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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

Inchoy never understood why. He thought that despite my performative shallowness, I had the makings of a good radical. Before Chet and I became involved, under Inchoy’s tutelage I had attended anti-Batac meetings and gone to anti-Batac rallies. At one rally I had been shot at by the police. As I ran to get away, I’d lost one of a favorite pair of shoes.

We pulled up to Tita Rosa’s house and Chet blared the horn. The guard swung the gates open and we drove in at an alarming speed, stopping just short of my aunt’s car. Top Gun got out and opened the door for me.

“We’ll go to a movie on Wednesday,” said Chet. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”

“A movie?” A movie seemed like a date. “When was the last time you went to a movie?”

“I don’t know. A while ago.” He kept his eyes focused on my aunt’s car. “It was something with a kid and balloons and a talking dog.”

“Won’t C. G. and the kids want you around on the weekend?”

“They’re going to Hong Kong.”

“Without you?”

“Jesus Christ, Ting. What do you want me to say? That we have problems? Because we don’t. This is just how we are.”

I got out of the car and Top Gun got into the passenger seat. The instant the door shut, Chet began reversing. He sped toward the gates and was gone before I had a chance to process that he was back in my life.

VI

VI

The Philippines is a nation of seven thousand islands and 182 non–mutually intelligible languages. There is a big island to the north—Luzon—where all the real things happen, mostly in Manila. The national language is “Filipino,” which is actually Tagalog, Manila’s primary language and the language of my family. President Batac was from the northern part of Luzon, Ilocos, but Ilocanos are generally (and particularly) inferior to Tagalogs, a fact that they counteract somewhat with their work ethic. In the mountain provinces, you have the Igorots, who were headhunters and aren’t anymore but are still known for it. In the southern part of Luzon is Bicol, where people smile all the time and there are lots of coconuts. There is also the province of Pampanga, famous because it is the only province where people actually say “f” as in “ffff,” which is ironic because there is no “f” sound in Filipino (which is really “Pilipino”) and also because Pampangans can’t say Pampanga. They say “Famfanga.” Women from Pampanga are supposed to be fierce and beautiful. They tell you this, even when they are ugly.