Chapter 8 Eight

• A week after that incident, bossy and strict Boss was back, always scolding me but also teaching me how to do things.
• I haven’t called the province for days, I just focused on work. Maybe I’ll just call when I send money.
• Sir Kalix also asked me to shop today because he has a visitor coming tomorrow. I finished cleaning, took a bath, and went to the supermarket. I brought my list, and Boss’s meals for the next three days are ready. I asked him yesterday what dishes he wanted.
• He said he wanted afritada, nilaga, bicol express, and of course, adobong baboy. That became his instant favorite. I went to the meat section first and picked out what I needed, then I got the vegetables and spices. I would have preferred to buy at the market, where I could haggle and find cheaper options, but Boss said it’s safer and more hygienic to buy at the supermarket.
• I mean, you can wash stuff, and I’ll cook it properly anyway, but of course, I just followed what Boss said.
• “Damn it, fix that, it’s like you have no dick, you’re so cowardly, lettuce!” I glanced at the woman next to me buying condiments because her voice was so loud, and I was surprised by her choice of words.
• I couldn’t help but glance at her, thinking she looked like Sir Kalix’s fake girlfriend, but she was, well, different, almost, I don’t know, kind of strange, I could almost see her crotch because her shorts were so short, and her crop top barely covered her bra, I was almost dizzy from the height of her sandals, she wasn’t wearing stilettos like the other one, they were just really high.
• She seemed to notice someone looking at her, so she looked at me, raised and lowered her eyebrows, chewing bubble gum, so I looked away, feeling embarrassed. I just continued what I was doing and went to the next aisle.
• “Hello,” I almost dropped the sugar I was holding out of surprise. When I looked up, I saw the same woman from earlier, “Where in the province are you from?” I furrowed my brows and looked back at her, she seemed to have read my mind based on my reaction, and I heard her soft laugh, “There you go, it’s obvious you’re from the province because of your groceries,”
• So I looked at my pushcart, “Oh, I’m from Gibao, how about you?”
• “Damn, really? I’m just pretending,” she replied, followed by a scandalous laugh. Some of the shoppers noticed us, “Oh,” she said, handing me a piece of bubble gum, which I accepted and put in my pocket.
• I continued walking, and she walked alongside me, “Why are you here? Work? What do you do here now? Who brought you here?” she asked one question after another. I was about to answer when she suddenly stopped and looked at me, then walked again, “By the way, I’m Odette, what’s your name?”
• “I’m Samantha, just call me Samantha,” I replied, shaking her hand, “I’m a maid here, a neighbor recommended me, I’ve been here less than a month, just almost two weeks,”
• “Ah, I see. So, did your boss try to take advantage of you? Or a woman?” I didn’t know if I should be amused by what she said or what.
• “Ah, a man, but he’s always not home, always at work,” I grabbed a pack of monggo and put it in my cart.
• “Who are you with here? I came alone when I moved here, the promise was a canteen crew, but turned out to be a pimp,” I was surprised by what she said, but I didn’t look at her and just listened, “Don’t be surprised if I’m telling you, I just feel close right away,” she picked up a bottle of stik-o from the shelf we passed by, her hoop earrings were very noticeable.
• “It’s okay, it’s my first time meeting someone from the province,”
• “Good for you. So yeah, when I came here to the city, boom, I found out my job was to be a prostitute. At first, of course, I tried to escape, but I got caught because I saw someone begging, so I accepted that this is really me now,” I picked up shampoo and soap that Sir Kalix asked for, “Can you get me that, too?” she said, so I handed it to her.
• “Does your family know about your situation?”
• “Ah, my mom is dead, my dad is sick, my siblings are also here. At first, I told them to just study, but they really don’t want to anymore, and they also want to work as prostitutes. Of course, I didn’t agree, but they kept running away, so I just let them be,”
• “Who’s left with your dad in the province?” because if they’re all here, right, we don’t have anyone left there.
• “Just his siblings there, we just send them money,” she had already started to pay for her groceries, “My siblings used to be with me, but now they’ve moved to their own place, we don’t really talk much anymore,”
• “You should still visit your dad,” I suggested. She just laughed, I didn’t know why, but I just let it go. She had more stories until we got out of the supermarket.
• “Oh well, Samantha, I’m over there, in the next block, right? You’re from the other side, right?” I nodded, “I’ll go ahead, take care,”
• I continued to watch her until she turned at the exit. Then I left the mall, the supermarket was inside the mall.
• “Damn,” I muttered in annoyance when I saw that the rain was pouring heavily, it was so hot earlier, then suddenly it rained. I just hugged the paper bag I was carrying because it was starting to get wet, there were no tricycles around.
• I just stood there, waiting for the rain to stop, but it seemed like it was going to rain overnight and I didn’t plan on going home yet, “Ah, I’m always caught in the rain, next time, I’ll tie an umbrella around my waist, so there won’t be any hassle like this,”
• I felt like I was talking to myself like crazy. Oh well, if I get wet, it’s fine, I bought mostly ingredients anyway, it’s okay if they get wet. I hadn’t taken three steps when something fell on my foot. My eyes widened when I saw that my paper bag had a hole in it, and my groceries had fallen out.
• And that’s not where my bad luck ended for the day, because of the damn sandals I was wearing, I slipped, I just closed my eyes and waited for my body to hit the floor, but I felt something hard on my back—on my butt.
• I propped my left foot up and finally stood up, I immediately looked for the person who touched me, and my eyes widened when I saw a tall figure of a man, his hand still on my back.
• I instinctively moved my palm and placed it on the man’s cheek, “Bastard! Pervert!” I shouted. I could see him turn pale.
• “Wait miss!” he panicked, quickly moving away from me, “It’s not what you think, I just thought you were going to slip, I didn’t know it was—”
• “You pervert! Get away from me, you son of a bitch!” I shouted again, I knew some people were looking at us. Some stopped for a moment and then walked away from us, while others acted like they didn’t hear anything.
• “Wait, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know it was your butt! I was just trying to help!” he defended himself.
• I still glared at him while picking up my bag, he just followed my gaze, wondering what I would do next. I took out the large eco bag and started picking up the groceries that had fallen.
• “Let me help—”
• “Get away from me, I’ll kick you, you pervert, that won’t work with me!” I threatened him, and he quickly moved away. I ran without saying a word, even though the rain was pouring heavily. I got on a jeep that passed by.
• It took me about twenty minutes to get home, it was already past six in the evening, and Boss said he’d be late coming home. I immediately organized my groceries and cooked adobo, I’ll cook the other dishes tomorrow. I cleaned and washed the dishes I used, then went to my room.
• I took off my shorts and t-shirt, then lay down, I was too tired to take a shower. I sat down and grabbed my cellphone, even though I hadn’t contacted them for days, no one remembered me. A deep sigh escaped my lips before I dialed my mom’s number.
• She didn’t answer the first time I called, so I called again, and she finally answered the second time, “Hello, mom, how are you?”
• “Damn you, Garry, this is how our life turned out and you still managed to deceive me!”
• I stopped and the smile on my lips vanished when I heard my mom’s voice, crying, talking to my dad.
• “Is all your money going to your mistress? Is that why I don’t have anything to bring home, even though I almost die from all your debts?”
• “Ah, that’s the reason, so you can have an affair? Ha!”
• “Mom! Dad! Stop it!” I was startled when I heard Cris shout, crying.
• “Do you think someone will stay with you? You act like you don’t have a husband, leaving early to gossip, coming home late, and then getting mad when there’s no food, and the house is dirty? Are you stupid? And I haven’t had sex for a long time, you don’t satisfy my needs anymore, and I think you can’t perform in bed anymore either!”
• I didn’t finish listening to what else they would say, and I hung up. Tears were already falling from my eyes. Did Dad cheat? Is there a woman? I never thought he could do that.
• “Do they know where all your money goes? It seems like you’re always gambling, do you think you’ll get away with that? Look, I’m here, I don’t have anything to eat, not even hot rice!”
• “Ah, is that an excuse? So you cheat because I gossip? Ha!”
• “Mom! Dad! Stop it!”
• I was frozen when I heard Cris shout, crying.
• “Do you think someone will stay with you? You act like you don’t have a husband, leaving early to gossip, coming home late, and then getting mad when there’s no food, and the house is dirty? Are you stupid? And I haven’t had sex for a long time, you don’t satisfy my needs anymore, and I think you can’t perform in bed anymore either!”
• I didn’t finish listening to what else they would say, and I hung up. Tears were already falling from my eyes. Did Dad cheat? Is there a woman? I never thought he could do that.
• Even though I had bad experiences with my parents, I still didn’t want our family to be ruined, in a way, I still love them, and I work not just for myself, but for them too.
• In my deep thoughts, I didn’t even notice Sir Kalix’s arrival, and I fell asleep.