Once we were close enough, Kelly and I both greeted her in Tagalog while she responded in English.
'It's been a long time since I was last in Manila, so if there is a place that you would like to recommend, or a place that you prefer, I would be more than happy to hear about it.' I told Marlyn.
'There are several places near here that would be fine. Do you have any preference?'
Kelly told her 'I loved the chicken adobo we had on the plane; so I'd like to try some more Filipino food, if you don't mind.'
Marlyn smiled, and said 'I don't mind, at all. Too many of the visitors I work for want to go to restaurants that feature their food, so I seldom get to go to the better Filipino restaurants. I know just the place, and it is right on the next block over.'
Kelly and I both voiced our agreement, and Marlyn started for the door, then stopped and turned around. Kelly looked at her quizzically, and Marlyn told us 'Dan, I am sure you know what to watch out for, but I think I must tell Kelly. Tonight, in the dress you are wearing, you don't have to worry about it so much, but any time you are wearing *anything* with pockets, you have to watch out for the children. Many of them are pickpockets, and will steal from you. You will also see people begging. No one will stop you from giving them money, but I have to warn you that many of them are not as disfigured or poor as they look. I know that Dan will be watching out for you, and so will I. But if anything happens, and you find yourself separated from us, do not let anyone try to help you – just stay where you are, in a public place, and one of us will find you. Never, ever go into a dark place without one of us with you. You are an American tourist, and it is not likely that anyone will bother you very much, except to try and sell you things for too much money; but sometimes, things happen. What is your expression? Oh, yes – better safe than sorry.'
Kelly immediately looked at me, and I told her 'She's right. Remember what I told you before?' – she nodded, and I went on 'Now think about what it really means, and you'll understand. You don't have to be afraid, just careful, okay?'
Kelly looked at both of us, and told us 'I'll do exactly what you say.'
Marlyn smiled in reassurance as she told Kelly 'Please, I don't mean to frighten you. I only want to make sure that you stay safe, and enjoy your time here.'
Kelly smiled back, and Marlyn turned to lead the way to the restaurant.
As she'd said, it was on the next block, though at the far end. Between the hotel and the restaurant, we were swarmed by a small army of children. As predicted, they tried to pick my pocket; I was ready for them, having wrapped my wallet in several large rubber bands to give it extra friction before sticking it in my front pocket. It wasn't going anywhere without my noticing. We also saw several different varieties of beggars, and were accosted several times to make a purchase from a street vendor. Kelly stayed right next to me, and Marlyn impressed me by walking on the other side of her, so that the two of us provided protection for her. Entering the restaurant, it was as though we were passing from a combat zone into public park, the change was so dramatic.
The hostess at the restaurant told us that it would be several minutes before she could seat us, and told us that if we would leave our names, they would let us know in the bar when a table was ready. Marlyn had a brief conversation with her in Tagalog, and then told me 'They're busy tonight, so if you want to wait, you can get something to drink in the bar and they will come and get us.'
I told her that was fine with me, as did Kelly (who, I suspected, wasn't quite ready to run the street gauntlet again). Another brief conversation between Marlyn and the hostess, and Marlyn was leading us toward the bar. Inside, a waiter quickly guided us to a small but comfortable booth. I ordered a beer, while Kelly and Marlyn both settled on a Coke.
The waiter had the drinks on our table in short order, and Marlyn chatted with him for a moment before he left. When he was gone, she told us 'I just told him that we were waiting to eat. The drinks will be added to the meal.'
After we'd all had a sip of our drinks, Kelly turned to Marlyn and said 'I don't want to insult you or anything, but I'm curious to know where you learned English – you speak it very well; better than I do most of the time!', with a grin.
Marlyn smiled back, and said 'I graduated nursing school here, and worked at a hospital in Houston, Texas for almost two years. It was there that I learned English so well.'
Kelly stared at her, and asked 'You're a nurse?'
'Yes, I was. A Registered Nurse, working in the emergency room at the hospital.'
'You said 'was'. You're not a nurse any more?'
'No, not now. There was a problem at the hospital, and I had to come back here.'
'If you don't mind my asking, what happened?'
Marlyn got a sad look on her face, and told us 'I was working one night when we were very busy. An ambulance brought in a young boy, and all of the doctors were very busy with other patients, so one of them told me to take care of him. I checked him, and realized that he was overdosing on drugs. I ran some tests, and found out what it was – heroin. I treated him for it, and got him stable, even after his heart stopped.
When I was done, I wrote in his records what I'd found, and what I'd done, just the way I was supposed to. The next day, I was called at home and told to come into the office immediately. I did, and was sent up to the hospital administrator's office. In there, there was a woman that the administrator told me was the young boy's mother. She was upset that I'd written down that her son had overdosed on heroin. I told the administrator what I'd found and how I'd known what was wrong with him.
The symptoms could only have been from a drug overdose, and the tests I did proved that it was an opiate, specifically heroin. One of the doctors that night was called in, and he verified my diagnosis. But the mother was the wife of an important person, and didn't want her son to have any record of any kind of drug usage. She insisted that I was wrong, and that the records be changed. I said that I wouldn't do that, and she got very angry. The administrator told me that I had done a good job, but that he thought I should change my diagnosis. I refused, saying that the tests I'd done, and the medications I'd used, would only be valid for a heroin overdose – that anyone who looked at those would know that my diagnosis was wrong. I told him that if they wanted to change all the records, they could, but that I wasn't going to change my diagnosis. He got upset with me, and told me to leave. That night, when I got to the hospital, I was told that I had been discharged for working without the supervision of a doctor. The doctor that had been in the managers office found me, and told me that everyone knew that I had done exactly the right thing in treating the boy, and that I had only done it because another doctor had told me to take care of it; I was only being fired because the boys mother was causing trouble, and that was the only excuse they had.'
Kelly was horrified, and told her 'That's terrible! Wasn't there anything you could do? Someone you could go to for help?'
Marlyn just gave her a sad smile and answered 'No, not at that time. I was there under a professional visa, since the hospital needed nurses.
When I wasn't working for them any more, I had to leave to come back here. And when I got back here, none of the doctors or hospitals would hire me because I had been discharged from the hospital in Houston; why I was discharged didn't matter. So I had to find different work, and I was lucky enough to get this.'
'Wasn't there anything your family could do to help?' Kelly asked.
'My family is all gone – they died in a typhoon while I was in college here in Manila.'
'Where are you from?' I asked.
'San Fernando. It is a few hours north of here.'
I nodded; I knew – approximately – where it was.
Marlyn started to say something else, but the hostess for the restaurant approached to tell us that there was a table for us. I turned to Marlyn and asked her 'How much should I leave as a tip for the waiter?'
She told me 'You can leave him just a couple of pesos, if you want. He will also get ten percent of the tip you leave for the meal, too.'
I fished a couple of 1-peso coins out of my pocket and left them on the table as the hostess started to lead Kelly and Marlyn into the dining area. I quickly caught up, and held Kelly's chair for her when she sat.
Marlyn watched as I did it, but didn't say anything as she seated herself.
When we were all seated, I turned to Marlyn and said 'You started to say something in the bar, before the hostess came in. What was it?'
She looked at me a little sadly, and answered 'Oh, it is nothing. Don't worry about it', before turning away
