Saturday, August 6, 2022

Someone died again in the neighborhood

Not so long ago, a man died in our neighborhood much to everyone's surprise. I was on my usual setup– tapping and clicking, and despite the slurring noises outside our home slowly building up like a wildfire, I did not dare to get an eyeful of the situation. However, last Tuesday, around 3 am in the morning, we were awaken by a howling of a man. It was so loud and woeful that I could not breathe the moment I opened my eyes, I felt like I was being strangled to death as I could taste the sorrow in his voice while he was crying out.

Tulong! Tulong! Tulooong!

He kept bawling these words repeatedly and it felt so close to my ears even he was there outside. I did not get up as soon as I came back to my senses, I was too afraid of what I might see once I look over the window.

What if he was being murdered on that spot? And someone saw me watching over with such burning curiosity? What if they shoot me without a skip and I'll be dead?

No, I was not being paranoid just because I woke up in the middle of a good night sleep. This is not something new in our neighborhood– being shot like it is a normal thing to do. I waited and listened to any signs of initiatives from our neighbors, if ever someone would take a bold chance to step foot despite the risk. 

Then, I heard him again, weeping a familiar name. 

Ayong... Tulong---tuloooong. Ayong. Tuloooong. Ayong.

That exact moment, I got up and walked towards the window. It was dark there, almost everywhere, but I knew where his voice was coming from. I could not see anything from where I stood but I saw that more people where starting to take a look of what was happening, all panicky.

Si Ayong, nanigas yung katawan. Nahimatay. 

He was crying still, but we could make out what he was trying to say. She had a heart attack and she needs to be brought to the hospital!

One moment, everyone was just on their sleep, and the next thing happened, we were all became anxious and wakeful.

Just like what happened a month ago, the situation we had witnessed was a shock to everyone. She was Ayong, the owner of the house just across ours. She was a loud woman, she has a blaring voice and  reckless personality that I hated so much. For someone who only wants her day at peace, I did not appreciate even once how she always came off with a lack of consideration to her surroundings. She was offensively impolite and ever tactless.

And the night before she had a heart attack, she sure seemed fine. No one would think nor expect that just a few hours after midnight, a sudden cardiac death would happen, and it was to someone who has never seen lifeless ever since she got out of prison.