Characters In My Life

Whenever I feel the urge to smoke, I go to my room, grab a pack of cigarette I usually lay on the table inside, take out my lighter if there is or go the kitchen-like area in the office and get the matchbox. It pisses me off when a lighter I buy disappears shortly and is nowhere to be found. I must be very careless and forgetful that I can't keep a lighter for more than two weeks. I have to buy a lighter every now and then.

So if missing my lighter irritates me, how much more if I have run out of cigarettes? There are times, I crave for cigarettes at past midnights and I have no choice but to control the addiction. Most of the time, "Manang" saves the day.

I call her "Manang"-it is an honorific vernacular to refer to older women. Manang is from Capiz, a town notorious for evil creatures or "aswang", the Philippine version of vampires as portrayed in movies. When I first saw her, she caught my attention one rainy afternoon. She was trying to fix an umbrella she just picked up from the garbage to keep herself from the rain. It was last year when I got the chance to to learn more about her life and the people behind it.

"You are from Capiz?" I asked in awe.

Rumor has it that there are indeed a lot of evil creatures in the town and I want to hear it directly from someone who hails from that place.

"It's a word of mouth sir, but I have never seen anything yet. I was born there, spent some years but I had to settle here in Manila when I married Boy."

Boy is her husband who works as a valet. He has been working for the same building where our company is located. Imagine, he receives, less than 200 dollars in a month. He always crosses his fingers some drivers and tenants would be generous enough to give him tips to get through.

They are a common sight everyday. They work hand in hand no matter how meager their earnings are to support a family of six. Manang tends a small space where she sells cigarettes and some candy. She is my survivor when I really have no money.

I don't know but I feel happy whenever she tells me she makes some earnings in a day and is able to send some to the country. She is saving up for the construction of their shelter in Capiz where they plan to settle for good. So far, she already has bought a tricycle to add to their livelihood once they go back to her hometown.

"Sir, life here in Manila is not what I expected. It is really hard. I am glad that you pay your debts on time but I am worried that a lot of workers here in this building who owe me cigarettes and they disappear like bubbles." she once told me with a sigh.

Manang takes out an old notebook from an old bag which looks like a rubbish. I see a lot of items listed under the names written. They are clearly written as mine but she just starts crossing out my name. I am cleared. She looks at me and smiles.