ODY FABIAN’S attempts to succumb to the temptations of the flesh have all ended in frustrations. There simply is no way for him to escape the vigilance of his wife Elizabeth.
Chari Villa Calling
For a time, Ody was an Octagon patron too. Beth rared and raged to catch Ody en flagrante delicto. But she could not bear going inside th club and see her beloved in the worse compromising situation. So she resorted to phoning the bar to ask forOdy. Naturally, the answer was always: “Wala pong Ody rito.”
How did she manage to get Ody?
One night, Ody was with fellow People’s Tonight reporter Marde Infante enjoying the all-the-way floorshow. The bartender received this call: “Hello, nandiyan ba si Mr. Ody Fabian? Si Chari Villa po ito ng Channel 2. Nandito po ako sa Shanghai at kailangan ko siyang makausap.”
It took less than a minute for Ody to answer: “Hello Chari, kumusta na? Ano ang lakad?”
It took more than five minutes before Ody could collect his senses after hearing: “Boss, i Beth ini. Lumwal ka keni nung e ka bisang gulu. (This is Beth. Get out of there if you don’t want any trouble)”
It was Marde that came out ahead of Ody explaining: “Misis, ako po ang nagyaya kay Ody. Huwag po kayong manggulo.”
Beth’s retort: “Nagpunta ako dito hindi para manggulo kundi para makipag-hiwalay.”
Needless to say, Ody went home meekly with Beth.
Scooter Scare
The night Kulot, Susing and Memeng took Madonna (a singer at Shanghai) out, Ody was with them. But at the Phase 4 Disco, fate – rather Beth – intervened.
The group had just come out of the disco plotting where to enjoy the rest of the evening when from out of nowhere a scooter zoomed in and vroomed-vroomed a short distance from them.
In the dark, it was Kulut that saw her: “Ody, medisgrasya. I Commander Beth.”
Without so much a goodbye, Ody ran and rode piggy-back, holding on tightly to Beth as the scooter did a free-wheelie and zoomed home.
Fyodor Espasol
At massage parlors, Ody allowed neither lotion nor oil to be used on him so as to avoid being detected by Beth, the smell of lotion and the stickiness of oil being obvious giveaways. So he preferred powder which is easily removed with a shower.
One night, after getting a rather vigorous rub and forgetting to shower, Ody went home to find Beth past asleep. With a thankful exclamation of “Safe!” he too went to sleep.
The next morning over breakfast, Beth asked Ody: “Boss ibat ka Cabalantian nabengi? (Did you come from Cabalantian last night?)”
Ody: “Numanu ku Cabalantian? (What would I do in Cabalantain?)”
Beth: “Obat lupa kang espasol? (Why do you look like espasol?)”
Powder clung to Ody’s face, neck, arms and legs just like the flour-sprinkled sweet delicacy produced in Barangay Cabalantian, Bacolor.
SWEET, HAPPY remembrances of a marriage carried in my first book Of the Press (1999). Contrary to what may seem in the anecdotes, the couple was so much in love, and for a time served as elders in the St. Paul Marriage Encounter apostolate.
I stood as godfather in both the civil and church weddings of Elizabeth Shewan and Fyodor Fabian in 1981. And our lives were interlinked. I was editorial consultant of The Voice that Ody inherited – as assistant publisher-editor from good friend Lincoln Baluyut when he migrated to Canada after the Pinatubo eruptions. Ody and I partnered in the radio programs Pulitika, Atbp. which closed down after the June 2000 ambush of our co-anchor former Mayor Roy David that killed three of our confederates; and in Alas 4 Na, that we started in 2004 and closed after Ody’s death in January 2005.
Last October 24, Beth was reunited with her beloved Ody. Yesterday we buried her mortal remains at El Retiro Memorial Park in Dau.
Rest now in each other’s arms, in the bosom of the Lord, my godchildren. Thanks for the wonderful memories my friends.
