Episode 9 – The one with the butterfly

Episode 9 – The one with the butterfly

Aired in the UAE on 24^th February 2012

So Emie works as a massage therapist in a spa for men when her customer asks her for a “happy ending” leading one to discern that this is one of those kinds of massage parlours, the rather shady, seedy kind.  Emie refuses telling her customer that she’s off duty and leaves with a really disappointed dirty old man crying for her, “sandali lang!”

Monica is talking with Sharina about the robbery the night before and although she doesn’t agree with their aunt, somehow the idea of closing the workshop is something that she’d also want if it meant that they will be safe from future break-ins due to priceless relics being brought to be fixed in the workshop, that are getting robbed all the time.  She wondered how the robbers had found out that the real image was in the shop and not at church as everyone believes. 

Sharina is still adamant to keep the workshop going.  She made a promise to Lily and it’s not really that all the statues in there are worth any fortune, most are made of wood. 

Monica is simply worried that what happened to Junic could happen to her sister.  But Sharina assure her that is isn’t going yet as she still had her little sister to look after, “Di pa ki kukunin, kailangan mo pa ako.” Monica says it seems Sharina had had near-death experiences of her own of late but had somehow found a way to keep alive, perhaps with some help from above, “Malakas ka kay Lord.”

Sharina sees Monica taking out some photos and asks what she’s doing with them.  Monica says they’re pictures of Junic.  She puts one, still in a frame under her pillow.  She said that most people believed that if you want to dream about someone, you only need to put a photo of them under your pillow and you will have them visit you in your dreams.  Monica so badly wants to see Junic, “Gusto ko siya makita, kahit sa panaginip lang,” even if only in her dreams.

Arlan now Benjie (Arben) recalls what happened the night before.  He sees the girl and when she fell after Gimo hitting her, he seems to remember to have seen her before.

As he was thinking Emie sneaks into a small window to Arben’s bedroom and starts to hug and kiss him but he pushes her away.  This angers Emie as this isn’t the first time Arben had done this, like he doesn’t want her anymore. “ano ba problema mo?  Nung isang araw ka pa ah!  Tinatanggihan mo ko?  Parang hindi ikaw ang Benjieng kilala ko!” Emie shouts at him like he’s no longer the Benjie she knew, having refused her when in a flashback we see how Benjie wants Emie so badly.

Emie suspects Benjie of having another woman.  “Siguro may babae ka no? Sino?” She asks who but Arben remains quiet and threatens that if she found he’d been cheating on her, she’d really cut him. “Huwag na huwag kang papahuli at puputulan talaga kita!” [Lorena Bobbit sure set a trend!]

Emie walks out through the bedroom door and enters the common room where Lola Inday, Rico and even Pepay had been listening all along.  Everyone pretends to be doing something else with Rico pretending to be swatting cockroaches.  Emie looks at them and wordlessly leaves.

Rico and Arben are eating.  Rico reproaches his older brother for angering Emie, “Ikaw naman kasi kuya, alam mo naman na masama magalit si Ate Emie.”

But Arben is immune to concerns for Emie and only thinks of the woman from the night before, wondering how she is.  “Kumusta na kaya yung babae dun sa kagabi?”  Rico gives up knowing that his kuya had fallen and hard for that girl, “May tama ka.”

Emie is still seething and she’s home with her teenaged sister [played by Ynna Assistio] who is still in school uniform.  She’s swearing that if she does catch Benjie having an affair, she will really let him have it.  The sister asks her why does she continue to agonize over one guy when there’s lots of men out there.  But Emie says she’s in love with Benjie and her sister doesn’t get it because she’s never been in love yet. 

Back with the brothers, Arben tells Rico that he wants to go see the girl.  Just to make sure that she’s OK.  But Rico tells him it’s a bad idea to return to the scene of the crime.  “Baka mahuli ka.  Gusto mo ba makulong?”  He tells Arben that it’s dangerous and he could get caught.

Emies sister promises her that when she does choose one to fall for, she’s not choosing another poor man like them.  Emie agrees, after all this was the reason she was sending her sister to a good school so she can catch bigger fishes.  “Aba dapat lang at hindi ako nagpapakahirap sa ginagawa ko para matulad ka lang sa akin.” She didn’t want her sister to end up like her. [Oh how noble of Emie. ]

Sharina accompanied by Desa goes to the church to tell the parish priest that they had lost the image.  Before entering, they see the float that will carry the image being decorated by the women with flowers.  She asked one of the ladies if there ever was a time when the image of the Sto. Rosario did not accompany the procession and the lady couldn’t imagine such a thing as it has never happened before.  She added the people would be greatly disappointed and distressed if their patron saint wasn’t in the procession.  This leaves Sharina with a bigger burden to bear realizing the importance of said image.

Arben is actually near the church as Sharina and Desa were at the same time.  Had the two girls not been busy with their cellphones, Sahrina would have seen Arlan, with shorter hair.  But before Arlan too could look Sharina’s way, he gets distracted by baddie friend, asking him what he is doing there.  He invites Arben to the cockfight (sabong)  indicating that it’s one of Arben’s favorite gambling vices but to his surprise, Arben declines.  “Nag-iba ka na talaga.”  He left Arben to himself.

Sharina is now talking to the priest but before she could tell him her problem, he goes on about how thankful he is for Sharina taking on the work on the image as Lily had done in the past.  He is happy that she kept the workshop open and is confident that her work in the image would be as splendid as Lily’s.  At this, Sharina can no longer bear to tell the truth, not strong enough to break the good priest’s heart and maybe his confidence in her as well.  She keeps the loss of the image a secret and leaves with the same burden she had before, but maybe now a lot more heavier to bear after what the lady and the priest had shared to her.

Junic touches the head of the sleeping Monica telling her that he’d been with her all night and kept watch over her, “Kung alam mo lang, nandito ako palagi.”  Monica wakes with a start, perhaps feeling his presence?  But she takes Junic’s photo from under her pillow and said in a dismayed manner that this practice, it doesn’t seem to work as well.  “Ginagawa ko naman lahat para mapanaginipan ka pero hindi pa rin kita mapanaginipan.”

Junic assures her that everything is alright.  That he will always be beside her.  “Buong gabi kitang binabantayan.  Di ako umaalis sa tabi mo.”  Still Monica is distraught and cries, missing Junic so much.

Rico in a pedicab (a bicycle with a sidecar) calls out to Lizette.  It’s Emie’s younger sister and it seems Rico has a liking for her like Benjie likes Emie.  He offers to pick her up later but Lizette refuses to go with him as he is so cheap.  She shoos him away fearing her friends will see her talking to him.  But Rico tells her that he, despite being poor is better looking that her friends, “Mas gwapo naman ako sa mga kaibigan mo.” 

Lizette agrees she’s handsome but he is terribly poor and she can’t give him what she wants.  When Rico asks her, she says she wants a cell phone.  But not just any cellphone but an iphone.  Rico asks her when he is able to give her an iphone, would she be his girl to which she agrees.  “Sasaguting kita kapag binigyan mo ako ng iphone.”  Rico assures her that he’ll see her later with the phone and she’ll be his sweetheart. 

Sharina stops her aunt Elsa from cleaning telling her she’ll do it herself and that her aunt should go and rest.  Monica comes and asks her where she’s been all morning and why she left the house early.  Sharina tells her of her visit to the church and her talk with the priest.    Elsa remains to hear the rest of the story when Sharina decides she’ll tell father the truth and use whatever money she has to pay for the lost image.  Elsa was quick to voice out her objections telling admonishing this stupidity of her niece, “tanga ka ba?” 

Sharina explains she feels responsible as the image got robbed while it was under her care.  As if this wasn’t enough troubles, Mang Tino, Lily’s main sculptor tells Sharina he is leaving.  He’d been wanting to open a workshop of his own for years and wants to do it now.  Sharina begs him to reconsider, but the old man is keen to start a business of his own yet assures Sharina that the new sculptor who is arriving, the one he recommended is going to do a splendid job.  Sharina has no choice but to concede.

At this new turn of events, Elsa pushes for the closure of the shop.  “Gawin na lang nating parlor” and even proposes to manage it, “ako magpapatakbo”, to which Monica intervenes that now Elsa true plans are coming to the surface, “So lumabas din ang totoo.”  Monica knows their aunt likes the parlor.  But Elsa continues to convince Sharina that instead of giving all that money to the church, use it to start a new business. 

Monica snaps at their aunt, reminding Sharina at the same time that it’s her money and she can do whatever she wants with it.  Elsa tells Sharina to talk to Monica, who has seem to have forgotten her manners.  “Kausapin mo ang kapatip mo, nawawalan na ng paggalang” and leaves.

Monica asks Sharina why she lets their aunt talk to her like that?  She insists that it is time she voices out her opinions and tell them what she really wants.  Afterall she owns the house and should be the one calling the shots.  Sharina tells her passionate younger sister to calm down and not let anger get the better of reason.  She reminds her what happened to their father who died when both he and the woman couldn’t resolve their problems without anger. [di naman galit si pudra that time ah, aaccident lang talaga…]

Lizette is with her friends all seemingly rich kids with the latest gadgets.  They ask her who it was she had been talking to earlier and she dismisses Rico as just a stranger asking for directions.  She acts like she’s one of them, a rich kid as well and craves for an expensive coffee.  As one of her friends calls her driver, they see that she’s got the latest iphone making Lizette all the more envious.

Arben is at Sharina’s house.  The gates are closed and he stands by the wall looking very much like a stalker.  How does he enter and see the girl?

Inside in the gardens, Monica is walking in deep thought and comes upon a butterfly.  One of the most common beliefs of people is that when someone dies, and you see a butterfly, it’s the spirit of the one who just died.  So Monica talks to the butterfly asking it whether it is Junic’s spirit.  What she doesn’t know is that Junic’s spirit is right beside her, looking at the same butterfly.  “Junic, ikaw ba itong papru-paro?  Binabantayan mo ba ako?”  

Junic replies to an unhearing Monica that it’s not him.  “Hindi ako yang paru-paro pero lagi kitang binabantayan Monica.”  Although he is always watching over her.

Junic’s mother arrives and knocks at the gate calling for Monica.  Monica opens it and the older woman tells her she’s going to the police station.  They have some lead on Junic’s killers and Monica tells her she’s going with him.  They leave at once, leaving the gate ajar.  It’s Arben’s chance and he goes in.

Rico and baddie friend [sorry, still didn’t catch his name!] are walking in a mall.  Rico tells him about Lizette’s conditions for him to be her boyfriend.  Baddie friend now realizes why they are in the mall, so that Rico can buy Lizette an iphone.  But Rico corrects him.  They’re not buying one, they are going to steal one.  Looking around, Rico sees another young man fiddling with his iphone.  He points the man to baddie friend saying, “Bingo!”

Arben is inside Sharina’s house and he is in the workshop.  He looks at the statues, fingers one of the sculpting tools, puts it down, walks a few steps and looks at another statue.  He realizes what he’d just done was wrong, entering another’s house without permission is wrong.  “Parang mali yata yung ginawa kong pagpasok dito”  But he reasons with his conscience that he just wants to see the girl and make sure she’s alright. “Gusto ko malaman kung ayos ang lagay niya.”   But he hears some footsteps coming and dives underneath a long table.

It’s Sharina still with her problem, finding the stolen image.  “Anong gagawing ko?  Saan ko hahanapin?”  Where will she start looking for the lost image?  She looks at all the saints in the workshop and starts calling on them, “San Jose, San Martin, Sto Nino, Mama Mary…tulungan nyo ako, sana makita ko na yung santo.” 

She sees the statue of Saint Anthony, patron of lost things and calls for his help, “San Antonio, dib a kayo ang hinihingian ng tulog ng mga nawawala?  Tulungan nyo ako.”

Sharina stops, she sniffs.  She smells something different in the workshop.  “Amoy matamis, amoy bulaklak.”  She tries to look around for the source of the smell.  She sniffs, “amoy cake?” and looks under the table.  She feels something brush her leg and screams!  Suddenly, Arben stands up with a start and they’re standing face to face.  They have finally found each other!

Abangan – Elsa and Ginella, evil wicked bitches that they are tell father the truth of the lost image of Sto. Rosario.