Grade 5 wasn’t just about moving up, it was about growing up. I was still playful and curious, but now faced real challenges. From running errands for Mama to helping teachers, I earned trust early. I dealt with teasing, secret crushes, doubts, and even a fistfight. I stumbled, got compared, but also surprised myself. Quiet victories, a high score, a teacher’s smile, a nod of respect, meant the world to a boy learning who he was becoming.
Finally promoted to the highest section
This school year marked a small but meaningful victory for me, I was finally promoted to Section 1. That meant I now went to school in the morning, walking alongside my brother Junjun. My teacher-adviser was Mrs. Cagigas. Rumors floated around that she was a witch, and honestly, I kind of believed them too. Her pale skin and occasionally red eyes fed into our childhood “witch-detector” logic. But despite those eerie suspicions, she was a very good and respectable teacher.
My encounter with Mrs. Cagigas in the marketplace
My older brother Glenn warned me that she was strict. Once, she even poked him on the head with a hardbound textbook when he couldn’t answer a question. She taught Reading, Phonics, and English. I made it a point to always be polite to her. Whenever I saw her in the market, I never forgot to greet her with a smile. Once she said, “Good boy, are you the one who does the market errands?” I replied proudly, “Yes, ma’am.” I’d learned to choose fish and vegetables wisely, something my other siblings weren’t very reliable at. Mama trained me well.
My first crush in school
At home, my brothers and sisters often teased me, calling me sissy. But by this time, I already had my first crush. There were many beautiful girls in our class, some looked like full grown ladies. One of them was Eden Mondigo. She had fair skin and always looked neat. I was completely smitten. One day at the market, she saw me and greeted me. I turned bright red and couldn’t even manage a reply. I just stood there, frozen with embarrassment.
Another was Christine Unabia, the daughter of one of our teachers. She looked very mature and rumor had it that she already had a boyfriend. Then there was Azucena Gabuya, another teacher’s daughter, also beautiful. Sadly, I later learned she died in a car accident.
My intelligence was challenged and compared with my older siblings
Academically, things were more competitive now, but I was able to keep up with the best in class. I respected many of my teachers: Mr. Jaca for Health and Science; Mrs. Baklay for Math; and of course, Mrs. Cagigas for English. But I had a particularly tough time with our Pilipino teacher, Mrs. Bacasmas. I once got embarrassed in class when she asked about my father’s job and I couldn’t answer properly. I had guessed he was a radio operator, something I picked up from overhearing his conversations. I wrote it in our “Kathang Pormal” essay, only to be accused of copying my seatmate, whose father was a radio operator-seaman. It happens that she knew my parents well and that my father's job was a soldier or a police in the Philippine Constabulary. She then compared me unfavorably to my siblings, May and Glenn, saying I wasn't as bright. That stung. But in fairness, my answer was partly correct, as a military person, one of my father's job was doing inter-office communication via morse code. In other words, he's also a radio operator in a way. Nevertheless, our next periodical exam result had proved her wrong, I scored 96, the highest in her class.
Assist the teachers and doing errands for them
Our classroom was just across from the school supervisor’s office. His name was Mr. Gantuangco. I often helped clean his office, and once he found out I was Mama Tancing’s nephew (she ran a carinderia near the school), I became his go-to food runner. Mrs. Cagigas also frequently sent me to buy food, usually a hot bowl of linat-an, a beef broth loved by many teachers for its taste and affordability.
My over-active imagination run wild
One time, I delivered food to Mrs. Cagigas’ house. It was dim, old, and full of cobwebs. My imagination ran wild, I became more convinced she really was a witch. I dropped off the food and ran as fast as I could. Her house reminded me of Quirino’s place near Tagonol, a dark, eerie home surrounded by large trees. People whispered that he was a male witch. There was even an old well beside the house, we believed that’s where he disposed of his victims. He was a big, pale man who walked slowly. But later, my brother Elmer and I became friends with his nephew, and our fear of him disappeared, after all, his eyes weren’t red.
Mama entrusted me to buy stocks for her sari-sari store
Back home, Mama Asyon continued running the sari-sari store previously managed by Mama Presing as she moved somewhere to help in Mama Tancing’s food business. She was a kind, hardworking old maid who often coughed through the night and kept a small can by her bed for phlegm. We weren’t allowed near it. Sadly, we couldn’t afford to take her to a doctor, and she never asked. She understood our situation too well. I will never forget her kindness.
Buying stocks for the store became my job. It used to be Papa’s task, but Mama discovered he had been using the money to gamble on jai alai. Though he brought back the goods, he often bought them on credit from the Carbon market.
This was also the year when the family of Mery, the girl I mentioned in earlier chapters, moved into the house next door. That house was once occupied by Bebe and Canor, the school janitor. Mery’s family, her parents Conching and Peping, and her siblings Tatang, Odong, Cendil (Glendale), Ojet (Roger), Mery, Mater, Boy, and Belen, became like extended family to us. We never had any quarrels. Their arrival brought joy and companionship.
My second-time fistfight with a playmate
I was still very much a child, obsessed with child games. My free time was filled with playing card games, chess, marbles, bingo, hantak (coin toss gambling), luthang (bamboo gun), tutho (papaya stalk blowpipe), spider fighting, and many others. That year, I had my second fistfight, this time with Ayen, Nat’s younger brother. Ayen had ruined our game, so we fought. Nat came to his brother’s aid, but he ended up with a bloody nose. Luckily, our families were close, so there was no bad blood.