Great day, am inspired to write something lovely and nostalgic like I'm having a micro-party in my heart. I write without that literary talent - so I beg your pardon, and neither do I follow the rules of writing a plot. I'm like a painter that just grabs whatever color of paint he sees and just paints away whatever like an abstract painting created by a kindergartener.
I simply write from the heart, and whatever part of my brain that's connected to memory and emotions is what commands me to get those details to write about so accurately. Otherwise, I simply tend to forget details irrelevant to me.
My writing style, as rated by bloggers, is high-schoolish they say. Because I'm just that, writing to have fun. My self-rating though? I think my 12-year-old can write better content than me. Yey!
One word: Reynan
One description: the love of my life
The love of my life that God gave me in 1989 as I was praying that my current boyfriend have these qualities: to love me and no one else, to have eyes only for me (yes, not even allowed to watch his own steps), to be my bestfriend.
It was at the point of my adolescent years that I was getting confused why I try to please someone but it seems I am still not doing good enough, so there you would understand I was waiting for a change in someone or in my circumstances.
Then one night in February 1989, Reynan and his friends plus sister visited me at my house (just next door) which to me sounded like a simple chat to add to my social calendar of events. I just went along exchanging pleasantries and silly jokes - thinking this was another one of those "trying to be friendly" ideas of being my next-door neighbor. In my mind, I still had that strange feeling from our early conversation in August 1987 when they first moved in next to our house. (We went to the same high school, had the same grade year and his classroom is next to ours. Yet what I heard from him before was first-hand gossip about who's who in school. Ah, and yes, I couldn't forget he asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said NONE because of my fear that he would tell my folks. And that night he also asked if my left foot injury was permanent - like what does he care?- yes of all things that I'm sensitive about! Plus he said something about my weight - STRIKE TWO. Good thing he didn't ask anything more because I was beginning to raise my left eyebrow to scare him off. Indeed, I said to myself, "The nerve")
And now that February 1989, there he was again from a long vacation somewhere after dropping out from college and gaining a bad reputation in our neighborhood. Mmm, nothing to say about that, please.
I was in my first year in college, second semester, doing okay in college, had a few close friends from that college and my bff's in the neighborhood which meant I was still the goody-two-shoes type and trying to make a good impression in class because I was a transferee from Manila. I was going steady with this other guy (PX) - who showed up on and off for 2 1/2 years, and we were going 3 years that time. Great change in our relationship was that beginning November 88 up to present I got to meet this boyfriend everyday at college where I slowly saw his true colors - (that's the downside) It was also at this period in my life that I learned to drink beer from December 1989, a habit that added a dent to my relationship with this other guy, and we quarreled a lot. With this other guy though, I held on and on that day February 22 1989 we just passed our 3rd year going steady period. Why I'm rambling on about this other guy - I'm trying to say I was okay, healing from hurt, being confused, then healing again. February 24, 1989, we just got back together.
But February 24, 1989 evening, I was opening up to Reynan about my situation - just to stop him right there from courting me - in a polite way. "I'm not available for a new relationship because my boyfriend and I are back together" Guess what Reynan said? :) "Then break-up with him, he doesn't deserve you"JUST LIKE THAT, HUH?!? haha So that was a warning bell. It sounded like telling me to return a shirt back to the store just because it didn't fit. In my mind I said, "does this guy know how much I love the other guy. Can he imagine the 3 years I sacrificed?"
More than that was the truth:
1- I didn't love/like Reynan at that time
2- He has a bad reputation
3- He sounds so breezy thinking I could possibly fall in love with him
4- Last I heard, he is in a relationship
Yes, that was then, I never ever ever liked him (Pardon my wrong grammar/context that I talk like a relationship never happened, when in truth I married him)
So next night, five of them - Reynan and company returned to see me. I noticed four of them visited in pairs, with Reynan singled out (to be with me?) We had a polite chat, yes he was being strangely polite unlike the "guy next door" who is ******** in our neighborhood. The formality sure amazed me, he was so nice to me and respectful. Even when he joked about our puppy, he said sorry because I got offended.
I don't quite remember what other topics we talked about, but I slowly noticed his sister was with her boyfriend and his brother was with a girl neighbor. Our family compound suddenly turned to Luneta Park at night, haha. It looked like that if someone passed by our gate, but in my heart, it was different. I really had no interest whatsoever. I just wanted to get back to my room and read a book (and cry myself to sleep).
But Reynan, of course, would tell me not to go yet. And on just this second night of meeting with me, he was already assuming and expecting much. That line, "if may pag-asa daw ba sya" PAUSE FOR ME. To say right then and there "Wala" would hurt him, so I pretended to think about it. I asked for one week (7 days) to think this over. He was beaming (ouch!) expecting that in 7 days we will be 'on'... my reaction secretly 'no!'. He even lamented that 7 days was too long, but he will wait... my reaction secretly "oh no, don't wait, it's not anything to be happy about" What a joke. With the other guys before, I would let them wait 10 days to 2 weeks, but would give hints that it's okay. But with Reynan, completely different story. Ah, yes, almost like Mr. Eeeks.
So for those 7 days of waiting I guess I didn't talk to him that much, pretending I was busy at school, and pretending I have no boyfriend anymore. Then THAT DAY came. We were at their garage together with his friends who left us much later. Now he asked for my answer. And I said, sorry you are not my type. Yes, I remember, I said there was something missing in him that I was looking for. [to my 17-year-old self: Richred, you must be looking for stars falling from the night sky as a sign that You Are Indeed In Love. That only happens in the movies. But yes, you should have demanded for it and not settled for less than that]
And with my reply, he laughed out loud and said something about plenty of girls so excited to be with him - so what is it that I couldn't find? (REALLY?! HA! WHERE ARE THEY?) I could feel myself being nauseous. But I just laughed along, yet cannot pretend that I wasn't impressed. I just replied, "Sorry, that's the truth" From that, on we went to just having small talk, jokes here and there. So I thought all went well and I was relieved, I couldn't believed all was good.
Buth then here's the catch, before I left him that afternoon to go back to our house forever, he politely asked if he could at least kiss me on the cheek. Kakaibang pambabasted, right? He was pretending we could just be friends and no hard feelings. So I said, it's okay. KISS that I could not believe just happened. It was something that made me so so angry inside, some detail that I would write in my diary as "that's all, let's forget it" Yes, it was just a kiss but to me, Reynan just crossed the line and I was so angry beyond imagination. (Now my 46 year old self, as I write this story, now understands what "Somewhere In My Past" meant. "You kissed me only once, but I kept wondrin' why ...it seems you kissed my lips so many times ... can it be true, could I be wrong.. that somewhere in my past there was also me and you) Hahaha wake up now!
So there I frowned and stomped out of their gate not saying anything more. From then on, this incident has been the source of my aversion/hate/grr for him and would cause us both to quarrel as neighbors/ give snide remarks when we became friends/ throw away the politeness we once had when we first knew each other/ say something like "hey, here's a secret but it's going to hurt your feelings" because we were that open to each other. Politeness turned to rudeness just like that.
(I so wish we had reversed that. I really tried so hard that we become like normal partners. But I guess there was never a day that we didn't fight like cat and dog. Even in a romantic place, where candlelights, music and flowers would set the mood - just one small frown from me would bother him and make him worry out loud)
Princess and the Pea and Beast from "Beauty and The Beast" Perfect match for the hecklers. Punch and Judy show.
I wish I knew more and seen more of his decent side during the '80s.. those about him I write of in my 87-88 diary entries while he was still that stranger... (what if our life/lives didn't turn out this way and he just became from 'my former neighbor who had a crush on me' to ' a schoolmate I would often see at a reunion' -haha- yes, we used to joke about that now. My answer was that I would completely ignore him at a reunion)
This was the Reynan from the earlier months before 1989.. a schoolmate from the next room in school who borrowed an Algebra book from me .. a faceless guy by our school corridor who got awestruck* or maybe was smiling at me one morning as I just entered the school gate and I smiled back, but seeing his friends push him toward me in jest - that scared me off and I ignored him, hurriedly walked to our classroom. (in my book, awestruck* means nangingisay pag nakita si crush) ... Reynan, my distant relative/neighbor who escorted us going to church at the Misa De Gallo (Simbang Gabi) .. my new-kid-in-town-neighbor who would attend every nearby 'baile" dance party for weddings and oh no, open and close our common gate at the wee hours of the morning when he gets home (much to my mother's annoyance) And yuck, I remember the songs at the dance party "I Don't Go To USA" and "Thai Na Na"" (whatever) ... same neighbor who sat by the nearby shed at night with friends telling stories (yes, he was very chatty indeed) that I would hear them from my upstairs bedroom window ( I should have called the brgy patrol) ... oh yes, the Reynan often visited by his girlfriends who would wait by our porch while sending a messenger before getting to their house :) Revelation: Akala nyo di ko naririnig usapan nyo ha!... The Reynan who would sit by our swing at night (listening to my half-hearted piano-playing) to calm himself down, I guess. One time I overheard him outside explaining to his sisters what he was doing there "Nakikinig ng piano lang dito, pampakalma lang" (HAHAHA you made me sound like I was Cecile Licad or the likes of Ryan Cayabyab) .. Reynan who called me via long distance from Pangasinan to Manila to relay a message from my mom that I go home because she missed me. hey, Reynan, the alarm bells in Makati "may tumatawag kay Red, long distance, lalaki!"Kinabahan ako, akala ko si Prince Charming hahaha...
Operator: " Miss Red, you have a long distance call from Reynan"
Me:(relief, mayabang pero) "This is her, speaking"
Reynan did not answer for 5 seconds, then
"Red, si Reynan ito"
"Ah, yes, ano yon?" hahaha
It's unforgettable, I could get to the details of the conversation which took 2 minutes. I didn't thank him for helping my mother? I don't know. But after that phone call, my older cousins waited for an explanation why a boy was calling me long distance, as in they were going to be angry at me. "No one, just Reynan, our neighbor"
(to be continued) pramis!