The fact na gumagamit pa rin si Mary ng Tinder is weird and not really convincing na gusto na nya ng bagong jowa, pero as per her, di naman sya nakikipag meet, she’s just there to see if marketable pa rin ang beauty nya.
This happened early August of 2020, medyo ease na ang restrictions sa byahe lalo na kung may sarili kang sasakyan. I received a message from Mary.
*ding*
Mary: Heeeey! 6:30 pa rin out mo?
Me: Yep. Happy weekend mode na ako. Why?
Mary: I’ll meet someone later sa may Antipolo. Tinder date.
Me: Ohh, so?
Mary: Wala lang. If serial killer man ka-meet ko, atleast ikaw makakapag sabi sa mga pulis.
Me: What the fuck. Hahaha okay okay okay. Send me his picture.
She did.
Maayos naman yung ka-meet nya. Mukhang matino din. Di na ako nagtanong masyado ng details since working naman ako. Di ako nag seselos, or pinipigilan kong mag selos.
1:30 PM
I’m on lunch. Usual routine ko is mag workout before ako kumain ng lunch. After ko irefresh ang tools ko sa pc ko, logged back in and locked my pc. I started working out.
I received a message from Mary saying that nasa Wing Commander daw sila. I did not reply. Tuloy lang ako sa workout ko.
Natapos ako around 2:15, no text from Mary. Naligo ako, prepared my food and kumain just in time para bumalik sa trabaho. Oh by the way, subject matter expert ako sa isang BPO company. Aside from our rice fields and being a farmer, may regular job din ako.
4:00 PM
She said lumipat sila ng resto, saan? I don’t know. I did not ask. I did not reply. I muffled something under my breath. I felt uneasy. Ano kayang ginagawa ng babaeng ‘to?
5:00 PM
Nakatanggap ako ng message sa kanya. Nakatambay lang daw sila sa loob ng kotse nya along Sumulong area. Taga Antipolo daw yung lalake and malapit lang yung apartment nya sa Shopwise.
Mary: Hi! Ihahatid ko lang sya sa may shopwise. Dun yung subdivision nila e.
Me: Heey, sorry medyo maraming tanong today e. Go lang, enjoy your date.
Mary: No smiley? Hmmmmm. Are you okay?
Look, I am a normal person, so I usually end my messages with emojis for the person who I am texting to know what I feel. And if palagi mo akong kausap, you’ll probably know na may something rin naman ang messages.
I did not reply. Balik sa trabaho.
5:30 PM
She sent me another message saying that nandun na sila sa subdivision nung lalake. Mag stay lang daw sila saglit sa car nya kasi ayaw pa daw umuwi nung lalake. Mukhang gusto pang umiskor.
Mary: Heey, dito lang ako sa tapat ng bahay nila. Hehe pasensya na sa abala.
Me: Nah, hindi ka abala sakin, alam mo yan.
Mary: Thank you. I know I can always count on you. You are the bestest friend I’ve ever had.
Me: Replied with a heart emoji.
My heart collapsed. BESTFRIEND? Bestfriend ampota. Hinagis ko phone ko sa kama ko. Malapit lang naman sakin ang kama ko pero out of reach si phone. So that I can stop myself from checking my “bestfriend’s” messages.
Balik sa trabaho, Marky.
6:15 PM
She’s calling.
I can’t answer. I’m still on shift and sakto naman post shift huddle ng team.
Until 6:30 PM, non stop ang calling nya. As soon as I clicked end shift and shut down my PC, I called her back.
I can hear yung hikbi nya. She’s crying.
Mary: Hi! I’m driving. Naka speaker phone ako.
Me: Are you crying? What the fuck happened?
Mary: I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Meet ko ako sa labas nyo ha?
Me: Hoy! Ano bang nangyari…..
Before ko pa matapos ang tanong ko, binabaan nya ako ng phone. I tried calling back but wala, di ko na sya matawagan.
Darating daw sya. I asked mom to prepare some food para kay Mary. Magkakilala naman sila. She ordered food na lang kasi di naman kami makakalabas na and wala na ring oras.
Dumating sya just before 7:30. Madumi yung makeup nya, galing sa iyak. May blood sa labi nya. Gusot din ang damit nya. Knowing her for years, hindi sya lumalabas ng lukot ang damit. Laging maayos sya sa gamit. Laging tupi o di kaya naka-hanger sa sasakyan ang damit nya.
Nanlaki yung mata ko. Kumulo yung dugo ko.
I rushed papunta sa kanya. Niyakap ko sya. My mom was behind me.
Mom: My God, Mary, dear. Anong nangyari sayo?
She started crying. I asked my mom to bring ice and first aid kit para maayos ko si Mary. Pinaupo ko sya sa sofa and stared tending on her lips.
Me: Anong nangyari dito?
Mary: Mark, sorry. Alam ko sinabihan mo na ako before na wag makikipag meet, pero di ako nakinig sayo.
She’s still crying.
Me: Ano nga? Tell me, please.
Ayun nga nga. She started telling me anong nangyari.
Pagdating daw nila sa subdivision nung guy, he asked for a kiss. Pinagbigyan daw nya kasi kiss lang naman daw.
Pero while kissing naging aggressive daw yung lalake and started pulling her hair. Akala daw nya g…