july 26

the standard alert tone sounded. it echoed within the compartment of
tina's mahogany headboard. a hand sprung forth from the twin comforter,
searching for the phone. the day was greeted with rain, not sunshine,
as tina hoped it would be.
from beneath the comforter, a head emerged. sleep-deprived eyes,
half-open, read "1 message received" on the cellphone's LCD screen.
despite the throbbing ache in her temples, her heart raced with
anticipation upon the discovery that "honey" sent
the text message:


"good AM, hon. mwaah! hope you slept well. are we still on
today?"


a smile answered in reply. ah, if only smiles, knowing smiles
- at that, could be sent in lieu of words.

her eyes closed in meditation - recalling her conversation with roy the
night before. it was sunday not too long ago. eugene mayuga, roy's
co-worker at SMART telecoms, invited them to his son's birthday party.
the child turned three that sunday. like most sundays, tina decided
to
spend the day at home. she'd get up in the morning just in time for the
1100 mass, and then retire into the warm solitude of her bedroom.
lunch, of course, was a meal at jollibee - which wasn't too far a walk
from the mary help of christians parish.

under the sweltering heat of july, it was only customary to bring an
umbrella. when the heat was too much, surely rain won't be too far
behind. onin, her brother, came along. he didnt forget to mention that
they visit their good friend, jollibee, after
mass.
"ate, remember... we are to stop by jollibee later."
with nothing else on the schedule for the remaining afternoon, tina
conceded.
"yeah, why not? i think they have a new addition to their value meals.
chicken mar--... chicken marsala? i forget."
onin smiled as he put his arm around his sister's shoulders:
"whatever it is, it's there, ate..."

an armed security guard greeted them at the door. he was in the typical
polyester blue two-piece uniform that filipino security guards wore. on
his left breast was a rusty badge that boasted the security agency's
name. opposite the badge was the guard's nameplate.
" isidro, j." was the imprint. robberies were rampant all throughout
the metro, so it was an ordinary sight to have armed guards greet you
at almost every, if not, all, business and commercial establishments.
the short-barelled shot-gun isidro held in his right hand didn't
bother
even the smallest child as tina, onin, and a handful of other
church-goers filed into the restaurant.

despite the noon heat, the store had its fluorescent lights open.
airconditioning cooled their over-heated bodies in a gust from an
overhanging condura airconditioner directly above the entrance/exit.
repeatedly, busboys were halting whatever clean-up they were doing just
to greet
them a warm good afternoon. after everyone got in, they resumed their
activities. the mops were moving across the tiled flooring - to and
fro, back and forth, til every trail of mud and grime was wiped off. it
was an unending job for it was the rainy season, and it wasnt uncommon
to
walk in with muddied shoes, or slippers wet with rain, sweat, or tears
that trickled from the person's soaked clothing.