Connection

Chapter 5

/LEA/

“...I hate you both so much and I mean that with all the bones in my body!”

That thing somehow kept me awake all night and is now distracting me from doing some schoolworks. Hael happened to say it loud enough for me to hear from my room after our confrontation. I think she was talking to Aga that time, hence, both. And for her to say that she hates her favorite parent must mean how angry she really was last night.

I wonder what Aga felt— being the favorite parent and then suddenly hearing that your unica hija hates you. Because with me, it just felt a little different.

Hael and I don’t have the sweetest and loving kind of mother-daughter relationship. I am not the kindest and most comforting Mom and I can admit that. I don’t give hugs and kisses as a comfort when my kid is struggling, instead, my way of picking her up is to tell her to be tough because you won’t move forward if you choose to think of yourself as a weak person. That’s just how I am. I had no choice but to be that parent because it was just me who raised my daughter for almost half of her life.

I finally decided to put down my eyeglasses when I realized I am going nowhere with my work. I really couldn’t focus so I set aside it first and refresh my mind. It’s Saturday anyway; I pretty much enough time to finish it later.

I saw Nanay Cristy in the kitchen, preparing some meal on the tray, “Hindi pa rin bumababa si Hael, Nay?”

“Nakikita mo ba ang anak mo sa paligid?” I almost frowned upon her answer, but I didn’t take it personally. Nanay Cristy can be as honest as she wants to be with me— I actually prefer it. Just say the truth in front of my face rather than whisper it behind my back.

“Baka nagtatampo pa rin ‘yun sa’kin. I’ll talk to her later.”

“Hindi ito simpleng pagtatampo lang, Lea. Nasaktan mo ‘yung bata— pisikal at emosyonal. Hindi mo ba naisip na sumobra ka naman yata sa ginawa mo kagabi?”

“I just wanted her to realize something because she started failing school. Whatever it takes, I want her to be back on focus and prioritize her studies!”

“Pwede mo namang kausapin nang maayos, bakit kailangan mong saktan?” she lectured me. I could have taken offense at how she made me look like a very bad parent but I just chose to keep it to myself. I just did what needed to be done with my own daughter. “Ihahatid ko na ‘to sa kanya. Sisiguraduhin ko na kakain siya at baka nalipasan na ‘yun ng gutom.”

“And can you tell her to get over it already? I’m not happy with this kind of bratty behavior of hers. She’s just being a stubborn and lazy here.”

Nanay Cristy just shook her head at me before walking upstairs. I proceeded to the kitchen to get some snacks since I don’t feel like eating lunch. I picked one of the four stocked yogurt there. Its flavor is strawberry and since I bought some actual strawberry fruits from my last grocery, I also got them along with it.

The doorbell rang just when I was about to go back to my study room, so I went to check who came by. I wished I just did not because the person who welcomed me was the man who I would have wanted to just rot alone outside.

“What are you doing here?”

“I need to see Hael.”

“You can’t. Not in my house.”

“Legally, this is my house too so I pretty have much rights to it as you do.” he said that almost made my eyebrow rise. Well, this is a conjugal property— we both paid for this— but hell I care about that. What’s half of his is already mine when he decided to mess up our marriage. “What happened to her? She called me last night and sounded like she was sobbing. What did you do to her?”