Episode 12 - The one with the Séance

Episode 12 -  The one with the Séance

Aired on Wednesday, February 29th, UAE  (Leap Year!)

Sharina is a church lector, speaking about the celebrations of the Feast of Sto. Rosario and the procession that is to follow later that day.  Father thanks Sharina especially for caring for the image, “inayos, nilinis, inalagaan” while the image was in her workshop, then gives the final blessings.  The good priest and the lector share a smile, thankful that despite the robbery, the image has been restored and returned in time for the procession.  [Si Kuya Bodjie ng Batibot, Father na! hehehehe If you are of that generation, you know Kuya Bodjie, Ate Sienna, Pong Pagong and Kikong Matsing! Yes, those were the days…]

Benjie is walking home.  Sharina in church sings along with everyone celebrating mass.  As she does so, she recalls her moments with Benjie.  Benjie is stopped by Gimo who hits him in the face, accusing him of taking the image back, “Ikaw kumuha sa Santo no?”

Lucy and Monica at in the home of someone who can talk to the spirits, an ‘espiritista’ and Junic is also there.  Both Monica and Junic are hopeful that they can finally communicate with one another.  The house though looks a bit eerie prompting both girls to comment, “Mukhang totoong multo ata nakatira ditto,” that maybe real ghosts do live in the place.  The espiritista comes out, and boy does she look scary!  She immediately calls Lucy by name with surprises the young lady thinking that this woman could indeed be gifted, and the real deal.  However the woman gives herself away admitting she knows Lucy because she sells coffee in the market.

Lucy introduces Monica, that her boyfriend recently got killed and she wants to be able to talk to his spirit.  The espiritista introduces herself as Madam Concha.  She tells them that she feels that a cold wind has come with them.  Many believe that if you suddenly feel a cold wind, that could be the spirit of someone trying to get close to you.   Junic wonders whether Madam Concha could really feel his presence and asks, “Naramdaman nyo ako?”  But again, the weird Madam Concha gives herself away by stating that the wind could have just come from the open door, letting the cold wind come in.  She tells them to close the door and follow her but not before she asks for her deposit.  The girls comply and follow Madam Concha into her house.

Gimo is seething with anger and Benjie has no recourse but to admit what he had  done telling Gimo that he only did the right thing. “Ginawa ko lang kung ano ang tama.”

Gimo is incensed at Benjie’s admittance.  He reminds his friend that since childhood, this is all they ever do, “Bata pa lang tayo, ganito na Gawain natin.”  He asks Benjie  what’s the root of all this change, a woman whom Benjie fancies, “Dahil sa isang babae, tatraydurin mo kami?” a woman who because of her, he is willing to betray his oldest friends?  Gimo moves to land more punches onto Benjei but fortunately, baddie friend arrives and stops them from more fighting, calling for them to drink instead.  Since some barangay tanods are there, Gimo doesn’t want any more trouble and sits with Benjie and baddie friend although he is obviously still pissed at losing such a prize as the image of the Sto. Rosario.

Madam Concha asks for the name of the spirit they want to contact.  Monica replies, “Junic Tablante.”  They hold hands while keeping their eyes closed.  Madam Concha starts babbling incoherent words that sound really scary, prompting Monica to open her eyes and watch but the older woman commands her to close her eyes. “Pikit!”

Modam Concha calls, “Nasaan ka Junic Tablante?” Junic asking for him to be present at their séance.  Junic answers, “Nandito po ako”  that he is just there with them. 

Madam Concha confirms that she can indeed feel Junic’s presence in the room, “ Naririnig ko na siya.  Nararamdaman ko, nandito na siya.”  This excites both Monica and Junic, the former eager to speak to her love and the latter finally being able to talk to his fiancée.  Monica urges the woman to talk to Junic.  Then asks what Junic is saying.  Junic tells Monica that he loves him very much.

Madam Concha tells the girls that Junic wants Monica to know that he is fine, wherever he is right now. “Nasa mabuting kalagayan.”  But Junic protests seeing the woman as a fake.  He tells her that is not what he just said. “Hindi yan ang sinabi ko!”

Monica still unaware of the woman’s pretense tells Junic that she won’t stop until they find whoever it is that shot Junic and bring him to justice.  Junic by this time is angry at the falsehood of Madam Concha calls her a fake, “Peke ka!”

Madam Concha is not only a fake but a greedy woman as well who thinks she can continue conning Monica and Lucy by encouraging them, as per Junic’s instructions, to donate some more to the third eye.  Here Monica starts to get suspicious.  “Sinabi nya yon?” Monica asks for clarifications on what Junic exactly said.

Undeterred Madam Concha said yes, and that Junic thinks espiritistas like her are important instruments for mortals to talk with their dead.   But when she asks for more donations, Monica got the picture.  Junic, unheard by the women continue to protest, advising Monica not to believe a thing Madam Concha is saying.  In her blabberings, Madam Concha got caught, she mistakenly said “nakasaksak” referring to Junic having been stabbed but of course he wasn’t, he was shot and a disappointed Monica tells her so.

But Madam Concha quickly recovers her blunder saying she meant to say, “binaril” but now the doubtful Monica aks where exactly, in which part of the body did Junic get shot.  Madam Concha feigns that the spirit is fading, leaving and she could no longer hear it.  But Monica is now indignant claiming that Madam Concha is just conning them. 

Ginella is keeping Nelson company and she enjoys spending time with the handsome young man.  She tells Nelson that she joined the church choir before and that she has a nice voice and hopes that Nelson would go sing along with her, maybe go out for karaoke.  But Sharina is back from Church and tells Nelson the good news about the return of the stolen image.  She asks whether Nelson had anything to do with it, “Baka naman may kinalaman ka?”  The young man denies it and Ginella who is still there trying to catch Nelson’s attention comments that perhaps it is Benjie who had something to do with the loss and the return of the statue.

Lola Inday attends to Benjies bruises who keeps wincing in pain.  She tells her grandson what had come to him to double cross Gimo who is as cold-blooded when it comes to dealing with traitors. “Halang ang bituka noon!”  Pepay insists, that is not Benjie but no one seems to be listening to her.  When Lola Inday asks why Benjie returned the statue, he tells them he only did the right thing.  “Ginawa ko lang ang tama.”

Lola Inday gets upset.  She asks him, when did doing good ever do them any good?  She reminds her grandsons that she is ok with what they are doing, the stealing and the illegal dealing so long as they do not get caught and it brings food on the table. 

Benjie offers he can go find a job.  Earn his keep in a decent way.  He tells them of his new job as a sculptor.

Sharina and Desa discuss the mystery that is Benjie.  Sharina is confused.  Why is the portrait belong to Lily, the exact replica of the actual man that is now her sculptor?  Desa reasons that there are really people who look alike even if they are not related.  Perhaps they were made from one mould.  Like her, she does look a bit like Angelina Jolie, she declares.  Sharina is even more shocked, “Ano?”  Sharina tells her friend to stop joking around.  Desa teases her, that one one thing is sure:  Sharina is falling for her hunky new sculptor.

Lola Inday insists Benjie is not a sculptor.  But Benjie tells her it’s easy to do.  Rico wonders what Sharina is feeding his brother causing him to act like a lovesick puppy so out of his character.  Pepay again interjects that the man before them is not her kuya Benjie to which no one even takes note.

But while Desa is teasing her friend, she also warns her to be careful.  Benjie is a stranger and since no one knows him well enough, they, particularly Sharina should be very careful.

Monica walks out of Madam Concha’s house shouting that she is a con artist, “Manloloko kayo!”  Lucy tries to get back what they paid but Madam Concha reminds them of her ‘no return, no exchange’ policy to which they had earlier agreed.   Monica cries out her frustration, telling the older woman that she shouldn’t be toying with people’s feelings like this.  “Pinaglalaruan ninyo ang damdamin ng mga namatayan.”

Madam Concha retorts, they only have themselves to blame for being so gullible.  “Kasalanan nyo, nagpaloko kayo.”  But she heartlessly adds, “Patay na nobyo mo, din a sya babalik kahit kelan”  your boyfriend is dead.  He is no longer coming back.  Monica cries harder, defeated and hopeless.  She runs out of the house to the streets.  Lucy runs after her.

Monica rushes out, and in her hurry almost fell over the bridge towards the river.  Lucy and Junic, see what she is doing and think that she is trying to kill herself.  Lucy panics, calling to Monica to not jump over and kill herself.  Monica’s bag got tangled with the railings but she is able to free it.  She tells Lucy she wasn’t planning on killing herself though it got quite close.  She asks her friend that they should stop doing all this, “itigil na natin ito.”  She had grown tired and felt used by Madam Concha, being the final straw, in making Monica realize that perhaps once the dead are gone, there is no way to contact them.  When they leave, it’s final.  That’s it.  Perhaps they are just fooling themselves into believing the lies.  She feels really depressed as Lucy tries to comfort her.

Emie stalks Benjie who is with Lola Inday.  She reminds her grandson that he and Gimo go way back, since they were kids and that whatever it is that is between them, perhaps if they talked about it, they would be able to fix it.  “Ano man ang problema, napag-uusapan.”

She adds that she doesn’t care about morals and doing good so long as there is food on the table.  “Di ko naman hinihingi na maging marangal kayo.  Ang importante, may pagkain tayo sa lamesa.”  Benjie ignores this bit of request and tells his grandmother that he is off to work, as a sculptor.   He leaves a puzzled Lola Inday who only tells him to take care, “Ingat.”  Emie who is a few paces behind is keen on following Benjie in the hope to discover who his new love interest is.  “Ngayon ko malalaman kung sino ang babae mo.”

Sharina is lifting a heavy statue when Benjie arrives.  He insists on carrying it for her.  “Sharina, ako na dyan.”  Emie walks in on this scene, Benjie and Sharina close to one another, transferring the weight of the statue from her to him and she jumps to the easiest conclusion, yelling she has found Benjie out, “Sinasabi ko na nga ba na may babae ka!”  Surprised, Benjie could only repeat her name, “Emie?”  who straightaway went for Sharina, pulling her hair off and slapping her, “Walang hiya kang babae ka, jowa ko yang kinakalantari mo!” 

Emie stops them, well Emie only really as Sharina didn’t even try to defend herself, caught in such shock.  Nelson sees the scene and runs to defend Sharina. 

Lola Inday asks Rico to speak to his brother who seems to be losing it.  Rico asks where Benjie is and Lola Inday tells him that Benjie left early to be at work, as a sculptor.  Rico scratches his head, admitting he’d already talked to his older brother about  his change of attitude.  Both Lola Inday and Rico are afraid of what the future holds for them.  How will they survive on a sculptor’s monthly salary?  Rico assures her Lola that he is going to speak to Gimo.  He told her they are already planning their next hit and he is part of the team now.  Lola Inday reminds her grandson to be careful  as now, the old woman can only rely on Rico. 

Benjie catches up with an upset Emie and he tells her Sharina is not her girlfriend but her boss.  Emie starts to make some drama about how she denies her customers the ‘happy ending” when they request for it in her job as respect for what they have.

Desa is at Sharina’s having just heard Sahrina and Nelsons version of Emie attacking Sharina.  Desa asks who the lady was and a sad and terribly shaken Sharina replies that the woman claims to be Benjie’s girlfriend.

Benjie asks Emie why she had to do that, make a scene and hurt Sharina.  Emie replies that she is only fighting for what is hers and that she won’t be fooled by any more lies coming out of Benjie’s mouth.  Benjie asks when Emie is acting so proprietory when they do not even have a relationship.  To this Emie is further incensed.  How can they have no relationship?  Has Benjie lost his mind?  “Ano akala mo sa akin?  Laruan?  Na basta na lang itatapon kapag pinagsawaan na?”  Does Benjie consider her as nothing but a toy he can easily discard after he’d had his fun?

Benjie tells Emie that perhaps it is best if they are not in a relationship.  He calls it off, not really understanding what it is they have, Emie and him.  He walks back to Sharina’s.  Emie tries to call him to come back but her kept walking.  Poor Emie.  [Not really, LOL!]

Desa is now not liking Benjie as much after what she has learned.  “May girlfriend naman pala yon”  She continues that they don’t really know Benjie well enough, not like Nelson whom they’ve known for many years.  Nelson adds, that he has no other woman, and only has eyes for one, Sharina. “Ako, walang ibang babae, si Sharina lang.”  Earning a huge smile from Desa but not so much from Sharina who seems to be thinking about Benjie at that very moment.

Benjie returns to Sharina’s and is looking for her when he sees the portrait of himself.  He is caught by surprise by the uncanny resemblance and starts to recall pieces from his past.  His punishment and fall from grace.

Abangan:  The real manlililok arrives.  Benjie remembers who he truly is (or what…), “Ako si Arlan.  Isa akong sundo.”