Red Lipstick on His Neck [Series #4]

5: Casino

As what I have been expecting for quite a long time now, we left the mansion, we left the Philippines as if we are really meant to do so. I don't think that leaving a country could only take a day to prepare, but in our case, it was possible. Everything has been ready for a long time.

Nakasakay kami sa isang private airplane. It's luxurious, and to think that we're the only passengers makes it weirder. How can we afford this?

We left like it was nothing. No, we left nothing at all. According to them, the mansion isn't ours. Pareho ding walang trabaho sina tito at mommy, pero hindi ko alam kung saan nanggagaling lahat ng ginagastos namin mula pa noon. Everything is settled in my school already, all thr papers are ready for my transfer. Mom said that everything is possible under her name.

"Ria, do you know why your hair is roosy, your tito's is black, and mine's hazel despite us being relatives?" mom asked out of nowhere while looking outside the plane's window. "My eyes are also hazel, your tito's as black as his hair, while yours are hazel green."

Now that I remember, I've been asked about that countless times already. Classmates, teachers, classmates' parents, kung sinu-sino lang. Foreigner daw ba ako. May lahi daw ba ako. And all those times I didn't know what to say aside from I DON'T KNOW.

"I don't know," I then said the same thing.

"Because our maternal grandmother is a pure-blooded Asian. Your tito, on the other hand, has also a pure-blooded Asian paternal grandfather. Kaya naman mas malakas na dugong Asian ang dumadaloy sa kanya. That explains his black hair and black eyes. Iyong mansion na tinirhan natin, family house ng maternal grandparents namin ng tito mo. Our moms are their only daughters. Maagang namatay ang nanay ni Robert, mas maaga pa kaysa sa mga lola't lolo namin, and mom is not in the Philippines so there was no one living in it."

Dahan-dahang akong tumango. Alright. That's not completely shocking, but still unexpected. "What's the other blood then?" Mom mentioned Asian. If she's not pure-blooded Asian, then what's the other one? "What blood is the dominant?"

"Russian."

Oh. Russian. "Wait, what?!"

"You heard it right," she confirmed. "Aside from my maternal grandmother, everyone from my lineage is Russian. They are scattered to different countries, but most of them are in Russia. And," she looked at me with an image of hate in her eyes, "that rotten place is our destination."

* * *

"And here I thought I'm gonna experience to finally live in a city where there are buildings and billboards ad I look out the window, or city lights as I stay at the terrace ," I mumbled as we headed to a one vintage mansion in a little isolated area.

Russia is so much different to Philippines. The structures, most of the infrastructure is more commendable, or maybe just because it's my first time seeing them.

"This mansion is your tito's. He lived here before you were born," mom informed me upon hearing my murmuring.

"Talaga?!" hindi makapaniwala kong react. Nang mabuksan ni tito ang double-door entrance ay excited din naman akong pumasok. "But it seems like it has been taken care of."

"Of course, I hired caretakers. I expected that I'll be returning here, so yeah." Itinuro ni tito sa tuktok ng mansion. "You can go upstairs and choose a room."

Pagtakbo akong umakyat ng malawak na hagdanan para makarating sa ikalawang palapag. Our mansion back in the Philippines is more modern than this, but this one's feel cozy and aesthetically gloomy. It's like an abandoned palace, but still possible to live in.