Patron Saints of Nothing

by Randy Ribay

It sounds super defensive, but it’s true. I’m not sure what I want to do. For some reason, that’s not okay. Everyone acts like seventeen-year-olds who don’t have their career path mapped out are wasting their lives.

She takes another deep breath. “Duterte.” I wait for her to say more. Mom blinks. “Rodrigo Duterte? President of the Philippines?” I know she’s waiting for understanding to dawn on my face, so I look down, feeling like a fool. “You don’t know about him? About the drug war?”

“He won by a landslide.”

No, he did not.

Tito Danilo thinks it’s not the church’s job. Tita Chato believes there’s nothing to be done. Tito Maning actively assists in these murders. And Dad doesn’t care.