“She’s inside na, the guidance counsellor took all the girls away balikan na lang daw at 12nn but I’m still here iniisip ko san pwede tumambay where I can work. Tindi ng araw dito sa waiting area sa guard e.” Text ko yan kay En, a few minutes after mawala sa pananaw ko si Jubilee na animo’y nilamon ng building ng St. Theresa’s.
Ayun na sya, in her pink hooded blouse and denims with her katya bag. She did not even look back, as if alam na nya anong gagawin nya all the way while I looked on na as if okey lang kasi ganun talaga. Well, ganun naman talaga. Nakikiramdam din ako sa ibang nanay na nag-“goodbye I’ll pick you up later” sa mga daughters nila as they took off in their shining shimmering cars.
None of the drama-comedy eksena like nung hinatid ko si Isaac to take his entrance exam at Philippine Science, kung san maraming haplusan at halikan sa mga anak at “galingan mo anak, alalahanin mo lahat ng ni-review natin, dapat maipasa mo ito para iskolar ka anak”. Hindi naman kami nag-drama nang ganung mag-ina, after all pupungas-pungas pa sya sa antok nun. Can’t blame the boy, he’s really quite young for his school level. Hindi nga ako sure kung naiintindihan na nya nun kung gano kaimportante yung gagawin nya.
Patanung-tanong sa bawat kanto hanggang makarating na ako sa Retiro, hanggang tumigil na ako sa Figaro. Dapat sana Starbucks ang hinahanap ko. Pero linchak, namumula na paa ko sa kalalakad at natanong ko na simula sa gwardya hanggang sa kargador at tinder ng yosi wala pang bumabanderang Starbucks.
Habang binabanatan ko ang Food for the Gods at decaf na kape, kumakarera utak ko – ano kayang ginagawa nila? Mahaba-haba rin kaya ang limang oras para sa exam. Baka may interviews din. FGD kasi marami sila? If it were Isaac I wouldn’t be worried. Pero mahiyain kasi si Jubilee. Usually pag tinanong, ang sagot laging kibit-balikat lang.
Kung may tour of the campus, I’m pretty sure that is something she will enjoy. Actually I’m hoping na meron so she can get a feel of the place. No – so that she can agree with me that it’s quite a good school. This girl is one stubborn, hard-to-convince child who needs to make up her own mind about everything. Dapat pinadaan ko sa Ambassador cum lobbyist na kuya, kaso he’s going through a difficult teenage stage so parang hindi kami vibes.
I have hoped a couple of years ago that En would agree to send her to the National High School for the Arts. But at twelve? Syempre the father said no. And this is why it’s quite a challenge to find a school for her. She is not the intellectual child, or rather, the academic child. She’s an artist, and already at a young age she has defined herself to be that. So I felt we need to send her to a school where she will fit. I am quite convinced that there are a few good schools that can provide her lessons in the music and arts. Yun lang, feeling ko girls schools ito. I’m not a big fan of exclusive schools. But that’s me.
Sabi ni Kahlil Gibran, your children are not yours. Dadalhin daw sila sa isang bukas na kailanman ay hindi mo madadalaw. Well, san man yun sana maihatid ko sila dun. And then I can go off to some coffee shop and do my thing... while I keep thinking of them, wondering – ano kaya ang ginagawa nila?
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