Chapter two[Early childhood memories resurface:Shocks]

 Chapter two [[Early childhood memories resurface: Many shocks]

That early afternoon of December,Ericka thinks with her eyes wide open that her ex-boyfriend who she considers her husband would show up with his family and surprise them. She asserts,

" What? We have nothing to offer because everything has fallen apart. Here, even mineral-infused filtered water is useless. I still need to get clean water out of the running water, and I need to boil it first to kill any bacteria that could cause amoebiasis or other gastrointestinal disorders.”

As her gaze shifts to her Ate Lorie, who has begun to feed her elder brother's pet carabao with a bunch of green bananas, she takes pleasure in watching the animal masticate the food while tilting its head. She didn't say anything; she just looked and talked about the problems.

Until they both made the decision to embrace their lack of everything and whatever negative emotions that go along with it, Ericka continued.

“They must be fatigued, thirsty, and hungry, and we have nothing to offer in the way of accommodations, given how dusty the house is and how there are no dishes, cutlery, or glasses of water. Oh, my goodness! What a life do we have right now?

I'm scared they will fall and shot their legs beneath the shattered bamboo sticks of our flooring," she says as she steps on the flimsy bamboozled flooring.

 Which made her Ate Lorie suggest,

“They asked us to meet them so they wouldn't get lost on the way here, so you go ahead and pick them up on the road.”

As Ericka promptly complies by crossing the wide river on the road across it after a few weeks of flooding, Ate Lorie mentions.

Her phone rings as she's moving.

” Hello, may I ask who you are?”

Ericka asks since the voice is strange and she appears perplexed.” Hey, could you tell us the road's landmark so we can find your farm? We have started travelling.”

The caller identified as Ericka is unable to respond to her query,

“By the way, could you let me know exactly where you are calling from so that I can let you know how to find me?”

However, Ericka has the fortitude to face her dilemma head-on and admits, "I still don't know how to handle telling them that I'm empty handed right now and I can't afford to acquire a hiring vehicle to meet them. “She just states,

 "I am currently walking because I have no money to pay any hired vehicles. We can meet right away and drive you to our land if you could just look around and gather the information I mentioned.”

Ericka said as she began to consider,

"What brought you here, and we have no intention of showing what we have since everything has fallen apart, nor do we have any desire to sell anything!” Her brain is active.

Although she finds their sudden and uninformed visit unpleasant and embarrassing considering that she is currently struggling with issues with her basic needs and financial instability, these strangers do nonetheless remind Ericka of her first love, which makes her joyful as well.

Ericka has the feelings that her first loves’ relatives are coming, as the visitor called back once again and said,

"We recommend using a car, and we will pay for it when we meet. We can't find the landmark anyhow."

Ericka grabs the first motor vehicle she finds to meet the unexpected visitor. Her heart jumped a little, but not as much as it did when she first saw her husband, the father of all her children, when she saw the elderly man setting on the drivers’seat.

As a senior driver in the front seat and a young couple in the back, she finds them to be utterly bizarre.

She has the open front seat as she hopped next to them after swiftly paying for the motorcycle.

The river seems higher since the automobile is too low for the flowing water to reach the level, making it difficult for them to find a solution. Ericka refrained herself from laughing because it gave her enough justification to insult them for coming to view her abandoned farm and house.

"There is nothing you can gain or lose by being so curious about what we have, only misery and disappointment. Oh God, have pity!” Ericka is praying as she inclines her head upward.

 Guard these people so they can safely leave us shortly. They must all starve to death here. I have sympathy for everyone.”

Ericka prayed as she went about her day that afternoon.

Up until that point, the older man appears unable to understand her sister's mumbling and grumbling.

Her sister has a college degree in midwifery and is proficient in English; nevertheless, due of the extreme poverty and hardship on the farm, her manners have changed.

When they are finished, they appear to be parched and worn out after Ericka has no choice but to take them around the farm.

She brought them into the crumbling, on the verge of collapse old farm house, which caused Ericka to laugh as they noticed the floor was beginning to split the bamboo stick flooring.

Despite her genuine sorrow for their plight, Ericka had no choice but to let them leave because the farm home was already in bad shape and would have collapsed with even a small mistake.

When Ericka saw her elderly visitor, who was approximately her old husband's same age bracket, she thought of her old spouse, “I really missed him. However, he didn't seem interested in me because I appear too young to pique his curiosity in any case,” she grumbles with a smirk.

When they decided to go and locate another safe place to stay in the mountains with a hidden exit to the town proper, where they could buy groceries and meals that night if they didn't get lost, Ericka was relieved but also sad.

After having dinner with her Ate Lorie and Kuya Nonoy on the mountaintop that evening, Ericka is alone herself and is slowly descending the mountainside where the abandoned farm home is located.

She took careful to cover her entire body from head to toe with a worn out thin, old, and musty blanket with a plastic mat and stinky old, hard cushions on her head and legs as there is now no electric power, so she suffered from utter darkness and plagued insects the entire night.

"At least I'm not living on the street anymore, where it's riskier.”

After spending difficult years in the city when she was raising her own family, she noted with a smile on her current situation since she is feeling emancipated and revitalized.

In order to fix the fallen debris and sweep up dried leaves and other unneeded weeds around the farm house, Ericka simply wears a pair of black washable pants and a thin, red long-sleeved top, along with a big hat and gloves. She went after saying, "We can just employ the laborer to handle other tasks. Since this cluttering is heavy-duty for a strong man to undertake.”

As she laughed and walked away, her older sister warned her, "Be wary of that gigantic phytons that invaded in the heart of the plantation. It can swallow such big as you." Although fearless, Ericka is already worn out.

She experiences loneliness at night, but the moonlight gives her comfort as she sings lullabies to pass the time while she is sad or disappointed.

Others, however, still think she's insane since she sings and hums wherever she goes, even while sitting on the riverbanks and admiring the surrounding scenery as the fresh water runs and pebbles scatter all around.

“This really is a nice spot to relax.” She said with a smile as she watched folks looking in from a distance before she vanished.

Every morning and late in the day, she would wander around collecting dispersed debris until it dried out, then she would burn it all, filling the farmland with smoke.

She also likes and appreciates leading the working animals of her older brothers, such as the carabao deep inside the plantation.

The working animals owned by her older brothers have one horn that has been cut in half, allowing her plenty of amusing conversation partners as the carabao relishes in consuming the surrounding expanding green grass.

One afternoon, just as she was about to finish organizing her space, her phone started to unexpectedly ring.

While trimming larger weeds and shrubs close to the river banks, she fled quickly as she could hear it coming from a distance.

"Hello, could you tell me who the surprise caller is?”

Ericka tapped the yes button many times before answering the phone with a smile.

"May I know whether this is Ericka Mendel's phone number? “Unknown to her, the young woman's voice on the other end of the call asks.

Yes, speaking," Ericka replied incredulously, adding,

"Can you tell me who is calling me?” She instantly inquires as she cautiously removes her large, wide hat and sets down her pointed bolo.

“I am your third daughter and have waited to meet you ever since I was a young child with my father hiding me from you.” She exclaimed joyfully. Ericka is speechless but her heart is bursting with joy as she says,

"Well fine, you found my contact information. It makes me happy that you made such a great effort to find me. I had been trying to find all of you but found my efforts to be in vain. I had already posted about you being missing on social media but left nothing. How did you get my number, my dear baby?”

Ericka asks her daughter, who can't elaborate further because her load balance is running low. Ericka readily understands and responds, “All right, dear, let's arrange a time to meet when I return from my work here in the farm. I'll get back to you soon. I appreciate you and adore you, my child. Regards to all of your sisters and brothers and take care. Our family will be together soon. “Ericka stated adding"By the way, your Daddy told me once to be able to find you, I should search you on my social media account. Probably, one of you might also discover that I never stop recovering for all of your whereabouts. Thank God that He lead us the way to talk about it this way. See you then. I am so worried already about all of you. But I know well that God is more powerful than me. He can protect you all from any danger," Ericka says as the signal weakens and lets both of them continue.

"See you later, Mama. I still adore you!"

 That late afternoon, as Ericka had nearly finished organizing the entire farm in the countryside, she received consolation and all the heavy weights and disappointment were gradually lifted.

After a week, new plants began to emerge and sprout all over the ground, and those barren coconut trees discovered blossoming buds that would later develop into young coconuts.

Under Ericka's administration and care, mango trees flower profusely, their leaves growing large and healthy.

Plantations of bananas regain output and are prepared for harvest.

 Her elder brother who vanished silently reappears.

While her older sister tolerates him and tells Ericka not to let him into the farm house.

Every afternoon, he stays downstairs with some of his old hangout buddies and drinks several bottles of strong wines until everyone is wasted and her brother is left in a pathetic state by himself.

She therefore asked the other friend to carry him inside the farm home so that he might rest and sleep in response to her compassion, call of concern, love, and care for a blood relative.

Ericka is aware that due to her weakness and inability to work as hard as a man, she cannot run the farm on a permanent basis. Because her brother is fully qualified to handle the farmer's job, she is forced to step aside and let him handle it.

"I'll allow you to stay here permanently. Please give me a part of the harvest, Kuya! I like to return to the city to meet my missing kids “

Her brother, however, becomes indignant as he remembers their previous disagreements with her spouse, during which he bit and kicked him in front of their relatives.

After those occurrences, Ericka went to the police station and reported her siblings' violent response for potential physical harm and public disgrace.

Ericka is forced to act modestly and seek for forgiveness before offering peace.

“Let's forget and be merciful, Kuya! You know he was alone and needed my protection from all of you who are my relatives. I was only trying to get everything in order. We are all fallible.

He did nothing wrong to you, so forget it! Who do you think can protect him while he is a foreigner in this country? He also pardoned you for physically injuring him, and the police cleared you of any criminal accusations. We should be grateful that he spared you jail time!”

As the conversation becomes worse.

Because her spouse violated her brother's family's and his land's territorial rights, her brother finds it impossible to acknowledge that he committed a crime.

Ericka bows down since she is aware that her brother had attacked her numerous times in the past while they were still dating and she was living in a rental home. When he had issues, he frequently remained with her and was given permission to rule the family at the time.

Ericka begged, and she agreed to let him remain as long as he can.

As he receives the majority of the earnings and distributes the remaining 30% among the other family members, with 50% going to him and 20% going to labour, her brother, however, begins acting violently and has a sudden craving for money after harvest.

Her older sister argues, "That's not right! " as her brother becomes upset. As her brother insisted,

“I am the only one working hard here; Ericka only knows how to cut garlic and onions; she couldn't even make great meals for me and the other workers.

She rarely sweeps the yard. I'm the one that swept up all the dead leaves that were blowing around to keep the area looking neat, tidy, and well-kept. I should thus get the most of it! ”

Ericka was stunned and terrified as he flung his big arms down on the table and scolded her harshly.

Several days later

She travelled alone to see a few of her distant second cousins. Because her brother is already a widower and being alone himself has made him unhappy and lonely, she must counsel them to be understanding with him if he ever acts rudely or coldly.

He frequently spent money on alcohol instead of nourishing food and medical care to make him better able to do the daily farm job, which made her periodically lose tolerance with him.

Ericka talks behind his back because of concern that he will hurt her physically, which he has done frequently ever since he was on the evil team. and went off course.

"Kuya Red, I've started to hate you because you're such a great cheat and liar!"

 When she is alone and witnesses him in his ludicrous state, Ericka utters disgustingly. She wonders how she may get past her brother's silly attitude, which has sometimes given her the opportunity to be happy when walking about the neighborhood.

She remembered that the same brother was there with her, and he was always yelling at her, and memories of her early upbringing came flooding back.

“ Ericka! Could you leave your reflection at home and help me gather these rice grains outside?

You maintain a firm grip on the rice bag so that I can transfer the entire contents of the measuring can inside the rice bag. Move swiftly! Even though it is currently late in the afternoon, it seems like the heavy rains are on their way.

Be careful because you still need to make the rice for dinner. If you keep moving slowly, I'll spank you.”

Ericka stayed mute as her brother raged angrily, trying to make sense of what he was saying while she was disgusted by how bad he had treated her in the past.

She remembers being in elementary school at the time.

Her mother stole her school bag, which her brother required since he had clothes to pack for his trip to the city to hunt for employment, but she needed it because she had to pack it with her school assignment. She was dissatisfied with her mother, whom she had never understood despite her mother's love for her bad brothers, and this made her cry and force her to miss school.