He has been our neighbor for as long as I can remember. Our house sits on a corner and he lives about three houses away from us (Thank God). He used to be a whole lot fatter, but unfortunately, almost two decades after, his horrid and very offensive attitude remains the same.
My memories of him were all either seeing him holding and chugging down a bottle of beer, sitting on a abench, shirtless with his huge paunch hanging out, in the middle of the day, or shouting expletives at someone across the street. He's a lasenggo (drunkard), a batugan (bum) and a siga (bully) in our neighborhood.
Let's call him Labaga.
Labaga always had issues with our family. We're not all that rich, but I can say that we are well-to-do enough to buy all our needs and plenty of our wants too. He thinks that it's unfair that we have more than what he has. But really, he doesn't deserve even what little he has, because his wife is the only one who works to make ends meet.
Many years ago, he came to our home, banging his bare fists against our gates. He said that his teenage son has been bitten by our dog. We of course didn't believe it. First of all, our dog hardly ever gets to go out and has never been violent or even, threatening to anyone. Our dog doesn't even chase away rats or cats, and is deathly afraid of lightning.
But NO.
Labaga simply refused to leave our gate, demanding that we come out, bring his son to the hospital and pay at least five thousand bucks (which was rather big, say twelve years ago) for all the shots. We paid for it all, even though we're positively sure that his son got bitten by one of the stray dogs that litter the back streets of their home.
Another unforgettable incident would be the time that his grandson was about to have his baptism. As someone who loves having money but not working for it, it was in his nature to pick people who could afford to give away nice presents. Unfortunately, my mom was on his A-list. He pressured her to be a ninang (godmother) to his grandson, but we all knew he only wanted to make sure that his grandson got presents during his birthday and aguinaldo (cash bonus) during Christmas.
My mom didn't want to accept the responsibility, since she didn't really know the parents of the boy and she sure didn't like Labaga one bit. So she hid from him everytime he came to our house. But still, she was not able to escape from his greedy clutches.
One early Sunday morning as I was preparing to church, I was surprised by to see that Labaga was waiting right outside our gate, puffing a cigarette. I guess he knew full well about our Sunday routine. My mom who was a pianist at our church that morning couldn't afford to be late, so to get rid of him, she had no choice but to say yes.
From then on, he comes by our house every Christmas, flashes that yellow, tartar-ed smile, and licks his chops, anxiously waiting for the freebies that he's going to receive. But he would never just get a toy or some school supplies for his grandson. We always have to give him something too.
There are still a lot of events in my life that has been peppered by bits of his outrageous behavior. I still have memories and locked-up feelings of wanting to slap and possibly mangle Labaga.
I would love to tell you ALL about how he has always been quite a large pain in the ass, like an annoying piece of meat stuck right between your teeth where you can't get it even though you try and try again, but this entry would be far too long by the time I finish all my rantings.
It's just that I saw him again today. Still sitting on that same, ratty, wooden bench, still without a shirt and still having a basketball for a belly. But he's far thinner now. I heard that Labaga's got the big C.
But I don't feel sorry for him. Instead, I feel sorry for his family, because now he would be a heavier burden to carry.
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