Night and Day

3 - A Man at Sea

Jan keeps on tossing himself on the upper bunk of the shared bed. He is on that state for a good two hours of the day since he woke up. The cold Friday breeze is not helping his will to move either. He looks at the clock on the wall. It says it is now 2:11 PM. He has no classes for the day, but the past four days, he had full load and that has been taking a lot on his back already.

His friends from school are expecting him today at the mall as they drunk-discussed last night that the guys will bring their girlfriends today to watch a movie. They wanted him to come as well, on his expense of course. He had received a few missed calls earlier, but he let them pass as he was being stubborn. Mga sira-ulo, gagawin n'yo pa 'kong third wheel, he thought.

He goes down finally to stretch and decides to leave anyway when he heard his stomach complain.

"Nasa jeep na, sorry-sorry, napa-extra ng tulog. Tapos na palabas?" Jan makes an excuse as his friend hangs-up.

The day was extra chilly for an afternoon and the skies seem to be darker, not to mention the number of people heading by the city center causing a lot of the traffic.

Jan leans on the second-floor balcony to wait for his friends where he could see the line for the taxi entrance. Ang daming tao ngayon, he thought as he observes the pile of people with push carts full of grocery below.

"'Andito ko' second floor, sa may balcony," as he answers the phone.

Two boys are approaching, Jan's friends from the house, Rex and Peter, behind the guys were the two girlfriends they mentioned. Mukhang mga high school pa, legal ba 'to? he regrets on the thought.

The guys introduced their companions to Jan. Joy was with Rex, and Kathy with Peter. He reaches out a hand to give a formal handshake.

Rex talks to Jan in separate as they move along.

"Par', grocery muna tayo," Rex insists.

"Ngayon na? 'Gugutom na ko eh," Jan answers.

"Mabilis lang tayo, kami na ni Peter bahala mag-uwi mamaya."

"Nagmamadali yata kayo ngayon?"

"Oo par', kailangan pa namin ihatid yung mga babae mamaya, saka kailangan natin ng stock sa bahay para bukas."

"Anong meron?"

"Dadaanan daw tayo ng bagyo bukas ng umaga. Malakas-lakas daw 'to," says Rex.

Shit. Ba't n'yo pa ko pinalabas? Jan thought.

⸙

An influx of locals and tourists flock the city bus terminals that afternoon, hoping to get a ride out of the place before the typhoon hits the next morning. For the unassuming Carlos, he was confident that he would get to the terminal early, but the heavy traffic stopped him. The bus that he is supposed to be at left thirty minutes ago from when he arrived.

He tries to remain calm and plans his next action. He left his two large luggage on the waiting area below and headed upstairs to try a replacement of his ticket. There was already a long line on the queue which wrapped to the balconies of the terminal building outside.

"Miss, hindi ko po naabutan yung pina-reserve ko kanina," he pleads to the clerk, after a good two hours or so of falling in line.

The woman on the window checks the ticket.

"Naku sir, full na po lahat ng mga susunod na bus Pa-Cubao o Pasay. Yung next po na available ay tomorrow afternoon na po. Tentative din po yun sir, depende sa sitwasyon natin bukas. Nag-cancel na po kasi lahat ng bus lines ng morning schedules dahil sa bagyo."