AS Celia woke up that morning, the news bludgeoned her. At first, she couldn’t make out the words that were spewing forth from her mother’s mouth. “What? What?” she asked, still bleary-eyed and feeling dull from her forever sleep-deprived condition. It was like the events before her were now playing out like some bad B-movie in slow motion.  “J. never graduated! She flunked seven subjects and she owes the school P8,000!” When she finally heard it this time around, the words were just like a frozen icepick that stabbed her insides. It made her blood run cold. Oh, no, not again! As if on cue, her head started to throb. Where was her effing coffee when she needed it?!

Celia just couldn’t understand it. What could have happened that was so bad enough for this child to again stumble, to again try to escape from the real world?

The child had done it once before. J. had gotten herself pregnant at 18, and stopped school for a year to nurse the grub, now six years old and as bright as sunshine could be. J.’s daughter was a joy to be around, very cariñosa and very intelligent for her young age. She did something right for once.

But, obviously, J. felt she was missing out on her adolescence, a time when young girls should have been dating boys left and right, going to parties and outings, and just being their wild, free, young selves. So, once in a while, she would disappear. She would leave the child with the father, and just skip out to be with her friends.

Perhaps, J. was still trying to cling to a part of her which got trapped in a time warp. She still couldn’t accept the fact that she was a mother of a six-year-old child and, in between her duties as a mother, had to focus her attention on her studies so she could graduate and find a real job to help support her own family.

It was all her folks’ fault, Celia thought. J.’s parents didn’t give her any rules, and didn’t show her enough responsibility in their own lives. J.’s father, Celia’s brother, basically lived like their own parents were going to support his bum lifestyle for the rest of his life. The family was not rich, but what did he care? He was too good to get a job of his own. He wanted to be the boss without going through the ranks first.

And his wife? His wife didn’t amount to much either. She tricked J.’s father into marrying her, claiming she was pregnant. After nine months had passed and no baby fell out of her womb, she was labeled a fraud. No surprise that J. had turned out the very same way. Celia had offered to finance her accounting review so she could take the board exams. Nothing happened. This was a family that didn’t want any help, except the funds to perpetuate their lazy parasitical lifestyle.

J. fooled everyone, most of all Celia. Celia had given J. a graduation gift and helped hold a small graduation dinner for the child. (Did J. ever get an indigestion from eating all that food, Celia wondered?) Celia also introduced her to some business contacts. But as Celia finally realized, this kid had no conscience whatsoever. She was a fraud, just like the mother.

J. had lied about her pregnancy. She had lied about going to school again. She had lied about her whereabouts. She had lied about her grades. And now she had lied about graduating from college. Surely, someone said, a college degree was not everything. Yeah, but J. was no Bill Gates. Gates and his kind, at least, worked hard to be where they are now. This child didn’t even want to work summer jobs to earn a few pesos.

So what went wrong, Celia demanded. J. gave her no straight answers. She had a problem she said, and she didn’t want to go to school. She admitted her stupidity. She—again—apologized for lying to everybody. Empty words that really didn’t mean much to Celia anymore. Her trust in the child had already been broken.

Against everyone else’s better judgment, Celia said she didn’t think J. was stupid enough to blow her chance at a better future.

But J. did. It was as if this child, as soon as there was a chance at success, actually recoiled from it. Everyone, she claimed, thought she was a failure. She only wanted the family to be proud of her, so she lied about graduating. What a load of crap! What Celia hated most of all was people whining about being persecuted, when actually they created their own problems.

The discussion amounted to nothing. Like a hot-water kettle, the issue was left roiling on the stove. This was a child who had the opportunity to turn her life around, and as soon as she saw any possibility of making it, she actually shirked from it. Celia didn’t know what to do but pray. When J. had gotten pregnant, Celia had blamed herself. She thought she wasn’t around enough or cared enough to tell J. how to handle herself in a world of pimple-popping, hormonally crazed young boys. And then this again.

So what happened, Lord? Did she again fall short of her responsibilities to this child? Did she not tell the child often enough of what life would be like without a college degree? This was not the US, where sheer hard work could get you places in your career. Perhaps J. just didn’t care, like her father before her. She knew she still had Celia and the rest of the family to depend on. After all, this was how her parents lived. How could she be any different?

So Celia thought that, maybe, enough is enough. J. was 25. She should be working. She should be thinking about her own child who was now going to prep school. J. should be able to find out for herself how being in the rat race was much more complicated and harder than her so-called problem that made her stay out of school.

Maybe it was just time for Celia to take a step back and let go.

Man of the Moment...And Still Counting

THE turmoil still roils in Brian Gorrell as he drives up to his home in the rain forest at Byron Bay, New South Wales. It is turmoil his voice can hardly contain, as off-the-track as this weather-beaten road very much like those leading to mountainous towns in the Philippines.

Eric Clapton and the sound of April

AND we don’t mean April Boy Regino, who is now a US-based entertainer. Believe it or not, the original Philippine Idol (he used the word “idol” as an expression and incorporated it in all 12 albums) is touring the US, from Guam to Hawaii to Chicago, any place where there are kababayan. 

Gab Fab: Jon opens up about Mariel

JON AVILA seems to be the newest “it” boy in showbiz now. After his successful stint inside the Pinoy Big Brother house, people have discovered that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this half-Irish model-actor. They have seen how he developed feelings for “special housemate” Mariel Rodriguez.

Briefs: Megan Fox tops ’FHM’s’ sexiest women list

LOS ANGELES—Megan Fox is the sexiest woman in the world—at least according to FHM magazine.

The Transformers costar tops FHM’s annual 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll of FHM readers.

More island flavors

TO conclude our story on a couple of new flavorful discoveries in the island paradise that is Boracay, Courtyard Bistro will no doubt also titillate discriminating diners with well-loved family recipes and steak/seafood delights.

Cascada and cross-cultural cuisine

FOR a while there, we thought fusion cuisine had become a thing—or better yet, a taste—of the past. Fusion cuisine, the term, is as bland as hotel food, and gone are the days when every food establishment used the word “fusion” to add sophistication to their steak and paella swimming in oil.

So you want to be a chef in six hours?

THE home of celebrity chefs, the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Manila proved true what Auguste Gusteau of Ratatouille passionately claims—“anyone can cook”—through its six-hour kitchen-immersion program known as Kitchen Discovery Class (KDC), a short program where students can learn the basics of cooking for the first three hours while dedicating the three remaining hours to the rudiments of baking.

Something Like Life: When letting go is the only solution...

AS Celia woke up that morning, the news bludgeoned her.  At first, she couldn’t make out the words that were spewing forth from her mother’s mouth. “What? What?” she asked, still bleary-eyed and feeling dull from her forever sleep-deprived condition.