"I have an idea how it feels like."
Adrian turned to her, puzzled. "How?"
"My mom." Joey hesitated. "She left us when I was fourteen."
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It was exactly two weeks after her fourteenth birthday. Julian, her eldest brother, woke her up that summer morning.
"Mama's leaving.", he said.
"Where's she going?", she asked. Kuya Julian said nothing and just left her alone in her room.
She found her mom and her brothers in the living room, sitting quietly. Her dad was out, probably at work. Joey immediately sensed that something was wrong. It was summer vacation, and by this time every morning, her brothers would be out of the house, playing basketball or biking around the neighborhood. She looked at her mom who was staring at the floor, her shoulder-length hair falling in soft waves around her cheeks. Then she noticed her mom's tears.
"Mama, what's wrong?"
Everything after that happened so fast.
She remembered her mom hugging her tight, enveloping her with that comforting baby powder scent. Her mom always smelled of baby powder. But at that moment, Joey was far from comforted. Her mom was crying and saying 'Sorry' over and over again. She promised she'd call and write. But she wasn't sure she'd come back.
"Why Mama, why?"
She said that she couldn't take it anymore. She could no longer bear staying with Papa. The fights just went on and on. She was no longer happy.
"Mama, please take me with you."
She said she couldn't. Wherever she was going, she had to go alone. She promised to call. She kept saying 'Sorry'. But she wasn't sure she'd come back.
"Mama, please don't go."
Joey remembered hugging her mom tight, refusing to let her go.
But her mom left anyway.
Joey remembered running after the taxi that took her mom away. She ran and ran, blinded by tears. Kuya Julian was calling to her to come back. But she didn't stop.
That was when she ran into the dog that bit her.
Joey remembered that the doctor who injected the anti-rabies smelled of baby powder.
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The heavens opened as they set for home. Adrian drove more slowly while keeping an eye on the black pickup truck ahead of him. Joey sat quietly beside him, drowsily watching the raindrops beat against her window. Both of them had neither the energy nor the inclination to talk. It was just as well, Adrian thought. After what Joey had revealed about her past, he was still in a mild shock. He never would have thought that she had gone through so much sadness. But he sensed that there was so much more to her story. Why did she live far away from her dad and her brothers?
Chapter 6
Start from the beginning
