Ever since Inang started going to regular school, she seldom had dinner at home with both her aunts. They were often too busy doing other things, mostly something to do with their latest business venture. She was glad their loyal housekeeper decided to stay after her children had grown up and her husband got himself a second wife.
She was quite surprised, therefore, when she found both aunts eagerly waiting for her to join them for dinner that evening.
"Well, this is quite a surprise," she blurted out as she sat down after a hurried shower.
"Oh, Cen-Cen. Don't you miss those happy days when we could all stay at home and do lots of fun stuff together?" Mummy asked.
Inang grinned at the silly nickname Mummy gave her after cendol, the iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of pandan-flavoured green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup, her favourite.
Mama put a mountain of salad into a plate and handed it to Inang. "Your skin is starting to break. You need to up your vegetables."
Inang self-consciously touched the spots under her chin.
The other identical aunt shook a finger in front of her face. "Don't touch them, or they'll get infected. Just put a cream on it later."
After the general talk about what was happening at school and her clubs, her aunts' conversation drifted to other matters that Inang was sure didn't concern her. Her own mind started to wander.
She thought of the contents in the pen drive. What happened to her parents? Her memories of them were vague. Oddly, there were no photos of them in the house. Her aunts said she looked like her Mom. Inang had a suspicion that nobody else knew about her parents apart from her aunts.
She never knew what happened to them. Her aunts were reluctant to talk about it and grew very upset when Inang tried to ask questions concerning her.
"We will explain everything when you turn sixteen," they promised.
Inang was fourteen. Her next birthday was in another couple of months. Twenty four months before they explain everything to her!
A part of her felt insulted that they didn't deem her intelligent or mature enough to be told now. She knew in the olden days, girls her age were already given away in marriage. In modern times, girls her age were already entrusted with lots of responsibilities by their elders.
Inang could handle pain. She told herself that the reality of life is harsh. Although she herself never experienced difficulties or starvation or hurt, she was an observat girl. She had encountered beggars on the street. She knew other families who were struggling due to poverty. She could recognise a prostitute on the streets even when they were dressed decently.
Who was she to judge? They had to do what they had to do for economic reasons. Could there be other reasons other than that? She conjured an image of her or her aunts on the streets. She shuddered involuntarily.
Must be grateful for what we have, she kept reminding herself.
The battle raged within her. To ask or not to ask. Her aunts were hecticly discussing a new business venture.
"What do you think, honeybee?" Mama asked her, using her nickname for her.
They were talking about turning their house into a B&B, a business idea that they have discussed in the past.
Uneasy feelings began to accumulate in her heart. To have strangers all over their yard and the surrounding area. Her favourite lake. She wasn't sure she wanted to share those places with anybody outside her family. Not even Ali had ventured into the hills.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
The Ludicruos League
हास्य-विनोदa.k.a: Lineage Some secrets were meant to be uncovered, while others were better left undisturbed. Inang is determined to uncover the secrets of her true lineage and find out what had happened to her real parents who had vanished without a trace...
