mr simple man

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve known him as the “simple man.” He was indeed - simple (pardon my redundancy). I remember him as a feeble old man with a shabby patch of white hair who wore the same clothes…a white gauzy shirt and a pair of faded denim shorts. He's fair-skinned but he always looked flushed. He was a patron of our sari-sari store… and a very big fan of gin bilog.

One afternoon, I saw him by the window talking to my dad with his favorite bottle in hand. He was telling my dad that he was a simple man who would conquer the world. He‘d conquer the world and give half of it to my dad. Back then, I thought it was an amazing conspiracy.

Tonight on my way home, I saw him lying on the muddy pavement right outside the village’s gate. It broke my heart. This was the man who was supposed to conquer the world. Knowing that I couldn’t (& wouldn’t) carry him up or drag him home, I told Mr. security guard. But I was told that people from his house were already sleeping and they SIMPLY didn’t care.

And then I thought of my dad. If he was supposed to have the other half of the world, wouldn’t he end up just like this man?

Thank god he didn't.

My dad and I were never on the same wavelength, oftentimes we’d get on each other’s nerves. But we don’t hate each other. Let’s just say I’m no daddy’s girl. Despite our differences, I love my dad… and I wouldn’t want to see him turn into a simple man.