It was a usual afterwork ‘tambayan’ (hang-out place in tagalog) behind Uncle Joe’s auto shop, the ’Bulabog’ barkada usually get together. It was one of those get together night that I first met Ikoy, I wasn’t close to him yet at that time.
I remember when I first met him (Ikoy), I didnt really like him, although I’m usually attached right away to gays because I have a lot of gay friends in Pinas, with the line of work that I was in (TV Production), I worked with gay people,as a matter of fact a good friend of mine “Greg” (I wonder how he’s doing?) is gay. But Ikoy was different, he is not the typical gay that you’ll meet, he was the sophisticated, snob type.
After a few meet up at the ‘tambayan’, BBQ gathering, Sunday ‘basketball games’ and pizza after the game at Rock Island Cafe, we started to click together. Aside from he was a good friend to my late ex-husband, I just started to really like him.
But I became really close to Ikoy when my life in Palau was upside-down, he was there when all the friends I know turned their back on me, I remember asking him a favor to watch my son DJ while I work and he did. He was the only one who have the guts to tell me the truth that my ex was cheating on me.
So, he was the only friend I had during my hard times in Palau, then he told me about his plan of leaving the island and finding a better opportunity here in the U.S., I was really sad I almost want to tell him not to go. But I know he wants nothing but a new outlook in life and help his family to the best that he can. He was a wonderful person that he understood my situation and he introduced me to his group of friends, I remember him telling me, “these are real people who will help you when you are in need and will accept you for who you are”, sure thing they are, I still would love to see them when I go back to the island, hopefully they’re still there (Rogie, Luloy, Juvie and Chaps). I had great times with them, I remember Halloween of 2001 we party ’till morning, after leaving Port Area at around midnight, my 5 passenger Toyota Landcruiser became 9 or ten passenger (LOL!), it was so much fun everyone was laughing even though they were squeezed at the back end of the car.
That was the last party we had he even said that’s worth a ‘dispedida party’ for him, he was all set, I asked him so where you going? Do you have family there? He aswered me “Bahala na (Whatever happens), Topo-topo barrega when I get there”, I can see the determination in his face.
One week later, we had our last drink together at ’Storyboard Bar & Grill’, in our conversation that night, he was the first one who gave me an idea of coming here in the U.S., he told me to apply for a U.S. Visa. With my life so wacked at that time, that thought didn’t even cross my mind. But I remember answering him, “I will keep that in mind”, then he told me to look for him when I get here. I gave him a hug,warm wishes, and goodluck, that was the last time I saw my good friend Ikoy.
I looked all over for him, when I got here. Finally, I was able to get hold of him sometime 2004, a year before the devastating Hurricane Katrina, I’m in California and he was down in New Orleans. We just said “hi and hellos”, we didnt get to talk for very long because we both have jobs and he kept changing his cellphone almost every three months. The longest conversation we had was August 2005, the day before Hurricane Katrina. I was worried about him, I told him to move out of New Orleans, and he said ‘no, they (his co-workers and friends) will be staying there, that it shouldn’t be so bad’, the next day, after seeing in the news about what happened to the City of New Orleans, I was calling him but to no avail. All I can do that time was pray for his safety. I tried everyday to get hold of him, it was two weeks after Katrina, I received a call from him.
He survived Hurricane Katrina, I heard one of the most traumatic real-life story of a person who survived mother nature’s fury. He was crying the whole time he was talking on the phone. I told him he can stop if its too hard for him to share it, he said “no, it will make me feel better if I can let it all out of my chest”, he survived 5 days of no food, he was just drinking the dirty flood. All he has was the blanket that he grabbed from the flash flood. It was afternoon of the fifth day being on top of the roof, when he was finally rescued by a helicopter. He said if he wasnt rescued that day, he would have not last another day, he said he saw several body of dead people in the water passing by him. The third day he said he was dillusional, he said he is not going to survive and that his body will end up somewhere that his family wont even know where he’s at. But he was thankful that he survived, he said that was a life experience he will never forget. His hardship battle didn’t end there.
....to be continued
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