Written 04/06. 4PM. Gabriel Briones. HDPP
tranchemate. 46 years old. Gay. Funny.
Sweet. Malambing. Encouraging. Sexy, well-modulated, deep baritone voice.
Cebuano.
I haven’t seen Gabby for quite some time. It bothered me that he left HDPP under a
cloud. Only learning of his immediate
resignation from another tranchemate. I’d get updates on him once in a while. From HSBC to eTel to APAC. My
memory as always is terrible. And right
now, I come up with snippets of what we shared together during training. Most of them funny because of the way he
talked. He used to be a DJ aka Gabby
Tango in the province. I believe it was
Home Radio – I could be wrong though… His alias just stuck. It wasn’t that he made grammatical
mistakes. Actually he never did. It was more of the care he used when he
delivered his lines in English, then he’d rattle off in Cebuano;p Sounds like something from a comedy
series. He chose ‘Girl from Ipanema’ as
the song we dedicated to our core trainer, Angie. Typical that it would be from his time=) Being the eldest in our batch has never made him
a bore. In fact, he was more than able
to blend in. Very flexible really. He was such a pleasant and endearing fellow. Sort of reminded me of British
gentlemen. I think that’s what grabbed
our attention especially cardmembers. There’s that genuine concern that comes across. Never rude – never that. Not the type to brush off a person in a brash
manner. Always had a compliment for you. Very encouraging when it came to my
studies. He’d often tell me that it’s
the right way to go and that he was studying Nursing before he went into the
radio business. He’d hang out with Daddy
Eric, Boom, Ardee and Dan I think. I
have to admit, I’m fond of the mature portion of our batch. There’s something about the old-timers
hehehe… I wasn’t a fresh grad when I
entered HSBC so the mindset tended to veer towards those who were more
experienced as far as careers are concerned. Hmm, thinking … remembering… recollecting… reminiscing… What else? Being gay was a plus factor otherwise he would’ve come off as staid or
lecherous. He’d compliment the way I’d
dress up saying that it was sexy; then ask who the lucky lover was for
tonight. Haha, ang kulit niya
talaga… Sigh, I miss him.
Three days ago, Gabby died of a heart attack. He was in his apartment. He knocked on the
door of the next room. Neighbor didn’t immediately open it. When Neighbor did, he found Gabby lying inside his room. Three guys rushed him to the hospital. One of them telling Gabby to fight then later
on said that if he was suffering to just rest. I think it is safe to conclude that Gabby went for the latter
suggestion. He was pronounced DOA when
they got to the hospital. I came from
the wake just this afternoon. Strangely
enough, I didn’t feel heaviness in my heart. The shock of his loss had come off after hearing it a few hours from the
incident. His friends from HSBC were the
ones who rushed him so we got news quickly. After what happened to Chep, I dunno… I was stunned… was quiet for the
rest of my shift but functioning normally. My teammate Lene rattled on as she normally does… I guess that’s how she handles sadness. Anyway, going back to this afternoon – Dada, Nikki, Mark, Eric and I went to
Funeraria Filipinas after lunch. We found
his cousin just awakened on one of the pews. Turns out Gabby’s mom and twin bro just went home to get lunch and a
shower. We chatted for almost an hour;
then Nikki, Dada and Mark left since Nikki’s baby boy was already looking for
her. I felt I had to stay and wait for Gabby’s mom and twin bro. After a few minutes, they arrived. Gabby’s mom looked quite young for her
age. Ernie, Gabby’s twin, looked younger
than Gabby. I guess it must be from lack
of stress. I hear he’s not working –
recuperating from a heart attack that happened two years ago. I got to chatting with Gabby’s mom, who
struck me as quite as charming as her son with a strong will and healthy
disposition. Unlike in the case of
Chep’s mom where I almost broke down, I was bent on putting a smile on my face
and talk about fond memories of Gabby. In turn she gave me quite a history on how Gabby got to where he was. The challenges and the setbacks. How he has made a fresh start in the call
center industry. She was quite
distressed on how she handled a previous conversation they had, having some
suspicions on what Gabby was doing when he stopped working at HSBC… I assured her that it wasn’t the case. Tita said that’s what all the others told her
and she was terribly grieved at being too late to tell Gabby that she was
sorry. From intuition, I told her that
Gabby knew in his heart she only had the best intentions for him. It’s not much but I hope it helped. I was still in an okay mood till I got into
my room and finished a short novel. Couldn’t sleep even if I had a shift later on. Felt I had to write about this. This is the time when melancholy sort of
envelopes you and that feeling that despite the knowledge that your friend is
in good hands, there’s that sense of permanency in death. No chance of meeting up again and singing
videoke at Eric’s place in Laguna. Friends, they come and go. Youth
has a way of taking death for granted. We
tend to think it’s too far off… then you turn around and it just bites you in
the ass when you least expect it.
Gabby’s remains will be flown off to Cebu on April 11. I dunno if I’ll be going back to the funeral
parlor. Today will probably be the first
and last time I’ll pay my respects. I
just pray that Gabby is in a place where there’s peace and happiness. No worries to cloud the mind and burden the
heart. Just good old melodies playing on
while he deejays for God in His heavenly abode.
