A Teacher's Diary

All Souls' Day

November 1, 2014

Saturday

Mom talked into her sleep. Mumbling something. Like she's trying to stop someone. It's almost like a cry. I was curious of what she's saying but really, it's hard to understand. I woke her up from her nightmare. "Ma! Ma!" I called her. I tapped her face repeatedly. She just answered, "Oh.. Oo." I was about to ask her what was that about. But then, few seconds later, I heard her snore.

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For fear that mom would encounter another nightmare, I stayed more late. It was almost 2 AM when I let myself fall asleep.

Past 10 AM - Ate Wina knocked at my window. Saying she needs 1.5 liter bottles of coke. She asked me to find and cut the bottles. I only found a bottle of Royal. She needs it for the flowers I suppose. Her family and Xen seemed they'll visiting Papa that moment. I gave it to her because the phone suddenly rang. When I answered, it was mom asking me to replace her in the shop for a while.

Oh great. Just great.

I hurriedly went to our shop. Unwilling but thoughtful. Mom needs me. I need to be there.

When she got back to the shop, she had these viands in a plastic bag. Making me responsible in transferring those to plates and in cooking rice - in short, preparing the lunch for the whole family.

The Yaneza ate lunch after the ZR  family. After an hour, ZR family left home to go to Batangas. Mom arrived. While resting, she asked me about her dream. So I discovered she was aware but cannot remember what it was.

She laid down on my bed. Eyeing my bookshelf. She asked what book I have I can recommend her to read. She ennded up with 'Tuesdays With Morrie' by Mitch Albom. With that, I remember 'Inferno' written by Dan Brown. I asked Kuya Godi if he's done reading it. He said I can borrow it from him. Yay! :)

Yaneza couple and I were talking about our future trip in Hongkong yesterday. Today, we asked Xen if she can hand over to us her available Hongkong coins or bills for future use. We remembered Kuya Al having a lot of foreign currencies in his room before. We checked the cabinets in his room, (Timmy's room in the present.) hoping we could find money that would be helpful for our expenses once we arrive in Hongkong. Oh my. I'm soooo excited! :)) After we found none, we went down. Ate Wina got the nesting dolls anyway. She said she already asked for it before from Kuya Al.

Around 4 PM, while the Yaneza were sleeping, Mom told me we should visit Papa's sanctuary because it might rain. I agreed and changed clothes. I was wishing Yaneza family to go with us but since they already visited this morning, Mom said, "Just let them rest."

Mom and I saw Mayor Lani Cayetano as she leave Hagonoy Cemetery. As we arrived in Dhie's sanctuary (with Lola Abiang, Lolo, Tito Vicente & other distant relatives), the gate's already opened and there's already someone inside. There was a big guy sitting inside the stone bench. The fact that he's chubby makes me think that's the reason why he's topless. Hid shirt on his knees. He said his mom's name is Ophie. Just a guess, his age ranges to 23-26. I was just quiet the whole time while he talked with my mom. And his own mom arrived. I was already on top of the grave and lighting candles and praying. I overheard that the chubby guy thought I was just a high school girl. And they were talking about our relation to each other. I think I heard, I'm actually his Tita. Yet, he's bigger than me. -_-

Mom suddenly told me, she's going to leave for a while with Tita Ophie to drop by to Tita Monang. And the saddest part there was that my Samsung Duos suddenly died. I would no longer receive reply from Ate Wina with my text message about them following me and mom there. Mom left me with the chubby guy whom I can't start conversation because I really found it awkward.

So, I drift into deep thoughts. What if every year, we would have the chance to talk to our dead love ones?  Would that be fair?

Back to reality. It was boring. I look at the big guy from time to time. Observing him. He has a big belly. He smokes cigarette. His voice is too manly. But despite those characteristics, I wasn't scared of him. It was just again - awkward. We were alone there for a long time when he suddenly spoke with his manly voice, "Would you like a drink?" Instead of answering him, I asked, "Are you going to buy?" He nodded and told me, "You sure you're okay to be alone? I'll leave for a while." This time, I was the one to nod. Few minutes later, he got back with a 250ml Summit mineral water and a choco donut from Mister Donut. Aw. Sweet. That was the first time I liked a donut from Mister donut. I usually eat Dunkin, Krispy Kreme, Go Nuts and Jco. I seldom buy from Mister Donut.

I told mom I can no longer know whether Ate Wina replied since my phone is dead. It's already dark that's why, all the four of us decided to go. Tita Ophie with his son (the chubby guy). I didn't even ask for his name. Ugh. Me and mom walked home. We dropped by to Lapid's chicharon because I asked her to buy me some. It's really weird. First, the Mister Donut then the chicharon. We also dropped by in a bakery to buy monay for merienda.

Ate Wina, Sophie (turning 9 years old next month) and Dk (turning 7 next month) and Xen were playing cards (baraha - tong its) when we arrived. I encouraged them to play UNO instead. I taught them how the card works and the rules how to play it. Few minutes later, they were having fun. Sophie always lose but we were telling her it's just a game. Yet DK was always the first one to finish the game. So we started calling her master. She's always lucky with the cards. She gets the draw +4 wild card most of the damn time.

Because they enjoyed playing it, Xen suggested that they should stay overnight since ZR family isn't around. The Yaneza family went home to take a bath first and get some clothes. They returned late that Xen and I thought they won't come back. They brought two air beds and put it in our salas. Xen tried to call some fastfood delivery for our dinner but failed. In the end, Kuya Godi went out and bought food at Mcdonalds. There were a lot of french fries for us to eat. We only played UNO until 12 AM because DK were telling us that it's already sleeping time.

Oh eyebags.