Chapter 81: Chapter 81

“Dear, are you alright?” Zed’s voice cut into my train of thoughts.

I blinked and stared at him, wondering for a second if he was still a part of the scene in my mind.

“You looked unwell. What’s wrong?” Zed sat beside me and pulled me close to him. “I wonder what takes  you so long, so I come here to look for you.”

I smiled and glanced at him. “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“Because you lack sleep,” he said, rubbing the edge of my shoulder. “I’ll go back and get the car so that you won’t have to walk.”

I thought so, too, so I nodded. And while I rested my mind by closing my eyes, I suddenly heard the sound of someone jumping in front of me.

“Ta-daa! I’m back!” Nang Zabeth happily exclaimed. “I tricked Maria Zenaida into thinking that I went away, but the truth was that I hid behind a house. Do you really want to treat me with three pieces of chicken?”

“Of course!” I said, laughing. “But we need to take a bath. Restaurants wouldn’t let us in if we smell stinky.”

She stared at me for a while but nodded afterward. “Okay. Do you see that mango tree near the subdivision’s entrance? There’s a house a few meters from there. I live there.”

With that, she hurried away fast. I was amused at how excited she looked but felt pity that her daughter, who lived a life of luxury, didn’t feed her well. Because if she did, her mother wouldn’t be too excited to go out with me.

I didn’t wait long because Zed arrived right away with the car, so I went home and took a shower.

“Take a nap, first,” Zed said as I came out of the bathroom. “You still have time. Just for thirty minutes.”

“No. I have something important to do today.”

“That can wait,” he insisted, but I waved a hand. I didn’t want Nang Zabeth to stand waiting in front of our gate, or else it would alarm Maezy.

An hour later, I already found myself pulling over in front of Nang Zabeth's house. I made sure that before I opened the car's door for her, no one was watching me. And there she was, smiling in her long, burgundy skirt and a cream top. She matched it with a pair of gold earrings and cream sandals that looked good on her. Nothing about her in that moment could trace the dirty, insane, and wandering old woman that she was. My eyes even got wide at what I saw in front of me -- a total transformation of Nang Zabeth!

“What do you think of my dress?” Nang Zabeth asked as soon she slid into the car.

I laughed softly. “I didn’t expect to find you beautiful right now. Why don’t you keep up with this amazing look?”

“I’m already old and lonely. My daughter doesn’t seem to care about me. And I am so disappointed in her. She always gets herself into trouble.”

“Trouble?”

“She never settles with one man, and I am ashamed of her. But she is still my daughter. A daughter is always a daughter.”

“Why do you say that?” I said, glancing at her as we pulled onto the main road.

“She’s ambitious. Even as a child, she was always envious of the lifestyle of my employer’s daughter. When she finally grew up and became eligible for working abroad, she applied as a Japayuki. Years later, she returned pregnant with an old husband. Then, after a few months, she came with a younger man named James, her husband’s nephew. She then got pregnant twice.”

I gasped aloud as Nang Zabeth confirmed that Maezy got pregnant indeed. “Was Jame the father?”

“Yes, but James didn’t take responsibility, so she trapped Kim into believing that the child was his. So, Kim decided to live together with her. But since no one can hide secrets forever, Kim knew about it. Since then, he hasn't gone home anymore.”

“Where are the children now?” I asked, horrified.

“James’ family won the child’s care and custody, so their first child is with them now, but the second one died. She had a miscarriage.”

My hair stood on its end. Of all the people I heard, only Nang Zabeth, whom I thought to have a mental disorder, was the one who had given me the details. Not even Kim.

“Is their marriage over?” I pretended not to know about them.

“There was no marriage. Kim is married to someone else, and it was you. Do you think I didn’t know about it? I took care of Maezy when she gave birth in Japan. And since Mr. Yuki is Kim’s foster father during his college days, I already knew him before Maezy brought him home.”

I pulled over to the side. I couldn't wait to know how much she knew me.

“What are you doing?” Nang Zabeth’s eyes widened. “I’m already hungry!”

I sighed in frustration. “Okay. We’ll be there in three minutes.”

“Good,” she said, and her face beamed like a child who just got rewarded with a piece of chocolate.

I no longer continued the discussion since Nang Zabeth’s mind was already on the food. And fifteen minutes later, we were already inside a hotel restaurant in the city. I let her order what she craved for, but as she said earlier, she only needed three pieces of battered chicken to keep her talking again.

“I miss this kind of food in a restaurant. Mr. Williams, your father, always treated his family and the whole household to a restaurant every time he came home. So, Maria and I always look forward to it.”

Though Nang Zabeth touched a sensitive issue, somehow I found her funny because she talked like I knew already the people she mentioned.

Yet, I almost choked when she mentioned Mr. Williams. Who would have thought that the person who knew a lot about my past was within my grasp for a long time already?

“I love this yogurt drink,” she exclaimed, breaking the momentum of my emotional outburst. But I couldn’t strangle her, no matter how I wanted to. Or else I wouldn’t get what I wanted.

“You like more of that?” I asked. “I’ll order some more.”

“I’m full. Just a cup of coffee, please.”