Revisiting Marie

for some bizzare and sublime reason we decided to pay marie a visit. we were told she was sick. it was in one of of those luxurious rooms in a hospital (if there is such a thing as luxury in a hospital) that we saw her lying in bed with smiles all over.

it wouldn't have come as a surprise if we had been mistaken for kidnapping marauders or maniacs and then clubbed to death by her relatives. her face could've spelled 'who the hell' when we entered the room, but instead she was unusually welcoming, perhaps out of modesty, a suspiciously wry smile on her face. she was just being polite i thought. but then we had her smile turned into an awe when she noticed the oranges and grapes we bought for her. if we're going to be gate crashers then at least we could do it with flair. i bet she didn't even know our names, and i only knew her name on our way up the room. the only leverage we had was, well, we had been sitting under the same classroom roof for the last couple of days. "sino ba pupuntahan natin?" "si marie" "sino si marie?" "classmate natin" "ah ok" "bilhan natin nang prutas" "hehe o sige"

So it was during those electric first days in college, when the more precarious boys would automatically cluster at the back seats of the classroom as though through an unwritten pact to chick hunt and for some, to haunt. Like a pride of lions grazing over a vast field of land filled with mouth watering lambs, antelopes, and zebras. whichever you prefer. 'ang ganda o' 'seksi' 'hwohow!' 'anung pangalan?' 'kilala mo?' 'oo nga' 'hihihi'

on a different light, however, in the presence of women; such divine dieties, who should always be loved and respected in all instances, we were only reduced to a pack of adoring slaves bound forever in fetters and shackles. fair enough?

then it was just a matter of time before everyone has settled in their own cliques, mobs, or for some, his favorite armchair. at 16, making friends is as easy as in a 'the boat is sinking, group yourselves into' parlor game.

Then i realized marie wasn't one with the lambs or the antelopes. she easily became a good friend to all of us and a very very close friend to one. and in some unknown arcane cosmic plane, we laughed. and it didn't really matter why. the reasons would range from a talking ant that became the mayor of their colony, to a proffesor who, convincingly, looked like a polar bear.

And although she had the face that could launch a thousand sheep, i mean ships, she also had a joke up her sleeve that could launch a million armed mob in protest. but much better of course than that guy who had a joke that could launch a couple of profanities in the air- it could be me- an outraged dog once, even raised its middle claw at him, after he deliberately tried to crack a joke that goes something like 'anung hayop ang laging nahuhulog?'

Little did I know that this was only the beginning of a lifeling bond that i shall never be able to forget. one of those bonds that are almost impossible to break. a bond that slips through time without a trace of tarnished indifference or scorn. a bond that is rubber. rubber band. bwehehe

i can't wait to visit you again in the hospital. but it will not be because you're sick. but because we'll be too drunk we shall not be able to tell a hospital from a mall.