KTV NIGHTS 2: The Day After (Do read the first part before this)


HOME: Around 7 in the morning.

Just had a couple of minutes of sleep when Tess (or was it Lulu?) wakes me up and tells me I have to accompany Lulu to school.

"It's Saturday!", I exclaim.

Turns out, there is a scheduled MASS that she has to attend. At eight, even. And Lulu specifically wanted ME to come with her. Ooookay. Seems someone up there planned ahead and made it that I have to go to church after a night of sin. Even if nothing happened.

Tried tempting Lulu not to go and just hang around. She didn't buy it. Tess was going to the market and needed money so I gave her my ATM. We left. Gabbi was still asleep.

I have the urge to smoke but manage to control it.

CHURCH: Somewhere in Paranaque.

Arrived there. Two teachers greeted us. We went in. I noticed that I was one of the very few fathers who came. Lots of mothers though.

After the mass, we left. Lulu said she wanted to go to KFC. She read my mind. I've been hankering to have some fowl ever since Thanksgiving. But before that, we spy a Taho vendor and had some ourselves.

King Nicotine starts badgering me to take a puff. Again I ignore it.

KFC: Along Roxas Blvd.

I ordered the Two piece chicken meal with full fixins and three extra rolls. Lulu ordered the chicken strips. We both had rootbeer. Not exactly the Turkey meal I had in mind. It was chicken, after all. Too bad they didn't serve biscuits.

Lulu mentions to me that she has a hundred pesos and she wants to buy something at National Bookstore at the mall across the street.

I say okay. In front of me was a distractingly sexy lady. I try not to look. She was giving me the eye though. I ignore it. As if I was going to make a move. I'm with my daughter, for goodness sake.

Turns out, she was looking PAST me where a friend was sitting. Yeah lady, that was a good thing. You would have been awfully disappointed if you were eyeing me.

Anyway, I finish my meal way before Lulu's. She kept asking me if the mall was already open. We plan to go over and check if they do open early. I tell her to remind me to buy a lotto ticket.

Now my nicotine levels are very low and my whole body is seeking the fix. I can't!!!! Lulu is with me!

THE MALL

The mall was open. Lulu is smiling. I'm becoming giddy. To top it off, this is a smoking mall. Means I can take a puff if I wanted to. I try to think happy thoughts.

Lulu and I plan our assault in the mall. First, we'll let go raid the DVD places. Then we buy the lotto ticket. Afterwards, we'll go to National Bookstore and buy what she wants with her one hundred pesos.

DVD STALLS: In the mall


We spent a lot of time looking at the titles. Lulu picks up a copy of THE RING. The Japanese version is one of her favorites. I grab a copy of Gosford Park and Pirates of the Caribbean. I ignore Kill Bill and Matrix Revolutions.

I manage to smile since I was thinking of buying a pirated DVD about Pirates.

In another stall, a couple of foreigners (I guess, American) were buying everything they see. At eighty pesos a pop (roughly, a dollar fifty), they were on a DVD buying frenzy.

The DVD searching manage to stave off any attempts to smoke since I had to wade through a lot of title covers. They should just write it down on a piece of paper so I can scan it. Easier and faster, right. Not the Philippine way.


LOTTO Stall: In the Mall

After the DVD searching, we went to the lotto stall and I bought a lottery ticket. 66 Million. That would help me out a bit. After paying, Lulu noticed my hands were hot. Hope my luck is too.

The cigarette in my pocket start speaking to me. "Smoke me! Smoke me". Before I could, we were already inside:

NATIONAL BOOKSTORE

Lulu searches for her Witch comic book. It's issue 18. She doesn't have issue 17 yet. So we go around but found none. I mozy on over the office supply section to buy a CDR. Have to burn something for a friend. I tell Lulu to go over and just get issue 18.

She comes back without the issue looking distraught. It turns out, she has a hundred pesos IN THE HOUSE. INSIDE HER PIGGY BANK! IN COINS!!!

So, I gave her a hundred twenty and hand over the CDR and tell her to pay while I just browse some magazines.

Now the craving for nicotine is unbearable. I try thinking happy thoughts. But the happy thoughts that I have is sitting in a coffee shop and puffing as much cigarettes as I can fit in my mouth and nostrils.

Lulu holds my hand tight. Sensing that I wanted a cigarette fix. "Look! A cigarette vendor!", she exclaims. Lulu can probably excel in torture.

HOME

We rode in the wrong side of the street. So what normally would just take five minutes, took us about a half hour. What with the no left turns and no u-turns around. I felt like a tour guide pointing things out to Lulu. Plus, I gave my ATM to Tess so I ended up with just enough to pay the cab.

As we approached the door, Gabbi, was holding a package. Excitedly, she blurts out that Lulu's Ogle Goggle has arrived! They both open it and well, they ogle the goggle.

I am already dead tired. No sleep since the previous day. And have the urge to just chew the cigarettes that I have to have the full dosage of nicotine. I tell the kids and Tess that I would just lie down in the bedroom. I turn on the airconditioner.

Bad move. You see, the kids can sense a mile away when the airconditioner is on. So they scamper in the room and start playing. Playing in the bed. Around me. And on top of me. I plead with them to just keep quiet for a second. My last thought before the Sandman hits me with his mallet like a ton of bricks was whether I closed the windows or not.

I start dreaming of Marlboro Country. Long Cigarettes that break. And a black rotten lung singing. Don't even ask what song it was singing. I guess, you already know.

Tayo'y mag otso-otso. Otso otso...