scenes straight from hell

the quiet, not so sunny early afternoon, still wrestling with the threats of rain, was awakened by the shouting match between a fat, middle aged woman and an old middle eastern man with curly, grey hair. the woman was accusing the man of not paying her for her services. the man, in turn, accused her of stealing his wallet. a small crowd of street hawkers selling pirated dvds, cheap watches, mobile phones, cigarettes, fake raybans and nikes, and some their own bodies, gathered around them.
the woman screamed and pointed a finger to him: "manggantso! puta ka! mamatay ka na sana!"

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i was seated inside a shisha bar, sipping coffee and searching for jobs online. the waitress later told me that the old man, apparently a fixture in the burgos street scene, was notorious for not paying his escorts. so i asked the waitress why do the women and their pimps continue to offer their services to him? why don't they report him to the authorities? the waitress, only in her early twenty's but already jaded, just gave me a knowing smile. i felt stupid for asking.
after the commotion, with the woman muttering cuss words as she left, another woman approached two tourists (who looked middle eastern too, big bellies, beard and all) who were smoking shisha.
"women sir? young and beautiful." the two men nodded excitedly.
a few minutes later, the  fat, dwarfish pimp, her face covered with thick make up, was back with two good looking ladies, who turned out to be transexuals. but for the untrained eye, they looked like real women - long black shiny hair, smooth, white complexion, huge breasts covered with tiny dresses (one was white with red polka dots and the other one was plain bloody red). the two "girls" joined the two men on the table. they talked. from the distance, i could not hear anything. but one of the "girls" showed her left breast ("she" was not wearing a bra) to one of the men and let him touch it. the breast was full, firm, seductive. the man cupped it hungrily. lustily. the "girl" laughed. then he put his other hand in between "her" legs. that elicited a loud laughter from the two "girls".
a few  minutes later, the two men asked for their bill. then they left with their new playmates. the men held the "ladies" tightly, as though they were their most prized possessions.

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all of these at one in the afternoon. i felt like i was in castro district in san fro, where bars were open all day, all night. there were peep shows too. i don't know if it's still the same today. the last time i was there was more than a decade ago, and i was amazed at the attractive young men in short denim pants, muscle shirts walking, standing on the sidewalks. some holding hands, others kissing. luvly!

$$$$$$$

then tobi (please click here to read about her story), the "star" of the area, approached me. by now, she was familiar with me. "sir, pahingi naman pangkain lang." then she rubbed her tiny, flat stomach covered by a dirty, tight blue shirt. "gutom na gutom na po ako."

"bakit di ka magtrabaho ulit? i asked her.
"ayaw nila sa akin. pangit na kasi ako."
i nodded my head. the guard suddenly appeared and tried to shoo her away, i stopped him. i gave tobi a few bucks and told her to make sure she would use the money to buy food and not drugs.
"opo sir."
then she left, whistling some songs i wasn't familiar with.
"buti pa si tobi madaling kumita ng pera," i heard one of the escort girls told her pimp.
"ah ganun? gusto mo mamalimos na rin? the pimp said, a bit loudly.
"hindi naman."
then they left.

*******

another day, another scene in the street that never sleeps.
i wonder when will everyone wake up from this nightmare?