Archie of Coke

When his eldest was born, Archie could not contain his happiness. He was so full of enthusiasm for his little girl that he’d rather stayed with her for the rest of the time. Such awesome feeling happened two more times by the birth of yet another girl, and another baby boy.

Archie’s work as a delivery driver is not enough to support a growing family. He knew this even before he decided to tie the knot with his wife, a domestic helper escapee. Even prior to this, his mere ambition was to return to the Philippines 10x richer compared to his status previous to his Saudi job. But being a driver could not guarantee fulfillment of that ambition.

Being young, fresh and in slim shape then, he used his body to advance this ambition. He became the buzzword among gays and bi’s in Saudi. Then one funny day, he met this Arab guy who promised him regular allowance in exchange of his faithfulness. Archie thought of the bargain as “convenient” and on the right track to his dream. And so he agreed to a “live-in” arrangement.

For a while, it seemed that Archie was on-top of everything. He was able to purchase a subdivision lot in the country and build a house therein. He was so high on his successes and acquired wealth that he even agreed to undergo a gay ceremonial marriage.

But the period of milk and honey was cut short when the Arab man finally wed a woman of his kind. He swore it was only in honor of family and tradition, but does not wish to terminate whatever it is between them. Nevertheless, Archie’s regular allowance was severely affected; he had to settle only with what the Arab lover can spare or “barya barya lang”.

When Archie met the mother of his kids, he thought it would signal the breaking-off the relationship with the Arab. But no! Instead, the Arab is constantly threatening Archie that if he decides to do so, an appropriate action would be taken against his wife.

And so, Archie could only beg for mercy, come at the right time at a designated place and fulfill the whims and instructions of the Arab guy.

In the meantime, Archie had to be contended with looking at the faces his children. And whenever he does so, he realizes that it is only a matter time before he can summon all his strengths and start a fight.

Indeed, threats of the future are products of what we hold today.

(you can find the same entry at the journal section of pic-link.com)