Learn From The Broken

Simula

Simula

My jaw locked when I saw the goddamn two bar signals on my phone. Dammit! May signal nga, sobrang hina naman. Wala ding kwenta.

"Is there a wifi here?" Masungit na tanong ko sa maid na nakita ko.

She looked around to check if I was really talking to her. Naguguluhan ang kanyang mukha. Hindi yata makapaniwalang kinausap ko siya. Ganyan ba lahat ng tao dito? She looks idiot.

"Ah, ser? Ano po ulet, iyong sinabi nyo po?"

"I said, is there a wifi here?" I said again, trying to calm my ass down.

"Pasensya na po kayo, ser. Grade 2 lang po kase ang natapos ko, eh. Hende po ako nakakaentende ng engles,"

Mas lalo yatang sumakit ang ulo ko sinabi ng katulong na 'to. What kind of place is this? Can I really live here? I'm really dead!

Huminga ako ng malalim. "Ang sabi ko ay kung may wifi ba dito?"

"Ah, wifi po ba, ser?" Lumiwanag ang kanyang mukha na para bang nakuha ang sinabi ko. "Ano po ba yon?"

Damn! Akala ko pa naman ay naintindihan na niya. I was right. This old maid is really idiot. Wifi lang, hindi pa alam? Oh, wait. Baka naman ako lang ang may cellphone sa lugar na 'to?

Iniwan ko ang bobong maid na 'yon at sinalubong ko ang nakakatandang pinsan ko na naghatid sa akin sa pesteng lugar na 'to.

"Bro, what's with that face?" Ngisi niya.

"The maids here are idiot and they annoy the hell out of me," Sagot ko.

He chuckled, "You'll eventually get over your night life in Quezon City, bro. Chill." Pinaalala pa talaga.

I was about to punch him when I heard my great father who apparently sent me here.

"Nandito na pala kayo, Dustin. Kakadating nyo lang?" Bungad sa amin ng tatay ko na bumababa ngayon ng hagdan.

"Yes, tito. Nasa kotse pa nga ang mga gamit nitong si Juno," Sagot ng pinsan ko.

My father looked at me, "So how is it, son? Welcome to Daguen City!"

"Yeah, welcome... to me" I sarcastically said.

"Pabuhat ang mga gamit ni Juno sa kwarto niya," Utos ng tatay ko sa mga maid.

"Yes, gov!"

You heard it right. My father is a governer here Daguen. A small town or city here on the southern part of the Philippines. Very far from the real city that I love.

Pabagsak akong humiga ng kama. I traveled eight hours just to make my life living hell. Masyado naman yata akong ma-effort. How could I live here? I think I couldn't survive a week here, or rather mamamatay na yata ako dito, sooner or later.

I turned on the aircon here on my room. Masyado ko naman palang minamaliit ang Daguen. Mayroon din palang aircon dito.

Nakakalat ang mga bagahe ko dito sa kwarto. I'll fix them later but for now, I'll eat. It's already four in the afternoon and I still didn't eat my lunch yet.

Nagpunta ako sa kitchen para makakuha ng pagkain. Malaki ang bahay namin dito sa Daguen dahil na din dito talaga naka-destino ang tatay ko. Once or twice a month lang siya kung pumunta sa bahay namin sa Cavite.

I was born and I grew up Los Angeles, California. My parents decided to move here in the Philippines when I was, I think 5? Well, the rest is history.