Does Susy have kuto?

Remember them?

Suddenly thought of them. If I remember correctly their names are Susy and Geno. The most vivid memory I had of them is the time my mom and I went to go buy some groceries near Sta. Cruz Church. I forgot the name of the supermarket but it's just a few stores past Happy Burger. I was less than 8 then.

I was a real Sustagen fan. Almost every night I'd have my bottle of chocolate milk, which would be refilled (and gently thrusted into my mouth) sometime before I wake up. At that point in my childhood life, I thought only Sustagen made choco milk drinks, so you can just imagine my excitement when I saw Susy and Geno. These overgrown huggable chocolate-milk makers!

Kids and parents were clamoring just to get their pictures taken or to be able to touch or gimme-five with Susy and Geno.

I said "Hi!" to Susy when they came in. She didn't wave back. Didn't Susy see me? I was hesitantly chasing after them, while my mom kept close afraid to lose me in the throng of "fans."

Then I saw a staffer of the supermarket tailing close to Susy, picking something off Susy's hair. I thought, Susy has kuto? The female staffer just picked and picked white stuff from Susy's hair.

Then I heard a male voice coming from Susy. She... or he or it is asking if there are more.

The sound sounded a bit scary for a kid my age, like a groggy hermit shouting at you to get out of his cave. Just imagine you have bucket over your head and you're speaking from inside. Multiply that resonance by 3~4 times coz it's not a pail you have on as an advertising helmet; you have this massive hallow globe wearing a permanently freaky smile.

I asked mom, Anong ginagawa nung ale? May kuto ba si Susy? Di ba siya naliligo para wala siyang kuto? (What is the lady staffer doing? Does Susy have lice? Doesn't she take a bath so she won't get lice?)"

Other moms would've said, "Yes, dear, Susy has kuto. That's what happens to kids who don't take baths." Kinda like how parents would use Santa to make their kids behave.

Well, ever so practical, my mom didn't disguise any fantasies for me. She said, "Matagal na kasi sa bodega kaya inalikabok siguro. (It's been in the warehouse for too long that it had collected dust bunnies."

.... :- ....

We continued with our grocery shopping.