13 – Celebration
Tammy went home with the rest of her newly found friends with their arms slung around each other. They didn’t pay heed to the injuries and bruises they got from the face-off against the Spanish students headed by Aron Sarrael. After this incident, courage and strengthened willpower shook off their initial fear. They felt no regret over the matter. Hopefully, that group will not bother them in the future.
Once they stepped inside the dormitory, joyful shouts and claps welcomed them.
“Finally, you retaliated to Sarrael’s gang!” shouted one of the young men. They approached the group of brave students, Tammy still clad in man’s garment and salakot included. They put their hands on their shoulder as they yelled, “Indios Bravos!”
“How did you accomplish all of that?” asked one of their fellow students.
“This gutsy miss helped us!” Dario gave Tammy a smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Señorita is actually courageous! Not retreating in front of a fight!” exclaimed Juan with a favorable tone.
Another young man applauded, “And because of that, we have to celebrate! It’s an auspicious time, Señora Simang is not around!”
“What do you think, Emilio?” Manuel turned to his friend.
He smiled. “Let’s all contribute money. In that way, we should be able to afford a bilao of pancit1!”
“Did I hear pancit?” Tetay appeared from the kitchen.
“Let’s hold a small feast tonight as commemoration of our win against the group of Spanish milk-fishes!” Dario said in glee. “Do you have change to contribute?”
Tetay forked out a few coins from her pocket. “Here, just don’t leave me out of the feast!”
Everyone inside the dormitory also brought out coins so that they would be able to buy pancit for the dinner.
…
Dario and Juan were the one who volunteered to buy the pancit in the nearby panciteria. When they got back to the dormitory, the joy-filled dinner began. The topic of their discussion revolved around the earlier confrontation.
“And that’s it, Aron was beaten into a pulp, then her mom came and embarrassed him before his friends!” Dario followed up with a round of laughter.
“Most probably he’s still wrapped around his mother’s long skirt!” Juan laughed.
“I thank Miss Tami.” Manuel glanced at Tammy who was sitting before him. The young woman timidly smile and said, “It’s nothing! He’s fortunate in receiving my surprise hits.” She raised her fist in the air which made everyone else laugh.
“Don’t forget to return to being demure tomorrow. Your boy persona is over this day,” Dario reminded her in a teasing manner.
“Your wish is my command, sir gentleman,” she replied.
“Being a guy suits you more,” Emilio teased her.
“Don’t jest, or else how will Manuel court her!” Dario hit Emilio by the shoulder. The rest of the people in the dining room cheered.
“Ilyong, your lips are wounded.” Tetay stood up and circled the big table to come to Emilio’s side. She then inspected the said wound.
“Miss, don’t casually touch my lips!” Emilio motioned his head to the side, obviously blushing because of Tetay’s actions.
Tetay barked at him. “Tend to that after eating.” Then she stood up again and left the table.
“Hala, it seems the Miss got offended!” said one of their dorm-mates.
Juan reproached Emilio. “She was just expressing concern, why be that harsh to her! You must apologize!”
“I think I should bandage the wounded after this,” Tammy said.
The dinner resumed. After that, some of them volunteered to wash the used plates and utensils. The group headed to the living room. Tammy brought over the medicine kit. Juan and Dario wrapped bandages to each other, while Emilio did it to himself. Next to the window, Manuel sat there as Tammy handed his medicine to him.
“Thank you, Señorita,” he smiled to her. The young man noticed the bruise on the back of her hand. It seemed to come from the brawl earlier.
“Your hand.” Manuel grasped her hand and observed it.
“It’s only now that the pain acted up,” she said.
He gently let go of her hand. He silently reached out for the bottle of the liquid medicine and poured some of it to a piece of cloth. Then he held her hand again and applied the medicine to the bruised part.
“Ouch,” Tammy whimpered in pain.
“Bear with it, and it will speed up the healing.”
He continued tending to Tammy’s hand. When he finished, the young woman was stunned because Manuel brought it to his lips and planted a kiss there.
Tammy was dumbfounded to what Manuel did. The young man noticed her expression so he said, “I know you are shocked, but this is my way of thanking you for your help this afternoon.”
“Is that so…” Tammy didn’t know if she should leave Manuel now or stay there looking silly.
“Everybody let’s head to the next room. Dario is going to play the piano,” said Juan to the two of them.
Manuel and Tammy exchanged glances. Afterwards, they followed they walked towards the piano room.
….
The night was filled with music, singing and jokes concluded. Tammy descended downstairs after cleaning the place. Once she walked into the room, she sat next to Tetay.
“Tetay, are you asleep?” she asked. Tetay was lying to the side with her body facing the wall. Tammy seemed to hear her sobbing.
“Hey, are you crying?”
“It’s… It’s because of Ilyong…” sobbed Tetay. “You saw it, right?”
“Hey, why not be patient with him. There are really times when he’s being ill-tempered like that,” she gently said. “And he dislikes getting his face or hair touched by others. You see, the other day he hit Dario on the head when his hair was tousled by him.” Tammy laughed as she recalled that scene.
“Perhaps, I’ve gone overboard in showing how I like him,” regretted Tetay. “I envy you. You’ve already got close to him.”
“You should show restrain when expressing your love.” Tammy comforted her as she put her hand around Tetay’s shoulders. She can feel her trembling due to nonstop crying.
Tetay turned to her side and looked at Tammy. There was enough illumination coming from the outside as the moon was up this evening. “I’m almost like a fool. I’m actually crying for him,” she said while wiping the tears on her right eye. “I hope he’s bandaged his wounds.”
“It’s okay to have crush on someone, just don’t act desperate.”
Oops, my tongue slipped again!
Tammy panicked when she noticed words turning modern so she followed up immediately, “What I mean is it’s not sinful to admire someone, just put it proper place.”
“You are right… I just remember my former lover because of Ilyong. We’re not together anymore. Perhaps I’m still not ready to love again,” Tetay stated with regret.
“Let the wound heal first. The right one for you will eventually come.” Tammy flashed a smile at her.
Tetay grew silent. She rose from the bed and hugged Tammy.
“Thank you, you are a good friend. You are the only person who treated me like a family ever since I became orphaned. I have nowhere to go. I could only try various kinds of jobs and mingle with many men. I was hopeful my life would turn for the better if I could marry one of them. It’s a good fortune to awaken to reality after I left my previous lover. I’ve given everything to him but he only repaid me with disgrace and ill-treatment.”
Tetay cried on Tammy’s shoulder.
“It’s not late for you. You are still blessed, being accepted once again here.” She caressed the head of the crying young woman.
Tetay raised her head and released Tammy from the hug. “Tammy, really thank you.” She lied down again and tried to go back to sleep.
Tammy’s heart became more open to her newly found friend. At first, she thought she was a natural flirt. However, it was actually her way of surviving and striving for a good life. As of now, what’s important was for Tetay to learn from her mistakes.
“Are you asleep?” The other girl spoke again.
“Not yet.” Tammy lied down next to her. Then she remembered Manuel. “Wait, what does it mean for a man to kiss your hand?”
“Huh? It means he likes you! Wait, is it Manuel?”
“Yes… a while ago… after he applied medicine to the bruise on my hand…” For an unexplained reason, Tammy suddenly felt shy.
“That’s a sign!” Tetay suddenly screamed, feeling overwhelmed with romantic excitement for her friend. “It’s actually Manuel ah!”
“But if Aling Simang learned about this, are we to be forcefully escorted to the church?”
“Why? You already want to be married?”
“Not!”
“Yiiiie!”
“Let’s just go to sleep!”
“You, stop pretending!”
Notes:
1 – Bilao of Pancit. A bilao is a large woven tray, usually circular. It is traditionally used to winnow rice, but is also widely utilized for holding things. Pancit is a traditional Filipino pasta. A picture of pancit in a bilao:
TL: WS25
Editor: Corensi
SHARRAMYCATS TRANSLATIONS 