General Emilio Aguinaldo National High School, Imus, Cavite

“Tell me again why we have to be here dad.”

In his brown slacks and white polo, Dan looked every bit like your common pubic school student. This did not sit well with him. His father, a doctor of history, looked almost equally uneasy as they both sat at the back of the packed jeepney. Dr. Luna called for them to get down and together they made their way towards the campus. The jeepney sped forward, hungry for new passengers, its smoke trails leaving clouds of carbon monoxide in the air.

“I already told you Danny, my term at the university ended so we had to leave L.A. We’re lucky I got a teaching job here.” The senior Dan replied.

“Oh come on dad, I know that you know that I’m not stupid. You could have gotten another teaching job there. You could have gotten another job anywhere but here! Now we’re in the middle of some random town pretending to be a city! There are like a hundred other schools in Metro Manila!”

Together they reached the gates of the public school. A toothless man in a tattered cap and equally tattered clothes and slippers asked for their ID’s, and when he seemed to be convinced, he opened the gate for them, waving them in.

The school swallowed them whole. The state of public schools in the country has not really changed much in the past decades. Buildings littered with cracks and faded paint stood at irregular angles and positions throughout the campus. Rusted fences held back trampled bushes and mangled flowers. Ageing trucks and minivans sporting the school’s logo hid under the few trees around the open parking lot, angry at the glaring sun of midday. And of course, the students, thousands upon thousands of boys and girls running and yelling and milling about. A wondrous disarray.

The young transferee held back the urge to scream.

“Well dad, if there was a hell, I’m sure we just walked into it.”

The teacher replied, taking on a stern face that matched his uniform. “Don’t say things like that son. Hell is far from this. Far darker. It’s not so bad here. Look, there’s a basketball court for you to play in, you could even tryout for the varsity team. And there will be lots of new people to meet. It sure it’s not what we were used to or what we would have liked, but this is a school, and this is what we’ve got. Of course it’s not like any you’ve been in when we were abroad, but this is where you’ll stay now. We talked about this. So come on and help me out okay? We’re in this together. Now I have to go talk to the principal for my teaching load, so please go to your class.”

The boy stood his ground.

“Why won’t you tell me dad? Something’s up. I know there is. Was it mom? Did she want us to go here? Are you here because you’re running from what happened in L.A. But why here? Why this place? There is nothing for us here dad. You’re smarter than anybody here, and I’m sure I don’t have anything to learn in this place. We are wasting our time here dad!”

Dan Sr. placed his hand on his son’s shoulders.

“I told you before Danny, you’ve got to trust me. This is the best move for us. Your mom knew it too.”

“But mom isn’t here is she.”

The good doctor did not have an answer for that one.

The school bell rung and Dan Luna Jr. made his way to his first session, along with 70 of his classmates.

Dr. Luna watched as his son became enveloped in the crowd. Of course no father enjoyed seeing his kid like this. Every father wants the best for his son. But Dan Luna Ph.D. knew that he had no choice. The sacrifices and the choices that he and his wife made were clear. And he was ready for the consequences. He only wished that he was safe now, that they were safe now. That there were far away from all that has happened in the past. He prayed for the peace of his son, and that Marie would forgive him, even as he believed she looked down on them from above.