Rory sensed that I wanted to be alone so he arranged to meet me later that evening, then he flagged a jeepney to go to Smokey Mountain by himself.
I just wandered around town.
It was strange to be alone.
Previously I had thought that you could never be alone with the sun always shining so brightly.
In Manila people never looked alone. There was always too much noise for that and yet I walked along the side streets past endless concrete-walled buildings and never saw a soul.
A black burning heat bounced off the roads.
You could be alone in Manila if you tried.
Cars sped by as if Manila was not a place to be seen after all.
Dunkin’ Donuts was always empty and I went in to get something to eat. The pastry stuck together in the heat and the sun made my mouth dry. I threw the doughnut away and I walked back to the central stream of life on Mabini Street. It wasn’t that I felt sorry for myself.
Affairs, when they came to an end, always took me by surprise. Until it hit me.
Jeepney photo is by Shankar S via Flickr.
March 1988
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