Who would have thought that going home for the weekend would yield more drama than staying in Manila for a whole week?
Yesterday, I went over to Roldan's for a reunion of sorts with my old Elffaw [GE] barkada. Most everyone was there, though David did not arrive until after I've gone home. It felt good being with those guys again. It's been ages since we last got together yet the old camaraderie was still there. Basically we're all still the crazy people we were back in GE. Kinda makes me wonder how we graduated at all given our happy-go-lucky natures. Harhar.
But the "main event" of my stay home was what happened earlier. I went downtown so I could chat with Franco, then bought some foodstuff afterwards. First I went to Lemery for the pizza, then to Krisdale's at Taal on the way home for several bottles of Gatorade. As luck would have it, just as I was going home, I backed into a vendor's table at the roadside. I was pissed off at my stupidity yet I knew I had to pay for whatever damages I caused so I parked the jeep again and went to speak to the vendor.
So I approached her and all, fully apologetic and willing to pay for the damage. Yet when I got there, she was snarling, "Ano yan ha? Ano yan?" complete with flashing eyes and all the works as if I just ran over all her livestock with a dump truck. Which was blowing things way out of proportion since when I knocked over her table, the only things on it were the Styrofoam container [which contained nothing since the balot and penoy she was selling were safe inside the store], a small plate of salt and a bottle of vinegar and none of them were damaged at all, save for the spilled salt. Still, trying to be polite, I asked her how many of the eggs were damaged so I could pay for them but she just demanded I pay her two hundred bucks even though the extent of the damage couldn't even exceed a hundred. I mean, just how much does salt cost anyway? She kept insisting that I would have paid more had she put all of the damn eggs in the container, although none of the eggs were actually damaged when I knocked over the table. The man talking to her before the incident caught my attention and furtively signaled that the container was empty, therefore I did not have to pay her anything. In short, she was extorting money from me, the bitch. As I did not have any more money with me save for a few coins, I called my mother and told her to bring some money.
While waiting, some of the people in the eatery next door called me and told me to just get the hell out of there since they saw too that there were no eggs in the container and that I was not liable for anything save an apology which I've already given in the first place. They also told me that that woman was a real troublemaker and that no one in that area gets along with her. But that bitch of a woman actually followed me and demanded that I not talk to the bystanders since she was the aggrieved party and not them. The gall! She should have considered herself lucky I didn't just run off and instead tried to talk things over despite her less than polite response to my apologies. And the obvious fact that she's milking me. I sooo wanted to give her a hard slap across her thick face.
A few moments later [I think] she summoned a barangay councilor and started complaining about what happened. She even complained that I was talking to the bystanders which I countered with a sharp retort, "Eh ano naman kung kausapin ko sila at makinig ako sa sinasabi nila? Andito pa rin naman ako ah. Tinakasan ga kita?" While I was trying to reason out with the councilor, she flung the table and the container [which she filled with eggs after the incident] to the ground and said that that's what I should be paying for. Is she crazy? Lalo ko nga siyang babayaran eh. Does she think I'm that stupid to pay for merchandise which she herself ruined right in front of me? After hearing both our sides of the story and seeing her misbehavior, I think he saw that I was in the right yet couldn't say it out loud since she was practically already raving. The poor man could only say that it would probably be for the best if we could settle it with the police. I was like, what the fuck?! By this time I couldn't help crying in frustration and rage.
Just then, a former municipal councilor I know happened to pass by and asked what the commotion was about. After hearing it, like the eatery crew, he just advised me to just get the hell out of there since there were a lot of witnesses who could testify that I did not do any real damage for her to ask for that amount, or better yet, beat her to the police station and tell the truth before she could twist it to suit her story. Even the priest [who was in Krisdale's at that time and just got drawn out because of the commotion] told me the same thing.
I just waited for my parents to come so we could all go to the police station to settle everything. So that's just what we did, and told her we should just talk there. She arrived there a few minutes after us and immediately started spouting off her shit about how I should be paying for the eggs she herself flung to the ground after the incident. A heated argument ensued between her and my mother before the policeman could actually get both sides' stories. She still kept insisting that I should pay for the eggs which could have been damaged. The policeman eventually got fed up of it and declared that he couldn't care less where she put the damn eggs since they weren't damaged when I knocked over her table and shouldn't be included in the amount I was to pay. It would have been enough to shut up any other normal person, but she still kept right at it. The policeman could only sigh and say that it would be rather stupid of us all to go to court just for a meager two hundred bucks, and I completely agree. In the end, he resolved it by saying I should pay only half of what she's asking for. And fortunately, she agreed albeit reluctantly, although she was still obviously not satisfied with it, judging by what she said to whoever called her at that time.
I know, I know. It would have been easier to just pay two hundred pesos and just walk away from it without any further complications. I mean, it's not that big an amount and it wouldn't have hurt me so much to part with it, right? True. But the thing is I don't like being made a fool of. Pucha, ginagago ako ng harapan tas hahayaan ko na lang? I admit it was my fault knocking the table over, and I'm willing to pay for the damages. The table itself which got knocked over survived intact, as well as the Styrofoam container and the bottle of vinegar. What she was asking for was unreasonable, given that the only casualty of the incident was a plate of salt. Add to that her abrasive manner and misbehavior… Tsk.
Oh, and yeah. That's not all, although this has nothing more to do with us. Right after we left for the police station, there was a shooting incident at that very place where we were before we left. A man died although we don't know his identity [may his soul rest in peace]. We just made it to the station when someone reported it. All the policemen left for the crime scene, save for the one who was talking to us. On the way home, we passed by that place again and there was so much blood it left little doubt that someone really died there. It was really creepy since we were there just moments prior to the shooting. The guy who died could have been one of the bystanders I saw there, maybe even one of those who kept me company while waiting for my parents to come. We could have been witnesses to a murder, maybe even casualties. God, that is a scary thought.
