LIFE IN AN

APARTMENT
Kerima P. Tuvera

Kerima P. Tuvera
Jolo, Sulu
University of the Philippines ~

Arellano University
Prolific writer
Pseudonym "Patricia S. Torres"

 Story of a couple who rented out

their house and scanned and

classified ads for an apartment for
two

 They rented an apartment because they

wanted to have enough space to dump their

books in and a bathroom handy for a pair of
weary kidneys

 To have a vivid picture of the

apartment, it is a row apartment in

the street of Mandaluyong lined
with nothing but apartments

 They rose in odd heights of two,

two and a half three. Even from

stories - the author described

 In the course of their three-month

stay. The wife sees and experience

for the first time how apartmentdwellings could be irritable, yet so
vivid in portrayingThe ordinary and
everyday lives of people you don't
know

 Going back, the author described

her landlord as not an unusually

greedy landlord, but was greedy
enough

 And then the landlord interviewed her

with her husband

The landlord started talking/quizzing

them closely on their jobs, income,

number of children, pets and so on; if
they gamble/drank
The landlord didn't want big dogs; noisy

children and delayed rentals

 The landlord demanded a deposit equal to a

month's rent, beside a month's rent in advance

(1 month deposit/advance)
He explained. It was for contretemps as

bathrooms tiles chipping, toilet bowls cracking

and the like...
The author/narrator in the story started

observing night in an apartment:

The night seems particularly made for such
betrayals:- breaking wind- baby screaming as if
stabbed- chamber pot sounded like the roar of
waterfalls- old woman's moan like a death rattle

 In another apartment house close by, one family

liked to demonstrate its togetherness with loud

and jolly sing-alongs
Across the fence to the left were an old sow and

her litter
One wall away lived a young bride and her

groom. The girl was pretty and sweet while the

guy was tall and dashing. However, they both
had a habit of dropping their shoes heavily on
the floor

One night earlier than evening. The alley had heard

some loud arguing going on it had something to do with
moneyMrs. Y was employed and Mr. Y wasn't, she banked and
he withdrew.
The following morning...The narrator noticed that
apartments also attract vendors, salesman and oddballs
One afternoon, a police officer came with warrant and a
pair of handcuffs(there is exchanging of conversations)

In three months of stay in an apartment the

narrator lost count of many handkerchiefs, under
shirts, ships and towels and some of her underwear
Apartments invariably mold a kind of person quite
hard of hearing and more than a trifle uncaring of
the rights of others
It isn't a stray theory that children who grew up in
apartments must suffer some twisting, eventually
acquiring of their elders malicious curiosity

The narrator finally moved out and it

was like the day we moved in - a line
of slack-jawed houseboys and maids
watching intently while the men
trooped by with more than subliminal
interest. She stated....