Pork Empanada
Katipunan Avenue
PORK EMPANADA by Tony Perez (from his story collection Eros, Thanatos, Cubao, Cacho Publishing House, 1994)
Translated into English by Jessica Zafra
Do you go to Katipunan often?
You’ve probably seen Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers, beside the new Cravings, near Lily of the Valley Beauty & Grooming Salon. If you’ve seen it, then you’ve probably seen Bototoy.
Monday through Saturday Bototoy climbs the winding path from Barangka to the service gate behind Ateneo Grade School, along with his father who works as a maintenance man at the school, and his playmates Nono, Itoc, and Radny. Most of the kids who climb the path stop at the wide covered court of the College, beside Our School, near the Observatory, where they wait for the badminton and tennis players to call for ballboys. Bototoy doesn’t stop there. He walks to Gate 2, which is quite far, and crosses Katipunan Avenue to sit on the concrete island in front of Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers.
Do you remember him?
Bototoy is six years old. His head is shaved except for a clump of hair above his forehead. His eyes are round and lively. His cheeks are round, too, he’s always smiling, and he has rabbity front teeth. He wears T-shirts, shorts, and Happy Feet sandals that are always faded and too big for him, because they’re hand-me-downs from his older siblings.
Bototoy is small, so he doesn’t hang around the covered court. He’s always beaten to the ballboy jobs by Nono and Itoc and Radny and the other kids from Barangka who are quicker and much taller than he is. That’s how he wound up in front of Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers one day, and there he decided to be a watch-your-car boy. Each kid has his own turf, some in front of Shakey’s and Jollibee and McDonald’s and Kentucky’s, some in the other parts of Katipunan, where lots of cars were parked. Although few cars stopped in front of Frankie’s, Bototoy was content—even if sometimes he didn’t get even five centavos for watching someone’s car,
PORK EMPANADA by Tony Perez (from his story collection Eros, Thanatos, Cubao, Cacho Publishing House, 1994)
Translated into English by Jessica Zafra
Do you go to Katipunan often?
You’ve probably seen Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers, beside the new Cravings, near Lily of the Valley Beauty & Grooming Salon. If you’ve seen it, then you’ve probably seen Bototoy.
Monday through Saturday Bototoy climbs the winding path from Barangka to the service gate behind Ateneo Grade School, along with his father who works as a maintenance man at the school, and his playmates Nono, Itoc, and Radny. Most of the kids who climb the path stop at the wide covered court of the College, beside Our School, near the Observatory, where they wait for the badminton and tennis players to call for ballboys. Bototoy doesn’t stop there. He walks to Gate 2, which is quite far, and crosses Katipunan Avenue to sit on the concrete island in front of Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers.
Do you remember him?
Bototoy is six years old. His head is shaved except for a clump of hair above his forehead. His eyes are round and lively. His cheeks are round, too, he’s always smiling, and he has rabbity front teeth. He wears T-shirts, shorts, and Happy Feet sandals that are always faded and too big for him, because they’re hand-me-downs from his older siblings.
Bototoy is small, so he doesn’t hang around the covered court. He’s always beaten to the ballboy jobs by Nono and Itoc and Radny and the other kids from Barangka who are quicker and much taller than he is. That’s how he wound up in front of Frankie’s Steaks and Burgers one day, and there he decided to be a watch-your-car boy. Each kid has his own turf, some in front of Shakey’s and Jollibee and McDonald’s and Kentucky’s, some in the other parts of Katipunan, where lots of cars were parked. Although few cars stopped in front of Frankie’s, Bototoy was content—even if sometimes he didn’t get even five centavos for watching someone’s car,