Bazooka

Note: The following is a short story that I wrote that was published in the Read Magazine (3rd Quarter 2004, Vol. 1 No. 2) of Powerbooks. It was the first time for one of my stories to get published. As Gigi and Andrea have requested to see it, I have decided to post it here and allow the rest of you the option of reading it.

BAZOOKA

“Hi Mommy,” I said cheerfully, as I burst into my parents’ room that Monday morning. I was getting bored with my Disney coloring book – I couldn’t see the pictures anymore because I had colored the entire page black. My yaya was not helping me either. She kept singing and singing, and I told her to stop, but she wouldn’t listen to me. So I threw my crayons at her. And that made her mad.This was why I had run to Mommy’s room. My yaya would not dare yell at me when Mommy was around.

“Hi Mimi!” My Mommy said. She was getting ready to go to the office. My other yaya was there with her. She was shooting at Mommy’s hair, which was flying all over the place. Mommy was coloring her face. I had tried doing this to myself once, but got scared when I looked in the mirror and saw an ugly clown instead of me. Mommy sometimes looked like a clown too. And she knows that because I told her.

I jumped up the bed and pulled out a Bazooka from my pocket. I put the pink gum into my mouth. I was bored again, so I started swinging my feet on the side of the bed.

“Mommy, can I go to the park later?” No reply.

“Mommy, can I go to the park later?” I shouted.

“Yes, Mimi, very nice,” she answered without looking at me. “Inday, can you hurry up with my hair? I have to be in the office in ten minutes! Where is my blazer?”

“Mommy, I have an owie! The pencil pricked me!”

“Oh, very good, Mimi! Tell me about it later okay?” At this, she turned to Yaya Inday, said something, and the whirring sound stopped. She picked up the phone. “Oh, hello, Sir! Yes, I will be in the office in ten minutes. Yes, I am already on the way, Sir. It’s just a little traffic. Okay, thank you, Sir.”

Mommy then threw the phone down and started fanning her face.

“Inday! My blazer! Hurry, hurry, hurry! HURRY!”

I stopped chewing. The bubble gum had no more taste. I got the Bazooka Joe cartoon strip that I had thrown away. I started to spit my gum into it, but I stopped. I had a better idea. I put the gum in my hand and then dropped to the floor. I crawled to where Mommy was. Then I put my gum in her hair, right in the middle of it. Mommy whirled around.

“Oh Mimi, what are you doing there on the floor? The floor is dirty. There are germs there. Where is your yaya? YAYA!”

I started laughing because she didn’t notice anything. Then I laughed so hard that I started rolling on the floor. I started slapping it, even, because my tummy was getting painful already, and I couldn’t breathe, but I still couldn’t stop laughing.

I finally managed to say “I have a joke for you, Mommy!”

“Okay, you tell your Daddy the joke!” She said, while still making signs that I should get up from the floor and stay on the bed instead.

“No, it has to be you!”

"Why does it have to be me?”

I pouted.

“Okay, what is the joke?”

“I put bubble gum in your hair!”

Mommy’s face changed just then. She looked like my Ate when I showed her the fat orange fish that I had pulled out of her aquarium. Mommy slowly reached for her hair. And then she screamed so loud that I had to put my hands to my ears.

“INDAY!”

I laughed some more. “Don’t worry Mommy, it’s really easy to get out.”

I plopped up, reached for my gum, and pulled it. Her head snapped back, but the gum didn’t get out. I pulled again, harder this time, but the gum still wouldn’t get out.

“Uh oh…”

Yaya Inday shoved me out of the way. She had with her a bottle of my Baby Oil. She poured a lot of it onto her hands and then started shampooing Mommy’s hair with it. Mommy’s hair got shinier and shinier, but the gum was still there. She tried brushing her hair. I was starting to get worried. My Mommy was going to start screaming at me soon.

I looked at the floor and prepared my sorry face. Then I looked up at Mommy’s hair again. Now it was shiny, with pink threads. And there was a brush stuck there. The phone rang just then. I ran to pick it up.

“Don’t pick that phone up!” Mommy screamed.

I sat back down on the floor. Just then, the door opened, and I saw my Daddy. I gave him a little wave.

“Manny, your daughter just put gum on my hair! And I am late for a meeting!” My Mommy screamed at him.

My Daddy looked at me, and I thought he was going to get mad. But he started to laugh. I was surprised, but I was also happy. I started to laugh along with Daddy, but Mommy had heard him laughing, and she started shaking a comb at him. She was also saying something that I couldn’t understand. I had never heard those words before.

I just sat on the floor, staring at my hands. I had my sorry face on, but no one was minding me. Mommy was now running to the bathroom, Inday and Daddy right behind her. I looked around quickly. Then I stood up and ran to my room.

I pushed the door shut. Then I went back to coloring Snow White black. When Mommy would come in later, I would give this to her, and then everything would be okay. And then I would go to the park to play.

The End

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Accounts of my extremely eventful weekend in Marcos country coming up!

Cokelover and Comic, I had a blast with you guys. As expected.