Hiatus and A Call

The aroma of bitter but creamy coffee filled my lungs. Nothing beat the warmth of hot coffee in the morning while being stressed reading my editor’s message:

‘The publishing house is pestering me. They say people want more of your story. Until when do you plan to be on hiatus?’

A smirk was my only response to her insensitivity. She didn’t even bother to ask how I was feeling after being ghosted by my opportunist ex-boyfriend and being betrayed by my itchy, pretentious ‘friend,’ both of whom took advantage of me.

The former pursued me even when I wasn’t interested in him. He exerted effort beyond my expectations. He would call every night, and we would talk about random stuff for hours. There were times that he would stand and wait outside our gate early in the morning with a pack of ensaimada and Spanish bread—my favorite. I, sometimes, would even receive gifts from him. He did his best to make me fall for him, which, eventually, happened. Fortunately, I didn’t fall hard. I had this 70-30 rule in love—70% love for myself and 30% for whoever dared to love me.

The latter, on the other hand, did her best to ostentatiously show that she was my friend and that she supported what I had with my ex. She was in fact the one who teased me to my ex. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that smart at hiding her true feelings towards him. Though she pretended to like someone, my instinct never failed to hint to me what her true intentions were.

To cut the long story short, the whore fabricated a story against me. It was a guess, but, knowing her personality as a gossiper who would ruin the image of other people so she could get what and who she wanted, it wasn’t impossible. And almost two years after I was ghosted by the imbecile guy, those traitors got married! And I wasn’t surprised. I hoped they had fun toying with me, or it would be a waste of their effort and acting skills if they hadn’t.

I put the coffee mug on the table. Killing them in real life would cost me my freedom—or worse, my life. What was being a writer for? The idea of murdering them in a story revived my motivation from its deep slumber. I would constantly use them as subjects until my resentment towards them would be gone—that was my way of forgiving them for messing with me and my quiet life.

I grabbed my phone and sent my editor a reply. ‘Give me a month or two. I’ll personally hand you a new story.’ I put the phone away. I didn’t want to get distracted. But as soon as I comfortably sat on my cottony couch, my phone rang.

It was Nana—my grandmother—my father’s mom. I preferred calling her Nana rather than Grandma.

My heart suddenly became erratic seeing her name. She almost never gave me a call unless it was urgent, like when she was in the hospital and needed money.

“Can you come home, sweetie?” she asked.

“I was about to when you called, Nana. I’m already done packing my things,” I said. It was half true. I really planned to visit Nana in the province to write my novel there, but I hadn’t packed anything yet.

“Oh, thank you, Juliana. We really want to see you.” Nana sniffed.

“Are you crying? We? Who’s with you?”

“Maribeth is here now. Please hurry home, okay.” Then, the call ended.

Cat got my tongue.

Maribeth? Nana clearly said her name. But it was impossible! She had gone missing years ago.

*

Maribeth was my father’s daughter with his ex-girlfriend before he married my mom. Her mom died after she had given birth to her. Since my mom was a woman with a kind and generous heart, she accepted and treated Maribeth as her own. Five years later, I was born.

It was fun growing up with a sister like her. We went to the same elementary school, but she was already in sixth grade and I was in first grade. After her graduation, she needed to go to town, three kilometers away from home, for her high school. I felt so alone that I isolated myself and didn’t mingle with others. It was also the time when bullies came after me. My misfortune as a bullied introvert continued until I reached high school. Ate Maribeth had already graduated by then.

One afternoon, as I waited for the jeepney, a group of school bullies walked towards me.

“Hey Juliana! I heard that Jed likes you,” Daphne said. She was the meanest person I had ever met. “Do you like him, too?”

I was stunned.

I wasn’t expecting to hear that from her. She was a diehard admirer of Jed, and I couldn’t blame her. Jed was kind and smart, not to mention handsome; I liked him since I was in elementary. Though we were from different schools then, I first saw him when they performed a folk dance during the girl and boy scout camping. I was even over the moon when we became classmates in high school.

“That’s not true,” I said. I didn’t want to make things worse. Although I had butterflies in my stomach and felt a bit giddy about the idea of ‘What if it was true?’

“Are you really acting oblivious now?”

“Look, I know you like him a lot. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way. You can have him all to yourself.” I bitterly smiled at her and her girlfriends and took a few steps away from them. But she just didn’t know when to stop.

I was taken aback when she pulled my ponytail and began slapping me.

“Jed is mine! No one’s going to have him but ME!” Before another slap hit my face, someone blocked her hand.

“Get your slutty, filthy hand off my sister!”

Ate Maribeth came!

Tears welled in my eyes as I watched her drive my bullies away.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I wailed, not minding the curious passers-by and onlookers. I hugged and clung to my sister—my savior—as she assisted me so we could go home.

We got off a few meters away from our house, near the rows of tall mahogany and mango trees. Ate Maribeth decided that we should walk since the jeepney we took ran out of gas.

Darkness reigned as the stars hid behind thick black clouds in a fog-filled night.

“Something sinister is going to happen,” Ate said. “Hurry, hide among the bushes away from here. Run!” She gently pushed me after whispering the instructions to me.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Confused, I grabbed her arm so we could run together, but she pulled it back.

“Hurry, please. I don’t have time to explain. Please, Juliana.” Tears ran down her cheeks. Fear was all over her face.

I did as I was told. I ran as fast as my tiny feet could go, constantly looking back to check if my sister was following me.

As I ran farther, the flapping sound from massive wings stopped me. Curious, I looked up, only to be surprised when I saw a bat-like creature hovering above some trees not far from where Ate Maribel stood.

I was about to yell at her to run when her voice permeated the somber air.

“I’ll go with you! But please, leave my family alone!”