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Chapter 21: The Girl in a Dress, the Birthday Boy and the Uninvited

21

The girl in a dress, the birthday boy and the uninvited

"Whose house is this?" Nicky asked her mother the moment they stepped out of the van. They were riding in a van of her mother's officemate whose name Nicky never bothered to remember. It was either Jinky or Jackie. But she'd known her more as Mrs. Suarez. There were like fifteen of them inside the mobile, three families with noisy children, and even noisier mothers, chatting about some local politician's mistress.  Nicky was more than relieved they finally arrived.

"It's our boss' house," Linda, her mother replied, adjusting her blouse.

It was a sleek, modern two-storey house, with wide porch and an even wider lawn. The whole front yard was lit up with grand bright lights. There were several plastic tables and monoblock chairs arranged neatly on the lawn and a big buffet on the very end, near the small flower garden. On the opposite end was a makeshift stage all set up with music instruments. There were sets of disco speakers, too, loud with the latest RnB music. Nicky could see all these, because there were only a few guests yet. In fact, they were among of those who were the first to arrive.

"It was good we're early," Her mother sighed as they passed through the gate.

"Well, it's only five in the afternoon, and I don't think this party would start until dark," Nicky replied as she continued surveying the whole place. She loathed herself for envying what she saw.

A short middle-aged woman with a friendly face greeted them the moment they got inside. "It was nice of you all to come, Linda, Jinky, Marian," she said. Her smile was too bright Nicky figured it must have been faked.

Nicky heard her mother's officemates reply of gratitude.

"Wow, ate! They got huge house!" Dexter exclaimed as he struggled to wring his hand free from his sister's clutch.       

"What's that ate?  I wanna go over there!" He said pointing at something somewhere.

"Hold still, will you, Dex?" She replied, slightly agitated. Then she turned and followed the direction her kid brother was pointing. "That's a fountain, and we're not allowed to go over there."

"What? Where? I wanna see, too!" Jenny demanded, tugging the hem of Nicky's shirt and jumping up and down.

"No, we can't. You don't want the owners of this house to get angry with you, do you?"

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Jenny cried out.

"Nic," Their mother whispered to her. "Why don't you bring your brother and sister to what it is that they wanna see, but don't wander that far, okay?"

"Alright," Nicky replied.

It was a cue for Dexter to scamper towards the fountain. Jenny, in all excited laughter, followed suit and ran after her brother.

"Hey, wait for me!" Nicky called.

Before she could even get away, Mrs. Suarez with her two chubby elementary boys suddenly approached her. "I think my boys would like to see the fountain, too. I hope you won't mind if you could also look after them. Don't worry. JJ and Moi-moi are all good boys. They won't misbehave."

"Okay, then," Nicky replied, forcing herself to smile. This is what I get for being the oldest kid.

An hour had already passed, and the guests were arriving like ants on a parade towards crumbs. Nicky recognized some familiar faces, and even some schoolmates. There were a few teachers, too. She never bothered to come up to them because she was on all fours chasing after the kids, who were all enjoying the whole scene, the disco lights and especially the fountain. She still didn't know nor didn't care whose birthday was it until she bumped into Lois and her posse—Priscilla and Camille.