Viking

It was a spur of the moment thing.

I was amiably invited by my fellow Math teachers to watch Ballet Manila and Korean Ballet at Aliw Theater for free. All of the math teachers were there except for Mara who I assumed had other priorities that day. I was invited and so was Yssa. And I later came to know that Ynna too was invited. And so, we were all there with Ian, Wanda’s and Tolits, Agnes’ boyfriend as adage to “the more the merrier” just in time for the concert. But, it was already a quarter passed 5 o’clock and Richard’s still missing in action. Jane and I were left outside the theater to wait for his highness for he had the other ticket.

We agreed to take The Viking as our last ride.  I’ve ridden The Viking, as far as I can remember, six years ago with Venj and Allen on a school field trip. That was my first time and it was extremely excruciating. Right after that ride, I went straight to the toilet and flushed out of my oral cavity everything in my stomach and emptied it. I felt all dizzy and the world was hazy.

There was a long line of people and it took us to watch four Viking rides of faceless crowd shouting their lungs out of desperation and ecstasy before our moment came for that dreaded ride. I would like to take the ride, I thought to myself. I thought I’ve already known the feeling as I told earlier and thought that I would be used to it. 

That I would not vomit. 

I took my seat without much nervousness from my heart. I can do this, I told myself. I can do this. But soon enough, there I was trying to find my stomach, pulling my lungs out, cursing life, swearing never to take that soul-splitting ride anymore. Right after that ride, I called out Yssa to accompany me straight to the toilet and flushed out of my oral cavity everything in my stomach not just once, but twice and emptied it. I felt all dizzy and the world was hazy and hangover as if I just drank eight bottles of scotch and whiskey. I went out of the toilet and saw them somehow looking dizzy too and were too tired to eat dinner. 

So, we decided to all go home instead. Yssa was already late for the train so she decided to hail a cab and had us all hitched with her. I went straight first of the cab on the farthest side near the door. For about a few seconds of being away at Star City, I felt something disgusting is going out from my mouth again and so I immediately opened the window and blurt out the slime. I kept the window open for the breath of polluted air kept me conscious and somehow sane.

And so, we were approaching Gil Puyat, when I thought I saw an apparition of a man walking along Gil Puyat high way. I was all dizzy and hangover, I know, and I felt it. I do not feel comfortable. So, hindi ko mapaniwalaan na sa sitwasyon ko na iyon ay masasagi pa sa isip ko na makita siya. I desperately wanted to tell myself that seeing him there on the road is not a figment of my imagination. I wanted to prove to myself that I was not thinking of him. That he was real that night. That my eyes were not lying to me, that it was Jef that I saw and that he was real. That’s why I called out to him, as strong as I could that moment. I didn’t even care if indeed it was him or if I would be laughed at if ever in reality it wasn’t him. Fortunately, he looked at me, pointed at me because he heard me and soon enough I came back into my tired senses and was definitely such a relief to realize that I wasn’t thinking of Jef.