3 is an Odd Number

Chapter 9: P.S.

SAMANTHA

------ o ------

Dear Samantha,

Since you won't talk to me. I wrote what I had to say on this paper. Please don't rip it apart, I'm begging you. This letter contains important information. I left you an open-ended ticket for a trip to California, you can come during your summer vacation. I've handle your passport and visa along with your mom. I left her with the right amount of money to cover your expenses for the flight.

P.S. Grandma wants to see you badly. She's sick.

P.P.S. Please come as soon as you can.

For as long as I can remember, Jonathan's handwriting is quite impressive. In all fairness naman, mas maganda ng konti sa kahig ng manok. So in short, panget siya magsulat. Buti naintindihan ko pa. Thank you naman ng marami sa malinaw at maganda kong mata.

May sakit si lola? So, one of my assumptions were correct. Yun ba ang gusto niyang sabihin nung Prom night? Tama, six years have passed without my knowledge. Ang bilis talaga ng oras. Six years has done a lot to lola's health. Last time I checked, mas malakas pa siya sa kalabaw. And how come mom never told me about her conversations with Jonathan. How long has she been in contact with him? Does she know that Grandma is sick? What else did he tell to mom? What am I blabbering about? This is mom and Jonathan we are talking about. How could they keep secrets from me? Something made a *ting...maybe, he was the reason why mom didn't allow me to go to prom and yet he is also the one behind mom's permission for me to attend prom. What were they even planning?

I stood still, thinking of what decision to conclude with. I had so much going on in my mind when Jerome's concerned voice popped the uncomfortable silence from nowhere, pulling me out of my reverie after reading the letter.

"May sakit lola mo?" of course, they were peeping past my shoulder. Jerome had his eyebrows to meet halfway.

"Aalis ka papuntang America?" Francis wondered aloud. I composed myself and answered their questions to finish the discussion.

"Yes. Grandma is sick but NO! I am not going to America this time of year. We still have classes. Anung inaasahan nila? Pupunta ako agad ng America dahil lang nalaman ko na may sakit si lola? No way. As in, N-O. NO! I'm still considering my options though."

"Binabalak mo pa rin pumunta ng America?" Francis demanded.

"Well. Maybe this coming summer. Uhmm...I don't know." I said, shrugging my shoulder, thinking extra hard.

I can't just LEAVE like that. He doesn't tell me what to do. What is he, my father? He's giving me a one way ticket to California. What does he expect from me? A big yes? Well, I'll be giving him a very big NO for that. I can't leave my mom alone, I don't want to abandon my mom. I'm the only family she has left. Have I ever told you mom's backstory?

Mom wasn't the luckiest of people to be born to a wealthy couple. She grew up as the bread-winner for her family. Her mom, my grandmother, died giving birth to her third sibling. She was a sickly person, always having a weak body. Grandfather became a drunkard and a chain smoker after her wife's untimely demise and got kicked out of the company he was working in. Mom stepped into the role of being the father and mother to her siblings as she was the oldest, she sent them to school, took care of them and worked hard to earn a living all at the same time.

Eventually, Grandpa died of old age and also due to lung complications. Her brother-the middle child-joined a syndicate and became a drug addict, was sent off to jail and she never heard of him again. She didn't bother visiting him in prison, it would just give her an unplesant view of his brother's situation. Her youngest sister-after graduating- got a decent job abroad and did not even pay her regards to my mom. Ang taong bumuhay, nag-alaga, nagpa-aral at nagmahal sa kanya, hindi man lamang niya nabigyan ng kahit anong suporta-- wala siyang utang na loob. She is such an ungreatful person.