Not a Man, Not Yet a Father

Sa hapon ng ika-second day ng succeeding suspension of classes, dumating na naman ang transient visitor namin sa bahay na si Sir Mark. Tinanong lang naman niya ako kung paano ko nalaman na suspended ulit ang classes. Sabi ko, “eh, 6:00 (am) na kasi, natutulog pa rin si Joan, so, inisip ko na suspended na ulit ang classes.” “Hindi ka tinext ni Jefry?”, sunod na tanong niya. Umiling ako.

        At ayon, inasar na nila ako. Si Ms. Endaya daw kasi, kahit na 5:30am na at late na kung tutuusin, tinext pa rin sila to inform them that officially classes at SMA-P was suspended. Tapos, after a few minutes, Mara texted me a forwarded message from Sir Tan informing us of the class suspension.

        Tapos, nakwento pa ni Joan na tinetext daw sila ni Ms. Endaya para kamustahin sila, kung binaha ba sila? kung ayos lang ba sila?

        Naitanong ko tuloy sa sarili ko kung sino ba talaga ang may alam ng sociolinguistics. Hindi naman sa nagkukumpara ako o naglalabas lang ako ng sama ng loob sa asaran na nangyari. Pero kasi “words are powerful” sabi nga ni Father.  

        At first, I thought na ako lang ang hindi niya tinext for an unknown reason. I thought pa nga that he assumed since roommates naman kami ni Joan sa apartment eh malalaman ko na rin ang balita. So, I don’t need his text, anyway. Eh, it’s just that, after a few minutes, I received a call from Romynna asking kung may pasok o wala. So, apparently, I’m not the only one from the area who was- I don’t even know how to put it, uhm, taken for granted??? Just a simple text lang naman eh (we are not waiting for a call- we know it’s too much to ask), from our boss, is it too much to ask na naman ba?

           Come to think of it, ako, at least I have Joan and/or Mara to inform me of short notices and announcements. How about Romynna? or his other teachers? Who will they turn to? We are not students anymore na naghihintay lang talaga sa announcement sa TV or radio. We are his teachers.

        Which led me to thinking that, perhaps, wala pa talaga siyang Fatherly instinct, (is there such a thing in the first place?!) pero instinct nga eh, meaning innate to humans. Fatherly instinct to care for his subordinates.

        Which led me to thinking na eldest siya in the family, so, he must have that Fatherly instinct. Pero, bakit ganon?! nakukulangan lang kasi ako sa mga bagay-bagay.