. "Why do I always get attracted to women who just want to use me?!"

Matt sighed as he walked over to Sherwin and put his arm around his shoulders. "It's like this. Women choose their prey as men choose their victims. So don't let them get the upper hand, my boy. Use them first before they use you, get it?"

"Man, you should have learned from Florence," with that, Matt took his arm off Sherwin's shoulder, and punched him lightly on the chest.

"C'mon! Don't just stand there! Help me fix this place up and turn it into the love shack that it is." Matthew bent down to pick up some of the bottles on his way.

"Matthew, you never do housework!" Sherwin eyed his cousin suspiciously.

"Come on, man! I got to turn this place into the "bing-bing" room. I still have some unfinished business to deal with…" Matt replied, wriggling his eyebrows.

"I can't believe you!" cried Sherwin. "Already got a new victim? Man, you're fast!"

Matt smiled sheepishly. "She's not what you could call, a "new" victim…more like disrupted intentions…"

"Who's she?" Sherwin asked, shaking his head.

"Reina Yang," Matt replied proudly.

Sherwin felt a pang of jealousy at Matt's announcement.

"So, tell me. How good is this Reina Yang?" Matt asked eagerly.

Sherwin stared at his cousin blankly.

"Come on, Sherwin! I made you take some quads and nothing happened? Are you turning impotent or something?" Matt urged.

At his words, Sherwin's eyes narrowed and his fist connected with Matt's jaw. Matthew stumbled, forgetting the bottles on his hands.

"Fuck! What the hell was that for?!" Matt wiped the blood that trickled from his mouth.

"For drugging me…" Sherwin went to Matt and offered his hand.

Matt took his hand but Sherwin did not anticipate that Matt would retaliate.

"Hey! I was just trying to do you a favor…" Matt said fixing his shirt as Sherwin staggered backwards.

Sherwin stood up and ran towards Matt saying. "You've done enough by leaving me here with her!"

Sherwin tried to hit Matt with a right hook but Matt sidestepped on time, leaving Sherwin to hit nothing but air. Instead, he was the one who received an uppercut from Matt. He fell back on the floor and made no move to stand up. Panting, he sat up and ran his hands on his hair.

Matt was huffing as he sat himself beside Sherwin and asked, "What came over you, man?"

He looked at his cousin and grinned as realization dawned on him.

"You had Reina Yang…" he said teasingly.

Sherwin struggled to get up. He was still itching to kill Matt.

Matthew stopped him and said, "Whoa! Hold your horses, man. No need to get excited!"

"And besides, it would be useless to fight…you still had too much alcohol," he added.

"So, spill!" Matthew urged his cousin, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Sherwin did not say anything.

"Aww, man! You're no fun!" Matt said grudgingly, almost pouting like a little boy.

"You're not talking, huh?" Matt finally gave up. "But you wouldn't mind sharing her, would you?"

Sherwin thought, "Why am I protecting her? Isn't this what she wanted? To be called the Bitch?"

He looked at his cousin and said bitterly, "Go ahead! But let's just say, you missed an opportunity, buddy."

Matt shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It's no big deal… I could always ask her out again."

"Yeah, you could," Sherwin said. "But she wouldn't be a virgin anymore," he grinned meaningfully.

"Get out of here!" Matthew playfully punched Sherwin on the arm.

"Yeah, I was her first," Sherwin said smugly.

"Woohoo! You're the Man!" Matt shouted at the top of his lungs. "This calls for a celebration!"

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Tomorrow was a school day but the Red Lagoon Party Central was swarmed by students from all over Bangkok.

At the bar, two gorgeous men were trying to outdo each other in drinking. Anyone could see that both men were exceedingly drunk.

"Alright! Hey! Why dontcha jam with the band?" slurred an extremely drunk Matthew.

Taking another shot of vodka, a drunken Sherwin waved off his cousin and said, "No way, man! I don't think I can sing in this state!" Sherwin had this stupid smile on his face

"Sherwin, you gotta loosen up a bit, man! You're too perfect," those were Matt's last words as he headed for the stage knocking a few people as he passed.

Matt grabbed the microphone and yelled, "Attention please! Let's rock this party!"

The crowd cheered.

Matt gave them a perfectly idiotic smile, a sure sign that he was dead drunk, and said, "Great! This song is for my cousin! *hic* Everybody! Give a round *hic* of applause to my cousin! *hic* Lights *hic* to that guy *hic* at the rightmost side of the bar, please!"

Sherwin was blinded by the lights that he used his hands to shield his eyes.

The crowd turned to face the drunken Sherwin.

He could barely comprehend what his cousin is talking about that he just raised his shot glass and smiled before swallowing his vodka.

"That guy, *hic* finally got out of his shell and humped *hic* ABAC's resident bitch," he added.

There was a slight murmur among the crowd. And Matthew finally ended his speech with,

"Ladies and Gentlemen: *hic* I would like to present to you, *hic* the Drooling Dork of ABAC, Sherwin Xu! *hic* The first one Reina Yang ever had!"