The conclusion that day was a hard blow for Aling Wanda's family. Well, pati na rin sa mga taong nafood poison.
That family was really shameless, you know. During the settlement discussion, they argued na hindi rin naman nila pinilit ang mga ito na bumili sa kanila. They bought their food in their own accord.
So in the end, nagkasundo na lang ang dalawang panig na may certain amount na lang na babayaran sila Aling Wanda kada tao para lang matapos na ang usapan. Hindi pa nga sana mag-aagree ang mga ito kundi pa sila tinakot muli ni Kapitan Tunio na kapag hindi pa naareglo ito ngayon ay didiretso na sila sa Law Enforcers.
And so, the matter has been resolved.
Also, Aling Wanda and her family had bore a grudge to Veira's family of four from then on.
But would Veira mind them? So long as they did not touch her bottomline, she wouldn't mind cohabitating in the same barangay with them. Of course, if things got worse, she would make sure that it was not her and her family who get kicked out from there.
Unfortunately, for this kind of family, they were really just dumb and keep seeking death.
***
Dahil na rin sa request ng mga loyal customers nila, Lili and Lulu had once again bring out their food cart and roam around from their barangays to another. This time, they also implemented "loyalty discount cards" sa mga nasa nalistahan nila Lili at Lulu. Those in the list were those who continued buying their food despite the arrival of another food cart. All they need was to show this special card to Lili and Lulu and they could already buy food from their food cart in discounted price.
When the other heard about this loyalty discount card, they couldn't help getting envious and be regretful. Sa totoo lang, sa lasa pa lang ng luto ng dalawang food cart ay lamang na lamang na ang kanila Veira. Their pricing was higher than Aling Wanda's pero sulit naman talaga ang bayad dahil halatang hindi tinipid ang mga iyon.
But what can they do? They valued money over food. Kahit matubig ang lugaw nila Aling Wanda, mas mura naman ito at hindi na rin nila kailangang magluto para sa pamilya nila. Unfortunately, nakatipid nga sila ng pera at oras, ngunit na ospital naman sila. The money they could get from Aling Wanda's family was also not satisfactory.
Anyway, isang araw, habang naglalako ng lamang loob na ulam sila Veira, Lili at Lulu ay napadaan sila sa tindahan ni Aling Wanda. Sa malayo pa lang ay rinig na rinig na nila ang chismisan ng mga kasamahan niya doon.
There were two other women na siyang kausap ni Aling Wanda and they were all known as the shrews of their barangay. As always, birds with the same feathers flock together.
"Hmph! Sinasabi ko sa inyo! Salot ang mga bagong salta na iyan. Lalo na yung Veira na iyon? Di ga nga at namatay ang tatay at asawa niya wala pang isang taon ng pagkakakasal nila? Kung hindi dahil sa kanya, mamamatay ba ang mga iyon, aber?"
Veira scratched her ears after hearing that. What kind of logic is this? Namatayan siya ng tatay at asawa (not real) tapos siya pa ang may kasalanan? Siya pa ang salot? Hindi ba dapat yung bandits ang mga iyon?
Wow... Veira could only admire the resilience of their brains para matanggap nilang agad at mapaniwalaan ang mga ganitong logic.
Sabay namang napatingin sa kanya sila Lili at Lulu. Their faces were red. Nagagalit na naman ang mga ito on her behalf. Lalo na ang little ancestor na si Lulu. Her cheeks were puffing and her lips were elongating once again.
"Ate..." Lulu wanted to say na gusto niyang sugurin ang mga ito but she stopped right away when she saw Veira got off the cart saka ito lumakad patungo sa tatlong chismosa.
The two madams na kausap ni Aling Wanda ay natahimik agad ng makita siya. They kept giving eye signal to the latter but she remained dumb and continued yapping about Veira and her family.
Nang makalapit na siyang tuluyan, kinulbit ni Veira si Aling Wanda and when she looked back, the young lady's point finger landed on her cheeks.
"Boing..." Veira made a sound.
"Y-you... you... anong ginagawa mo?!" Singhal ni Aling Wanda sa kanya at paatras pa itong lumayo sa kanya.
"Wala naman po, Aling Wanda. Aalukin ko sana kayong tatlo ng paninda namin eh tutal ay mukhang kanina niyo pa ineexercise yang mga bibig ninyo. Bakit di na lang kayo bumili ng ulam sa amin at least nabusog pa kayo di ba?"
"Aba!"
Aling Carmen, at that time was doing laundry at their house. Kanina pa din niya naririnig ang pinagsasabi nitong si Aling Wanda tungkol kanila Veira. Pero dahil alam niya na hindi rin naman titigil ito kung haharapin niya ay nanatili na lamang siya sa ginagawa niya at pabulong na pinauulunan ng makukulay na salita ang tatlong chismosa.
Nang marinig niya ang boses ni Veira at sigaw ni Aling Wansa ay agad siyang lumabas ng bahay nila. Saka niya na rinig ang mga tinuran ng dalaga. She ended up laughing because of it.
And she wasn't alone. Maging ang ilan pang kapit bahay nila na narinig din ang kumusyon doon ay napatawa din.
"Isa pa, Aling Wanda, namatay ang asawa at tatay ko dahil sa mga bandido na umatake sa kanila. Tapos ako pa ang may kasalanan at salot? Ganito din yung logic niyo nung sinisi niyo ako sa food poisoning na kagagagawan ninyo eh!
"Ingat ingat lang din kayo sa usapan tungkol sa mga namayapa na. Baka mamaya'y multuhin kayo ng tatay at asawa ko ay sisihin niyo na naman ako!"
In rural areas like that, superstitions were also big for these folks. When Veira mentioned about ghosts, the three madams quickly paled at napauwi pa ang dalawa ng wala sa oras.
Si Aling Wanda naman ay dumura sa lupa, maybe to ward off the bad words of Veira, at saka tinalikuran na ang mga ito. She even closed the store right after.
Veira, on the other hand, saw Aling Carmen who was laughing in front of her house and winked at her. Then she bid her goodbye at saka binalikan sila Lili at Lulu na husto din ang pagtawa doon.
"Ate Veira, you are such a bad ass!" Excited na sabi ni Lulu.
"En... Serves them right!" Dagdag naman ni Lili.
Napailing na lang naman si Veira. Tch, tch... Look at these two kids wearing their emotions on their sleeves for everyone to see. It's cute, yes. But should she train them to get better in handling their emotions?
Veira thought for a moment.
Nah, nevermind. Let kids be cute. She would simply protect them even for all of her life.
***
