第4話 August, 1984 --Chapter 4--
Thank goodness, mama Lisa finally returned to our table.
“Hey, what are you guys doing? Is this somebody’s funeral or what?" Lisa slapped Takano-san’s shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you, Takano-san? ‘You shouldn’t recall your ex-wife when you’re here!' Got it?"
Suddenly, I fell into perplexity. Because of Lisa’s big, implicative smile, I was not sure whether or not Takano-san was really a divorced man.
“How can you say that, Lisa?" Takano-san replied to her, with a bright smile he had never shown to me. “Was I missing my ex-wife? Is that what you really meant to say, Lisa? Did I look so depressed that you guessed that way?"
Takano-san and I had been talking about the Philippines'economy, in fact, or, if the Philippines'Eeconomy sounded a little too exaggerated, about the reality of people’s lives in the country, which naturally had taken away some cheerfulness from our conversation.
I did not know at all at that moment that Takano-san had brought out such a topic to entertain me.
It was years later that I was told by Lisa herself that she had introduced me to Takano-san as a very intelligent friend of hers, with an additional comment like, ‘not only being very good looking.' Had I known of that I would not have been able to talk with him face to face at all due to the embarrassment I must have felt.
“Hey, Takano-san,' trying to contain her laughter, Lisa said to him loud, “it has past way more than three months, I believe, since we first met here. And you’ve come here almost every night. Nonetheless, you still try to make me jealous of your ex-wife. What is that for? I can’t believe that!"
“Holy smoke!" Takano-san responded in as exaggerated a manner as Lisa’s. “So you’ve fallen in love with me, haven’t you? I haven’t been aware of that! You’ve never shown such an attitude clearly, I guess."
He looked totally different from what he had been moments before.
I was very ashamed realizing that I had not offered him any entertainment he had been supposed to have in the saloon even though I had spent a lot of time already, sitting right beside him.
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Well, no doubt, Lisa and Takano-san were enjoying their conversation for the sake of conversation, so to speak. It also was true, however, that they were truly intimate each other as if they were best friends who had spent a good long time together.
Lisa was playing her role freely, at her own sweet will. She knew more than enough that maturing in such a manner in the karaoke saloon business would certainly give her a better life.
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Lisa had a six year old daughter.
After marrying at the age of eighteen, Lisa had been helping her husband -Ricardo- operate their hair saloons in Manila, at three locations already then, not only financially but also mentally. They were not very wealthy yet, but rich enough to have bought a house in Baclaran, Pasay City. A large enough house for them to fully enjoy their life with their daughter.
Fortunately, Lisa had Ricardo who had been cooperating with her faithfully, in return. Besides, she had few family members and relatives she had to support financially.
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How different.
My husband, Cesar, had betrayed me. He had spent all the money I had sent him from Fukuoka, Japan, by flirting around with a few women in Manila.
Well, Fukuoka was the place where I saw snow for the first time in my life.
That was a very cold, freezing evening in January. Standing still at one corner of cross streets for a long time, I was gazing up at snow falling from the pitch-dark sky suddenly into the glow of neon signs. I was on my first, very lonely trip to Japan, being completely separated from all the people I loved most.
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Six years had passed since I had met Lisa for the first time at a campus of a junior college in Quézon City -one of Manila’s neighboring cities- which I had enrolled myself in.
Among students, Lisa was one of the very ardent volunteer activity leaders offering more chances to learn more to the city’s children who had dropped out of elementary schools.
Lisa quickly became my best friend. She was very bright, caring, thoughtful a woman. And to my great amazement, she was one of the best karaoke singers in Metro Manila already, at the same time.
Lisa once had told me:
She was only fifteen years old when she started her career as a semi-professional singer after winning a number of singing contests. She appeared at every disco stage everywhere in Metro Manila. Her name got known rapidly, widely. So wisely taking advantage of her popular name, she transmuted herself into a karaoke singer that she believed would guarantee much higher income. In fact, helped by her own talent as a saloon hostess, the money Japanese talent productions would offer her soon reached the highest level in the industry, even exceeding her own expectation.
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Having spent long four years, Lisa had somehow graduated from the junior college and obtained a certificate of business administration, even while completing her six-month job in Japan as a karaoke singer three times during that period.
I had failed.
What if my father had not retired from his life-long job as a merchant sailor? What if I had not met Cesar? Would my life have become very different from what it actually was?
Although my father was not too old yet to handle his duty on board then, it was virtually impossible for him to win a job, beating many young people who also were seeking the same job. And as for Cesar, he had no other ways than to work as a fulltime waiter at a restaurant in a prestigious Makati hotel in order to earn his future college tuition.
It was I who volunteered to help them financially. For some reason, I could not resist doing something for them, although I was clearly aware at the same time that what I could do for them would be minimal.
My parents showed me their heartfelt appreciation at every opportunity. Cesar started enjoying his daily life pleasingly again, attending his college classes while working at the restaurant as a part-time waiter.
That was a time during which I myself, too, was very happy and satisfied with my own life.
I never imagined then that such days for me as to regret my withdrawal from the college might come someday, whatever its reason might be.
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"Talagang talaga (Indeed), Lisa," all of a sudden, Takano-san talked to Lisa in Tagalog, "pagsaying nang panahón iyán (that has been waste of time). Sana’y sabihin mo sa akin 'such' mahalagang katotóhánan (You should’ve told me such an important fact)."
He spoke Taglish -Tagalog-English-mixed language- slowly. He pronounced it rather like English but I understood clearly what he had to say.
“Hey, Trina, can you believe that?" Finding I got surprised to know Takano-san did speak Tagalog, Lisa exaggerated her own amazement. “A foreigner who has lived here in Manila only for three months or so can speak our language to that extent!"Lisa was all smile perhaps because she was very proud of having such a foreigner as her best friend. She added, “Even without a girlfriend who kindly, affectionately teaches him the language!"
With a sheepish smile on his face, Takano-san extended his arm to reach a box of his cigarettes being laid on the table.
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“He learned Tagalog all by himself before coming here, datte (so says he)."Having told me so, Lisa turned to Takano-san. “Well, how many months did you say you had studied it in Japan?"
“A little less than two months," answered he, “but, truth is, I learned Tagalog much more after arriving in Manila. ..Like by reading some textbooks in my hotel room, by trying to use it in restaurants as much as I could, ..on every possible occasion. Yes, as you mentioned, Lisa, without any particular, kind and affectionate female teacher."
“How rare that is, Trina!" Lisa said. “He has been studying our language so seriously, by himself. And yet, the fact that he can speak Tagalog doesn’t necessarily tell us all on how well he knows about this country. For example, well, how about Filipino movie stars?"
Listening Lisa’s remarks, Takano-san was shaking his head calmly.
“Trina, whose name do you guess he has picked up as the Philippines' best actor?"
“Let me see." So said I. But it was not easy for me to imagine a Japanese could choose one particular actor as the best among many Filipino movie stars. It was unthinkable to me that Takano-san had actually seen enough number of movies to be able to pick up the one.
“According to him, the best actor in this country is Edie Garcia, datte!"Lisa slapped, this time, my bare shoulder.
"Aráy (Ouch)!" Screaming so, I thought, ‘agreed.' The majority of Filipinos would have given him big nods.
Lisa asked me. “Then, how about the best actress? Can you guess, Trina?"
“Lisa, it’s not that he has chosen one of these three, Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta, is it?"
“Bingo!" Lisa said. “He chose Nora. Sharon was omitted because, he says, she’s still too young to be named as a number one actress and there would be a plenty of time for her to prove herself. As for Vilma, he thinks... How should I put it? Her monotonous acting style? Such a style, he says, doesn’t give her enough credit. He gets even chagrined, Trina, saying that Nora could’ve been an international star if she had been ten centimeter taller. ..A strange man. Dû~a (Don’t you think so)? I mean, Trina, do we know anybody else who shows, or has ever shown, such an interest on our country’s language and culture? I really like him because of his attitude like that toward us!"
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Takano-san was pretending to be all ears to the singing on the stage.
Being way out of tempo, a Japanese man who appeared to be in his mid-sixties, was ecstatically singing an enka (traditionally tuned Japanese popular song) on the stage. The man was in somewhat out-of-place attire -a white, short-sleeved shirt, a pattern-less navy-blue tie and a pair of dark gray trousers with clear lines of creases. He must be, I guessed, a sightseer from Japan with little former overseas travel experience.
"Ojisan uta umaina (You’re a very good singer, old man)!" At the man’s table, a Filipino who appeared to be an interpreter-guide for the man yelled at him in awkward Japanese, with a tone of jeer and ridicule.
Perhaps because the yell did not reach the stage or he did not discern such a tone, the old man responded his guide’s yell by waving back his hand happily.
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Akira had never tried to learn our language, with mahál kita (I love you) being a sole exception, virtually. He had never shown his interest in Tagalog movies, much less in Filipino culture as a whole.
It had passed more than four months since his last phone call to me. Nearly seven weeks since his last letter.
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"Oy, ikáw (Hey, you)." I turned to Takano-san, trying to make my voice as cheerful as it could be. “How have you become so knowledgeable of our country’s movie stars?"
"Maraming sine (There are many movie theaters) in town. Movies are the biggest entertainment for the people in Manila, I suspect. And I have abundant time to go to the theaters, being blended in such Filipinos seeking the entertainment. ..Anyway, I’ve seen lots of movies in these few months. Well, why don’t you try some Japanese movies when you get there next time, Trina? You can tell good actors from bad, I believe, just watching how they act, even if you don’t fully understand the dialogues or conversations in the movies. Besides, it appears to be rather common for the people in wealthy families here in the Philippines to mix English in their daily Tagalog conversation and, just like that, people in movies also use English often. And that surely helps me understand the stories of the movies."
“He says," said Lisa, “he has seen several dozens of movies already. ..What for? That’s in order to know the Philippines and Filipinos better, datte. Sou desho (Is that right), Takano-san?"
He did not answer, for some reason or other.
“However, Trina." Lisa suddenly lowered her voice for effect. “There are a couple of things I don’t like there."
“What are they?" I asked.
“Well," said Lisa, “first of all, he has never clearly explained to me why he wants to know about the Philippines to such a degree. Secondly, this is more important..." A playful smile was on her face again. “I’ve never been with him when he was in movie theaters!"
“I can’t believe you said that, Lisa!" Takano-san almost burst out into laughter. “Would you kindly confess to Trina how many times you’ve declined my invitation to movies? ..And to dinners as well. You’re not going to insist ‘none' are you?"
No mistake about it. Takano-san’s voice sounded so joyful at that moment.
What I saw only a few seconds later, however, was different. His eyes were filled with surprisingly deep shade of solitude when he looked away from Lisa.
Staring at the smoke Takano-san had exhaled, I guessed vaguely that perhaps Lisa had not told him of her marriage and they had never taken up such a topic in their conversation.
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"Irasshai mase (Welcome)!" Manager Manuel raised a shout.
At once, all the girls in the saloon threw their eyes toward the entrance, being afraid of failing to recognize their own patrons coming in.
Lisa, whose favorite phrase was ‘I have to work harder than anybody because I’m so pangit (ugly)', jumped to her feet, all smile, to greet her new customers.
Beautiful. Attractive. ..At such moments, Lisa always looked truly beaming from top to toe.
