They say malas comes in three's. I remember that saying after my grandmother was rushed in the hospital a year ago. Much as I would like to ignore such folklore, after all that have happened today, I think there is a connection as to why all of a sudden, a string of unfortunate events had fallen upon us today.
I woke up late this morning, eager to spend my day off in a good mood. However, when I went to my mom's room to check her out, she appears extremely unsettled and distraught. At first she complained about her body pains. At sixty, it's quite normal for a person to experience such uncomfortability. But later I found out that it's just not the body pains troubling her. Also this morning, she recieved a text message from one of our employees in the Sikyu Agency. The employee, which is the finance manager informed her that they are having some troubles with the cash flow. Apparently, our biggest client failed to settle its dues, which then snowballed into a much bigger problem which is our inability to pay the employee's salary that would amount to close to a million bucks. That's a big problem indeed, especially when the creditors are also stretched and are unable to lend us more money to help in the cashflow.
Being a mere employee in an outsourcing company, I could not offer much except perhaps, my silence. I could raise a tiny fraction of their requirements using my own money. But really, I would not risk losing all my savings. I've learned my lessons before in the publishing, where my entire fortune was swallowed by the company in just a single day. Mom said the same thing. We will not exert our efforts seeking more creditors lest we might end owing more people money.
We waited the entire day for updates. But we never heard anything from them. Hopefully, they found a way to address their concerns without bothering us on issues we are almost certainly ineffective.
---
The desperation had an effect on me. In between naps, (which I find to be a good excuse to run away from problems) I was contemplating on getting an extra job. Having a morning shift work is an advantage especially if the job I would take starts later in the afternoon. But my mom doesn't approve of my plans. She said that the closer I push myself to the brink of exhaustion, the greater its toll on my body.
So after a brief, non-confrontational argument with her, I retreated back to my room and played Sims 2 all day. In between playing different families, I lied in bed to take some rest. However, the beauty sleep backfired on me. When I woke up to catch the evening news, I was heaving with fever and suffers from a massive headache. Imagine, all I did the whole day is to sleep and this is what I get?
Life's unfair sometimes no?
---
At around 8 pm, my sister told us that she's done with her school activities. In my family, the only persons who have exclusive access to the car is my mom and her. Even if she devotes most of her time plotting with her militant friends, at home she's the princess. Despite her strong opposition to being picked up by the driver, in the end she doesn't have a choice. She gets home with the sundo, escort included.
While I was in the middle of my shower, the phone rang. It was from my sister and she told my mom that the car overheated and was stuck at the middle of the road. It's been a while since we encounted such problem. In such cases, our biggest fear is to get noticed by the roving tow truck that picks your broken car and dumps it in an impound somewhere near the former Smokey Mountain dumpsite in Tondo.
The last time it happened, hell broke loose at home. My mom was frantically calling everyone to secure the car since the impounders also took the car keys. Dad was still alive then and with one sway of his hand, a barrage of reporters stormed the impound and with their overwhelming influence, we got the car in no time.
But things are different today.
As my mom begins her silent meditation (in the middle of watching her favorite telenovelas) I monitored the situation almost every 10 minutes. I forgot how many calls I've made just to contact our driver to instruct her as to what to do while inching their way towards home, but absolutely, it would reflect on my phone bill which normally reaches 2K in a month.
In one of our phone conversations, she told me that a tow truck noticed them. Immediately panic sets in while pretending to calmly reporting the developments to my mother. My mom, being the strong woman that she is, tried to brush things off and encouraged me to make some plans instead. But I'm sure that she's as tensed as I am, the slight raising of her voice tells how troubled she was.
At that moment of helplessness, my thoughts began to wander in the direction of Mami Athena's. Her coolness and strength in most dire situations is what I was trying to adapt in case another hell breaks lose tonight. Good thing, my next phone patch to the driver left me with some positive news. She told me that they are still inching their way home. It seems like the maid's loud shrieking voice turned away the incoming impounders.
Five minutes... ten minutes... into timelessness, I found myself smoking two sticks of cigarette while waiting for them to arrive. I just can't help but worry too much - especially since I told them to follow my instructions to avoid the main roads going home. The decent conversation I had with an arch-enemy neighbor proved to be a relief in such occassion I needed someone to talk to. In my heart, I wished that I have an older brother who could at least cheer me up and tell me that things will be fine - even if it's fucked up in reality.
One last call, one last prayer given to the Almighty and I finally saw the car crossing the main intersection. "Finally they have arrived safe." I told myself. The car stopped and its passengers - my sister and the maid immediately rushed inside the house. The last person to get out was the driver, who kept on mumbling "Thank you po," perhaps for having a safe and very tense journey going home.
We tried to restart the engines after the mechanic had arrived. But it wouldn't start no matter how the driver turns on the key. It seems like they were just allowed to go home and that's all the car could offer. Tomorrow they would check as to why the car suddenly overheated that its radiator started to boil. For now, we are all relieved that everyone arrived home safe and secure.
And I just hope that the three malas for today is enough to bring a better luck for us tomorrow.
I woke up late this morning, eager to spend my day off in a good mood. However, when I went to my mom's room to check her out, she appears extremely unsettled and distraught. At first she complained about her body pains. At sixty, it's quite normal for a person to experience such uncomfortability. But later I found out that it's just not the body pains troubling her. Also this morning, she recieved a text message from one of our employees in the Sikyu Agency. The employee, which is the finance manager informed her that they are having some troubles with the cash flow. Apparently, our biggest client failed to settle its dues, which then snowballed into a much bigger problem which is our inability to pay the employee's salary that would amount to close to a million bucks. That's a big problem indeed, especially when the creditors are also stretched and are unable to lend us more money to help in the cashflow.
Being a mere employee in an outsourcing company, I could not offer much except perhaps, my silence. I could raise a tiny fraction of their requirements using my own money. But really, I would not risk losing all my savings. I've learned my lessons before in the publishing, where my entire fortune was swallowed by the company in just a single day. Mom said the same thing. We will not exert our efforts seeking more creditors lest we might end owing more people money.
We waited the entire day for updates. But we never heard anything from them. Hopefully, they found a way to address their concerns without bothering us on issues we are almost certainly ineffective.
---
The desperation had an effect on me. In between naps, (which I find to be a good excuse to run away from problems) I was contemplating on getting an extra job. Having a morning shift work is an advantage especially if the job I would take starts later in the afternoon. But my mom doesn't approve of my plans. She said that the closer I push myself to the brink of exhaustion, the greater its toll on my body.
So after a brief, non-confrontational argument with her, I retreated back to my room and played Sims 2 all day. In between playing different families, I lied in bed to take some rest. However, the beauty sleep backfired on me. When I woke up to catch the evening news, I was heaving with fever and suffers from a massive headache. Imagine, all I did the whole day is to sleep and this is what I get?
Life's unfair sometimes no?
---
At around 8 pm, my sister told us that she's done with her school activities. In my family, the only persons who have exclusive access to the car is my mom and her. Even if she devotes most of her time plotting with her militant friends, at home she's the princess. Despite her strong opposition to being picked up by the driver, in the end she doesn't have a choice. She gets home with the sundo, escort included.
While I was in the middle of my shower, the phone rang. It was from my sister and she told my mom that the car overheated and was stuck at the middle of the road. It's been a while since we encounted such problem. In such cases, our biggest fear is to get noticed by the roving tow truck that picks your broken car and dumps it in an impound somewhere near the former Smokey Mountain dumpsite in Tondo.
The last time it happened, hell broke loose at home. My mom was frantically calling everyone to secure the car since the impounders also took the car keys. Dad was still alive then and with one sway of his hand, a barrage of reporters stormed the impound and with their overwhelming influence, we got the car in no time.
But things are different today.
As my mom begins her silent meditation (in the middle of watching her favorite telenovelas) I monitored the situation almost every 10 minutes. I forgot how many calls I've made just to contact our driver to instruct her as to what to do while inching their way towards home, but absolutely, it would reflect on my phone bill which normally reaches 2K in a month.
In one of our phone conversations, she told me that a tow truck noticed them. Immediately panic sets in while pretending to calmly reporting the developments to my mother. My mom, being the strong woman that she is, tried to brush things off and encouraged me to make some plans instead. But I'm sure that she's as tensed as I am, the slight raising of her voice tells how troubled she was.
At that moment of helplessness, my thoughts began to wander in the direction of Mami Athena's. Her coolness and strength in most dire situations is what I was trying to adapt in case another hell breaks lose tonight. Good thing, my next phone patch to the driver left me with some positive news. She told me that they are still inching their way home. It seems like the maid's loud shrieking voice turned away the incoming impounders.
Five minutes... ten minutes... into timelessness, I found myself smoking two sticks of cigarette while waiting for them to arrive. I just can't help but worry too much - especially since I told them to follow my instructions to avoid the main roads going home. The decent conversation I had with an arch-enemy neighbor proved to be a relief in such occassion I needed someone to talk to. In my heart, I wished that I have an older brother who could at least cheer me up and tell me that things will be fine - even if it's fucked up in reality.
One last call, one last prayer given to the Almighty and I finally saw the car crossing the main intersection. "Finally they have arrived safe." I told myself. The car stopped and its passengers - my sister and the maid immediately rushed inside the house. The last person to get out was the driver, who kept on mumbling "Thank you po," perhaps for having a safe and very tense journey going home.
We tried to restart the engines after the mechanic had arrived. But it wouldn't start no matter how the driver turns on the key. It seems like they were just allowed to go home and that's all the car could offer. Tomorrow they would check as to why the car suddenly overheated that its radiator started to boil. For now, we are all relieved that everyone arrived home safe and secure.
And I just hope that the three malas for today is enough to bring a better luck for us tomorrow.
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