BIRTHDAYS
by Patriz Biliran
1st
She was not able to sleep last night. Celebrations are
never easy. Restaurant reservations are impossible.
Her mamá prefers the Aristocrat Restaurant on Roxas Boulevard
because she claims their flying saucer sandwiches are heavenly and their
halo-halo delectable. But of course, Aristocrat
is fully booked with Valentines Day coming up. She calls another restaurant
and another and another. It takes her
three days to find a venue. Finally, she lists what she wants to be served in
the party: spaghetti meatballs(sprinkle
with chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese), chicken-asparagus sandwiches (please cut asparagus diagonally into ¾
pieces), vanilla ice cream (add
coarsely chopped roasted macadamia nuts for texture), chicken lollipop drummettes (please use Spanish paprika, preferably pimentón dulce),hotdog skewers (with Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows), and tropical punch (chill for at least an hour to allow the
orange and pineapple flavors to blend). The restaurant says Okay, ma’am. No problem. but will later
say Sorry, ma’am. There’s a slight
problem with your request.
She has always had a short temper but she will smile and
keep it together.
This day should be perfect.
People are starting to come and she puts a smile on her
face. She gives a ‘beso’to almost
every guest while carrying the babyin her arms. After a while, everyone settles
down and the program starts with the emcee giving a short and lively
introduction. Her guests applaud. This is
good, good so far.
The party is turning out to be as perfect as
she imagined, except for the fact that some of the asparagus were not perfectly
cut into ¾ pieces. Jenny has not cried at all and has not fallen asleep. People
look happy, full, and satisfied. She smiles despite herself. Perfect.
The voice of the emcee breaks her thoughts. It is time to
blow the candle on the beautifully decorated cake designed by a friend of her
mamá, of course.
The hall is filled with voices singing ‘Happy birthday’.
She points her finger towards the candle, urging her daughter to blow it.
Blow the candle na.
Blow it na.
She puckers her lips but the baby just stares
at the cake.
Dali na, sige na,
baby.
She moves the baby nearer to the candle. The
people are still waiting, still singing but now a little less lively. She tries
to urge her daughter one more time. But her baby daughter gives a loud yelp and
puts her little hand deep the pink velvety cake. She can almost hear the people
gasp. Oh no. Inday comes to help her.
Ma’am, may icing po
kayo sa pisngi.
She gives the guests a smile before she leaves. The baby
is still crying. Inday follows her and gives her a towelette. She takes a deep
breath and puts her daughter in her arms again.
Tahan na, Jenny,
tahan na, please.
3rd
She decides to take her daughter to Harrison Plaza. It
just reopened three years ago after a two-year renovation. She is wearing her
black polka dot blazer with large shoulder pads: a beauty she has not worn
since she quit her job during the pregnancy. It looks perfect. Jenny also has a
new pair of purple jelly shoes from the States. Surely, people will notice.
A chubby boy is running around, shouting something
indiscernible. His face is covered with dried chocolate fudge and his bangs are
sticking on his forehead. Already shoeless: his socks, once white, are now
grayish brown. Jenny peeks at her mother and sees that she is still busy
discussing polka dot dresses with a saleslady. Curious, Jenny follows the boy
as he pretends to be a human airplane. She tries to get closer to him and
closer and closer, hoping that he will notice, hoping that she will finally
have someone to play with. But as usual, Jenny feels disappointment.
Though ignored, Jenny decides to join the chubby boy, her
potential friend, in his boisterous play. She unclasps the soft straps of her
purple jelly shoes and tosses them away. She starts running. She feels her
barrette slowly slide through her hair and her Sunday dress flow after every
large stride she takes. She feels incredible.
In this very moment, while Jenny is in an almost
dream-like state, flying through the second floor of Harrison Plaza, a hand
grasps her wrist and tugs the fun out of her.
Ano bang
pinaggagagawa mo, Jenny? Where are your shoes? Galing pa yun kay Mamá, ordered
from the States! Nakakahiya ka!
Silent tears racing down her cheeks,Jenny looks on as her
mother picks the jelly shoes that have been thrown away.
7th
Jenny’s wearing her best: yellow floral Sunday dress,
lace socks, and shiny black Mary Janes, for a party she doesn’t even want to
have. But her mom insists that a party is a must, she says What's a seventh birthday without a party?! and that’s that.
Jenny doesn’t have a lot of friends in school.
She prefers reading origami books and folding paper cranes during recess. She
likes to imagine them in flight—the ascent to incredible heights, seeing cars
and houses in miniscule. She also finds flags beautiful and she has gotten a
habit of memorizing them. Her favorite is Nepal because it’s the only national
flag that is not square or rectangular in shape—it’s different.
The only friend she has in her Grade 1 class is her
English teacher, Miss Leviste. She’s the only one who did not give weird looks
when Jenny cried over a mistake in her English Periodical Exam. She listened
when Jenny said that her mommy will get
mad, wiped Jenny’s tears, and said that Jenny is a smart kid and that it’s okay to make mistakes. Jenny wants
to see no one else but Miss Leviste in her party. But of course, that doesn’t
happen.
She sees Robert, a chubby boy with rose-colored cheeks
and small eyes, along with her other classmates. He teases Jenny everyday and
even steals paper cranes from her. She doesn’t like him at all. But her mother,
as always, forces her to be friends with him.She always reminds Jenny that
Robert is the son of a famous lawyer in the company where she works as a
paralegal.
Before the program starts, her mother makes sure that
they’ve gone to say hi to her aunts and the unfamiliar but highly regarded men wearing polo shirts or long sleeves. Everyone’s
fawning over Jenny as her mother shares stories about her excellent performance
in school, of course she leaves out the part where Jenny is crying and alone.
Jenny’s relieved to find out that most of the
games do not require her participation. She relishes the time when she can sit
down in her special chair and watch
the other kids play. Jenny imagines cranes flying as the other children enjoy a
game of‘Trip to Jerusalem’. Her
mother takes a picture of everything even if she’s already hired a photographer
to do that.
After the party, Jenny’s mother is happy. The day went
well. She greets her daughter a happy birthday and asks her if she’s glad.
Jenny says yes.
11th
Her mamá has just come home from the States,
specifically choosing this week because it’s Jenny’s birthday today. Of course,
her mamá prepares breakfast. She insists that the maid does not know how to
make a proper French toast: Perfect dapat
ang custard, right proportions ng milk and eggs. Of course, imported na butter.
Dry on the surface, creamy on the inside, and slightly crispy on the edges.
Right, Jenny? Like everything her lola makes and does, Jenny loves the
French toast. Of course, lola. The best.
Jenny’s mother
has spent years and years trying to emulate her mamá’s French toast but she
can’t seem to achieve that dry on the
surface and creamy on the inside bit. As usual,her mamá is better.
After breakfast,
her mamá calls Jenny. She hands over a small box wrapped in the most beautiful
wrapper—shiny green and pink—tied with a large white translucent bow. Jenny
unwraps the gift, careful not to ruin the wrapping.
Buksan mo na. Dali na, Jenny.
Pero baka masira yung magandang wrapper, mom.
Oo nga naman, sayang! I waited hours for that pa.
As soon as Jenny
sees what’s inside, her eyes fill with wonder. What is it? Her mother asks as Jenny appreciates the beauty of the
blue rectangular box with pink flower borders.A music box, mom!Jenny exclaims.
As Jenny opens
the box, a ballerina en pointe—standing
on one leg with the other leg extending behind her slender body—spins to the
music of a man named Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Her mamá says Ang ganda diba? Arabesque position with the
music of Potor Ilitch Chavavsky yan!
Wow… Thanks, lola. It’s beautiful!
Jenny doesn’t
know what music she heard or who composed it. She’s not even familiar with
ballet. But she appreciates learning and she’s now anticipating borrowing books
in the school library about classical music and famous ballerinas. She’s glad
her grandmother is here. Nothing is forced upon Jenny when she’s around and Jenny’s
mother is usually more forgiving than usual. French toast, music, and that. What a great birthday.
Jenny’s mother
purses her lips as her daughter and mamá hug. She thinks of the gift she’s planning
to give to her daughter. The pink Baby-G is definitely not sophisticated or
pretty enough. How could anything ever compare to something with terms that she
isn’t even smart enough to know how to pronounce?
13th
Since Jenny has been pleading for a
low-key-no-party-birthday, Jenny’s mother has spent her entire week preparing
for the perfect simple celebration:
1) Make the perfect French Toast.
·
Buy at least two cookbooks
·
Practice
·
Watch cooking shows
·
Practice
2) Buy the perfect gift
·
Wrapped in Jenny’s favorite colors
·
Find out where to buy the best bows and gift cards
3) Order Chocolate Mousse
4) Call Aristocrat for a
lunch reservation
·
Non-smoking area
·
By the window
5) Rent a VHS
·
For teens!
·
Check these movies out:
à Sixteen Candles (1984)
à The Breakfast Club (1985)
à Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
(1986)
à Dead Poet’s Society (1989)
à Clueless (1995)
à Romeo + Juliet (1996)
·
Renew Video Card Membership
Fortunately, she has found what she thinks is the perfect
French toast recipe. And with only six ingredients, it’s definitely something
she’d consider simple. As she is
putting the final touches to her French toast—whipped cream and sliced
strawberries—she asks Inday to go upstairs and call Jenny for breakfast.She
then places the plate of French toast on the table and drizzles it with
cinnamon maple syrup.
Happy birthday,
‘nak.
Jenny smiles and sits down. She takes her knife and
slices the bread. Her mother watches her discreetly, anticipating how her
daughter will react after taking that first bite. But before Jenny can taste
her birthday breakfast, the doorbell rings.
Jenny’s mother calls Inday but Jenny stops her and says I’ll get it. Jenny takes an unusually
long time in answering the door, her mother thought. Jenny, sino ba kasi yan? Jenny doesn’t answer but soon emerges with
what appears to be a brown medium-sized box.
Ano yan?
Mom, who’s Joseph
Gallarza? Jenny asks,
completely ignoring her mother’s question. Jos—what?
Where did you hear that name? Jenny’s mother asks, stuttering. Jenny puts
the box down and says that a certain Joseph Gallarza sent the package.
What? Jenny’s mother exclaims.She checks the white
paper attached to the box, it is indeed, addressed to Jenny and is from Joseph
Gallarza.
Jenny opens the package. Tucked inside is one of the
most beautiful if not interesting dresses she has ever seen: a purple pencil
dress striped with sheer panels and sequins. She puts the dress over her body,
wondering if it’s really for her. She never did like fancy dresses or anything eye-catching,
but she found the dress so beautiful that she can’t help going straight to her
room and try it on.
Beneath the folded dress are several other things. Since
Jenny, in her awe, is completely distracted by the dress, she takes some time
before finding them. Impatient as always and curious at the moment, her mother,
on the other hand, checks the remaining content of the package.
There’s a box of a Sony Discman D-265, a perfect gift for
a teenager, Jenny’s mother thought. But there are also some odd choice of gifts
such as two sets of Polly Pocket and a basketball book.On the first page is a
handwritten note:
‘Happy birthday!
Hope you like it. Go Lakers!
-Joseph’
She clutches the book on her chest and she remembers.
She remembers listening to basketball games on the radio,
reading sports on the newspapers. She remembers the Crispa Redmanizers and the
Araneta Coliseum. She remembers Joseph. She remembers ‘them’. She remembers how
it ended—Joseph turning his back, her mother telling him, shouting at him to go
away—how basketball ended.
She clutches the book and decides to keep it to herself.
18th
Jenny feels her eyebrows move slightly farther
and farther apart. She’s not interested in listening to the speeches of anyone
who’s part of her Eighteen Gifts list. After all, they are not her friends—more
of acquaintances—daughters and sons of her mother’s friends. But during Sofia’s,
an old classmate’s turn on the microphone, Jenny stops scrunching her eyebrows,
and starts listening. It isn’t because Sofia is close to her or anything. But
Jenny always found Sofia intriguing even before.Mostly because she’s pretty,
not the ‘crush ng bayan’ pretty but pretty as in ‘maganda kapag tinitigan’
pretty. Also, Jenny always felt some connection with her. She’s quiet too and
mostly keeps to herself, mostly alone but never really looks lonely.
Hi Jenny. First of
all, happy birthday! You look really pretty today. Sofia starts. To be honest, I was surprised that I was
included here. So thank you for inviting me. Mama said I should have bought
something more sophisticated. But I decided to give you a set of origami papers
and a rollerball pen. I will always remember you as that classmate—as that
friend—who spends most of her recess folding paper cranes and spends half of
our lunchbreak either drawing or writing. I always thought you were weird but
in a weird cool way. So… I hope you like them. Happy birthday.
Jenny whispers a thank you. Sofia is the first person to speak in the debut with
honesty, choosing her words not out of politeness, but out of sincerity. It
isn’t particularly sweet or moving, but it is enough to make Jenny feel that
she was not a mere obligation.
The guests applaud. Jenny sees her mother and grandmother
sitting beside each other. They share little facial resemblance but are similar
in so many ways—they handle their selves very well in social events, they sit
with the same good posture, and they always want everything to be perfect. They
also both applaud, but it is in this moment, Jenny thought, that their
difference is evident.Her grandmother is obviously not amused, her right
eyebrow is slightly raised, probably because she does not like hearing her
granddaughter—anyone related to her for that matter—being called weird. Jenny’s
mother, on the other hand, is all smiles—maybe because her daughter’s party is
still going well—or maybe, just because.
25th
Jenny’s been fiddling with the table napkin for quite
some time now. She’s nervous. Christopher, the guy she’s with, holds her hand
and smiles. It’s gonna be fine, he
assures her. She doesn’t understand how he can always remain calm, even now
that they are waiting, despite everything she has explained to him about her
family.
Christopher works as a copy editor in the small publishing
company where Jenny works as an editorial assistant. Jenny did not particularly
like him at first, since he was quite loud and confident for her taste. He, however,
found the young Jenny interesting. He knew that making Jenny his friend would
take some time and he was patient enough to wait for her to open herself up. He
started talking to her everyday. He was a literature major in college, which
helped him make sensible conversations. And he was naturally charming, a trait he
thought, came from his salesman father. He impressed her by his knowledge but
more so with how he brought a calm and spontaneous vibe to life.
Jenny looks at him, takes a deep breath, and nods. It’s
just a regular birthday lunch, she convinces herself. It takes another five
minutes before her grandmother and mother arrive. Jenny gives them both a
‘beso’ and introduces Christopher. He then smiles and says good afternoon po. Jenny’s mother responds, good afternoon rin, hijo while her grandmother acknowledges him
with just a smile and a curt nod.
Her mother asks Christopher several questions, mostly
about things she already knew. He, of course, replies adequately and with confidence.
Her grandmother has been unusually quiet and Jenny takes that as a bad sign—her
grandmother never runs out of things to say. In the middle of their lunch,
Christopher excuses himself to the restroom. And as soon as Christopher has gone,
Jenny’s grandmother speaks. She says that he seems to be quite old for Jenny.
Jenny explains to her that seven isn’t
really that big and that she’s learning a lot from him.
Pero he has been
working for that company—ano nga ulit yun? —for a long time na diba? It’s just
that…he has no plans of moving to a more—ewan ko—lucrative job ba?
Jenny’s mother almost says something, almost
answers back, but she hesitates and lets it go.
They see Christopher going back to his seat and the
conversation immediately changes.
30th
Jenny’s mother is preparing for her mamá’s arrival
tomorrow. Two weeks ago, her mamá e-mailed her about staying in the Philippines
for good, she says that her rheumatism is getting worse and the cold climate
doesn’t help. She says she ‘needs’ her daughter.
Jenny’s mother knows this to be true but she also knows
that her mamá is going home because she doesn’t have a choice, because she
doesn’t have anywhere else to go, because her long-time foreigner boyfriend has
finally said it’s over.
Jenny’s mother doesn’t mind this at all. She could use
the company, she thought.
Christopher calls Jenny’s mother on her cellphone, he
says that the surprise party will happen at around six o’clock and it’s best to
prepare this early.
Jenny’s mother and Christopher have been planning the
party for quite some time and it has been fun. They’ve gotten a bit close since
Jenny found out about Joseph Gallarza. Christopher helped in mending what that
information caused Jenny and her mother’s relationship. Jenny’s mother is very
grateful, not only because of that but also because Christopher usually visits
her at home—sometimes with Jenny but mostly just by himself.
The party starts five minutes later than was originally
planned. But Jenny seems to be enjoying herself. Christopher has only invited
her closest friends from college and a couple of co-workers who she has gotten
along really well. Jenny’s mother actually wanted to invite more guests, but
Christopher made her agree not to do that.
After the party, Jenny’s mother approaches her daughter
and gives her a jar of paper cranes. Before Jenny can ask, her mother explains.
She says that she has so much time in her hands that she started learning. She
says that she has folded one thousand one paper cranes for Jenny because a
thousand and one paper cranes mean one granted wish.
It’s just that when
you were a kid you always folded cranes but I doubt that you reached a
thousand. You always made them fly. I didn’t understand but you always did.
Happy birthday.
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