Marven’s First Novel, chapter #05

     The next day, Saturday, early in the morning, Merlito was in the sofa sipping black coffee from a cup he would set down on the bamboo coffee table. Moments later, he saw through the open door his mother chatting with Emily again. This time, the latter was just wearing house clothes and not off to work. When she saw him from afar, she smiled and waved at him, said goodbye to her aunt, and stepped in to approach him. When she has stood at the door, Merlito said:

     "What is it? Do you have another errand for me? I'll gladly do it. It's okay."

     "Sure?"

     "Yes."

     "Okay. But no. You disappeared last night without saying goodbye to me. I told you to stay awhile."

     "For what?"

     "It's about what my father-in-law said."

     "What did he say? You had your in-laws there?"

     Emily explained.

     Merlito responded, "Oh... No, don't bother. It was obviously a joke. The man was drunk; he didn't know what he was talking about."

     "Nevertheless."

     "Forget about it already. Coffee?"

     "Coffee? No. No coffee. Let's go collect your fee. For my sake, let's go collect your fee."

     "Huh? ... Hmm... Okay. I understand. Good point."

     "It can help you a bit with your applications."

     "Yeah."

     "Let's go now."

     "As in now? Not later?"

     "Yeah. Why would you have me go back later? Get up. Let's go."

    The coffee was still burning Aldo’s tongue everytime he sipped; but as soon as he could handle the heat, he finished it straight and got up.

     When they got to Emily's house, she had him sit on the sofa and then approached a young woman seated at the kitchen table drinking coffee from a cup.

     "Where's Papa?" Emily asked.

     "Upstairs," the young woman replied. "They're going around the house, I think."

     "Okay." Emily then went to the stove and resumed her unfinished cooking.

     "It's very aromatic, Emily," Merlito remarked when he heard and smelt the initial sautee of sliced onions and tomatoes in the pan.

     "Is it okay if we have something fresh and warm like scrambled eggs, fried rice, and fried dried fish?"

     "Yeah. They're the best."

     "By the way, kindly meet my sister-in-law, Hannah. Hannah, this is Merlito." Then she whispered, "He's about your age."

     Hannah from the table looked at Merlito in the sofa and said, "Hi there. How are you?"

     Merlito smiled bashfully and civilly and replied, "I'm okay, miss. Thanks for asking."

     "Call me Hannah."

     "Right. I'm okay, Hannah. How about you?"

     "I'm doing great. I'm very much okay. Thank you."

     "Good, then."

     "Were you in the party last night?"

     "I was. In fact, it was I who sang."

     "Really? Which?"

     "You didn't see me?"

     "No."

     "Okay." Merlito looked down and crossed his arms and his legs close. "I was perhaps the one with the angelic voice."

     "What was that?"

     "Nothing."

     There was a pause, after which, Hannah continued, "Uh... What do you do, Merlito? What do you busy yourself with, if you don't mind?"

     Merlito looked up up to the ceiling, saying, "Uh..." and then reverted to eye level. "Reading?"

     "Reading?"

     "Yeah. At present, I'm actually still loafing around, thinking about my life."

     "Okay. It's okay. Take it easy. Sorry."

     At that moment, slight footsteps were heard from the wooden staircase. The three from below looked up and saw coming down two men, one young and one old.

     "Finally," Emily greeted. "The perfect breakfast is now ready. Come, come." Then she signalled Hannah to help her prepare the table.

     The newcomers descended the stairs and turned towards the kitchen table. When the younger man passed the living room, he saw Merlito and said:

     "Oh. It's you. You did us proud." Then he gave him a thumbs up.

     "I invited Merlito to join us, Harold," Emily said to him.

     "Sure, sure. We're glad to have him." Then he turned towards Merlito and said, "Come up here, dude. Join us."

     Emily seconded the invitation by gently beckoning at him insistingly.

     Therefore, Merlito rose up and went up towards the kitchen table.

     Everybody took their seat, the elder man at the head and Harold beside him and opposite Emily who was also beside the older man. Emily proffered the seat beside Harold to Merlito, and the latter took it and sat opposite Hannah who was beside her. Emily started helping her father-in-law get food into his plate and then got to the point and directed the conversation to last night’s incident.

     “I said that?” the man said.

     “Yes. And everybody heard you. Don’t you remember?”

     "I do a little bit. Hmm. Let’s see.” The man took out his wallet from his back pocket and rummaged it. When he stopped, his face changed but then recovered a smile. Then he took his wallet back to his back pocket, took hold of the cutleries, and started taking a bite.

     Harold observed his demeanor and said, “What’s the matter? Out of cash?”

     His father looked at him and said, "Hmm? I got this." Then the man proceeded to chomp a spoonful.

     Harold looked towards Emily and whispered, "How much is it?"

     Emily hand-signalled the amount.

     "I'll take care of it. No problem. Let's see if we have some here.”

     Merlito covered his exasperated face with his hand and said, “This is totally unnecessary,” but immediately sat up straight when Harold unblocked him from his father.

     So, Harold rose from his chair and made his way towards the staircase. When he got there and was about to mount the stairs, his father, said, "Boy, get back here." Harold obeyed.

     When he got back to his seat, Merlito smiled downcast and said, “My goodness.”

     Emily must have felt it because she and Hannah started to look disappointed.

     Merlito felt a need to talk. “Uh... Excuse me, sir. You don’t have to do this. It was just a silly game. I'll just have some breakfast here with y'all...”

     Surprised, the man looked at Merlito and, gaining momentum from his opening his mouth, asked in response, “What do you do, young man?” 

     Merlito was equally surprised and said, “Oh. Uh... Sir, right now, I just stay at home."

     "Hmm. Nothing else?"

     "Uh... and apply. I also apply.” 

     "Where?"

     "In the financial center mostly."

     "Hmm. What's your line of work? What are you good at? What are you interested in doing?"

     "Uh, I can say I'm more into art, sir. I don't know if art is also into me."

     "Huh. Hmm. Seamanship is also an art, a skill..."

     "Really, sir? Is that accurate?"

     "Do you happen to have a background in that?"

     "Uh... No, sir. I haven't imagined myself becoming a seaman."

     "You prefer light jobs. You'd rather go for a work that lets you just sit down."

     "Not necessarily, sir. In fact..."

     "All right. I heard Emily talk about you actively looking for a job. And this just came to me. I have an acquaintance who's looking for a staff in his office. I can introduce you to him and see whether he'd accept you."

     "Oh, sir."

     "We still have to see. If we succeed, is that okay instead if I give you cash?”

     “It's already very generous of you, sir.”

     "Thank you."

     “Problem solved?” Harold clapped his hands slightly twice.

     "Where do you prefer to go to work daily?"

     "Uh... Hopefully just nearby."

     “Hooh. Well, that's the thing. The office I'm sending you is a little bit far from here. It's not in Makati; it's not in Quezon City. It's in Manila. That’s all I can offer you.”

     “Anywhere is good, sir.”

     “Here's the good part. The people there are nice. At least, those that I know. Once you’ve become friends with them, the distance won’t matter to you anymore. I'm telling you.”

     “If that is true, then it's good for you, Merlito,” Emily said.

     “Yes, you’ll do well there. They just have a simple set-up and no toxic people whatsoever. At least, as far as I can remember. So, what do you think?”

     “I guess I’ll give it a try, sir."

     “Okay."

     "Problem solved?" Harold said.

     "My daughter and I leave for home at noontime. Come back here and bring with you any relevant documents that you have, huh?”

     "Yes, sir. Thank you again.”

     Come past twelve, Merlito did as told and arrived at Emily's house with its garage open and the car in it already revving. After some preparation and goodbyes to Emily's mother, she, her father-in-law, Harold, and Hannah made their way to it and also invited Merlito to do the same. All of them went inside and got ready to go. Emily sat in the backseat between Merlito and Hannah. Harold was behind the wheel and his father was beside him, on the other seat.

     Harold drove the car, as his father directed, westwards towards Manila. After less than two hours, it was now seen basking in the afternoon sun along Dasmariñas street. It went straight on and passed Dasmariñas bridge over the Binondo River, under the blue sky and white clouds, and between quiet alleys, fire trees, and short grand buildings, all of which, were reflected on the surface of the water in this version of Manila in this story, and finally went out into the Muelle dela Industria or, for easier pronounciation, the Industry's Quay by the Pasig River. The shore of this riverside avenue, in this version of Manila in this story, still had those stairs towards the water from a century ago. Finally, Harold's father told him to enter and stop at the mouth of a side street in front of a triangular grand building whose main front door is on its tip, its apex, at the corner. Only the father, his daughter, and Merlito went out of the car; and the former told the couple to find a nearby vertical parking rack which, in this version of Manila in this story, abounded in the inside blocks of the neighborhood so that he can park his car properly and not be obstruction in the historic area's narrow roads, and wait for them for about 30 minutes. As the three made their way to the main door, Merlito looked up at the facade of the building from top to the bottom and counted five stories with windows each at the tip. When they entered the edifice, the guard, posted behind the front desk, looked at them. They approached him and inquired, and the latter asked for valid IDs in exchange of visitors' passes. Then he directed them to the second floor and proferred them to the elevator and the u-shaped staircase located in the same corner. They went accordingly and waited for the elevator to ding and open. When it did, they entered the shaft and up it went. From the second floor upwards, the tip of the edifice, in each floor, consisted of these climbing and descending mechanisms and a lobby. Then it was divided asunder lengthwise by halls in the middle between office spaces. The three went in one on the second floor, located the office they were looking for, and opened its door.

     What met their view was a middle-aged man seated behind a desk. The latter recognized the visitor and cordially invited him and others in. As they entered, the two older men shook hands and greeted each other with a few pleasantries and stories, keeping up with each other's lives. Afterwards, the three took their seat on the proferred sofa. After a short introduction, the father went down to business and brought up the admin staff opening. The other man said that the position was still unoccupied. The father then introduced Merlito to his friend and asked if he would consider Merlito, a young lad starting out in life, to fill it. They talked a little more about it, after which, the man behind the desk invited Merlito to come up before him to be interviewed. Merlito did as told and sat on the chair. At the end of the conversation, the man said to Merlito that he was hired and shook his hand. Merlito thanked the man and then stood up and aside and returned to the sofa. The father and daughter there congratulated him, and then the father stood up and came up to his friend and continued chatting and keeping up with him. While this was happening, Hannah congratulated him again, saying:

     "Congratulations again."

     "I'm so embarrassed you have to see my whole application process."

     "It's okay. There's nothing undignified about it."

     "And you had to hear me brag about my being a volleyball varsity in high school. I was only good during high school."

     They continued chatting. After all of this, the two middle-aged men parted with a handshake and the father thanked his friend for accepting Merlito and already bade farewell. Then the three stepped out of the office.

     When they stepped out of the building, they found the couple outside standing by a quay from a little distance away, gazing towards the river whose little waves glistened from the sun, and talking. When their footsteps were heard after crossing the street, the couple looked back at them and smiled. When they got to them, Emily asked her father-in-law:

     “So, how did it go?”

     “He’s in,” the father mildly replied.

     "Great. Congratulations," Emily exclaimed.

     "Congratulations, man," Harold seconded.

     One late afternoon during a weekday, Merlito was seen wearing his work uniform and shoving a large black plastic trash bag into a chamber, from which, it would be collected. As he made his way back to the business park and walked across it, his former classmate and now his workmate saw him wiggling and hunching in fatigue.

     "Are you okay?" the classmate greeted.

     Merlito looked at him, walk straight up, and replied, "Yeah. What's up?"

     "Uh... Nothing. It's just... the salaries have arrived."

     "Wha?"

     "That's right. Therefore, come to the office as soon as possible."

     "Yes." Merlito then hurried to get himself out.

     When he went into the office, he saw that many of his workmates have gone ahead flocking in front of a table, behind which, sat an older young man distributing tawny envelopes of cash and having the recipients sign on a paper, on the box next to their name, after receiving. Merlito had his turn; and as he stepped aside after receiving his salary, he immediately opened the envelope and counted the cash including the coins which he found to be exact. He felt happy.

     Moments later, he was now talking with the admin, now to say goodbye. The admin let him go, saying others are waiting to get in too. Merlito bade them goodbye. He also said goodbye to his former classmate and thanked him for getting him in. That's how he ended his short stint in the business park.

    After a few days, Aldo could now be seen clasping a brown envelope at the facade of a government building on a bright and windy afternoon at about 2 o’clock. He went down the steps. But instead of going back to the main avenue, he went the other way and took the streets that lead to a narrow provincial road in the middle of a vast ricefield. Earlier, he took a circuitous route, taking two rides along the main avenues of the city. Now he decided to go on foot through a direct route in the most-rural part of the town. He was feeling good, and the fair weather proved to be very-stimulating to his senses.

     After taking a thousand steps along the almost-endless farm road, he finally reached a river that flows into the lake. From a little distance, he saw a port or quay whose structure consisted mostly of wood like the ones used in the wilderness. He approached it and asked the old folks if this was the one that crosses. They confirmed what he thought it was, and Merlito descended, paid a small fare to the collector, and rode a canoe that had outriggers. And off it went across and reached the other shore in just about a minute or two. Then he, among others, disembarked and ascended steps of the port or quay of soil and grass and landed on top of the steep river bank. He looked around and saw that this one looked totally different from the one he just left. The latter looked lively and had all the appearances of being an integral part of the town proper while the former looked like the facade of the wilderness he was about to enter and therefore undeveloped. The environment here where he arrived felt like nearing home. Therefore, he walked down the road southwards to find that walkway of trampled scorched grain across the rice field below on his right side. When he found it, he descended. The field on which he started trekking was parched and dry and almost naked and empty as the grains seemed to have been harvested in this latter part of the summer, thus rendering the vast area walkable. The drooped sunburt stalks planted in the fissures of the brittle clay floor have become as useless as common grass. The line that he traced ran diagonally across the square embankments of the field. Up above, he saw nothing but an open brilliantly-blue sky, cotton-like cumulous clouds, and birds that fly in v-formation. When he had gone halfway, he saw, from a distance to his left, men standing beside heaps of grain wearing long-sleeved camisas and weaved hats doing what looked like late harvesting and milling of rice using a motorized equipment.

     When he neared the end of the field, he saw three shirtless teenage boys who went his way, tracing the same path he was tracing and both holding in their hands and hanging on their shoulders their crumpled, wet upper garments. From a distance, he could hear their voices talking loudly to each other and it became louder as they crossed paths with him. Up close, he saw that they were wet all over, including their disheveled hairs, as if they dipped and bathed themselves in the water. Finally, he reached the end of the field and was hurdled by another river that flowed into the lake. Only this time, this one was narrower. This seemed to be the river that terminates the land mass, in which, their neighborhood is situated because he was already seeing a familiar rural scene on the other side. He then started looking for the bridge and found it. It was a wooden one that had no rails and whose surface consisted of intermittently-spread lumber bars. He approached and climbed it, did a careful balancing act as he crossed, and, upon reaching its end, jumped into safety because he thought it was shaky. Then, impelled by adrenaline, he rolled his entire length on the bed of grass like being wrapped into a lumpia and finally stopped flat with outstretched arms, facing the sky and still holding his envelope. As he settled for about ten seconds, he became aware of the fatigue and the cramps and stiffiness that his muscles were already experiencing and the stickiness, dustiness, and saltiness of his skin. He decided to stay down and rest. Then he was lulled by the gentle blowing wind and felt drowsy. He also smelt the odor and felt the blades of the grass sawing his sticky, dusty, and salty skin. As he gasped for breath, he tried to make something of the changing cloud formations and saw in it what he thought resembled a human face until it disfigured and changed into something else entirely.

     When he has rested enough, he got up and left. When he looked back, he saw the wavy lines created by the breeze and the sun. Eventually, the meadow slowly transitioned and gave way to a ground of cracked dry mud that still had a few outgrowths of grass then and there. Then yonder he saw stood a hut whose inhabitants——a father, a mother, a little boy, and a teenage girl——were loitering around in their yard near an improvised net made of straw made for crawling plants. They also had a dug-out well as a water source, not for drinking. When he came near the house, he instinctively confidently greeted the family a good afternoon who surprisingly cordially greeted him back.

     “Just passing by, sir,” he added, addressing the father, feeling a need to explain. “I just came from town for this.” He lifted his envelope. “I just walked.”

     “Ah,” the father replied.

     Merlito continued walking and encountered a few more villagers who were spending leisure hours by their huts or tending their garden. He no longer greeted them because he thought he already fulfilled that part.

     As he continued, a dirt road formed from the field of clay, down which, he walked along until he reached its end that sloped towards the elevated soil. When he has ascended it, he already saw the familiar surrounding of the extended part of the neighborhood.

     At that point, he again became conscious of the fatigue, particularly of his legs. His throat is parched, and he is now in the condition wherein he might perhaps be able to consume gallons of cold water. He was perspiring, but it was dried a little bit by the fresh wind at the meadow.

from The Simple Adventures of a Simple Simpleton

by: Marven T. Baldo