More to Life ✔

Chapter 4 Back Home

Rain poured over the eaves as Maria waited on her apartment steps. Tears followed a well-trodden path down her cheeks. She'd failed to make Adrian feel valued and loved. Her selfish actions and prioritizing work over him led to their demise, even though he was always the end goal.

Her family's rusted Honda Civic pulled onto the street. Seconds after the car stopped, her mother leaped out and strode over, her firm footsteps splashing in the puddles. She didn't waste time fiddling with an umbrella.

"Diyos ko! Why are you sitting in the rain? What did that boy do now?" The short Filipina woman huddled close to Maria under the stoop as water dripped from her hair.

Maria's chalky throat offered no response. Her gaze flickered to the glass doors behind her to see if Adrian reconsidered, but an empty stairwell greeted her.

She stared at the ground. "I need a place to stay for a while." Her voice cracked. "Probably a long while."

Camilla embraced Maria and squeezed tight. "Home is where you belong, iha, not this run-down apartment. Do you know a man was stabbed on this street last month? You two were too young to live on your own."

Her mom's idea of too young was anything before marriage, unlike other twenty-three-year-olds who lived independently. Maria remained rooted on the spot as if nothing would change if she stayed put.

"Come on." Her mother helped her stand with the calloused hand of a woman who worked all her life, then grabbed her suitcases. "I need to get a pot of Sinigang on the stove, and your sister and father are hopeless in the kitchen."

The promise of home-cooked hot and sour soup thawed Maria's resistance. The memory of tart tamarind paste and lime danced on her tongue. Hadn't she wanted to make Sinigang for the cooking contest? As she hopped in the front seat, she opened the e-mail about Gourmet Adventures and read through the rules and instructions. Contestants needed to post their first video today to compete.

Adrian had thought it was a good idea for them. While he wouldn't accept her support now, she would use the 30 days of posts to show him she trusted his judgement, and she still loved him. It would have to be subtle at first, but once she was sure he left Kelsey, Maria could proclaim her love publically.

As Camilla drove away from the apartment, Maria turned to her. "Mom, can we stop at the store to get tofu?"

"What do you need tofu for?"

"For the Sinigang?"

"Don't tell me that boy changed your eating habits! You adore pork and so do your father and sister."

Maria shifted in her uncomfortable seat. Camilla was right. Rubbery soy products never matched that rich, salty, meaty aroma which welcomed her home throughout childhood. She would downplay the meat's role in the dish in her post, so it wouldn't set Adrian off.

Once they arrived home, Maria escaped her father's questions and life lessons by busying herself in the kitchen. After arranging the ingredients on the yellow tile countertop that belonged in an eighties period piece, she snapped a photo. As Camilla came to help, Maria jumped to cut the onions since tears lingered on her lashes.

Soon the slices sizzled in a deep pan, joined by crackling pork belly and fish sauce. As Maria stirred and inhaled the aromatic scent, she shuddered then relaxed. Maybe cooking food would heal some of her pain. The flowered tiles, the crucified Jesus on the wall, and a little dish towel reading 'The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home' brought her back to simpler times when all she cared about were good grades and spending time with her cousins.

Camilla washed the taro and set out the cutting board. "It's good to have you home, iha. I wish you weren't so devastated, but it'll get better."

Sniffling, Maria warmed the frozen beef broth on the stove. "Cooking is the only thing I can handle right now."

"Remember, you are brave, beautiful, and so dedicated." Camilla pecked her on the cheek. "Can you finish up? I need to fix a bed up for you."

Maria nodded as she broke up the icy chunks.

After she chopped and added the bright taro, tomatoes, and broth, Maria pulled out her phone. She could type a long post, but she'd always expressed her feelings better aloud. Would she want the competitors or even her friends and family to watch this? They judged her enough as it was. She inhaled the soup's strong yet soothing aroma. This competition was for Adrian, and he needed to hear her voice on a public platform.

"Hi everyone, I'm Maria. Today, I'm making Sinigang with my mom. I used to come home from those never-ending school days to smell this amazing, rich, sour soup. It was like my mom was telepathic when she had bowls ready for my sister and me. Her sixth sense struck again. So here I am cooking my favourite Filipino comfort food. Soup might not always be the sexiest or most intricate dish, but it soothes a broken soul."

Maria panned the camera over the kitchen, arriving at the simmering soup and explained the process and ingredients, including the purple taro few of her Canadian friends had experienced.

"You'll drop your phone in that soup," Camilla chastised, entering the kitchen.

Maria swivelled the shot to her mother. "Say hi to my mom, Camilla, she's my inspiration and taught me most of what I know."

"The good things are because of me, the rest are from her father. Why this video, Maria? Who's there?"

"It's for a cooking contest. Every day we post something different we made to expand our culinary horizons and share our passion."

"I hope you didn't show your onions. Not your best work."

"Mom!"

"What? You must fix what's wrong 'to expand', right? So tomorrow, fix them. You're too distracted by your sadness, sadness at moving back in with your wonderful family." Camilla wrapped her arm around Maria's shoulder. Maria switched the video to selfie mode.

"I appreciate you taking me in and getting to visit. I just made mistakes I need to atone for and hopefully, this is a step in the right direction." Maria stopped recording before her mother formed a rebuttal and ruined the video.

"Iha, your only mistakes were letting that man take advantage of your kind soul for so long and not listening to your parents." Camilla embraced her, adding to the warmth in the hot kitchen.

Maria's tears soaked into Camilla's t-shirt. "He's the love of my life, Mom."

"He's who you loved for a period of your life, sweetie."

Her words struck fear into her heart. "Mo—."

Camilla cut off Maria's attempted reply. "You'll see that in time, trust me. Now, let's finish the soup so you can post your video. Do you get a prize?"

"Three hundred dollars if they select me to move on to round two."

"How do they pick you? Do they try your food?"

Maria shook her head. "We all post our cooking on social media for the month, and at the end, they pick who the contestants with the best posts."

"Pass me the knife. This will be the finest-looking Sinigang ever created."

Tina pranced into the kitchen, searching each section of countertop for snacks before acknowledging Maria or Camilla. "Smells good in here. What's the special occasion?"

"Ria's moving in."

With a grin, Tina punched the air. "Oh hell yeah! Best damned decision you've ever made, sis."

Maria busied herself with closing spice packets so she wouldn't have to argue how wrong her sister was.

Camilla hit Tina's arm with the wooden spoon and nodded her head toward the crucifix. "Watch your tongue. Jesus is listening."

"It's a nasty world out there, Mom. He's heard worse." Tina turned to Maria and brushed her short hair out of her eyes. "So karaoke tonight?"

Their mother folded her arms. "After your homework. Your father and I saw that chemistry mark."

"Yes, Mama." Tina grabbed a bag of chips out of the cupboard on her way out of the kitchen, making Camilla shake her head.

"At least some things in life don't change," Maria said to herself.