Luis was a four-year-old boy in our neighborhood. He was cute and bubbly. My daughters, and his other playmates, fondly called him Ish.
But this post is not about him but about my farmhand Ramil and his classmate I called Luis.
Ramil came to me when he was sixteen years old and a second year high school student. He was reserved, dependable, and very industrious. His family lived in the mountains of Janiuay, Iloilo. I told his father that I would send Ramil to school in exchange for his help in the farm. He was a good helper. But as a student? Daw indi gid pang-Ten Outstanding Students of Iloilo (an award by the Outstanding Students Circle of Iloilo and DepEd - Bohringer).
One day I brought him a dictionary because Ramil had a school assignment. He started doing his assignment at 7:00pm after supper. At 9:00pm when we were about to sleep, he was still not finished. So I asked his older brother to help him. Then his brother started laughing. He laughed so loud that the neighbors woke up and switched on their lights. They thought a drunk strayed to our compound.
Ramil's assignment was to look for the meaning of the word ‘wife’ (wahyf). Ramil couldn't find the meaning even after 2 hours because he was looking for ‘wife’ under the letter 'Y' (wahy). So his brother laughed uncontrollably. I stifled my laugh so as not to embarrass Ramil. But while alone on my bed, I was laughing and laughing. In the morning I had bloated eyebags as I hardly slept the night before because even in my dreams I was laughing.
Ramil used brand names as generic representations. I asked him to buy Colgate and he replied 'Ano nga colgate? Close Up?'. Powder laundry soap was called Tide. When asked to buy softdrinks, he would asked 'Ano cooks? Ano nga cooks? Peepsi ukon sebeem ap? Ti pira ka kish?' Sometimes I corrected him, 'Ramil, ang tawag case, indi kish.' Astig gid.
When Ramil had activities in school, he brought to the farm some of his classmates who lived in far barangays. They slept in the farm because they would have a hard time going home. I welcomed the arrangement to help the students. Later, they were frequent fixtures in the farm and I already knew most of them. One of them was called Ish by Ramil.
One day, Ish was not with the group that accompanied Ramil. So I asked Ramil about Ish. ‘Where’s Luis?’. He asked back, ‘Sin-o si Luis?’. Then I told him that I meant Ish, and that I thought his name was Luis. He understood. He said Ish or Luis was sick that day. From that time on, I referred to Ish as Luis. And everybody, including Ish, understood.
After three years, Ramil graduated from high school. On graduation day, Ramil’s father and siblings came to the farm and prepared some food. Ramil’s classmates came for lunch. I asked them about their college plans. They answered with trepidation. I understood, as many of their parents were really hard up. Nevertheless, they were all very happy. As I was about to leave, Ish approached me. He asked me why I liked to call him Luis. I told him I thought his name was Luis. Then I told him the story of Luis, the cute boy who was the playmate of my kids. ‘Everybody called him Ish’ I added. Ish nodded. ‘But isn’t your name Luis because Ramil and others call you Ish?’, I asked.
He shook his head. According to him his name was not Luis. In front of everybody, he said that his real name was Ace.@
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