The First Class Officer Hates Me: My ROTC Senior Enemy

Chapter 5: Fever and Garlic

Sunday morning. I was supposed to wake up at five in the morning for catering. Wedding in Iraya. I set my alarm at four thirty.

But I could not wake up.

My body was heavy like a sack of rice. My head was hurting so bad. When I tried to sit up, the whole room was spinning. I got dizzy. My forehead was hot. I had a fever.

Great, I thought in my mind, annoyed at myself. This is because of the rain yesterday. Because I wore his jacket. Because I got wet from the market to campus and I did not change right away.

I was annoyed at myself. I should have refused his jacket. I should have given it back right away after the rain stopped. Now I showed him I needed his jacket. Now I am sick because of it.

My mother came into my room. She touched my forehead. "Louella! You have a fever! So hot! Your health is more important than catering. You will not go."

"Mama, I can go. I need five hundred," I said. My voice was so weak.

"No. You will rest. I will tell your boss," Mama said.

My phone rang. Video call. It was my three Parekoy. Angelica, Wilma, Realyn. They were already in catering uniforms, with hairnets, ready for weddings in Iraya.

My mother answered my phone because I was too dizzy to hold it. "Louella cannot work today. She has a fever," Mama said to them.

"What? Our carabao friend got sick? It is a miracle! Louella never gets sick!" Realyn shouted from the video, but her face was worried. Realyn always teases but she cares.

Angelica came closer to the camera, "Louella, you never get sick! Even when you have three rakets you never get sick! You rest okay?"

Wilma, the calm one, said, "That's good you can rest. Have pity on your body, Louella. You work Monday to Friday market, Monday to Saturday school, Sunday catering. Your body is not a machine. Rest now."

I tried to get the phone from Mama, "I can go! I can still go! Just give me biogesic!"

But they ended the call, "We will tell the boss! We will save your leftovers! We will bring you cake from the wedding! Rest, carabao!"

They ended the video call. I was left in my room, with a fever, annoyed. I slept the whole Sunday. I slept from morning to afternoon to evening. I woke up only to eat lugaw and take medicine. I was so annoyed because I lost five hundred pesos and I missed catering. But my body said I need to stop.

MONDAY MORNING

My fever was gone but not fully. My body was still weak. But I woke up at five in the morning for a*****e helper raket. Monday to Friday only. Five to eleven, Bulan Public Market. Cousin's stall.

I went to the market. I arranged onions, garlic, tomatoes, ginger, calamansi and got customer orders. My hands smelled like garlic. My eyes had dark circles because of a fever yesterday. My face was tired, haggard-looking, no powder, no lipstick. Just pawis and pagod.

At seven thirty, the market was crowded. So many people are buying for Monday. I was shouting to get customers. "Garlic eighty! Onion seventy! Tomato fifty! Come here, suki! Fresh! Fresh garlic! Fresh onion!"

My voice was loud. So loud that other vendors looked at me. I was not the quiet cadet from ROTC who says "Sir, Yes, Sir" with a small voice and straight face. I was a different person here. Loud, fast, masipag, haggard-looking, eyes with dark circles, face tired because of fever yesterday, but still shouting, still working.

I was getting three customers at once. "Suki, half kilo garlic! Suki, one kilo onion! Suki, add calamansi!"

Then I saw them at the next stall — the fish stall. A woman buying fish, and a boy behind her carrying an eco bag. Aris Gotladera with his mother.

He was a civilian — black t-shirt, shorts, slippers. Still cold, silent, never smiling, strict even in civilian life. Straight back. Hair fixed. No smile. He was carrying an eco bag with vegetables.

His mother is the suki of the fish stall next to my stall. She always buys there every Monday. I did not notice him at first because I was busy shouting and getting orders. But he noticed me.

He was shocked. I saw it in his eyes, even though he was cold and silent. His eyes became bigger for one second. He did not expect that he would see me here. He did not expect that the quiet, pissed off cadet Dela Torre who does push-ups in ROTC and says Sir Yes Sir is the same girl who is shouting so loud in the market, arranging garlic, getting customer orders, looking so haggard and so tired because of fever, with garlic-smelling hands.

He stared for two seconds longer than his normal stare. His normal stare is already cold and long. This time longer.

In my mind, I was talking: Yes, Sir, this is me. Not just ROTC cadet. I work here Monday to Friday. Five to eleven. I am loud here. I am not saying Sir Yes Sir here. I shout here. This is my real life. Don't stare. Don't be shocked. This is normal for me.

I acted strong. I shouted louder, "Garlic fresh! Onion fresh! Come here, suki! Eighty only!"

I did not look at him. I continued working. I gave garlic to my suki. I got money. I put it in the cash box.

His mother was talking to the fish vendor, loud, so I could hear from my stall. The fish vendor said, "Mare, your son Aris is so handsome now, First Class Officer na! So proud!"

His mother laughed, happy, "Thank you, Mare. And good news, his childhood sweetheart will come home next week. She studied high school in the state, in Manila Science High School. Now she will study in the same school as Aris, same college. They have been together since elementary. So excited for them!"

I heard it. Childhood sweetheart. Manila Science. Same school soon. Elementary sweethearts.

Good for him, I thought in my mind, annoyed but also with sense. Of course he has a childhood sweetheart. He is First Class Officer, cold, handsome, strict, smart, good family. Of course he has someone. Manila Science pa, smart girl. Not my business. I am still pissed off at him. We are still enemies.

Aris heard his mother too. He did not smile. He stayed cold, silent, and strict. He just carried the eco bag. He did not react to the childhood sweetheart topic. No smile, no happy face.

He did not show any interest in me. No water, no help, no talking. Just observation, silent. He was discovering little by little who I am — not just the ROTC cadet, but the market girl who shouts loud and looks haggard and tired because of fever, but still working like a carabao.

After his mother bought fish, they passed by my stall. His mother did not buy from me because she already bought garlic last Friday. Aris walked behind his mother, carrying fish and vegetables in an eco bag. When he passed my stall, he did not stop. He did not look at me. He just walked, straight, cold, silent.

But I felt that he was shocked. He did not expect to see me like this. Haggard, loud, tired, with dark circles, shouting garlic eighty.

I continued shouting, "Garlic eighty! Onion seventy! Tomato fifty!" My voice was loud, my face haggard, my body tired from fever, but I was working. My hands smelled of garlic.

And in my mind: He has a childhood sweetheart, Louella, don't assume anything. He is silent observation only. He does not like you. You are still enemies. You are still pissed off at him. And he is still cold, silent, never smiling, strict, your enemy. And you are still pissed off the cadet.