Patron Saints of Nothing

by Randy Ribay

but what looks like police reports or documents—why Tito Maning would keep them at home and not at the station, I have no clue.

No genre savvy

I pull up a translation app on my phone

Dude just take a pic and get out

but which book was it under? Panicking, I tuck it away at random,

No genre savvy

Not what I expected from a sixteen-year-old girl.

U r 17

“I don’t want to talk about Kuya Jun,” she says, her tone suddenly icy. I notice Tomas glance at me again in the rearview mirror—then

Sje knows shes being observed

She draws a line in the air connecting Mia and me.

Huh i guess the one with the side shave is the straight one

Right before they turn the corner out of sight, Grace takes Jessa’s hand.

ask why most of the celebrities and models that grace the advertisements in the store windows are so fair-skinned, and she answers only with, “Colonialism.” Then there’s a lot of awkward silence.

Yeah thats dber than the buff chicken coment

They’re upside down, gathered in a corner.

Nooooo no tanks with corners for jellies for thisz exact reason!!!!

for some anime they’re both obsessed with about gay figure skaters.

Do not diss Yuri!!!!!

think for a moment. “What about the jellyfish?” “They’ll be okay. This happens often enough that the aquarium probably has a backup generator.”

Awwww this is the most empathetic jay has been

And I’m never going to find out what happened to my cousin if I don’t learn to talk, to ask difficult questions.

Bingo!

He says that per your uncle’s request, they located his son—”

“Every barangay captain is asked to keep a list of suspects for the authorities.” “How do they know the people on the list are guilty?” “They take the barangay captain’s word for it.”

“You could have told me you already knew how.” “Why did you assume I didn’t?”

Lol

everyone seems fine with Tita Chato and Tita Ines.” “You should hear what Tatay says about them now that they’re not around.” She laughs for some reason.

Thats called a bitter laugh

“Thank you, Kuya Jun.” I flinch. She stops short. “I mean—Kuya Jay.”

if he did give the order to kill Jun—then who knows what else he’s capable of.

it reminds me of this show my family used to watch together where these people race around the world in teams of two and complete crazy tasks.

Didnt get the rights to the greatest race

I wake in the middle of the night and immediately sense that there is someone in the room with me.

Arghhhhhh no wtf

to a reserved section near the front.

if God existed at all, it probably wasn’t in the way everyone assumed.

When my family stopped going, I didn’t tell anyone that it made me sad.

I had, however, already tried to sneak back into Tito Maning’s office, only to find the door locked.

after the country earned its full independence in 1946.

“The museum is not going anywhere,” Tita Ami says. “I bet the ancient Egyptians said that about the Library of Alexandria,” he says.

Lol - but also kinda implies he has xless faith in the gov than he'd likke to admit

We go around the statue of Lapu-Lapu—“He killed Magellan with a spear through the face,” Tito Maning notes proudly—and

Lol

“You can thank President Duterte. He understands how important it is for all of the people—from the richest to the poorest—to know and honor their history.” He looks down one of the quiet, nearly empty hallways, and then down another. “The only shame is that more do not take advantage of this great opportunity.”

“This is what they wanted us to forget.”

three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule—which he seems to despise, except for the fact they brought Christianity.

“What happened to Jun?” I ask quietly, trying to sound brave.

Art moves him to speak

Our country’s history is full of invading foreigners who thought they knew us better than we knew ourselves.

they have said nothing about how your government has propped up corrupt officials in the Philippines for years simply because they agreed to support US interests? Nothing about those officials taking money from foreign drug cartels to look the other way as they peddle their poison to our sisters and brothers, our daughters and sons?”

Making contraceptives free for all women, regardless of income?

They sensationalize the worst of what is happening here and ignore the best in order to sell copies or win awards.

“He was using drugs, Nephew. I found them in his room myself.

Not usimg - tryinjg to get his dads attention.

“And then he kicked you out just like he did his own son?” “Tito Maning said he gave Jun a choice. That Jun chose to leave?” Tita Chato shakes her head. “My brother is a liar. Just like the government that he serves. Never forget that.”

But your father . . . he doesn’t like to think about our troubles here so much. I think it makes him feel guilty,

For some reason, I’ve never thought about the guilt he carried across the ocean.

Jun was not lost to the streets—at least not at first.

So, he had someone searching for Jun, and he continued paying his private school fees. Why would Tito Maning do that?

Because people are complicated and often deeply ambivalent

In the letter, he is thanking us for letting him stay for so long, but he is saying it is time for him to go.

He may also have fwlt he wasnt far enough away from his dad

Or maybe Tito Maning was looking for Jun and knew adding him to the list would be a surefire way to locate him.”

hired someone privately.” There’s another possibility. One we’re all thinking. One we’re unwilling to say aloud. That Tito Maning thought Jun deserved to die.

She’s not all that different from Tito Maning. Though her words were delivered with more compassion, they were the same: I am not truly Filipino, so I don’t understand the Philippines.

doesn’t this transcend nationality? Isn’t there some sense of right and wrong about how human beings should be treated that applies no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak?

Thats not the same as transcending nationality

I’m kind of waiting for someone to ask me.” “Oh,” I said, trying to wrap my mind around the implication that I, in fact, was no one.

Hmm i read that as she's waiting for a specific other guy to ask her

Sierra went on to describe the girl I didn’t know in great detail,

Lol poor lara

A business card for a bookstore. There’s a number, an address, and the owner’s name. Strange there’s no website or email address.

We text for another half hour about nothing in particular before saying good night.

Lol thats way more sus than the murder investigation