~ Erik's Point of View ~
A few minutes later, we had picked up all my goods. I don't know why Alfredo was helping me, but I was extremely grateful to him because, honestly, my body was still in pain.
I introduced myself and thanked him. He was surprised when I mentioned I was from Lingawin in Ifugao province. He smiled and said he admired a young vegetable vendor like me who diligently traveled just to earn money.
A little while later, he took my carrots from me.
He insisted on carrying my basket, and even though I said I still needed to sell and hawk my goods, he offered an even greater help: to accompany me in selling so that someone could carry my carrots.
"Oh, no, Kuya, I can sell by myself."
I was doubtful of him, but he said he was doing it willingly, with nothing in return, because I was his fellow Filipino, and it was his habit to help those like me.
"It's normal to help someone in need, right?" Alfredo said, smiling.
I was surprised by what he said, and he seemed to have a point that you should help people in need.
But it was surprising that he agreed to accompany me to sell carrots on the street, even though it was his day off. It seemed suspicious. Wasn't that too much? I didn't know how to react. My head was throbbing because of what happened, and I thought it wasn't a bad idea to ask for help.
That's right. Maybe he's just a genuinely kind person who is used to helping others in need. I shouldn't waste this opportunity because I need to earn money.
I agreed to his help and let him carry my basket. He even complimented me when he noticed how heavy it was, and that I was able to carry it without a problem.
The truth is, what I was carrying was only about 10 kilos, which was nothing compared to the more than 20 kilos when it was full.
My body was already used to carrying loads because I also acted as a carrier for other vegetables when there were no carrot deliveries.
As we walked through the city, I couldn't help but observe him and frown at the obvious effort Alfredo was exerting. He was struggling and clearly burdened by the load, but he still wouldn't let go of the basket just to help me.
I felt guilty and uneasy. Should I let him continue doing this? It was obvious I was stronger than him.
While selling, we talked about the city. Alfredo was a city native. Maybe it wasn't as developed as Manila, but it was still a city.
He asked about my job and what I did as a vegetable vendor. I don't know why, but he wanted to know the routes we took and the time we left because he was interested in the life of a vegetable vendor.
"Being a vegetable vendor is hard, but the fun part is we get to go to different places, especially cities like this," I said.
"Cities? That's weird, but why do you like the city?" he asked.
"I don't know if you'll understand, but for someone who grew up in the mountains like me, the city is amazing," I added, smiling at him.
It was fun chatting with Alfredo about many things. To be honest, this was the first time I had talked to a city person, and I was lucky that Alfredo was so kind. We continued talking until we realized our stock of carrots was almost gone.
He mentioned many things the city had, like different kinds of animals in the zoo and delicious breads they called cake, along with modern technology that allowed you to talk to people even when they were far away.
There were still many things he mentioned about the city that I didn't understand, but maybe someday I would be able to fully comprehend them.
Honestly, I wanted to experience the things Alfredo experienced living in the city. I wanted to be like him, living in a progressive town.
"I envy you. You know, if I had the chance, I would want to live in the city like you," Erik said.
I said those words to Alfredo and mentioned my dream to him. It was a selfish thing to say, but I told him,
"I wish I were a city person like you."
The reason I said that was because I didn't want to live a hand-to-mouth existence in the province anymore. You had to fetch water from the mountain and buy candles from afar just to have light. It wasn't like the city, where everything was complete and you had places for recreation, like the games in an arcade center.
In the middle of my cheerful narration of the unusual things in the city, I noticed a change in Alfredo's facial expression. I couldn't tell why, but it seemed like I had said something that saddened him.
"Is there a problem? Did I say something bad?" I asked him.
At that moment, he gently tapped my head with his hand, as if trying to stop me. It was soft, but because my head was wounded, I felt it and stopped talking.
He immediately smiled at me and apologized, without specifying what for.
"I'm sorry, Erik, but maybe you'll understand me someday," he said seriously.
"Huh?"
I didn't know why he was apologizing to me. I saw the blankness in his eyes, as if he was disappointed or remembering something. At that moment, I suddenly recalled Kuya Kardo apologizing to me. I didn't fully understand what older people thought about apologizing, but maybe someday I would understand them too when I got older.
I don't know, but the people I meet and interact with seem weird. A moment later, we continued walking and passed in front of a supermarket.
At that moment, student kids came out of the establishment. Five boys around fifteen years old, still wearing the white uniform of the school they attended.
They were happily laughing while carrying bags of snacks they bought inside. They were rowdy and talking among themselves on the road.
A moment later, just as we were about to pass them, I was suddenly shocked by what one of them did.
"Throw this away, indio," the student said.
Unexpectedly, one student threw the juice he was drinking at Alfredo. It hit his chest, and the leftover drink spilled onto his shirt.
I couldn't believe it, and what was worse was that the students didn't seem to care and just continued walking as if nothing happened.
I couldn't stop myself and shouted at them. I didn't know why Alfredo didn't seem to plan on appealing and was just standing there, but I couldn't bear it.
"Hey, why did you do that?!!" I yelled at them.
They stopped and their group laughter ceased. They turned to me, looking surprised at my action of stopping them.
"What's your problem, indio?" he asked, as he seemed to show a bracelet he was wearing on his right arm.
~ That golden bracelet was proof that you came from a wealthy family. ~
I couldn't understand why he was pointing to the bracelet he was wearing, but I bravely told them that they needed to apologize to Alfredo for what they did.
"What you did to him was rude. Weren't you taught proper manners?"
They looked surprised by what they heard from me and suddenly burst into laughter. I didn't know if I had said something wrong for them to laugh at, but I repeated what I wanted to say to them.
As I insisted again that they apologize, one of them seemed to get annoyed, and his tone of voice changed, as if he was intimidating us.
"If you don't want to get hurt, just go home."
"Apologize to my companion."
"Are you serious, indio, about what you're saying? You want me to apologize to servants like you?" he said.
I was surprised and confused by what he said. I couldn't imagine why he called both Alfredo and me servants.
"I'm not a servant, I'm a vegetable vendor," I told them.
But at that comment, they laughed even harder. I don't know if their laughter had a reason or if they just wanted to make fun of me as a group.
"Stupid! An indio is an indio, so you're all the same," he said.
Because of what I heard, I couldn't help but respond to them. I didn't want to fight, but I knew we were in the right, and it was only normal for me to defend that because it was my right.
"I don't know what your problem is with us, but it's normal to apologize when you do something wrong to another person," Erik replied to them.
Just like their initial reaction, they didn't appreciate my bravery. The student clenched his fist and threatened us to teach us a lesson to know our place and whom to respect.
I didn't want to fight, and all I wanted was for them to apologize out of respect, but it seemed it wasn't that simple for them.
They were ready to attack us, but before they could get closer, Alfredo stepped in front of me and knelt before them. His sudden kneeling and begging to the students were shocking.
"That's enough. He doesn't know what he's doing, so please just overlook his arrogance... please."
I was even more confused and speechless by what was happening. Those students were the ones who were wrong, so why do we have to be the ones to apologize to them?
Alfredo didn't let me speak and explained to them that I was a provincial boy who knew nothing about the city's ways. I don't know why, but he was asking for their forgiveness for me, as if my act of defending him was wrong.
"Bro, let's go. You'll just get dirty if you beat them up. We still have to go to the mall."
"Tsk, tell that kid to know his place."
A moment later, they walked away. Their faces were irritated, and they hurled insulting words before finally leaving.
I felt like we were humiliated for no reason. It wasn't fair; I couldn't accept it, but I didn't want to speak because of Alfredo's plea.
"Your ignorance about things will put you in danger," he suddenly said, then walked away.
"HUH? Wait, why is that? Why did you say that? Aren't you going to do anything?"
Quietly and calmly, Alfredo picked up the juice container from the ground and walked away, as if looking for a trash bin to dispose of what he was holding. I followed him and called out, but he seemed not to hear me and just walked straight ahead.
I couldn't understand why he didn't protect himself when he was being oppressed, and worse, he even apologized to them. I wanted to know.
What is happening in this city?
Because of my persistent questioning, he suddenly stopped walking and spoke to me. Words that greatly confused my mind.
"The answer is simple, Erik. Because we are Indios, and they are Spaniards," he said, unable to look me straight in the eye.
Shame was visible on Alfredo's face as he uttered those words.
Indio? What does that mean, and why do the Spaniards call us that?
"Huh?" was the only confused response I could give him.
~ End of Chapter ~
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