Something really bad happened to me yesterday morning at around 5 a.m., I was on my way to work, walking along the same path I take every day, about 3 to 5 minutes away from our house, I’m a very slow walker, by the way, I heard a faint sound of a motorcycle going my way, I remember thinking to myself, “I hope they’re not bag snatchers that seem to roam around the city streets nowadays.” But as a precaution I held on tightly to my bag and looked around if there were people around, unfortunately, they all seemed to be sleeping still.
When I reached the dark part of the street I heard the motorcycle reduced speed, my heart raced and I instinctively stepped up on the side walk, I thought they couldn’t possibly make the motorcycle climb on the sidewalk without making any noise. I was right! They stopped when they were in front of me! I saw two guys, one was driving and the other riding on the back, I didn’t see the man driving the motorcycle but I took a good look at the one who was about to grab my bag, he was wearing a white sando and a black jacket. What puzzled me was that they weren’t wearing any helmet; by the way I was screaming I-know-what-you-did-last-summer-kind of scream while all those thoughts were in my head!
I managed to think of my escape routes... I had plans A and B in mind! Plan A would be screaming to the top of my lungs and hopefully wake everyone in the neighborhood and run! Plan B would be... had the man took a good hold of my bag, I’d pull my bag, like a tug of war, as hard as I can and then release and hopefully, my bag with my gargantuan of a mug inside would hit one of them in the face and take them off balance! Then, I’d take my bag and run home!
The scary part for me was never did I think of giving up my bag! I know that’s stupid because a lot of people die doing that but at the time handing them over my bag and thanking them for not hurting me was not an option! Stupid me!
I felt like a gazelle trapped and cornered by hyenas in the bush! To my left, was a concrete wall covered with potted plants and unhealthy trees and to my far right was a lamp post with a busted light (welcome to Manila, the budget for the lights must have been pocketed by those bastard politicians or the Barangay officials!), a street sign, more potted plants and a parked van, I had about three feet of space just enough for me to slid and escape! If only the man with black jacket weren’t at the back of the motorcycle trying to get a hold of me bag!
Anyway, I was doing Plan A for I don’t know how long and then I pretended to run going towards my left side the driver readied for the kill and then I went the other way! I ran! I screamed! I was running and screaming and peeing all at the same time! Yes, you read it right, trickles of it rushed out but so what! I was running for my life, literally! You know, back in the days I would always joke that if I would ever need to run for my life I’d probably fail! Boy, I was wrong! That day I ran like I never ran before, I ran like I didn’t have a plantar fasciitis, I was limping but I was running! When I looked back the two of them were still there, they were just looking at me, not moving at all. They were probably thinking of going after me... they left when an old man approached me, he was sweeping his front yard when he heard me, I know this because he was holding a walis ting-ting when he came to my “rescue.”
Three more people came to comfort me, all sort of neighbors, around eight to ten houses away from where I live. They told me not to worry and go home because CCTV cameras were installed in our street! Like it was going to make everything alright!
I went home and found my husband still sleeping! I was shaking and crying while telling him the ordeal I went through fifteen minutes earlier! Last November, a similar situation happened to me in Guadalupe around midnight, two guys were following me from the minute I stepped out of the bus, up to the overpass and down, I was so terrified I felt my knees shaking that night, I tried to blend with the people, I walk fast and slow but I just weren’t able to lose them, I entered Jollibee, fell in line bought some burgers for my kids while calling him fifteen times, I was calling for help but he was sleeping! The two bad wolf even waited for me outside Jollibee's door, after waiting for more than fifteen minute they came in and sat down on the table, I asked help from the crews but I guess they were too afraid to help me too! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I made it home alive while he was sleeping! By the way, I didn’t wake him when I arrived; he read my text messages and saw my missed calls the next day! Geez! Bad things seem to happen to me while my husband's fast asleep!
Truth be told, in troubled and desperate times, when there was no one to call to for help… that’s when I feel God’s presence the most! How else can you explain everything? They could’ve easily grabbed me or worst… gunned me down because people like them carry guns, I was told. I try to do what’s good and right everyday but I know, in my heart, I still fail Him but He doesn’t take it against me, He’s there when I need him and for that I am humbled and thankful for each and every day that I wake up. Thank you, God, my Father in heaven!
How am I doing now, you asked? I’m still shaking, I still cry, I just couldn’t erase the face of man with the black jacket in my mind’s eye! I can’t forget the look on his face, that made me shiver last night and up until now. I’m at home now; I called in sick because I have an unexplained fever and body aches, probably a delayed reaction from yesterday’s event! I want to go to the doctor but I’m too afraid to go outside. Seriously.
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