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Back The Human Zoo Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. THE HUMAN ZOO
  2. Also by Sabina Murray
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. Part I
  8. I
  9. II
  10. III
  11. IV
  12. V
  13. VI
  14. VII
  15. VIII
  16. IX
  17. X
  18. XI
  19. XII
  20. XIII
  21. XIV
  22. XV
  23. XVI
  24. XVII
  25. XVIII
  26. Part II
  27. I
  28. II
  29. III
  30. IV
  31. V
  32. VI
  33. VII
  34. VIII
  35. IX
  36. Acknowledgments
  37. Back Cover

Abu Sayyaf had made their way into the capital and the outrage at the declaration of martial law was somewhat offset by genuine fear as we considered what to do when confronted with this new reality.

IV

IV

I sat at the dining table with Tita Dom and Tita Rosa, who had nodded off after the heavy meal. Tito Ben was stuck at the retirement center at Ateneo because, until we had the curfew completely figured out, it seemed unwise to bring him to New Manila for the weekly dinner. We thought we might have to reschedule for the weekend or for lunch, but everything was so new that no one really wanted to move.

Pictures of Laird were now circulating internationally. Two were in constant rotation. One was of him in the jungle surrounded by masked gunmen. The other was another taken at Jim’s house, this one with Cha Cha in the frame. She had been taken unaware, looking off to the side as she adjusted the front of her blouse. Laird was standing beside her, presenting himself in a formal way.

Jim was making phone calls to try to get the picture withdrawn. Couldn’t they just crop Cha Cha out?

“Ay naku,” said Tita Dom. “Cha Cha has become the cover girl of martial law.”

“This is not a joking matter,” said Tita Rosa. Her eyes remained closed, but even in a state of deep repose, she could still monitor our behavior.

“I’m not joking,” said Tita Dom. “But what can Jim do? The picture has already been sold to Reuters.”

“But why do they want Cha Cha in the picture?”

“The way that Rikki explains it is the picture implies that now Manila’s finest are also at risk. If Cha Cha’s relative can be kidnapped and beheaded, then no one is beyond reach. This has greased the way for martial law. There is still protest, but it’s muted. And you’ve read the news. Gumboc keeps reminding everyone of how his drug policies have reduced the presence of drug crime. And now he’s saying that if the politicians just let him have his moment, he’ll fix this problem too.”

“And if he killed off half the population in Manila, we would also have no traffic,” I said, dryly. “This is a nightmare.”

“Did you read about the LRT?”

“No,” I said. The Light Rail Transit, if it worked, would solve many of the traffic problems, but there weren’t enough trains running. The lines for the LRT at high traffic times were ridiculously long. And the trains often broke down. New tracks needed to be added, but with traffic the way it was, it was hard to see how to do it without bringing the entire city to a halt.