Tila isang bangungot lamang ang lahat. Kanina lamang ay kausap ko pa si Ma'am Nonnie at nakipagmatigasan dito. Kanina lamang ay nakaupo pa siya sa swivel chair sa opisina niya. Kanina lamang ay buhay na buhay siya. She even shouted at me for telling her weird and scary things.
It is really hard for everyone to believe what just happened. Everything wasn't imaginable, napakabilis ng pangyayari.
But accepting the reality is really a part of life, she is now gone, not gone for a long journey and will comeback after it, not gone because she have something to meddle with,
but gone because she's already done suffering the pain that this world gives.
Nalungkot ang bawat isa sa coffeeshop sa pagkawala ng may-ari at manager nito. Even me, I am so sad for what had happened to her. Hindi man lang siya nagkaroon ng chance na lisanin ang mundong ito sa mapayapang paraan.
She may not be a perfect boss, yes, she's strict and sometimes a villain but I know she's good in her own way.
Noong araw na natanggap ako bilang waitress ay siya ang sumalubong sa akin, kahit na noon pa man, alam kong may pagkastrikto na siya. I'm really happy, or maybe more than that.
Natanggal ako sa kauna-unahan kong trabaho, which is being a cashier on a fast food restaurant, know why? I tried stopping one of the customers to go because I've heard her demise coming. And as a result, bago pa man niya nilisan ang restaurant, ipinagbigay alam na niya sa aming manager ang ginawa ko na ayon sa kaniya ay kabaliwan.
I was kicked out from my job, they fired me without any warning or just simply giving me a second chance. Sad, but that's life.
After that day, naghanap agad ako ng trabaho. It wasn't really hard for me dahil agad akong natanggap as a cashier again but on a different establishment. It was a drugstore.
My job was good, until one day, one costumer dropped by on the store, he was an old man. Narinig ko rin ang tunog ng magiging kamatayan niya. I didn't hesitate on helping him, but before I could reach him, he was already lying on the floor of the hallway.
I was accused, seriously it's really big thing for me, hindi lang ako baliw sa paningin ng iba, but I was also a criminal. How could I?
Thankfully, there was a CCTV footage, it was the proof na hindi pa man ako nakakalapit sa lalake ay nakahandusay na ito sa sahig ng pasilyo. Sa madaling salita, I am innocent and wasn't guilty about that incident.
Hindi na ako nakabalik pa sa drugstore na 'yon for an unknown reason. Basta nalang akong natanggal sa trabaho and hindi ko man lang nakausap ang boss ko. Hindi na ako nagpumilit pa at sa halip ay naghanap na lamang ng panibagong trabaho. Like what I've said, life is all about surviving.
I wandered again around the city. I looked for a job here and there, hindi na ako nag-demand pa ng mas maayos na trabaho, seriously, I'll be dead if I did so.
And my fate took me here, Nes Café. This is my third job for this month and unfortunately, something happened. There's always a possibility that I'll be fired again and have to look again for another job, lalo na at may kasama akong ahas dito.
***
Alam kong pagang-paga na ang aking mga dahil sa pag-iyak simula pa man nung marinig ko ang tatlong magkakasunod na putok ng baril.
Ma'am Nonnie was a victim of this world's need of survival. She was a victim of both robbery and homicide. One shot on her left shoulder, one on her forehead, and another one on her chest just right where her heart is.
Wala ni isang pera ang naiwan sa opisina niya. She must have fought the guy –yes, it's a guy who just made her experienced brutality.
Sa tuwing naiisip ko ang mga nangyari, patuloy lamang kinakain ng konsensiya ang aking sistema, even guilt.
