BODOY, THE WATER BOY

During the time of Pedro, the blind man, there also lived another fellow named Bodoy.  He was a big man.  But, he has an imbalanced mental capacity.  He would walk around the town and the children as well as adults cracked jokes.  He had a ready smile though.

One thing significant about Bodoy, was that he was never dirty.  Unlike other fellows with imbalance mind,   he would always wore sandals.  Most often thee are not pairs.

One day, Bodoy surprised all.  He volunteered for a fee carrying cans of water to houses – for laundry or for drinking purposes.  At that time, there was none of the so called ‘aquas potables’ or water system.

But, there were two wells in the town.  Both of them supplied drinking water.  One had a big and long wooden pump.  People claimed that water coming from it was sweet or delicious.  It came from the old water pump of San Roque.

There was also the artesian well located at San Esteban, just behind the church.  According to the inscription,  it was some 200 feet deep.  It was warm even in December.  No wonder people went there to take a bath even in the wee hours of the night.

For many years, Bodoy carried two cans of water – one in front of him and one at the back of him through a bamboo pole on his shoulder.

After many years, Bodoy bought a wooden cart.  He would deliver at least ten cans at twenty centavos per can.  He would come back and forth at least five times day.  At that time, the exchange rate was two pesos to a dollar.  So two pesos could buy a lot.  In fact, when i was in grade school, I would buy three centavos worth of school papers and two centavos worth of candies which I placed in the secret pocket of my short pants.

Bodoy became the ‘aquador’ or water carrier for many years until he died.  He became old, weak but died a natural death.