The House Of The Unholy

Along a busy street in Manila

Nine years previously…

The orange glow of the setting sun had almost embraced the entirety of the busy streets of Calle Iris. In this street, people tend to pass by rushing against each other without even bothering to glance at those who they were up against with in that race of life. Like stallions with blinders to keep them from seeing their sides and their rears, people sprinted through their day with their eyes focused only on what was in front of them.

This could be the same reason why nobody dared to look at a young woman standing at a corner of the street holding a wooden tray. She had been walking along the street with these people at a much slower pace to try and offer them items that were on sale on her tray; Abanico for the ladies, tobacco for the men. Her b.a.r.e feet were covered in dirt, her garb was almost as filthy as a rug and her greasy hair seemed to have not been touched by a brush for days. The young woman mostly ended up getting walked on by.

Once she was stationed at a junction near a University, the young woman saw a group of young lads across the street eyeing her. Some of these lads were obviously pointing a finger at her and the items on her tray. One of the lads crossed the street and reluctantly walked towards the young woman as his eyes were fixed on the tray;

"How much?" the lad asked shyly without looking at the young woman;

"How much is what, Segnor?" she responded

The lad hesitantly scrutinized the items on the tray until he found what he had been meaning to buy;

"The cigar,"

"The cigar?," she paused, "just half of a reales a roll Segnor"

Quietly, the lad reached for his front pocket and obtained the necessary payment from it. After which he shyly extended his hand to her to give her the reales

"You had to start young, eh?" the young woman enquired as she prepared the tobacco

Confused, the young lad shakes his head gently. The young woman then picked up the lad's confusion and to this she smiled loosely;

"The tobacco Segnor. You seemed too young to have been smoking them"

The lad laughed nervously as he reached for the tobacco after the woman handed it to him;

"It was for my professor at the University. I was just asked to buy him some" he finished as he nodded his head and stepped back

The young lad stepped away and walked into the street he was about to cross when suddenly a hand pulled his arm back into the alley

"Segnor, could you ask your professor to always buy cigars from me?" the young woman exclaimed

Startled, the young man took his arm away from her and fixed the hem of his sleeves;

"If he happens to ask me to buy for him again, then I might consider to purchase from you ," he paused, "I shall go now,"

The young man then proceeded to cross the street and walked in to join the group of other young lads who had been waiting for him.

The next day, the cigar vendor stood at the same spot near the University, waiting eagerly for the young lad who bought from her the day before. She spent hours just standing at the corner not even bothering to offer the items on her tray to other people who were passing by her, not even bothering to glance at them. The young woman who constantly got ignored by these people passing by now seemed to be the one ignoring them. It was as if blinders were put on her eyes, the same blinders that these people seemed to have on them; as she only had her sight on what was in front of her, the University

Days passed and the young woman never see the lad again. She began to wander off the streets once again instead of just standing at the corner near the University. From time to time she still passed by the small alley in the hopes that she might see the young lad again.

One afternoon, after spending couple of hours at the same spot, the young woman gave up and was about to walk off the street when she saw a familiar lad across the street. She rushed to cross the busy street, her tray up above her head as she lunged herself into the crowd.

"Segnor!" the woman called out loud

The lad continued walking but from time to time had to look back to find where the voice was coming from. Once assured that it was him that the voice was after, he stopped and faced the cigar vendor;

"May I help you, Segnora?"

"I was waiting for you Segnor," she hushed to catch her breath, "Did your professor suddenly stop smoking?"

"No, he did not" he responded while looking at the dirt-stained vendor, "He just specified the store where I should be purchasing his cigars from"

The young woman sighed audibly. From her head she moved the tray and held it against her belly to show him its contents;

"I could assure you that there is no difference between his preferred cigar and these cigars right here" she claimed nervously

"I am sorry, Segnora. I am on my way to purchase him the cigar from the store he preferred" the young man answered with a nod

The vendor just watched as the young lad walk off and got lost in the crowd again

With no choice left, the vendor had to roam the streets once again to try to find someone to offer her items to instead. Hours passed and she had already done her third round of passing the alley near the University. As it was late in the afternoon, the number of people who were passing by have declined which meant that her chance of selling her items had also reduced. The vendor was sitting on a corner when someone passed by and stopped near where she was sitting

"I would like to buy couple of rolls," a familiar voice interrupted

"Segnor?" the young woman confusingly enquired

The young lad had his hands in his front pockets as he stood before her awkwardly;

"My professor would not notice the difference, would he?"

The woman smiled as she stood up to prepare her cigars as she answered confidently;

"Not a chance, Segnor"

The young man stared at the vendor longer like he was scrutinizing her face instead of the items on sale on her tray. Just when the vendor noticed him bizarrely staring at her, the young lad suddenly exclaimed;

"I am Teo, by the way"

"Nimfa. They call me Nimfa" she responed politely

The trade they had in that afternoon turned to a weekly meet as he agreed to always buy from her whenever his professor ran out of cigar. Every Thursdays, late in the afternoon he would always find her standing in the same corner waiting for him.

Once together, they watched people pass by discussing how they seemed to be always in a rush, while the two of them seemed to have always been left behind by whatever these people were running after. Then they watched the orange sky made its way for the incoming nightfall. She always stood beside him staring at the mid-day sky, city dirt embracing her cheeks, dressed in a very simple rugged garb, lost in the moment. Her eyes were glowing against the setting sun with her greasy hair thrown in the wind. While he was lost in the moment of staring at the simple girl beside him who seemed to be contented to have had sold only rolls of cigar for the day.

True to her name, he considered her nymph like; enigmatic and captivating; free spirited yet gentle. She remained jolly despite the struggle of roaming around for her trade. She always had a loose smile even if she sometimes had to head home with not even a piece of her items on tray sold

"The sun won't be here for long," she paused still staring at the setting sun, "soon enough, the night would fall,"

Then they went on their day, going on separate ways.