After hearing the short explanation ni Veira, sila na din mismo ang nagpuno ng istorya tungkol sa mga bagong kapitbahay nila.
Malamang sa malamang ay galing sa syudad ang mga ito. Ang dalagang nasa harap nila ngayon ay galing sa isang pamilya na kayang bumili at magpasweldo ng mga maidservants. At ang tatlong kasama niya ay mga personal na naninilbihan sa kanya.
Nang mamatay ang kaniyang ama, nagkaroon ng awayan ang kanilang pamilya dahil sa hatian ng ari-arian. Paniguradong may lalaking kapatid ang dalagang ito at dito napunta ang majority ng ari-arian ng ama nila. Kaya siya napilitang umalis sa kanilang mansyon ay dahil sa kanyang hipag na gahaman at matapobre.
The five women, after forming that story in their head, instantly felt pity towards this young lady. They even gave each other a look and saw in each other's eyes the same decision they made themselves. To lend as much help they can lend to these new neighbors.
If Veira could guess how these people concocted a complete story out of that short explanation she told them, she would most likely marvel at how close this make up story of theirs. Ang kaibahan lang ay hindi sister-in-law ang gahaman at matapobre sa pamilya nila kung ang ikalawang asawa ng kanyang ama.
Sa pagkakaalam niya ay hindi tradition sa bansang ito ang pagkakaroon ng concubine. They believed in one spouse, one marriage. So she didn't how these people would react kung malaman ng mga ito na agad na pinakasalan ng ama niya ang concubine nito matapos lamang ng tatlong buwan na pagkakahimlay ng kanyang ina. Then made her life a living hell ever since.
***
Nanay Onang served snacks for the five madams including some of the rice cakes na dala nila.
"Pasensya na kayo at maalibok pa ang karamihan sa gamit namin dito. Dahil hapon na ay naisipan namin na una munang linisin yung mga kwarto." Nanay Onang said.
Aling Carmen waved her hand at her. "Don't worry. We understand."
"Tutal naman ay naririto na tayo, bakit hindi na lang tayo dito mag-umpisang maglinis?" Suhestyon naman ni Aling Maria.
"Hala! Seryoso ho ba kayo? Nakakahiya naman po kung paglilinisin talaga namin kayo!" Veira felt a bit shameless to really let them help them clean the house.
"Oo nga naman. Mga bisita namin kayo eh." Nanay Onang agreed.
"Anong bisita? Di ba nga at sabi ni Freida, kaya kami nagpunta dito ay para tumulong. We will be neighbors for a long time so don't be a stranger to us. Sino ba gang magtutulungan kundi tayo tayo lang din, hindi ba?" Aling Beth said. Then she stood up, pulled pieces of cotton cloths from her pocket and showed it to them. "See? Nagdala pa ako ng mga basahan dahil alam kong madaming kailangang punasan dito."
"Ako naman duster ang dinala." Aling Rosa said with a smile and then pulled out a feather duster from her basket.
Veira and Nanay Onang felt overwhelmed. Then they smiled at them shyly as they could only agree to them to help.
In the end, with nine of them working on the whole house, they were able to clean more than half of it. In addition to that, pakiramdam ba nila Veira ay kakilala na nilang lahat ang mga tao sa Barangay Rojo. These madams surely could chatter a lot. But of course, the ones they talked about the most were their own families.
Aling Freida had the most children. She had four boys and three girls. Sa ngayon, lima sa kaniyang mga anak ay kasal na. Isang lalaki at babae na lamang ang natitira doon.
It is normal na kapag nakasal na ang mga anak ay bubukod na ang mga ito. Either they would buy a house within their barangay upang malapit pa rin sila sa kanilang mga magulang o di kaya naman ay doon sila titira malapit sa in-laws nila.
Aling Freida's all son chose to live nearby them. For her daughters, they were now near their in-laws. Although barangay lang naman ang pagitan nila, but she still worried for them most of the time.
Aling Carmen's family, on the other hand, was one of those living in Nipa Hut style houses. They were not as well off as others but their house was surounded by all kinds of vegetable plants. If anyone needed them, they would just go to Aling Carmen and buy or barter for it.
Unlike sa malaking pamilya ni Aling Freida, she only had one son, na recently lang ikinasal, at isang dalagang babae. She said, kaedad lang nila Veira ang dalaga niya at ipapakilala niya ito sa kanila isa sa mga araw na ito.
Anyway, no one said it explicitly but from what she could in infer from the conversations of the madams, Veira could tell na may something sa daughter-in-law ni Aling Carmen. Maybe it was the usual conflict between mother and daughter-in-law.
Then there was Aling Maria and Aling Rosa. They were cousins and married their husbands na tagarito talaga sa Barangay Rojo. Like Aling Freida's married daughters, they lived faraway from their maiden family.
As for children, Aling Maria had three of them. They were all married and all stayed in Barangay Uno. Aling Rosa had twins and were still young, even younger than Lulu.
Lastly, Aling Beth... She is the youngest of these madams. She married her husband in this village. But up until now, she still didn't have any children.
Veira, Nanay Onang, Lulu and Lili sighed when they heard these stories. Each family really had troubles.
***
"Kailangan na naming umuwi, Veira, at magluluto pa kami ng hapunan. Pero bukas, aagahan namin ang punta para maaga din tayong matapos. Alam ko na madami pa kayong bibilhin na gamit sa market. If you want, I'll let my first son to help you buy those instead. With all those heavy lifting, you ladies definitely will have a hard time kung kayo ang gagawa noon." Frieda told her habang nagpupunas ng kanyang kamay.
"Kaunti na lang naman po ang ipapamili ko kung sakali. I'll make a list tonight and let you know in the morning if I really need help from your son." Veira smiled gratefully. "Oh, and you five don't have to cook dinner because I already do so. Magsasaing na lamang kayo."
With that, Nanay Onang brought out five food containers.
Kanina, habang naglilinis sila, Veira snuck away for a long time just to cook this. Alam niyang pagdating ng mga ginang ay magluluto pa ito ng ulam ng pamilya nila sa gabing iyon. Bilang pasalamat natin niya sa tulong nila sa kanila ngayong araw, she decided to cook for everyone.
Anyway, Lili and Lulu helped Nanay Onang distributed the food containers to the five of them. They even tapped their heads as within that few hours, these old mothers couldn't help but find these two charming. Lalo na si Lulu na siyang pinakabata.
(A/N: Veira is 18. Lili is 16. Lili is 14. Nanay Onang is around 40.)
She had the grace in her actions buhat na rin sa pagiging maidservant niya. But she was also very cheerful that she could easily affect everyone's mood.
"Veira, bakit ang dami mo namang niluto?" Aling Carmen asked. Also, mukhang karne pa ang putahe na niluto ng dalaga.
Sa bayan nila, normal lang ang manok, isda at gulay sa kanilang hapag kainan. But pork and beef? They are precious commodities!
Kadalasan lang silang nagluluto ng ganoon kapag may okasyon sa kanilang pamilya o di kaya naman ay fiesta.
That's why she couldn't help but to worry for Veira.
Although she has money now but her family situation was very concerning already. Kung gagastos siya nga gagastos ngayon, paano na lang sila sa kinabukasan.
Aling Carmen made a mental note to advise this young lady in private.
"It's not much. Just enough for our families. Just take them home and try my cooking, okay? When everything is in order here, I'll invite everyone for a feast."
The five madams could only accept the food in the end. Ano pa bang magagawa nila at nakapagluto na ang dalaga eh?
After saying a bit more pleasantries, as well as leaving some words of caution for tonight, the five of them departed Veira's house and went back on their own.
***
