Chapter 40 A Relative's Request

The lockdown was lingering to months that resulted to a more difficult livelihood condition to those whose employers were forced to close down their business firms. Not to mention those urban drivers who could no longer earn for their daily income as they remained at home with their family.

One among those unemployed was a cousin of Ms Peace who luckily watched the launching of Sydney's latest invention, the BFS. Watching it intently, he was able to get their contact number. But because of the customers who bought the first one hundred units of the BFS, his call couldn't get through. When those units were already sold out, the mobile phone was switched off as they had no reason to entertain a customer. Besides, they were still manufacturing the product to serve those who would also like to use it.

As it did not just hit the local market but the international market as well, they had to produce thousands and thousands of it.

Rene Ayo Solis, the unemployed relative of Ms. Peace could not reach her despite his repeated attempts. Knowing that she was his knight in shining armour to save him and his family from dying of famine, he contacted their other cousins to be able to get through her.

Ms. Peace was one of the skeletal working force who was scheduled to report to her work place every MWF- Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It was Monday morning when he met Rene Ayo Solis in her office who waited for her.

Rene related his current situation to his cousin that moved her to empathize with him. Ms Peace called her husband whom she explained in details about the unemployment of her cousin who during that time was already impoverished. Sydney agreed to bring her cousin along with her at their home after her office hours.

In the afternoon, when the cousins arrived at the Solis-Britton's residential place, the children courteously greeted him and served him with an afternoon snacks. While eating, Sydney was able to get his personal information as he led him into a pleasant conversation.

In compassion, Sydney and Pearl Ace decided to give Rene a certain amount for his family's basic needs. However the latter insisted that he should allow him to work for them as it was too embarrassing on his part to accept the money for free. At first, both husband and wife refused what Rene was telling them. Due to his insistence and seemingly sincere statement, Sydney agreed which his wife, Ms Peace tried to oppose but to no avail.

It was already dark when Rene left their house after dining with them their supper. When he left, Ms Peace was convincing him not to let her cousin work with them.

"Giving him that big amount of money would enable them to use it for being self-reliant." Ms Peace quipped.

"He's your cousin, remember?" Sydney reminded her.

"That's the ultimate reason why I wanted you to turn him down. I knew him and his wife!" Pearl Ace told him.

"Let us give him a chance to test what kind of employee he is. Okay?" Sydney assured her.

"Don't ever blame me just in case he's not a good person." Pearl Ace expressed her skeptical feeling about her cousin's intention for his insistence in working with them when she knew that Rene was used to accepting free money from his relatives. She knew that even though he had his daily income as a driver, still he would go from one relative to another asking for a money as a forced gift to him. In short, he loved coercing his relatives to share them their hard-earned money to him brazenly. It was the reason of Ms. Peace's skepticism about her cousin when he told them about his embarrassment to accept the big amount of money they gave him for free.

Pearl Ace was able to sleep that night with doubts, fear, and possible embarrassment to her husband not only in her heart but also in her mind.

Just like those days with hectic schedule of their work, they were really caught up with their task. Since they had almost sold out all those BFS that they manufactured, it was only Sydney who was in his garage producing his invention while his children were busy gardening and feeding the fish in the pond, the swines in their pen, the ducks and chicken in their coops. They did it early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Between these times of gardening and feeding, they devoted their time studying as they were in an on-line schooling.

Because it was not yet advisable to commute, Sydney was obliged to drive his wife to her working place and fetched her in the afternoon whenever it was his wife's schedule to report to her work.

That Thursday morning it was a coincidence that Ms. Peace was to work from home. Because it was still very early for her to do her work, she decided to be with Sydney in their garage where the latter started his own task. While everybody in that household was very busy, the doorbell rang loudly and non-stop as if there was an emergency occurrence that needed to be attended to. Maria was at the living room where she was cleaning and at the same time where she could see who was the caller by their gate. What she saw was a teenager boy whose was around sixteen years old together with another boy who was about nine years old. Immediately, she informed the couple about it. Curious about it, the couple went to the gate to see them personally.

Alas! The two boys were the sons of Rene who was with them and his wife. They had their bags with them which they guessed to be their clothes. Sydney and Pearl Ace looked at each other with meaningful eyes trying to ask each other but remained speechless. Their silence was broken by Pearl Ace.

"I thought you're going to work with us?" She asked him with a furrowed brows inquisitively.

"Cousin, I brought them here with me so that I would no longer worry about them while I am busy working here." He stammered while explaining.

"Didn't I tell you not to work here anymore? That was why we gave you that amount." Pearl Ace told him.

"What do you have to be worrying about cousin? You have a big house, a spaceous yard. We can be of help to you." Rene's wife whose name was Nerissa shamelessly said.

Pearl Ace was about to talk when Sydney put his right arm around her waist as his signal to stop her.

" Maria! Call Juan to come for a while." Sydney ordered her.

Not long after, Juan-the cook-driver was already with them whom Sydney instructed to bring Rene and his family to the apartment where they housed the homeless they were helping. With the proper orientation from Sydney, Juan echoed what his boss told him that they should be taught how to be self-reliant by gardening and raising domesticated animals.

When Juan led Rene and his family to the apartment just across the couple's house, Rene was adamant to go with him and expressed his preference to stay with his cousin's place.

Sydney was exasperated but wouldn't show it on his face and voice. He calmly told him that once he refused to follow where Juan was leading him, he and Ms Peace would no longer had time to give in to any of his request. Having sensed the strict decision of Sydney, Rene and his family followed Juan to where the apartment is.

Upon their arrival, the friendly occupants of the last two up and down apartment units welcomed the whole family and they were even given the chance to choose where they would like to stay, whether to stay upstairs or downstairs. Nerissa, Rene's wife insisted to stay upstairs as she told everybody that she had the chance to peek through the family of her husband's cousin.

It was a relief on the part of Pearl Ace when her husband turned down his cousin's request to live with them. She was also thankful to God that they had an apartment where her cousin with his family could stay. She had high hope that her cousin would be influenced by those homeless whom they housed & oriented to be independent.

Their three children and their three household helpers were oriented not to let Rene and his family be allowed to be within their vicinity. To be sure of such policy, Sydney activated the security system they had in their home.

With the hidden CCTV, Sydney could monitor Rene and his family. Most often than not, Nerissa kept on complaining why should they have to plant and raise swine, chicken, and even fish in the pond at the back yard of the apartment when Pearl Ace and Sydney could afford to support their needs because they were very rich. Oftentimes, she would nag Rene telling him to tell his cousin's husband to provide them their needs. She even insisted that they, too, should be provided with a vehicle as Pearl Ace and Sydney had several of them. Behind Nerissa's back, whatever she said to Rene was able to be in the ears of the couple.

Six months passed when Nerissa stopped fretting and fussing. Her silence was conspicuous to their neighbours that they were intrigued of her sudden changed of behaviour. A week after her silence, an awful din caused by screaming occurred in front of the gate of Sydney and Pearl Ace's gate. It was still early in the morning when Sydney's car had just been driven outside their gate, when Rene and Nerissa were right in front of his car trying to stop them from running toward the road going to Pearl Ace's work.

They were about to sneak inside their compound when the gate automatically closed that's why they speedily ran in front of the car to stop them.

"Sydney! I shall report you to the DFA to deport you!" Rene shouted.

"Pearl Ace, you are too selfish not to let us stay with you so we don't have to work for our daily needs!" Nerissa screamed very loudly.

"I'm telling you Sydney, let us live with you or you'll be deported!" Rene yelled once again.

"Look at you! Can you take it that we kept on working while you are comfortably lazing in your mansion? You should also give us one of your vehicles!" Nerissa demanded on top of her screeching voice.

The leech couples were delaying Pearl Ace that she was about to be late in her work. So, Sydney pressed his horn to get rid of them. But... No matter how loud the beeping of the car's horn, still the leech couples did not get away. Instead, both sat down on the car's hood. Without rolling down the windows, Sydney texted a message to Juan in order to mobilize the male occupants of their apartment who forcefully dragged Rene and Nerissa away from the car. Only then, when Sydney was able to step on his car's accelerator and drove his wife to her work place.

Sydney did not drive his car home from his wife's place. What he did was to talk with the barangay captain to file a complaint against Rene and Nerissa. On that day, there was a confrontation in the barangay Hall where Sydney pointed out how shameless Rene and Nerissa were.

Nerissa denied and behaved like an abandoned maltreated relative by which the barangay captain plus his councilmen were forced to expose her deception. They informed the leech couple with the generosity & concern of the Solis-Britton couple to their fellows.

"You were similar to those whom the government provided with the social amelioration program fund but was still dissatisfied with it. Whenever you received an amount of money from other people, you must be thankful for it, even though how meager the amount is. You shouldn't demand. For all you know, we are working hard including my children. My wife insisted to work despite the danger that she might be contaminated." Sydney was able to tell them his thoughts to them.

Then he added; "If you would like to go back to your place, so be it."