The New Dentists

Courtney C. Chua

in memory of the late former president Corazon Aquino,

for the country that she fought for and believed in.

5 o’clock is a dead hour.

LRT-2 is almost empty and you swiftly sit yourself down beside another student who looks ready to fall asleep anytime now. You can’t blame her because the orange of the sky as the sun sets doesn’t really help get rid of the dust that the Sandman had sprinkled on your eyelids during first period. You put on your earphones and watch Sta. Mesa pass by you while Lady Gaga’s ‘p-p-p-poker face’ blasts in your ears.

Recto is five stations away and the top of the buildings in front of you are hardly entertaining, but the cross atop Mt. Carmel makes you raise your hand to your forehead. After that, you look behind your shoulder where you can see the horizon and all the galvanized iron roofs that go before it.

Even as the train leaves V. Mapa behind, the LRT is still spacious and quiet. You yawn then watch sleepily as Legarda shows you barefoot children running around playing patintero and luksong tinik.

The distance between Legarda and Recto is long, but you patiently watch all the little people below and the buildings go one by one.

Recto.

The Philippine heat whips across your face as you step off the train and away from the air conditioned blessing of the LRT, but that does not compare to the sweltering heat that you feel when you squeeze yourself through the crowd amongst all the food stalls. There are people going northbound and people going southbound, and there are also some just standing by the side eating their kwek-kwek.

You see a lot of students, and those that are alone look as weary as you, though those that have companions talk as if they were half-deaf. You pass by them and cross the bridge connecting LRT-2 to LRT-1.

The makeshift houses on your right always make you look when you pass by them. Underwear hangs from iron wires and a piece of brassiere sways with the wind.  On another roof, a pair of rubber shoes dries under the setting sun. “She wears high heels, I wear sneakers,” Taylor Swift croons in your ear.

You go two floors up and then two floors down in Doroteo Jose to board the train going southbound. There are more people here than in LRT-2, but you still see a few empty seats when you board. You do not sit though, but position yourself beside the door. Ten stations to go, but you do not feel like sitting down.

If your two legs are still able to stand, then why take away the seats from those whose legs are not?

People start flooding the carriage by the time you pass by Central Station. In your opinion, the LRT-1 provides a more interesting view than LRT-2. You breeze by La Salle and about a dozen more schools. The sky is starting to turn gray now and you still have a long way to travel.

The carriage becomes almost empty when it reaches EDSA. You look at the other side of the rail and see the crowd behind the yellow line, standing like sardines and squeezing against each other. The difference between them and fish is that fish do not push each other just to get up front and be the first to board.

Reaching Baclaran is almost a relief for you, but it’s not over yet.

You traverse the perilous journey across Baclaran, avoiding persistent vendors and pedicabs. Shirtless men hang around, but that is a familiar sight. It does not bother you at all compared to the catcalls that younger men whistle in your direction. Finally, you burst through the crowd and board a jeep bound for Sucat.

Bayad po, you say and so does everyone that boarded with you. You give the driver fifteen pesos and he returns two.

You have an hour left before you reach home.

Dreams won’t die, The Speaks says.

You are trapped inside a metal vehicle with twenty-two people squeezed in together. Behind you are urban noises and Oh, bili na, bili na, bili na! Tree por wan handred! The hot air makes your skin itch but strangely, you’re comforted with the thought that this is normal.

This is the Philippines.

This is home.

Courtney is a third year high school student from St. Paul University, Quezon City.