Held Up...A High School Memoir. =)

My online buddy had a recent near death experience and shared his story to me through his blog (thanks, Ghostface!). Reading his blog triggered a memory that I experienced in high school which I think I'll never ever forget.

It was August 1994, and Cagayan de Oro was having its annual fiesta. We were high school seniors then, and my girl friends Jam, Khuna, Leah, Annie, Doyette and I decided to spend the weekend in CDO to join in on the festivities (which meant hanging out at LimKetKai Mall for shopping, foodtripping and skating on the rink. hehe!) We had all decided to go on a Friday afternoon since school days were from Sunday to Thursday. My five best girl friends and I decided to meet by the bus terminal in the afternoon but somehow only three of us made it. It was around four in the afternoon when Leah, Khuna and I decided to leave without the others. Had there only been cellphones that time. sheesh.

So anyway, we took the last trip Tomawis bus from Marawi to Iligan. A couple of minutes past five, we got to the Tomawis terminal but the Tourist bus from the terminal just across us had just pulled out from the driveway and left; that bus we saw was the last trip headed for Cagayan de Oro. Just our darn luck! What to do, what to do? We were stuck in Iligan City, and it was getting dark. Was there another bus going to CDO? Unfortunately, no. For that bus company anyway. So we decided to look for another mode of transportation that could take us to our destination. I don't remember though, if we went to snack for awhile...perhaps? Enlighten me dear Leah and Khuna...my old, wrinkled mind cannot fathom such details. hehe! Anyway, I do remember that it was already dark when we found this bus terminal. I don't know how we found it; I think Leah and Khuna asked around...I wasn't any help coz I couldn't speak Visaya to save my life back then. I do remember though that it looked dreadful. Well, ok, I may be exaggerating here, but this was a bus company which catered mostly to market merchants who lived in the outskirts of Iligan City...Pang masa kumbaga...Class C and D type folk. The bus was old, the seats were hard, and there was no airconditioning. I was silently contemplating spending the night at my Tita Yasmin's place, but if we did that, my mom would know coz for sure my aunt would let her know we were there and I didn't want my mom or any of my friends' moms to worry we weren't in CDO yet (because they we told them we'd leave after lunch). The conductor said the bus leaves at seven in the evening so we took the chance, boarded the Bachelor bus and waited for it to fill up.

We were the first ones in. Slowly, our worries faded and we became our enthusiastic selves again. Gosh, we haven't even gotten to CDO and we were already on an adventure (misadventure was more like it, now that I think of it). We were happily chatting away at the very back of the bus when these two men decided to sit on the seats in front of ours. They were of average height, and dark and hard-looking, like they've done time sometime, somewhere. Pay no mind though, they weren't bothering us, so we waited, chatted and waited until the bus slowly filled up with passengers, and the conductor announced that we were leaving for Cagayan de Oro.

As the bus pulled away from the terminal, the conductor began collecting fare from the passengers. We paid ours, and scanned the crowd we were with. No one looked suspicious, I thought to myself, but these two men in front of us kept speaking in hushed tones, like they were talking about a secret or something really important and they didn't want anyone to hear. We were singing songs (yes, we were singing and we didn't care that they could hear us) when crazy Leah would lean over casually and try to eavesdrop on the conversation of the two men. But they would stop whenever they see Leah (perhaps in their peripheral vision) that she was right behind them. Anyway, it was either in Naawan or after Naawan while we were still singing songs, the two men took out their hankies and folded it into a triangle. We could see everything, coz you know how the last row seats are elevated from the rest? Ours was like that too. So, as I was saying, we were singing, and they took out their hankies, I had the craziest feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wrong was going to happen. I swear I felt it. So while singing I nudged my friends to take off the jewelry that we had on and stuff them into our socks. By then, I saw the man sitting by the aisle take out his revolver. Dang, we were in deep sh*t.

He got out from his seat went to the driver's side, then the second man followed but stopped in the middle of the bus. Then he announced in Visaya that we were being held up. Night time and in the middle of no where. In a bus with two hold-uppers. God. You could probably imagine all the blood draining out from our faces; we were so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. I was so scared because I was the one keeping our money, and it was stashed in the Guess? beltbag that I borrowed from Hassan. We were told to put our hands behind our heads and bend down so our heads were touching our thighs. Cool. They wouldn't see my beltbag. God, what a doofus. I was about to die and I was thinking about my beltbag. I began to think about my family; mom, my dad and my brothers. I didn't know if I'd be able to see them again. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I swear...everything that happened to me--good and bad experiences from when I was a kid to that very moment, all the people who meant alot to me, my friends, acquaintances, I saw it all in a flash. I got distracted when the guy with the gun said to give them all our stuff--jewelry, money, whatever was valuable. So the second man went from passenger to passenger, getting money from their wallets, their watches and bags. When he got to us, he didn't get anything because we had already stuffed our loot inside our socks and my beltbag's tucked on the side under my shirt where he couldn't see. Poor Khuna in her fright managed to take off the gold ring that hugged tight on her finger. Then the two men discussed where they were going to get off. They seemed so fidgety; that was probably their first time to do such thing. I think it was past El Salvador when they decided to get off. The second they got off the bus, the driver slammed on the gas pedal, and zoomed off to Cagayan de Oro.

The passengers inside were in hysterics. Some were crying, others still in shock with what had just transpired. I felt sorry for one man, he said that he just got home from abroad, and the two took his duffel bag with them. Once calmed, passengers agreed to go to the nearest police station to report the crime. i got the wristwatch from my sock and it said that it was already past eight. Leah, Khuna and I decided not to join them as we have already arrived in Cagayan de Oro. In one piece, Alhamdulillah. So, when the bus stopped by the main road and Velez st., all three of us got off, got in the nearest cab and directed it to the mall.

We were still a bit shocked with our latest adventure (the Wolves have the best bits to tell), but we were too excited to be at the mall at night by ourselves to even talk about it, so we ate and skated and commuted again to Khuna's place, to Balulang.

That night, we laid down in the dark and recounted our experience. For a brief moment I though to myself what lucky asses we were for being alive. I mean, they could've done something really harmful to us if they'd wanted to; we were sitting right behind them and we were loud and all that. But I guess they let us off because we were just kids. Or maybe they didn't do anything to us because they werent' really hardened criminals, just people who were in dire need and had nothing else left to hang on to...I dunno? But what was important was that we were alive and well. If only they hadn't gotten Khuna's ring.

The following day was a blur...I don't really remember what happened after. hehe! But I think we went home to Marawi a little earlier than scheduled. No buses this time, just those private vehicles that travel straight to Marawi City. I didn't tell mom what happened to us, she would've had a heart attack and grounded me for the rest of my senior year. I did tell her about it four years after, though, when Sehawie and some of the Wolves came to visit me at home and asked me to recount that friggin' experience with mom around...Busted!

Anyway, moral of the story... stick to the schedule. If things go awry, and you feel like you're not up to it (going somewhere, doing something), then don't do it. You might end up in a situation you might not want to be in if you do. Second moral of the story... let your parents know where you are, what you're doing and who you're with. I know it sounds corny and it's so totally uncool (especially when you're in those 'emo' years), but it's important that they know your whereabouts because just in case you're in a fix and you have to call them and stuff, your a** won't get fried.