Chapter 5: The Beautiful Childhood

“Mama, mama, I’m home!”

A little girl’s voice filled the air. “Mama, look what I’ve got for you today. I bought bread and noodles.”

“Where have you been this time?” Laura went out of her room to see what the little girl was up to. “Did you go garbage hunting again with Mikael?”

“Kael was so insistent this morning so I had no choice but to join him. Besides, we were able to earn money from all the junk we collected from our neighbors,” the little girl replied.

The mother just stared at the girl who was still standing in front of the door of the little apartment that they were calling home.

“My Clarissa, look at you. Your arms and your face are full of dark spots. Those are probably dirt from the garbage that you collected.” Laura was trying to scold her daughter but her gentle voice conveyed how she cared for the little girl.

“I am fine, mama. At least I brought us lunch. And I had fun collecting those things and earn from them.” Clarissa already went to their apartment’s dining space where a little table and two chairs were found.

“But you know what mama, I think Kael tricked me again today. I should have earned more. That guy. Maybe, next time I would have to be assertive about my rights. Huh!” Clarissa was so keen to tell what happened that morning while she was with her friend.

“Issa, you know that your best friend Kael, wouldn’t do that to you.” Laura defended her daughter’s constant companion.

“All right mama. But I am already starving. Can we eat now?” Clarissa muttered while her mother took the two plastic wraps she brought with her.

“Better take a quick bath first,” Laura instructed her daughter.

From their small kitchen, Laura took a plate and put the four pieces of bread rolls in the plastic dish. She also had a medium-sized bowl where she placed the egg noodles. “Did you buy this ‘pancit’ at that old woman’s eatery in the corner of our street?” Laura asked her daughter who was busy cleaning herself in their small bathroom.

“Yes, I did mama. You know I love the taste of their pancit. So good!” Clarissa exclaimed. Pancit is a traditional egg noodle dish in Filipino cuisine. It is usually added with pork or seafood and an assortment of vegetables.

Laura also took two more plates from a plastic drip tray as well as two forks. She placed them on the table and called her daughter who had just finished taking her quick bath.

“I thought you are hungry. Go ahead and dig in.” Laura also took a piece of bread and placed it in her mouth.

“I know this will be good, mama. But I still can’t believe that Kael will do that to me. Imagine he talked to the dealer in a hushed tone. Maybe he was trying to hide something.” Clarissa was continuously talking in between bites of the bread roll and savoring a fork full of noodles.

“Why didn’t you tell him? If you were that suspicious of your friend, you should have given him a piece of your mind.” Laura was enjoying their banter. It was always like that. The mother and daughter would always make it a point to be together during meal times and have a hearty conversation.

“Of course not, mama. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. I know that I’m his only friend,” Clarissa quipped. “But this noodle dish is really delicious.”

Laura was staring at her daughter who was enjoying that simple meal. She was listening intently to every word she was saying. While she was lending her ears to her story, she can’t help but notice her daughter’s facial features.

Clarissa’s face is not the typical one as she has mixed blood – Spanish and Filipina. She was fortunate to have the best genes from both her parents. Her Mediterranean facial features would always deserve a second or third look from people who would see her.

She was blessed with exquisite almond-shaped dark brown eyes and long thick lashes. She had a prominent nose, tight rosy cheeks, and her skin was as fair as fresh milk. Even their neighbors would say that she was the younger version of Amparo Muñoz, the Spanish beauty queen who won the Miss Universe pageant when it was held in Manila in 1974.

“This is so flavorful. Oh, mama, do you remember the first time we were together buying this noodle dish from that lady in that eatery. She said I looked like a beauty queen. What was her name?” Clarissa was trying to recall that memory.

“Amparo. You looked like Amparo Muñoz, a Spanish Miss Universe,” Laura replied. “You really look like her, Clarissa. Both of you are so beautiful.”

While reminiscing that memory, Laura felt a slight pinch in her heart. She also recalled her memories of Spain, her time in Madrid, and the greatest love of her life – Pablo Gonzales.

It was more than nine years already since she left Spain. It was a painful departure as she was forced to leave that country due to her love affair with a Spanish man. The ‘hombre’ who she thought was her forever was her first love, too. But, she was wrong. Pablo abandoned her amidst all her miseries.

Laura faced so many difficulties when she returned to the Philippines. One was that she had nowhere to go as her mother, her only family, had died years back while she was still working in Spain.

She was forced to rent a shabby room in a congested street in Manila. Good thing, she had saved some amount of money from all the years she worked in Madrid.

It took her almost two weeks until she was able to find a decent job. Being a licensed nurse, she was hired as a nursing assistant in a big clinic in the city. The old female doctor who owned that facility was kind enough to take her in. After just two months and because of her determination and hard work, she got transferred as a nurse in one of the private hospitals where the doctor was also working. Nine years later, she was still working as a nurse in that hospital.

Laura smiled while remembering those memories. She was still intently looking at her daughter who was still talking non-stop.

Five months after she returned to the Philippines, she received the most shocking news of her life.

“Congratulations! You are pregnant.” Laura received the news from an obstetrician who was also a doctor from the same hospital where she was working.

It came as a shock. Laura was confused. She had mixed emotions. She was overwhelmed. Nevertheless, Laura was happy. She never thought that the one night she shared herself with the man that she loved would produce a new life.

While the doctor explained what she needed to do for her pregnancy, she was touching her belly, trying to comfort that little offspring that was the product of two people who were so in love.

“Laura, are you listening? Make sure to take care of that baby and have your monthly check-up, okay?” The doctor kept reminding her.

“Yes, doctor. I will take care of this baby,” Laura replied.

Indeed, she was so careful with the next four months that she carried that new life in her womb. She took care of her diet and her nutrition. She even decided to transfer to another apartment that was nearer to her workplace. This was the home both she and her daughter had lived in for the past nine years.

Four months after it was revealed she was pregnant; she finally gave birth. She delivered a beautiful bouncing baby girl. She named her “Clarissa.”

Clarissa was a nice baby and that she only cried right after she was taken out of her mother’s womb. But when the nurse attendant brought her to Laura, she ceased crying. Probably, the baby girl was assured of the fact that she was with her mother.

Laura’s daughter grew up to be an attractive child. She was a respectful and humble kid. She was also helpful to her mother and to other people. Most importantly, she grew charmingly like a little beauty queen. She was a delight to all their neighbors.

Then, a tear fell down from Laura’s eyes.

“Mama, are you crying?” Clarissa just finished a plate of her noodles when she noticed her mother’s eye releasing a tear. “Are you okay, mama?”

“Yes Issa, I am fine. I just remembered something,” Laura replied.

“Were you thinking about papa?” Clarissa began to ask.

“Of course Issa. I would always think of your papa. He was the love of my life but he is gone and far away now.” Laura was evading her daughter’s inquisitiveness. “The important thing is we are together. That’s all that matters.”

Her daughter remained silent. It seemed that Clarissa was thinking otherwise but Laura had to remove all possible thoughts that her daughter may have such as the possibility of finding her father.

“Why so silent? Were you not satisfied with the pancit that you ate?” Laura kept asking so many questions to her daughter.

Then, Laura said “I love you, Clarissa. I know that our family is not the same as the other families out there but what matters is that we are together, okay.”

“I love you too mama.” Clarissa suddenly hugged her mother to show how much the latter meant to her.

“Really? Or maybe you just want another serving of this delicious pancit? Should we buy another one?” Laura teased her daughter.

“No mama. I am full. You should eat your part,” Clarissa replied.

“I never knew this pancit would really be delicious.” The mother and daughter continued their conversation when they heard a voice of a boy shouting Clarissa’s name.

“Issa, are you home?” The voice from that boy can be heard even from their kitchen.

“Kael, is that you?” It was Laura who asked who that boy was. “Come over here in the kitchen.”

“Yes, it is me, Auntie Laura.” The boy replied.

“Do you want some noodles?” Laura offered her share of the egg noodle dish but the boy refused.

“Auntie Laura, can I take Issa with me? We have an important place to go.” Mikael sought Laura’s permission.

“Why Kael? Where are we going this time?” It was Clarissa’s turn to ask.

Mikael replied, “It’s a secret!”