bobie

you can say i was never into their kind. on the contrary, i have often been accused of cruelty where they are concerned. but bobie was alright. he was unobtrusive, he kept to himself most of the time and had this pleasant aura about him that was not hard to like. on hindsight, he was impressive among his kind and if he were my equal, i would have respected him.

i couldn't remember how he came to us. i was deep into worrying over my breakout pimples i hardly had time for anything else. but i remember this: borakdak named him. and though i thought his name sounded strange, it was better than apolonia had to endure seasons ago.

the thing about bobie's involvement in our lives was that he was not showered with any attention, other than the week he spent with borakdak when she visited us for the first time in a long time.

this borakdak visit made mother berserk of course. i mean, in a good way. you see, shortly before the visit, she treated us with a long self-congratulatory letter, telling us she passed the cpa board - caloc-an's first, and possibly the only one up to now. before that, she was at large for almost four years. in those years, she became a voldemort of sort: the she-who-must-not-be-named in front of mother. you could imagine mother, taking stock of all her children once a while, and finding one lost without a trace. she was bereft of any information, of knowing whether borakdak was okay, or alive. mother would sometimes wake up at dawn, panting, crying out her name.

so the week that borakdak was home was grand for the most part, especially for bobie, who was spoiled rotten and showered with princely attention. even i felt a little special. i mean, collezione shorts and shirts were haute couture in caloc-an that time, and i had two shorts and two shirts from her. they were my prized pieces of clothing for some time, until they faded from excessive use.

however, beyond my immediate gratification over my presents, i dont remember much of borakdak's "ordeal". she must have gone the rounds of mother's amiga visits or a number of mother's agenda. naturally, mother was very proud to have her back - the lost daughter who made it back home bearing great news of success. she looked chic and self-assured, just the kind mothers would be proud of. if mother were demonstrative, she might have laid prostrate on the ground crying her butt off in sheer joy. but no, the woman's classy: she only shed a few tears in silence and sniffed her nose while pretending to be collected.

oddly, bobie was the recipient of more tenderness and affection from borakdak. that's why bobie was spoiled rotten that week. i think bobie might have agreed that borakdak was chic and self-assured, but if bobie was mother, he would have thought she was distant too. maybe she was groping her way back into the family. maybe she grew up, or simply grew separately from everyone else. maybe she acquired the trappings of cosmopolitan life and saw that caloc-an was a dreary and hopeless place that reminded her of all the things she didn't like growing up. or, maybe seeing dad again reminded her of this towering symbol of everything that had caused dysfunction in her psyche, that to seem distant was both a defense and an offense, or a measure of revenge. through it all, mother was the casualty and she didn't understand it.

the inevitable confrontation on new year's eve between borakdak and dad sent bobie cowering under the four-step stair. how odd it must have been for him to see the gentle borakdak unleash her temper, although it was mild and civilised by any standard. dad's intimidating aura had not completely lost its effect at the time. he was still formidable, although his feet were already exposing the clay.

bobie, poor chap, was left behind for good by his preferred mistress two days later. no dramatic goodbyes, although there must have been some ceremony between them. he sulked at the beginning, eating less and sleeping more. but as with all cool beings, bobie rebounded and moved on, gradually understanding that the world didnt revolve around him.

by the time borakdak completed her revenge, by mailing an eloquent but overwrought missive chronicling dad's non-virtues, bobie couldn't care less. he started roaming around the neighborhood, looking for some canine action. he was by then graduating from puppyhood, much as I was, pimples breaking and all.

so yeah, bobie was alright. he was probably the only dog i have ever come close to liking.