Toto and the Boys I: Jackie

Chapter 8

What she was looking at was a group of guys setting up instruments. Obviously, they were the band that would play tonight. But that was not what caused Jackie’s shock. At the back of the group, with his baseball cap covering almost half of his face, sitting behind the drums, was Dean Gamboa!

And he was holding the drumsticks! He wasn’t’ just a lost soul sitting there, right? He was a member of the band, right? He was the drummer, right?

He was not sitting there for any reason at all other than play, Jackie thought.

Sitting there strumming something on the drums was not Dean Gamboa, the boss, she was seeing. It was a completely different person who managed to possess her boss.

“Oh my God, oh my God…” she was muttered to herself as she hastily made her way back to where her friends were.

“What took you so long?” George demanded.

“He just left with his friends, Jackie” Dannie told her.

Of course, her friends didn’t see Dean Gamboa and his friends setting up their instruments. Their table was far from the scene.

“You won’t believe this!” Jackie cried out, her expression still shocked.

“What?” Troy asked.

“What?” George and Dannie repeated when she just stood there to fan her face with her hands in a dramatic way, the other one still holding her sunglasses.

“He’s…oh my God. Now, this is the real shocker!”

“What?” this time, it was the three of them who impatiently asked.

“He’s a freaking drummer!” she cried out. “He’s in a band!”

“What?” George and Dannie cried out.

“I knew it!” Troy exclaimed.

“I know, right? He’s in a freaking band and they are setting up right now!” Jackie announced, jumping on her feet with excitement.

“I knew I saw them somewhere. They’re…what do they call them?” he uttered, his eyes searching for the answer. And then he flicked his fingers. “Anon. People call them Anon because they--”

“Don’t have a name for their band,” Jackie finished. When she saw her friends’ appalled look, she explained, “Karen gushed about them the other day.”

“I featured them in my blog,” Troy added.

“And you couldn’t remember them until now?”Dannie asked him.

“I feature a lot of people in my blog,” he answered dryly. “And do you know that they are not only called Anon? Some folks call them Mang Tomas.”

“The all-around sarsa?” George asked.

“Yeah, the all-around sauce you dip your lechon in.”

“Because they play almost everything?” Dannie asked.

Troy looked at her with awe. “You never fail to amaze me, Danica.”

Dannie rolled her eyes at him. “We have a teacher at school we also call Mang Tomas. He can teach almost every subject.”

“So, you mean they play almost all genres?” Jackie asked with awe.

Troy gulped down his beer and nodded. “Yes, they are pretty versatile.”

“Oh my God! Let’s go see them!”

“Jackie, he might see you,” George pointed out.

“I don’t care! He must probably be busy playing and hiding that he won’t even notice me! Come on, guys!” She cried as she grabbed George’s hand and pulled.