Mahalia in Cape Town

WHEN YOU’RE POOR

CHAPTER 3

WHEN YOU’RE POOR

After explaining her side of the story, the entire who listened was surprised by what actually happened last night. They knew who Casey was and they knew how famous he is around the world but never got to see him personally and that kind of exclusivity which causes a bit of envy in the other workers.

“Hindi ko nga s’ya kilala eh. Hindi ko nga alam kung sino s’ya. Wala akong ideya na sikat pala sya sa buong mundo kasi hindi ko pa siya nakita or narinig. Naka paa lang siya at madumi ‘yung paa niya ng bigla siyang pumasok dito kaya hindi ko inakalang sikat siya.” Mahalia claims as she defends herself. (TRANSLATION: I don’t even know him. I don’t know who he is. I had no idea he was famous all over the world because I have not seen him or hear about him. He was barefoot and he had dirty feet when he suddenly entered here so I didn’t think he was famous.)

“Hindi mo man lang s’ya nakita sa TV? Or nabasa ang balita tungkol sa kanya sa magazine? Or online?” Her coworker, Alicia, intrigued. (TRANSLATION: You didn’t even see him on TV? Or read news about him on the magazine? Or online?)

Mahalia knew she had no idea who the man was because she just arrived here in Cape Town and most importantly she had spent all her life working for her family so she does not really have any time knowing about who is who.

“Hindi eh.” Mahalia answers honestly. (TRANSLATION: No.)

The entire day went on and customers came arriving one after another, flocking their restaurant as soon as every fan has heard the news about Casey arriving here last night. With high hopes of him arriving in the same restaurant again, his fans came and actually dined in and ordered foods to eat while waiting for their idol to arrive. Although some ordered a few refreshments along and stayed till they got tired, the crew were still overwhelmed by the amount of customers on a Wednesday, which is supposed to be a calmer day instead of any other working day.

Around one in the afternoon, Mahalia takes her lunch break in the crew’s dining area which is just in their locker room as she is having a video call with her mother and her siblings. Mahalia misses her family so much and how she wants to tell them the truth that she is no longer working as a teacher in Cape Town but she does not want her mother to worry for her. She knows damn well that she’s a worrier and she does not want her mother to feel more burdened.

“Sige ma, padala rako og kwarta sunod sweldo ha.” Mahalia speaks in Cebuano, her mother tongue, as she smiles at her family who is thousands of miles away from her. (TRANSLATION: Okay ma, I will send money the next time I get my paycheck.)

“Sige anak, pagbilin sad og para imoha diha-a oy. Unsaon nalang og masakit ka? Wala raba mi diha.” Her mom answers with a hopeful smile that gives Mahalia strength to hold on to her reality in Cape Town. (TRANSLATION: Okay my child, leave some money for yourself. What will we do when you’re sick there? We are not there for you.)

Mahalia shakes her head, “Ayaw na ka worry sa ako-a diri ma. Okay raman ko. Kamo akong priority so dapat paliton nimo imong tambal ha? Ayaw og limut-limot og inom.” She answers, trying to comfort her ever worrying mother. (TRANSLATION: Don’t worry about me being here, ma. I am okay here. You are my priority so you have to make sure you buy your medicine okay? Don’t forget to drink them.)

“Mingaw na kaayo ko nimo anak.” Her mother says with such sincerity that pinched Mahalia’s soft side. (TRANSLATION: I miss you very much, my child.)

Mahalia tries to bite her inner cheek to stop herself from crying and blinks her tears away from her eyes as she forces herself to smile at her mother who she misses back way too much. “Ako sad ma, mingaw na ko nimo og nila Maya og Aki.” (TRANSLATION: Me too ma, I miss Maya and Aki too.)

After her conversation with her mother, Mahalia cries silently as she feels the surge feeling of loneliness and homesickness from being far away from her family. She lowers her head and continues to cry while she prays heartily for strength for her family and for herself. She heads out as soon as her lunch break was over and started to work again trying to get her busy with work to avoid her from feeling sad all over again.

At the end of the day, she volunteered to throw the garbage since her other coworker was the one doing the locking up and cleaning. Everyone who came to the restaurant felt dismayed and disappointed that they were not able to see Casey today. It even came to a point where the media were waiting right outside the restaurant almost an entire day but there was no Casey Stefano that showed up.

She thinks why everyone thought why would he show up here.

Mahalia gets herself busy as she throws the garbage into the dumpster and as soon as she finishes she is taken aback to see a fleet of women waiting right outside the backdoor of their restaurant with their cellphones clasped in their hands. The fleet of women, who were the same women from earlier, seemed like they were still waiting for Casey to arrive despite the time and the cold wind outside.

She gets back in anyways and ignores the sea of women waiting for someone that is not even going to pop out. She hollers to her coworker that she had thrown the garbage and left the restaurant the next second to have dinner.

Mahalia sighs heavily, “Ano bang mabibili ko sa pera ko?” She asks herself as she walks along the beautiful streets of Cape Town with an empty stomach and a twelve dollar in her wallet. (TRANSLATION: What can I buy with my money?)

She wanted to buy a whole pizza because she has not eaten a decent meal for days now even though she wanted to. She has been eating cup noodles three times a day for straight days now and brings a gallon of water that she got from the restaurant to her cheap apartment for her to consume the night and in the morning. She knows she needs to save her money for the next pay which is still in two weeks but she is already running low on cash to fend for herself.

She had sent all of her earnings for her family, to support their food and her mother’s daily medical needs that she had only left a little for herself. She is too generous for her family because she is the breadwinner and only wants what’s best for them, at the same time she is so selfless that she does not even buy things for herself.

She finds herself standing right outside a pizza place where she stares at the price menu which she could not even afford. Her stomach growls low as she watches the chef take out the pizza from the stone pizza oven as she stands from the window which causes her to be even hungrier than she already is.

She sighs heavily, “Makagutom og samot sige’g tan-aw ana dah.” She mumbles to herself. (TRANSLATION: It makes me even hungrier just by looking at it.)

She shakes her head and continues to walk away from the shop, “Why are you torturing yourself Mahalia?” She thinks to herself as she continues to walk to her apartment and as soon as she arrives, despite the small space she is renting, she finds solace in her tiny flat. A small table on the right side, her single bed next to it and a small bathroom on the other side.

Mahalia starts to prepare her dinner which is, as usual, a cup of noodles but a different flavor from her breakfast that was beef flavor. She eats in silence as she stares at the small space of her room while a surge of sadness overwhelms her as she is reminded of how far she is from home and how difficult her life is in Cape Town without having the guts to tell her family about her reality in South Africa.

All of a sudden, she begins to shed tears in silence as she eats her cup noodles while she keeps on wiping her tears off her cheeks. Her emotions were getting the best of her as she began to self-pity while feeling the longing of home and her mother. She keeps wiping them off and tells herself that she is being crazy for even crying.

After having her meal, she finds herself lying down on her single bed for the past minutes as she keeps on staring at the ceiling. She finally decides to take a jog to steer her mind clear off of sad things and emotions that has been bolted inside her. She grabs her worn out sneakers and decides to take a run around the block of her apartment.

She feels the chilly breeze of the cold night air in Cape Town against her skin as it blows through her hair while it dances with the wind. She continues to run but her mind is still thinking about home and in a flash second she feels her warm tears building up against her eyelids. She tries to blink it away as she continues to feel breathless while she increases her speed in running while she feels her sweat dripping over her temples.

After a long run, she stops to catch her breath as she leans forward with her hands pressed against her thighs. She inhales and exhales heavily through her mouth as she feels the heavy pounding in her chest while she continues to calm her breathing. She pulls her head up and stares at the star over her head as she feels her tears falling from the outer corner of her eyes as her heart feels so heavy with so much emotions and regrets. Her tears are falling, her mind and body feels tired for being far from home and how depressed she feels for having a different life now to what she had imagined it to be.

She feels sorry for herself and her dreams for not being able to be who she wanted to be.

She exhales heavily as she wipes her tears off her cheeks while telling herself, “Nabuang naka Mahalia? Sige raman ka’g hilak.” She speaks in her language. (TRANSLATION: Have you gone crazy Mahalia? You’ve always been crying.)

She finally faces forward with drier eyes where she finds a man standing right in front of her who is wearing a red tracksuit. He is staring back at her as he was panting too while there were cars passing by next to them on the streets and their eyes never left each other. She knew instantly who it was as soon as he walked closer to her with his cheeky and utterly handsome dimpled smile.

“It’s you.” He hollers with his caramel toned voice.

It was the handsome man from the restaurant who she served to days ago.

“So we’ve met again, lovely.” He smiles wider.