moirai

pet names

The following Saturday, Maine went to Rj's village park to watch him practice football early in the morning. She was seated on the sidelines watching intently when a young girl approached.

"Mm....Manang....Maine?" the young girl said softly

Maine turned and looked. The girl stood against the light so Maine didn't recognize her right away.

"Manang Maine...it's me, Riza....Manong Oy-oy's...ahhh Manong Rj's sister....he told me to give this to you." Riza said as she handed a bottle of water to Maine.

"Hi! Have a seat!" Maine said and moved to let Riza sit beside her. "Are you here alone?"

"Uhh...my friends and I are walking around the village....exercise....kuno...." Riza giggled. "Manong comes here every Saturday morning to practice...if he doesn't fly his helicopters..."

"Helicopters?"

"Yeah...he puts together model helicopters...sila ni Daddy...his room and our den are full of those!" Riza explains.

Maine nodded and looked at the group of guys playing at the far end of the field.

"Wait....what did you call him a while back?"

"Manong...."

"Manong....something...."

"Manong Oy-oy...." Riza said slowly and gave an awkward smile

Maine giggled.

"Hahahaha! That's a cute name! Where did he get that?" her eyes sparkled with delight of this new thing she found out about her boyfriend.

"Hahahaha!" Riza laughed and released the tension that built up within her when Maine asked the question. "I grew up calling him that...hambal ni Nanay, yaya namon, that when he was small, he used to be Ma-oy (throw a fit/tantrum) always....I couldn't say Ma-oy....Oy-oy was what I would say....so, asta sina Mommy, Oy-oy ang tawag sa iya....pero sa house lang....or kung kami-kami lang..."

"Ikaw ya, may nickname ka man?"

"Hmm....Mommy and Daddy call me 'Inday'....Manong calls me 'Tata'....sometimes, 'Kay or Bukay because of my hair (light colored)..."

"Aaahhh....Oy-oy gali...." Maine giggled some more.

"Why Manang? Do you have a different nickname also?" Riza was curious.

"Basi gina pangita ka na sang friends mo..." (your friends might be looking for you) Maine reminded

"Ah....text ko sila...." Riza turned, took her phone out of her pocket and texted her friends. After a while, she turned back at Maine

"Nagpuli na sila (they went home already)....ma-meet nalang kami later sa hapon...so Manang, may nicknames ka man?"

Maine had turned her attention back to the game that was on-going in the field. Rj kept on trying to run near the area where they sat and would throw glances and smiles at Maine. He would run off smiling, inspired. Riza's question made Maine turn back to the girl seated beside her.

"Uhmm....well, my Yaya calls me Tata...she's the only one who calls me that...then sina Mommy, Daddy and Manong call me Inday...of course, I'm Manang to Dean, my younger brother...others call me Maine, Meng and sometimes Menggay...come to think of it, I don't really have a weird nickname..." she laughed but was thinking hard on what names she's been called in the past. "Ah...wait...my Lola used to call me Ting because I sounded like a kitten, a kuting, kuno when I cried as a baby..."

The 2 girls laughed and were enjoying their little conversation.

"But 'Nang...please don't tell Manong you know that he's Oy-oy....he will kill me! He doesn't like being called that....ga Ma-oy pa na when he complains that he's called that repeatedly....Hahahahaha!"