Cudog, Ven-Mar D.S.

Creative Writing

EL0631
Prof. Miel Ondevilla

“The Note”

(Revised)

The silence inside the small nipa hut was disturbed by the slam of the
door. Aling Marta, shocked, dropped the medicine she was about to swallow. She
picked it up with a throbbing pain on her waist and knees from the floor and kept
it inside the pocket of her duster. As she recovers, she kept the bottle of
medicine back to where she secretly hides it. She went out of the kitchen to see
who was there. She was not surprised when she saw her husband. Mang Nestor,
lifting his feet carefully, having trouble with his walking, was firmly holding a
bottle of brandy just like how a baby would grab whatever it touches.

Aling Marta, with her heart pounding harder and beating faster, required
herself to approach and help her husband. As she walked towards Mang Nestor
with difficulty of each step, with the face of a kid seeing his frightful enemy, and
with her hands trembling and sweating, reached for his husband as it slowly falls
down and dropped the bottle it’s holding on the floor. “Will the time come that
you’ll not go home like this?” Aling Marta said while stopping his husband from
falling with her teary eyes.

Mang Nestor was too drunk to go inside the room by himself. Aling Marta
called her son Atoy to help her bring his father to the room. Aling Marta and Atoy
helped each other to carry Mang Nestor.

“Nay, is it love that still makes you do these things for him? Why are you
so kind to him despite of his being irresponsible and every time he’ll go home
drunk, he’ll beat you hard until your nose bleeds. I’m just thankful that he did not
hurt you a while ago.” Atoy said while laying his drunken father to their papag.
The laying of Mang Nestor’s body created screeching sounds all over the room
just like how a massive beast climbs up on the fragile wooden table. Aling Marta
went out and headed for the kitchen without even answering his son.

Before setting up the plates and glasses on the table for dinner, Aling
Marta took the ponytail from her grayish hair. She shook her head as she usually
does when she fixes her hair. The falling of her hair became malignant. She tied
her hair again and convinced herself that she was okay.

. Aling Marta, getting some newly cooked rice from the casserole, asked
Atoy. “Atoy, is your father all right now?”

“Yes, Nanay” Atoy replied after putting on the blanket to his father.
 “Come here and let’s eat supper. We’ll just save some for your father so
he can have something to eat when he wakes up in the morning.” Aling Marta
said.

Atoy, having many thoughts running in his mind, looked outside the
window and gazed at the empty night sky. The night had completely invaded the
village. Atoy looked at his father and sighed. He felt his breath join the cold
breeze of the night as he replied to his mother. “I’m coming, Nay”

Aling Marta and Atoy enjoyed the adobong kangkong and sapsap na tuyo.
They saved some for Mang Nestor because they know that they will have a bad
morning if they don’t. When they finished eating, Atoy returned the used plates
and glasses to the sink. He volunteered to wash the dishes.

“You look pale, Nanay. Are you sick? Do you want to go to bed now? Don’t
worry; I’ll take care of this. I know you have to wash and iron clothes at Mrs.
Santos early tomorrow,” Atoy told his mother. Aling Marta nodded with a smile
and kissed him on the forehead. It was the first time that Aling Marta kissed him.
He found it weird but he felt so much happiness that he forgot he was tired
working half of the day at the market. Though he felt that, he was also puzzled.
Questions ran through his mind.

“Why, Nanay?” Atoy immediately asked.

“No matter how strong a tree is, it will still bend when the wind starts to
blow hard” Aling Marta replied and walked out of the kitchen to the room and
took a rest. Atoy, confused with why his mother said that, washed the dishes
hastily but properly and followed her mother immediately to take some rest.

That cold night had passed and the morning sun penetrated the small
holes on the curtains of the window. The warm light of the sun woke up Atoy. He
stretched his arms and yawned once more. He realized then that when he looked
at his left side, where his mother usually sleeps, Aling Marta was no longer there.
Aling Marta left early to work at Mrs. Santos’. His father also was no longer in the
papag. He stepped out of the bed. He folded the blankets and the mosquito net.
He also arranged the pillows. Atoy hurriedly prepared himself for work. He must
not be late because Mang Bong would reprimand him for such deed and he
would be humiliated in the market.

Atoy, hurriedly walking, saw how busy the people in the village were even
though he was in a hurry. Mang Popo was feeding all his roosters and hens.
Manang Delia opened her sari-sari store very early and all the kids were all
wearing big smiles on their faces while playing tumbang preso. He passed the
bridge over the canal of the village and from afar he saw a very usual picture of
his morning when he passes the bridge. Group of men were shirtless and were all
singing “Happy Birthday”. Their noise would always irritate the ears of the
villagers every morning. A man who has the biggest belly and having the loudest
laugh led the drinking. It was his father. He knew it was his father.
 He passed by his father without greeting and even looking at it. His father
didn’t notice him either so he continued walking for work.

By the time he arrived at the market, Pepe and Bobong were already
sweating. Pepe was carrying a big sack of coconuts on his very skinny shoulders
to deliver it to Aling Nena’s store. Bobong, running out of breath, rested for a
while after carrying two sacks of coconuts inside the stock room.

“I’m not late, am I?” Atoy, with his heart pounding, asked.

“What do you think, Atoy? If I were you I would start carrying the
remaining sacks inside the stock room before Mang Bong arrived here and see
you just standing there like a coconut tree.” Pepe retorted.

“I’m sorry, ‘tsong. I’ll start now.” Atoy said.

“Good!” Pepe said.

Atoy, with his calloused hands, sitting down on a bangkito and very eager
to work so he can go home with thirty five pesos, started to put the coconuts one
by one inside the sacks.

Atoy finished his work. Atoy appeared to be a wet clothe ready to be

squeezed. He had perspired a lot. He needs to change his shirt before going
home. He removed his shirt. His rib cage was very visible. His body of a bamboo
you would not imagine carrying heavy sacks of coconuts was strengthened by
his eagerness to help Aling Marta. He put on his sando and started to walk his
way home with his thirty five pesos firmly inside his right fist. “I hope Nanay is
home already.” Atoy said to himself.

The sun had made the afternoon very hot. People in the market were still
on their work. Sweats ran down the faces of the butchers. Aling Toyang, who
sells chicken, was relieved by fanning herself of the carton. The buko juice
vendor had a glass of it for him and drank it with an “Aaahhhhh” afterwards. The
mini truck of the ice store had waters dripping out from its locked compartment.
Atoy, wiping his forehead with his left arm, reached the exit of the market and
continuously walked home.

Atoy reached the village. As he walked, he noticed a very unusual

scenario.

“Where are the people here?” Atoy wondered.

Manang Delia was not in her store. The door of the store was left open.
The kids that usually don’t sleep in the afternoon and were just playing around
were also not there. His father and its kumpares were not there also.

“Where’s my father? They usually end their drinking session at night. It’s
too early for them to go home to their houses.” Atoy kept on wondering.

Atoy felt uneasy of what he had noticed but continuously walked home.
 When he got nearer to their hut, he saw a commotion going on. Manang
Delia was there. Mang Popo, holding his rooster, was also there. The kids of their
village were there. Everybody was there.

“What are these people doing here?”- A question that made his senses
sharpened. He heard his neighbors talking about her mother. He heard a kid
asking its mother- “What happened to Aling Marta, Inay? Why she’s lying on the
floor and has blood on her chest? Is she hurt?”

“Could someone fetch Atoy in the market? Now!” Mang Popo shouted and
Atoy heard it with his two sharpened ears.

“What’s happening here, Mang Popo? What’s the commotion all about?”
Atoy still asked even if he’s getting pictures alraedy of what he did not want to
see. A picture that might make his firm right fist loosen and would make his
thirty five pesos fell on the ground. A picture that would turn his excitement of
seeing his mother waiting in front of their door with a smile and probably a
kissed on the forehead into frustration and worst, into wailing.

“I’m sorry Atoy. Marta, your mother is…”

Without making Mang Popo finished what he was saying, Atoy, with tears
starts to flow down from his eyes, lifted his feet and ran hastily towards their hut.
He did not mind the feet that he stepped on and did not bother to apologize
anymore. What in Atoy’s mind was that he wants to see what happened.

“Let me through, let me through!”

Atoy’s neighbors gave way to him. They became an audience of a tragic

play that came into life and reality. They wanted to comfort Atoy but they
couldn’t.

“Who do you think did it to Mareng Marta?” Mang Delia asked Mang Popo.

“Our village would not be our village without hearing and seeing Marta
and Nestor fighting. Nestor had been too rude to Marta. He is so insensitive
letting his wife and son to work for their family. He is truly irresponsible. Who
else do you think? It’s probably Nestor.” Mang Popo answered Manang Delia.

All the people there had the same suspicions. They would not be surprised
if it was Mang Nestor. Mang Popo, very concerned with what had happened,
asked Manang Delia to ask for help now from the authorities. The two, having no
second thoughts, immediately headed on to the baranggay for help. The rest of
the villagers were still in the crime scene looking at how Atoy was grieving.

“Who did this to you, Nanay?” Atoy with his tears falling from his face
asked his mother and being so crazy expecting her dead mother to answer. He
cried even harder and harder just like a baby being taken away from its mother.
Atoy’s wailing made the small nipa hut full of grief and agony. The villagers were
not able to utter words of empathy but a sincere stare at Atoy.
 Aling Marta was lying on the floor with her heart silent. She has a deep
wound on her chest that made her blood ran out from it. Blood was all over the
floor. A knife was found beside his dead mother.

Atoy broke the silence of the villagers with his shout.

“Where’s that beast? Where’s that man who would always makes my
Nanay cry? Where’s that evil that will just be drinking until night and earns
nothing for us? Where is Satan who killed my Nanay? Where’s my father?

Atoy felt the anger inside him. He was blinded by his grief. He stood up
and headed on to the kitchen. All the villagers there were puzzled. They were
shocked when Atoy went out after a while. Atoy was firmly holding a bolo with
his right hand.

“Has anyone seen my father?!” Atoy asked with a thrilling voice. Atoy,
being impatient at that moment, went out of the hut and headed on the way. He
needed to find his father for revenge. He doesn’t know what will happen next but
what he wanted was to find his father. No one knew where Mang Nestor was so
they kept silent.

Atoy, with his evil inside him, walked along the village. His eyes looking
straight and have no focus to anything but with the face he was looking for.
Different faces passed by. He continued to walk with speed until someone,
running very fast but trembling, bumped him on the side. Atoy, with his eyes of a
fierced lion, looked up and found the face of an evil he was looking for.

Mang Nestor, drunk as usual, asked his son, “Where’s your mother? What
happened? Someone told me…” He was not able to finish his talking. A sudden
strike of a pointed object on his stomach made him stop. Blood flowed down to
the ground. The bolo that has been kept in the kitchen for years and now rusty
had changed its color when pulled out of Mang Nestor. Blood dripped down from
its tip. Mang Nestor slowly dropped to the ground. Mang Nestor was dead then.

The bolo with his grief and anger had taken away his innocence. Time
stood still until a hand touched him on the shoulders from behind. A voice of a
man wearing a yellow shirt and had a black vest and who’s firmly holding a
wooden bat awoken Atoy back to reality. He killed his father.The tanods took him
to the baranggay to face the consequences of what he did.

“My Nanay, I have to get back to my Nanay. She needs me. Help me,
please!” Atoy asked for mercy from the tanods. The tanods were still and eager
to bring Atoy for interrogation. The attention of the villagers was diverted to him.
Mang Popo was also there. The tanods forcibly dragged Atoy off into the trycicle
to the baranggay.

“Mang Popo, help me. I need to get back to Nanay. She needs me!” Atoy,
started to cry again, told Mang Popo.
 “Don’t worry, Iho. Your mother was taken already by the authorities. I’ll
follow you there, Atoy. I will” Mang Popo yelled as the trycicle left.

The baranggay tanods saw what happened. There’s no way that Atoy
could deny what he did. He killed his own father because of his uncontrollable
emotion. He already became a murderer in his 18’s.

The baranggay tanods brought Atoy to the Provincial Police Station. He

was found guilty of killing his own father. Atoy was imprisoned.

It was raining hard that afternoon when he was imprisoned. Atoy could see
how the rain wants badly to drop on the ground from the window. Everything
there was locked by steel. There’s no way of escaping with three police officers,
having their guns ready in their waist, guarding the cell. He seemed to be the
new pair of shoes inside a dirty closet with all the ragged and worthless shoes
placed. It’s cold outside the station but it’s different inside the cell. Everyone in
the cell would want to be apart from each other so they can breathe easy but
they couldn’t. It would be harder for Atoy this time to get through a day, even
harder than exhausting himself from work and tolerating his father’s rudeness
towards them. It will be a new life for him.

Atoy, tired of standing inside, sat down, tuck himself just like a baby inside
a womb and lean his head onto the wall. He was tired. His body was shouting for
some rest. He was about to close his eyes when a police officer who was holding
a cup of coffee on its right hand, called Atoy’s attention.

“Hey young man, a letter for you,” the police officer said.

“A letter for me? From whom?” Atoy, surprised and at the same time
curious, asked.

“My co-police officer told me to give this to you. It was found in your
mother’s duster. There’s a note in there. It was written in front of this folded
paper that it’s only for you. “To my son, Atoy.” This paper is evidence; let us
have this paper after you read it. It’s a must, young man.” The police officer
commanded.

Atoy slowly unfolded the paper. It was his mother’s writing. He was
shocked that it made him stand again. Tears flowed from his eyes. A sudden
conscience struck him, harder than how he struck his father. The letter said
something that he wanted to turn back the time and just be what his mother
wants him to be.

Atoy,

I’m so sorry, bunso. I am weak that I can’t bear it anymore. I kept

my illness as a secret to your father and most especially to you. I did that
because I don’t want you to bother anymore of buying my expensive medicine.
You’ve helped me a lot in providing us something to eat everyday and that’s
enough. I don’t want to prolong my suffering from my cancer of the breast. I did
this not because I’m selfish. I did this because I love you. It is the only way I can
escape the darkness that approaches me from behind.

I know that leaving you will be an additional burden but I think that
this would not be as heavy as just letting you to work alone while I’m just in the
bed slowly dying. I will not just be the one who will suffer but you also, anak.

I want you to promise me that you will not be like your father. I
want you to continue living and reach for your dreams. It would give me so much
happiness.

I’m sorry, anak. Always remember that I love you so much.

Nanay

No words came out from Atoy. Tears had spoken for him of the regrets he
now has. He was blaming himself not being there to stop her mother and most
especially killing his father with wrong judgment.

Atoy gave the note back to the police officer as what he was instructed.
His wands quivered and tears continuously flowed from his eyes. He tucked
himself again and closed his eyes. He saw nothing but darkness until a tap from
his shoulder made him to look up and to see the light from the steal window of
the cellar once more. A stranger with a very thick beard and a long hair that
almost blocked his eyesight appeared in Atoy’s sight.

“Hey, young man. You know what? A bird in a cage, no matter how it was
locked up in a cage, it will be freed.” The stranger said.

“How is it possible? I think the only time that a bird will be released in a
cage if it’s dead already. Will the owner of the bird would want it to just fly away?
I don’t think so.” Atoy replied.

“If the owner of the bird would have the mercy of letting the bird fly back
to its home it is possible. I am right, am I not, boy? You are here because of what
you did, but if your heart has no guilt of intentionally doing such deed for no
reason, you will be freed. There are so many opportunities waiting for you
outside to redeem yourself. You are so young unlike me. There is still time to
change. If you can’t make it outside there are also opportunities here to make up
with what you have done. You just have to believe.” The stranger explained.

“Do you think I can still fly my way back? Do you think I can still have the
glimpse of the world outside again?” Atoy asked the stranger.

“Yes you can. You just have to believe and do something about it. Be good
and they will open opportunities for you to flap your wings and be able to fly
again. Do you want to start doing something now so you can make the flying to
happen soon?” the stranger said.

“Sure” Atoy eagerly replied.

“Help Dodong scrub the floor of this cellar now so we can lie here later to
sleep the night away.” The stranger said with a smile.

“I will. By the way, thanks!” Atoy replied and this time with a bright face
having no tears flowing from his eyes anymore but a smile.