Daniel's Eyes [On Hold]

Chapter Two

Micah padded out barefoot onto the terrace, shivering a little. The morning was still cold although it was summer, and the chill cut through the thin t-shirt and terrycloth shorts she wore. She wrapped her hands gratefully around the towel wrapped around her mug of hot coffee. As early as she'd gotten up today, Manang Norma was awake and puttering around in the kitchen when she came downstairs, and had insisted on pouring her a cup of hot coffee.

Manang Norma was a surprise. Her letter had been written in spiky script, with antiquated spelling. Micah had thought she might be younger, but she was pushing sixty, a retired school teacher who had been a cousin of her mother's.

"Micah? It's Micah, isn't it?" she'd asked, hurrying outside with her glasses askew when the tricycle had stopped before the front gate. "We thought you weren't coming until the weekend!"

"I know, Manang Norma!" Micah had answered, putting down her backpack and submitting to a hug. "But Daddy had an important business conference in Cebu and I decided to come along for the ride then come straight here. Since you didn't give us a phone number, we couldn't call you about the change in plans."

By then they'd attracted attention and neighbors and passersby stopped to look at them.

"Yes, this is her, this is Caridad's daughter," Manang Norma had announced to all of them. "She's vacationing here for a while. Tino! Tino!" She pronounced this last like the word for "sane," making Micah struggle to keep a straight face.

Manong Tino was Manang Norma's husband, who had been building a bonfire of fallen leaves in the backyard. He was tubby and unkempt, in contrast to Manang Norma who was slim and impeccable in a matching sleeveless blouse and culottes with a batik pattern, but both beamed at her with good will. They'd grown up with her mother, and Caridad Pedroso had trusted them to live in her parents' house and take care of her property after her parents died. They'd gone on taking care of the place not knowing Caridad herself had died, and it was only after Manang Norma had sent her a letter asking why she had not written in a long time that Micah had found out her mother had a house and some land in the province.

Micah had been pleasantly surprised by the house-- she had expected a hut or cottage of some sort because of the location. But this was easily one of the biggest houses in the barrio, set in the middle of a wide lot that had lots of space for a flower garden in front, vegetable gardens on both sides, and a wide yard in the back, with an animal pen and a small orchard down at the end. The house itself was simple, wide-windowed, with a hollow-block ground floor and a wooden upper floor. There was a wide cement terrace in front, easily the same size as the living room and big enough to throw a party on; it was enclosed with low cement balustrades wide enough to lie on. Three wide, shallow steps led down to the garden-- her grandmother's, Manang Norma had said.

They'd given her her mother's old room at the front of the house overlooking the terrace. From the wide windows with sliding panels, she could see the garden and the street. It was the windows that made her cry, all of a sudden-- they were so much like her mother, whose first requirement for a house was that it had windows big enough to let in the sunshine and fresh air. Now she knew why.

Manang Norma had told her to rest after her journey, but she'd been so keyed up at finally being here that she'd wandered around the house poking into everything-- her grandparents' photos on the walls, an old photo of her mother, the bathroom (which was kind of dark and dismal, she'd have to do something about that), the storeroom, the kitchen where Manang Norma was busy cooking many things that smelled good.

She'd refused Micah's offer to help, and chased her out saying she'd work faster alone. She gave Micah an old rubber slipper instead, and told her to go to the backyard and give it to Manong Tino since he'd forgotten it. Scratching her head at the mental image of Manong Tino wearing only one slipper, and wondering why he'd wear something that already had a chunk chopped off at the back, Micah had done as she was told.