Sep 2007

Sumakay ako ng taxi sa Kalayaan, papuntang opisina.

I always sit in the front, because I like to sit up close to the aircon.

The driver is wearing shades, which is weird as it was 8PM at night.

"San tayo?" he asks, his voice deep and measured.

"Sa Buendia, sa PeopleSupport," I tell him, fixing my bag.

We move and dive into the late traffic.

For about two minutes, nobody talks, and that's how I like it, really.

When we are at the corner of EDSA and Buendia, the driver asks, "Call center yun di ba?"

"Po?" I ask, as I was caught unawares.

"Yung PeopleSupport. Call center yun di ba?" he asks again.

"Opo," I answer automatically. This isn't the first time I've been asked this question by a cab driver.

Silence from the driver.

"Ang weird no? Tumatanggap ka lang ng tawag pero ang laki ng suweldo niyo," he says, musingly. He doesn't sound angry or bitter. He just sounds... amused.

"Ummm, opo siguro," I answer, stupidly.

He laughs softly, "Yung anak ko, sa computer school nag-aral. Mataas ang grado. Pero ang trabaho lang na nakuha nya dyan sa McDo sa may Export."

I don't know what to say this, so I keep quiet. However, at this point, I wasn't uncomfortable at all. I liked the way he talked. It was kinda nice. He sounded like a teacher.

"May asawa ka na ba?" he asks. Ouch.

"Wala po," I tell him, smiling a little.

"Girlfriend?" he asks.

"Wala rin po," still, I am not annoyed by this. I sensed that he was just a naturally curious person.

He stays quiet for a minute.

"Masaya ka naman sa trabaho mo?" he asks me.

I look at him. He's maybe about fifty years old. Or maybe a hundred. I couldn't tell.

I also couldn't immediately answer his question.

He suddenly laughed, "Natigilan ka sa tanong ko ha?"

"Masaya naman po, pero sana mas malaki suweldo ko," I answer shyly. I have no idea why I'm entertaining his questions.

He ponders my answer.

Then he smiles.

"Lahat naman tayo yan ang iniisip eh," he says.

We reach my building. I pay him. Leave a large tip. And get out.

"Masaya ka naman sa trabaho mo?" he asked. Di ko talaga alam eh...

Paminsan pagod na pagod na ako sa trabahong to pero... yun, may pero.

Pakshit.

It was a lazy afternoon...

I was planning to spend it in front of the tv, watching House, M.D. yet again.

But then, a text message...

Can I drop by? Have a surprise for you.

- Frenemy

Hmmm... He knows I love surprises and can't resist them. Damn him.

Okish. I'll leave the gate open, I reply.

After fifteen minutes, he enters my apartment with a silly grin on his face.

"Tagal din nating di nagkita ah," he says.

"And yet, parang walang nagbago. You're still mildly annoying and i'm still adorably insulting," I say, smiling at him.

"Insulting, yes. Adorable? I think not," he laughs.

"Ano? You don't think adorable ako?" I pout. Feeling cute ako paminsan. Nakakainis. Gusto ko sampalin sarili ko pag naaalala ko ito.

"Medyo adorable maybe. Pero definitely, you are irreplaceable," he says.

I laught out loud, "How Beyonce of you."

He goes to the bathroom. I take this opportunity to rifle through his bag to look for my surprise, but before I can even open it, he shouts from the bathroom, "Oist, wag mo papakialaman yang bag ko!"

I scamper back to my seat, "Hoooy, ano akala mo sa akin? Clepto?"

He comes out, wiping his hands on his hanky, looking at me, smiling. Alam niyo, paminsan, when he smiles like that, I kinda get weak at the knees. But then, there are times na when I look at his face, gusto ko sya suntukin. Tangina nya kasi eh.

He sits next to me and opens his bag. He takes out a plastic bag and says "Surprise!"

The little fucker brought me weed. Shit.

It's been months since I last had weed. Don't get me wrong about this, I'm not an addict or anything, but in the rare occasions that I've used weed, I've had tons of fun. But I only get to use it like, two or three times a year. Is that bad? God, I hope not.

"Ummm, you know I've quit using that crap," I say to him.

"Tsong, this is good shit, maniwala ka," he says, while taking out all the paraphernalia needed.

And Lord help me I did. Last na to, Jesus. Promise!

After an hour:

We were rolling on the floor, laughing at Ellen on cable.

"I love Ellen," I laugh out loud, "I wish I were a lesbian!"

"Medyo mukhang lesbian ka nga," he chuckles. I stop laughing at this and so does he. After a few seconds, we both burst out laughing again, and di ko alam kung bakeeeet!!!

Basta tawa lang kami ng tawa. I am suddenly very very veeeeery hungry.

"Labas tayo. Nagugutom na ako," I say, standing up.

"Ok," he says dutifully.

After thirty minutes, we're at this little resto in De La Costa called The Fig and Olive.

"Ang ganda ganda naman dito!" I say loudly as soon as we enter the plush resto.

"Ssssh! Ang ingay mo..." he shushes me, looking alarmed.

"Praning ka! Praning ka ba? Praning ka no?" I ask him, whispering.

He pokes me to make me shut up and I poke him back, as we choose a table near the window.

There was bread and butter on the table and I devour it in like a minute.

Nung naubos siya, saka ko nakita na nakatingin sa akin si Frenemy.

"Ay. Naubos ko. Gusto mo ba?" I ask him.

"Hmpf. While you were busy raping the rolls, I already ordered some food," he says.

I didn't even notice the waiter. May tama pa rin ako. Feeling ko nga nagswiswimming ako habang nakaupo.

Hehehe. Saraaaaap.

Our first order arrives. Para siyang putik na nilagay sa mangkok.

"Whadapak is dat?" I ask, losing all powers of enunciation.

"Would you keep your voice down!?" he pokes me again.

"Stop poking me and I will," I say to him.

He frowns at me and says, "This is hummus. You spread it on the pita bread." Which he did. He took a bite and seemed to like it.

Well. I did the same and tried it, too. Wasn't bad. Nothing to write home to mother about, but since I was having a total food trip, I managed to demolish most of it.

"San gawa tong hummush mo?" I ask him.

"Hummus, not hummush. I think it's made from crushed peas," he said.

"Crushed piss? Shite!" I exclaim.

"Wag kang magpacute. Sabi ko peas, hindi piss," he scolds.

Our second order arrives. Rice-stuffed peppers. It's gone in about ten minutes.

Since the waiter kept refilling the bread and butter, I kept obliging him by eating it all up.

After an hour in the resto, we decided to head out. It was already dark outside and we couldn't find where we parked. But then we realized it was the car we were sitting on. Shit, may tama pa rin kami pareho.

We just drove around, not talking, just enjoying the feeling.

I took out his phone and took some pics.

Frenemy says I took this pic above. I can't even remember what this was or how I did it, but it does seem vaguely familiar.

After about two hours of not doing anything in the car and just driving around, Frenemy decides to take me home.

"And no funny business!" I tell him.

He just smiles at me, "Feeling mo ang ganda mo no?"

"Talaga!" I say to him.

We both burst out laughing again.

Good shit talaga tsong....