~


IN DOG YEARS

MARICEL: Joey, tell me what you told Ninong Gary about Jesus when he took a video of you kanina.

JOEY: Mama, I forget.

MARICEL: What? How can that be? It was just this afternoon.

JOEY: Mama, don't you know I'm getting old. I'm seven already.

~

Whoa! I know kung-fu!

JOEY: Sometimes, I practice kung-fu with the angels. I practice fighting with them. They teach me how so that if the bad guys come, I can defend my family. So daddy won't have to get rough. I will take care of things.

~

The Trouble with Dying

JOEY: (kneeling down) Lord, I'm wondering why we have to die to go to heaven because I don't want to die but I want to go to heaven. I want to see Jesus but I don't want to die forever.

~


LOOK OUT!

JOEY: Mama, there are two people controlling me-- one boy and one girl. (And he points to his head).

MARICEL: Where there?

JOEY: In each eye, there are tubes from my eyes to my brain.

MARICEL: What are their names?

JOEY: Brad and Meony.
(Joey then takes a sip from his Frappucino.)

MARICEL: So, do they like the taste of that?

JOEY: Oh no, they can't taste. They have to concentrate on looking out for the bad ones.

~

TURNING CARTOONIC

JOEY: Mama, can't we pretend to be cartoonic?

MARICEL: What's cartoonic?

JOEY: Like cartoons! Except we love Jesus.

MARICEL: Why do you want to be a cartoon? I don't want to be a cartoon. I want to be a real mama to my real son.

JOEY: I want to be a cartoon. It's the only place I can have another sister and brother.

~



The makings of a party-preneur

JOEY: Mama, I already have plans for my 8th birthday. I want to bring everybody to Balai.

MARICEL: Why do you want to do it there?

JOEY: I will go up the guard tower and watch everyone having fun.

~


BUCKLE-UP FOR SARS

JOEY: There's still SARS in Cebu, mama. If you get a temperature, go to the hospital right away. Lock all the doors, close the windows, and put on your seatbelt.

MARICEL: Seatbelt? In the hospital?

JOEY: In the car, going to the hospital! You could get bangga you know!'

~


BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL
MARICEL: Joey, your PE teacher says, it would be good for you to have extra training at football school cause you’re good.

JOEY: I don’t wanna, mama. It’s too hard.

MARICEL: What about basketball school?

JOEY: It’s also hard, mama. Can I go to billiards school?

MARICEL: Billiards is not a serious sport.

ON DUTY
JOEY: I don’t want to go to school. I want to stay home and take care of you

MARICEL: Joey everybody needs to go to school to grow and learn.

JOEY: I want to be a security guard. He doesn’t have to go to school for five hours.



SWITCH OFF
JOEY AT 5AM: Mama, I don’t want to go to school.

Joey then saw the light from the streetlamp go out.

JOEY: There goes the light. I wish I was a light. I just need to turn on and off. I don’t have to work.



NOT ALWAYS

After Maricel told Joey a bedtime story about what it means to love, she asked him…

MARICEL: Joey, how do I show you I love you?

JOEY: You kiss me, you hug me, you comfort me, and last but not the least you stay with me... (thinks for a second) … but not always.