Luisa after she finished her counting, let her mother Norma seen what she had counted.
"Look, Inay. According to my contract, I will earn 300 dollars, US dollars, Inay." Luisa emphasized to her mother the word US Dollars, as liked she was proud to earn money in US dollars. Norma looked what her daughter was trying to explain to her although she totally did not understand it. She, as she said, only studied up to grade two of the primary education, could only count simple, liked how much change she can have if buying an amount of fifty cents and her money was one peso.
"The change of dollar now is nineteen pesos, so I multiply the three hundred to nineteen, and Look, look Inay, it is five thousand seven hundred pesos. That will be my salary per month, five thousand seven hundred pesos! It's a lot of money!" Luisa excitedly explained to her mother the possible amount of money she could earned every month.
"That is big money!" Norma agreed with her daughter.
"Yes. Our contract is for three years. Three years is, how many months, wait." and Luisa tried to count with the help of her fingers the total months in three years." Thirty six months multiply by, wait..."
Luisa did her counting again in writing, until she came out to an amount of two hundred five thousand and two hundred pesos.
"In three years I will earned two hundred five thousand and two hundred pesos!" Luisa exclaimed as she was excited in counting the income that she could have if she worked abroad.
"I am happy. We can easily pay back Mrs. David and can buy back from her the jewelleries." Norma was also excited.
Luisa continued to count and planned how she would spend her money. She thought, the three hundred dollars monthly salary, she would only take fifty dollars the rest two hundred fifty dollars would be for the family. Her mother could pay Mrs. David the interest plus one thousand five hundred pesos for the capital amount, within one and a half year, Mrs, David would be fully paid. Then there still left the amount of one thousand five hundred pesos her mother could spent for food and study of the brothers and sisters of Luisa who went to school.
"That would be very nice, a big help to your father. Sometimes I pity your father. Even it's raining he would not stopped roaming the streets in order to collect more empty plastic bottles." Norma talked to her daughter about the efforts of Tomas in his not so pleasant work. Rain or shine, Tomas did his best to support his family with the only way he knew and could, picking on the streets empty plastic bottles.
"But if I am already working abroad, maybe, Itay, can take rest one day in a week. He's always in the streets the whole week, he don't rest." Luisa answered her mother.
"We must hope and pray that your going abroad will go through. But you said, you will only take fifty dollars from your salary, is that enough? You also have to eat?" Norma was worried that what Luisa said that she will only have fifty dollars from her salary.
"The agency told us that we will have free board and lodging. It happens also that the audience sometimes give tips, it's for us and we could divide it among us. We are six in our group." Luisa told her mother about some privileges offered with the job.
"How about the ticket for the airplane, the agency will also pay it?"
"We were not informed about it, but I will ask." Luisa answered. "Also, I will ask the agency if it's possible to pay directly to you the two hundred fifty dollars or the equivalent of it in pesos. Inay, before I forget, tomorrow we have no dance training, but I will go to Quiapo for my birth certificate and maybe also for my high school diploma."
"You alone?"
"No, I made already an appointment with Lorna, one of the girls in our group. She's the one who know about these fake papers!"
"Good, it's better you have company. It's not so safe for a girl like you to go there alone." Norma said.
"Inay, I have a request." Luisa said to his mother the she has a request.
"What request?" Norma asked her daughter.
"Maybe if we can have pork adobo for the supper? It's for months already that we eat rice only with dried fish and vegetables." Luisa yearned for a delicious meal.
Norma although the money they or she borrowed from Mrs. David could hardly met what Luisa needed, nodded to the request of her daughter, she could manage a nice meal for the family. Luisa was happy.
"I will directly go home after we finished the transaction in Quiapo. I already has water in my mouth. Pork adobo, yeah hey!"
LORNA de la VEGA - Address: Tondo, Manila
Lorna was watching television about her favourite drama series when she heard a big thud of body from outside the door of their house. She just heaved a deep sigh, it's almost the same every evening, her drunk father was coming home as usual hardly can walk.
"Why are you still home? Why you are just sitting there watching TV! You will not work?" Lupo, Lorna's father even though he was very drunk noticed his daughter in the living room together with her two little brothers watching TV.
"I have something to do tomorrow. I had an appointment with a friend to go to Quiapo!" Lorna answered her drunk father.
"And what will you do in Quiapo? Because you don't work tonight, do you have money for our food tomorrow? What will we eat tomorrow, huh?" Lupo was angry to his daughter.
"You are worry about food when what you think always was alcohol! Instead getting drunk everyday you can look for a job, then we will have no problem with money!" Lorna sternly said it to his father and Lupo became more angry that he suddenly grabbed the hair of Lorna. Lorna shouted in pain.
"What, what you said?" Lupo angrily slapped her daughter while grabbing her hair. The two little boys became afraid that they ran to their mother who was in the kitchen cooking their supper.
"You like it that I will break your neck? Huh?" and Lupo raised again his hand to hit Lorna but his wife Marlina shouted, "Let loss your daughter!"
"Your daughter don't respect me. She always made me angry!" and Lupo pushed away her daughter. Lorna fell on the floor very hard. Lorna cried.
"Lorna was the one feeding us but you always beat her!" Marlina's voice was almost shouting.
"You always take the side of your daughter. Maybe you also like to have a black eye from me!" and Lupo walked toward Marlina.
"Try! Try it! You see this?" and Marlina raised her right hand, she's holding a big knife from the kitchen. "I will not think twice to stabbed your useless body with this. Come, try it!"
"Ah, you and your daughter are the same! If I cannot control myself, I will struck your both head to the TV so that all will break, the TV and your both heads!" Lupo was also shouting.
"You will break the TV that Lorna paid from her working in the night club which you forced her to do because you are lazy with big useless body of yours?" Marlina insulted her husband and Lupo flared up with anger.
"Marlina, I warn you! Don't pushed me hard because if you do, I will burn this house with you and your children in it! Your are all pest in my life! All of you!" Lupo then with his zigzag walk went away.
When Lupo was away, his family do not know where to, maybe back to his drinking friends or maybe he could not able to walk anymore and just sleep by the side of road as always happened, Marlina then heaved a sigh of relief, returned back to the kitchen the knife and approached Lorna who was sitting in the sofa and crying.
"May I see your face, does it hurt?" Marlina asked Lorna, while looking if Lorna was wounded. Luckily, the face of Lorna had no wound only a little swollen.
"Inay, if I am already abroad working, you can separate from that useless husband of yours. I will support you and my brothers." Lorna said to her mother and wiped with her hand the tears in her eyes.
"Lorna, please, don't talk like that. He is your father." Marlina softly said to her daughter.
"Sometimes I had thought that he's not my father. Where can you find a father that forced his daughter to work in a night club?" Lorna was really angry to her father. Her father had forced her to work in a nightclub as a hostess and she hated it. ****to be continued****Remedios Dorio