LALAKI

Heads & Bodies - I

June 5, 2019
8:30 PM
Enderun Tent, Azuela Cove
R. Castillo St., cor JP Laurel Ave., Km. 7, Lanang, Davao City
(Where the Big Bad Wolf Booksales were held during 2018 and 2019)

-------------------------------------------------------------

The tent is filled with talking heads dressed in polyester suits, cotton dresses, and denim coats. Yes, it's one of those expos that are comprised of old rich Asian people in booths, speakers, and other representatives.

Everyone is occupied and nobody is paying attention to the poorly dressed man whose head is about to explode any minute now. I feel less like a human being and more like a walking eyeball that's circling the fancy-clothed tables, booths, and podiums. "TRENDZ" is plastered everywhere along with other blogs, and lifestyle entertainment brands, I keep looking for my company's booth and trying to see if Sir JD is there, but I have to make sure some folks from work are there too. So I could at least insinuate my way in and play it off as a joke, Sir JD might be forced to accept my apology or at least not lash out at me because we are in a public setting. I'm throwing my dice on this letter of apology because I have nowhere else to go after this to be honest, I can't think of anything good to do or any job that'll pay well for me to keep a roof over my head. Who knows, maybe I can finally do something worthwhile about my college degree, AB MASS COMM. Take a gamble as a rookie radio host or journalist at RAPPLER (my application letter is still in the drafts and I never finished because who am I to obtain an opportunity like this?)

I stopped thinking about it because it made me more conscious. Time is already moving fast, I don't want it moving faster. I always stress myself with the outcome. Because I know it's bound to be disappointing, I stress that thought because I don't want to hope. The only consistent thing that I've got going on in my life is failure or misery; I don't mean to sound hyperbolic as well or make my life into some Shakespearean tragedy, I just know and I don't like it. It makes me feel sad and I don't know what to do. In a way, I'm glad that whatever happened this week, my thoughts, my actions, and my internal monologue, I'm glad it's just mine. I don't have anyone to read my mind or know what I've been through because that would be embarrassing I guess- I

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" said a man, about 5'6 foot tall, wearing a white button-up shirt, black office coat, and pants. Who accidentally spilled his large plastic cup of THIRSTY MANGO SHAKE all over my clothes.

An unwelcoming shock resonated all over my body, it was cold, violating, and discomforting. I felt it leaking through the cuffs of my jacket and large stains all over my shirt. My clothes were like abstract art with yellow paint all over.

"I-I made an awful mess of your Jacket, I'm so sorry," he says, desperately using his handkerchief to wipe the stains on my cuffs, my shirt, and practically everywhere on my clothes.

"Oh that's alright, I have a bunch of Jackets" a fact that is not true because most of my clothes are sweaters and graphic tees. I just said this to lessen the guilt on the man.

"I drank a Mango shake on the way here, Mangos tend to stain a lot, I think the best thing is to go to the men's bathroom, we'll get some water to it" he gestures over the two red doors at the end of the hall that are labeled MEN and WOMEN. He then picks up the plastic cup that fell on the ground.

"Looks like, you've got some of it on your clothes too as well, I'm sorry."

"Hahaha, that doesn't matter I was the one who bumped into you. You're the important one here, the victim that is."

It's clear we were both being insufferably kind here to not let the situation get out of hand. Apologizing and making up lies and light comments. If I were to react harshly, this would've gone otherwise. But I'm not in the mood to be explosive. But I gotta say, it did make me grin when he called me "important".