Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A YOUNG LAD NAMED GREG

Greg, aka Gorio is fifteen years of age. If he were a rich man’s son, he will most likely be called a special child. Because he came from a poor family however, he can only be labeled as retarded.

The first time the aging lion took notice of Greg was a week ago when the former saw him weeding out the grass together with Dante, their neighbor who, the lion tamer hired to trim the lawn and make their backyard a little more presentable to see. Worried that Gorio’s presence will entail additional cost, he called Dante whereby the latter assured the aging lion that Gorio was there helping him weed the grass gratis et amore as there was nothing else Gorio is presently doing .

Dante and Gorio are new-found friends. Both are trying their level best to eke out a living on their own. The former is a carpenter’s son from the neighboring town of Candijay who reached no further than second year in high school and was compelled to quit studying to venture as a fisherman and survive Gorio on the other hand, is a farmer’s son who was forced to leave home because his father often maltreated him apparently because he is slow understand even the simplest of instructions, that naturally often cause the misgivings of his mother. Both Dante and Gorio sought refuge at the family of Andoy, the aging lion’s neighbor and on the simplest arrangement that they will contribute their share of the rice being cooked. Their benefactor, also with the barest of means, accepted the two as hired fishermen and thus also entitled them to free shelter during the night in the benefactor’s place of abode.

The gist of this story is worth narrating because the other day Gorio approached the lion tamer asking for help. He said he has a wound at his back and would she be kind enough to treat it?, adding that he earlier asked help from Dante but because the latter was also penniless, suggested that he approach the lion tamer instead. This is how Gorio narrated his story.

Last November 1 being All Saints Day, he decided to go home to visit his mother. He arrived home however seeing his father already drunk and since there already exist animosity between the two, expletives were hurled by the father whereby the son was compelled to reply in his usual stuttering voice. The father got hold of a blunt instrument and hacked his son’s back and instinctively, he fled and returned to his adopted home.

The next day, he went to the local police station and reported the incident but beyond recording it in the police blotter and advising the boy to get to the ”Center” to have his wound treated, nothing was done. He was also told that the local police will later take action against the father should the incident be repeated. Like having a kitchen knife at the poor boy’s back?

The lion tamer was naturally infuriated upon hearing the boy’s story and her pet could only as usual shake his silvery head not certain if he is to be amused or whether he should consider the incident pathetic.

Scourging her drawer for medicines, she found a left-over from the aging lion’s “Operation Tule” project and a gauze medical material that satisfied her needs, and after applying distilled water proceeded to treat the young boy’s wounds which she fortunately found out was only superficial and therefore is expected to heal in but a few days.

But the boy’s narration on the attitude of the local police was something that worried her more! Is this the kind of police assistance that the poor folks deserve in similar cases? The aging lion could only reply: “Then call them by phone and say your piece.”

The phone call was made and the boy’s report, despite his stuttering manner of saying it was found to be accurate. Whereupon she asked for her policeman nephew who has the rank of a sergeant or something and who the aging lion addresses as “Sarge” and loudly complained about the incident. “Sarge”, upon hearing her expletive, naturally went scurrying to the lion’s den and personally attended to the matter, assuring her he will call the father to iron out things and have the complaint formally attended to.

That same afternoon “Sarge” personally took the boy to the police station on board his motorcycle but other than this fact, the aging lion no longer knew what happened next. Whether the father was finally booked on a crime that is called “slight physical injuries”, “maltreatment to minors”, or at the very least “cruelty to a retardate”, the aging lion no longer care.

But really, the aging puma considers the incident pathetic because having a son for a retardate can only mean that it must have come from his father’s genes.

And the aging lion snores!



Postscript:

As this short article was being written, a young lady entered the gate of their front yard holding in her arms a two year-old boy and a bag of bananas. After a short introduction she explained that her boy is one of the harelips whom we have helped some two years before. The lion tamer was of course glad to see the boy and her pet could only silently mutter in a whispering tone “mahimo na mangulitaw” meaning he can now chase girls!

And the bananas sure taste delicious!!!

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