Eight in the morning. Aling Baby"s already mad from waiting for a tricycle. She"s been carrying two bags of groceries for thirty minutes now, along with her child that has a ton of a.s.sorted white rubber bands on her arm, carrying her own two plastic bags as well.

"I"ve been telling your Daddy for so many times, buy a oner so we could ride something, still doesn"t want to!"

Her daughter ignores her. She"s been calling her father Tatay ever since she was young. It was Aling Baby that insists on calling Mang Boy "Daddy" after returning to Saudi thrice.

"Agh, my skin"s starting to burn!" Complained the dark-skinned, small, curly haired, pregnant mother. The child doesn"t care, stuck in her own world while singing to herself the songs from Batibot¹ one by one. Aling Baby decides to just redirect her attention to the road in search for a tricycle coming from afar, making sure that the ride is hers as soon as she sees an empty one. She spots one. She raises her hand to to stop the trike when a black Mercedes Benz stops in front of her.

"What the!" Aling Baby angrily looks to see who"s inside the car. "Oh, my, ahahahaha! Please do forgive me, I apologize…ahahahaha! I didn"t realize it"s you!"

"Hop in."

Aling Baby hurriedly goes in the car, her daughter a.s.sisting with the groceries, as well as the balloon like tummy. She repeatedly says thanks to the kind driver for the free ride after telling him all about the rough morning she had in the market.

"Ah, my, we left the house at six this morning all the while thinking the market"s still going to be uncrowded…ahahahaha!"

The driver only smiled. The kid is singing to herself. Aling Baby continues telling her story, only pausing due to the occasional pain in her stomach. The 44-year old driver asks about her pregnancy. "Do you have a name in mind already?"

"I do! Vixia if it"s a girl, Xorex if it"s a boy. We already used Dax for our eldest, then Zither, Thron, and Mishqua for the following children."

"We"re like from Jupiter or something!" Jabbed Mishqua who is not happy with her name. Her mother glares at her. The child goes quiet and instead turns her attention to the posters pa.s.sing by: A project of Gov. Hermino Medel, Project of Brgy. Captain Hermino Medel Jr., Happy Fiesta! from Vice Mayor Virgilio Samonte and family, Donated by Sen. Apolinar Tanio, Season"s Greetings from Rep. Edna Liban Mangahas, Project of Gov. Hermino Medel, Another project of Gov. Hermino Medel, A Project of Chairwoman Suzette C. Yap, Congratulations Graduates! from Vice Mayor Virgilio Samonte, Another project of Gov. Hermino Medel, Clean and Green Project of Councilor Hermino Medel III.

"Nay," the kid tugs on her mother while her face is on the window of the car, but she was ignored. "Nay," she looks at her parent who is also busy sight-seeing, but still no reply. "Nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay, nay," the child sighs. "Mommy!"

"Yes, beybi, wat is it?" Aling Baby asks, grinning.

"What"s "Season"s Greetings"?"

"Meri Krismas."

"Why did Rep. Edna say, "Merry Christmas"?"

The driver and Aling Baby says their answers at the same time.

"That"s an old sign, they forgot to remove it after Christmas." -driver

"Because she wanted to." –Aling Baby.

"Then, what"s "Project of"?"

"You ask too many questions! What grade are you in anyway? You shouldn"t be reading about!"

The driver chuckles and gives a more proper answer. "It means that the mayor or the governor is the one that raised the plaza, or the basketball court, the bridge, the road…something like that…"

"When I get home, I"ll also write my name on the floor, since I"m the one sweeping, applying floorwax, scrubbing the floor—"

"Hoy, you"re lucky! It"s your obligation, since your Daddy is the one sending you to school. For that, you dare sa.s.s on us!? Foolish child!" Aling Baby forgot for a second that they"re only getting a free ride, so she immediately turns friendly and smiles at the owner of the car once again. "Ah…oh, right, your curly haired driver is not here today?" Smile.

"You mean Mercy?"

"Ah, yes, that was his name, that manly brute…ahahaha!"

"He"s always in the munic.i.p.al hall, I didn"t bother him, today"s a day off anyway."

"Yeah, that"s right, you have a lot of things in your car as well, huh," Aling Baby looks at the boxes that sat alongside her daughter in the car seats. "Red Cross? Do you have another medical mission?"

"Aling Baby—is this right?"

"You"re such a hard worker. To be honest, we are so lucky to have you!" The woman keeps on nagging on.

"Aling Baby, this is your stop, right?"

Aling Baby looks out the stopped car. "My, you"re right…ahahahaha!" She climbs down with the help of the driver, her grat.i.tude to him almost unending after this being the second time she has been driven due to good will.

The man returns back to his big car and continues his ten minute trip to the munic.i.p.al hall. He is immediately met by the curly haired, muscular Mercy as he gets out the car.

"Ah, sir, isn"t today a day off?"

"It is, it is, just picking up something from the office."

"There were some people here awhile ago, hoping that you were in, they were saying thank you and wanted to talk to you about the new school you had made."

The man just smiled and entered the munic.i.p.al hall after greeting the guard. He was back in the blink of an eye carrying more boxes.

"What"s that?"

n.o.body was able to answer the man immediately after he spotted the goat tied to the mango tree.

"Ah, those were given by the parents that you helped the other week, the ones with the kid with the inflated head, the one you sent to Manila for treatment."

The sadness in the man"s face was obvious, but he still spared a smile as thanks. "Please return it to them. Say that if they ever decide to cook the goat that I"ll drop by and eat it with them."

Mercy nods at his words, but his smile is still nervous.

"Is there a problem?"

"The sewing machine that you gave to my wife…"

"Yes?"

"T-Thank you so much, Mayor!"

The man pretended to be disappointed at what he said as he climbed back the driver"s seat; Mercy immediately followed up, "Omeng. I meant Omeng. Sorry. Thank you so much, Omeng."

"Mercy, I"m just like you guys," the man reminds him with a smile as he starts the engine of the car. "Never treat me as different."

Translators Note:

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