CHAPTER 21: THE ESSENCE OF BEING A WOMAN

THE GIRL WHO CAN’T DATE

By Eleventh

CHAPTER 21: THE ESSENCE OF BEING A WOMAN

“Some mothers are as fierce as a lioness, while some mothers are as gentle as a dove. Their love may be lenient nor tough but we have no right to question a mother’s love.” – Ira P.

2017 JOURNAL

Silent strides that creaked the wooden floor bothered Ira that night. Who could be awake at this hour? She wondered. In curiosity, she pulled the blanket to the side and got up from her bed. Then, she silently went out of the room and saw the kitchen lights on.

[Midnight snack! No wonder we’ve been running out of food in the fridge.] she thought.

She tiptoed her way to the kitchen in the hope to surprise the snacker. With mischief in her mind, she silently hid behind the door and waited for the perfect timing to carry out her plan. But when she heard loud sobs from the inside, she quickly forgot about her mischievous plan and peek through the door to see what’s going on.

Seah was sitting on the chair, holding her lower abdomen while Ares was at the table, rummaging through the medicine box. When he found the pill he was looking for, he took a glass of water and rushed to give it to his struggling wife.

“Does it hurt so much? We only have one tablet of pain reliever left. Will that be enough?” Ares kneeled on the floor to see Seah’s face wet with tears.

[Dysmenorrhea on the last day?] Ira wondered.

Seah did not reply. She just took the pill and swallowed it.

Feeling sorry, Ares stood up to wipe his wife’s face. He also brushed her hair with his fingers and tied it with a rubber band he found on the table.

Seah looked up and gazed through Ares’ eyes with hers filled with remorse. Quivering, she whispered, “I’m sorry!”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“For being like this. For being… sick… I’m sorry, Ares!” she sniffed her nose as another well of tears flowed down her cheeks.

Ares grabbed a seat and sat against Seah. He wiped her tears again, beholding her face and finding every part of it beautiful. Looking intently in her eyes, he said, “There is nothing wrong with you, Seah!”

“What if… what if I can’t bear a child?”

“Nothing will change. I’ll still wake up next to you every day, choosing you and loving you.”

Seah scoffed as she shook her head with doubt.

“But I want to be a mother, Ares! And I know you want to be a father too. I can see it the way you looked at Macy. What if… what if we can’t have what we both desired? What if…”

“Ssh… you will be alright. We’re going to see the doctor, okay? We will do everything we can to have a child. Even if it will take a long time, we will have a child.”

Ares gently pulled Seah close to him and stroked her back as she wept on his chest. Realizing that she just eavesdropped and heard what was supposed to be a private matter, Ira silently went back to her room.

AT GRAYSON ACADEMY

“OH MY! You mean your sister-in-law is sick?” Maggie exclaimed after Ira told her what she witnessed the other night.

“I guess so. They have yet to see the doctor confirm it. For now, they’re keeping it a secret. Pops and our brothers don’t know about it yet. I’m the only one who knew… and of course, you… ughhh! Which reminds me, it’s a family secret. I shouldn’t have told you!”

Ira cried in frustration when she realized she shouldn’t have disclosed the matter to Maggie. Feeling bad, she crinkled her eyebrows and groaned as she sluggishly walked through the hallway beside her colleague.

Meanwhile, Maggie seemed unbothered.

“Well, you already told me. And that’s fine, girl! I can keep a secret. Anyway, are you ready for the PTC? Because I think you’ve got a parent waiting for you already.”

The ladies shifted their attention to the woman in her fifties, wearing a tailored blazer and khaki pants waiting just outside the Grade 8 Leo’s classroom.

“Wait a minute! Isn’t that Jacob’s mother?” Maggie presumed.

“You mean Ramirez?”

“Yup! That kid!” Maggie confirmed.

“Oh great! I badly need to talk to her. But… ugh! Why would she come at seven? PTC is still at eight o’clock. I want to have some coffee first.”

As Ira groaned, a young man with vanilla scent walked beside her and with his stern voice, he said, “She’s a working mother, Miss Pardilla. She’s probably busy but she took some time to show up in the PTC for her son. And perhaps, she might be in a hurry right now so she can still go to work without running late. Let’s try to be kind and considerate!”

Then, Skye winked and went ahead of the ladies without giving them the chance to respond. With those words said, for a minute, Ira felt bad that she complained without even understanding. She felt selfish and inconsiderate.

“Good morning, Mrs. Ramirez!” Tapping the parent’s shoulder, Ira greeted her with a warm smile. When she turned around, Ira came face to face with the mother’s gentle face and apologetic eyes.

Her kind face made her feel worse.

“Oh, hi! Good morning, Teacher Ira! I am terribly sorry for coming this early. I have a meeting with some big clients today and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to make it later. I hope it’s okay.”

“Yes! It’s definitely okay, Mrs. Ramirez! Come on in! Let’s talk inside.”

Ira led Mrs. Ramirez inside the room and let her be seated. She carefully arranged on the table the yellow thick cards she was carrying with her. Then she searched for Jacob’s progress report card and gave it to Mrs. Ramirez. However, Mrs. Ramirez did not bother to check it in front of the teacher.

“You may check his report card and see how well he performed, Mrs. Ramirez. And if you have questions about his grades…”

Mrs. Ramirez gently shook her head with a smile and said, “I’m not too particular with Jacob’s grades, Teacher. You see, I had him at an old age. And I know that he doesn’t excel in class nor compete with his classmates because he is not as smart as the others. But he is kind and, and…he does his best. I’m already proud of him for that. But what I want to know is if he has friends, if he’s treated well, if he's happy… these things are more important to me.”

As Mrs. Ramirez was talking, Ira gave constant nods to let her know that she was paying attention.

“I see. Well, in that case, ma’am, you have nothing to worry about because Jacob has a lot of good friends. He is treated fairly well and he is one of the most respectable kids in school.” Ira assured.

Mrs. Ramirez felt relieved with Ira’s report and couldn’t pocket her smile. “Thank goodness! Is there anything else, Teacher?”

Ira gently shook her head and stood up to wrap up the conversation. “That’s all, Mrs. Ramirez! I believe you are in a hurry so I won’t hold you for long.”

Ira reached out her hand which Mrs. Ramirez warmly shook with both hands.

“Thank you, Teacher!” she uttered and left.

Before Ira could even sit, a familiar head popped out of the door.

“Good morning, Coach P!” Tristan greeted with his usual self, cheerful and never without a wide smile. He invited himself in with a cup of coffee and a burger which he carefully placed on Ira’s table.

“Excuse me? This is a Parent and Teacher’s Conference. You shouldn’t be here, Tristan!” Ira coldly said with folded arms and raised eyebrow. But smelling the scent of coffee, she is tempted to surrender her stance.

“I know! I know! But grandma insists that I should come. I don’t know why! She’s on her way by the way. She just met a parent along the way and had chitchat.”

“And what’s this?” on coffee and burger, she asked. Her face was still stoic

“Oh! It’s for you. She knows that it was yet too early and she thought maybe you hadn’t had your breakfast yet, so… there! I didn’t know how you like your coffee, but uhm, based on your personality, I don’t think you like it black so I ordered vanilla coffee.”

Ira tittered and looking away, she whispered to herself. “What does this kid know about my personality?”

“I’m right about it, aren’t I?” Tristan teased.

Ira decided to release her cold stance and smiled at Tristan. “I don’t know how you guessed it, but yes. I prefer vanilla over black. Anyway, thank you!”

Suddenly, a plump woman with short curly black hair, wearing a floral dress and carrying a large pink handbag barged in through the door and greeted Ira with a wide smile. Ira sniggered at the fact of how she sees Tristan in this woman.

“Good morning, ma’am!” Ira greeted.

“Hello, Coach P! Sorry for coming this early.”

“No problem. It’s almost eight anyway. Have a seat please!”

“Thank you! Thank you! I’m Tristan’s grandmother, by the way. I’m sorry that his father couldn’t come. He needs to work.” Mrs. Corrales replied sitting on the chair next to Tristan. As soon as she was seated, she immediately asked, “So how is Tristan doing, coach? Is he able to balance his studies and basketball?”

Tristan grinned, hoping Ira would say something good about him

Ira wanted to laugh but she just smiled amusedly as she handed his report card to his grandmother. Mrs. Corrales excitedly took and opened it in front of the teacher. She thoroughly checked Tristan’s grades, looking at the card with stretched hands and peering eyes because of poor eyesight.

“Did you forget your glasses again, Mimi?” Tristan asked.

“Yeah. But I can still read this. Don’t worry… Mmmm… your grade seems pretty fine. You’ve got a lot of As, except for Math. How is this a B?” Mrs. Corrales stared at Tristan grumpily.

“Mimi! It’s not that bad. And it’s not B! It’s a B plus!”

Unpleased, Mrs. Corrales pinched Tristan’s right ear and twisted it that made the kid scream. “It’s still a B, knucklehead! I told you a thousand times to get a tutor but you insist not to because you said you can do it on your own!”

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Mimi! That hurts! Ow! Alright, alright! I’ll get a tutor. Okay!” Tristan wailed.

Despite Tristan’s plea, Mrs. Corrales kept nagging. “What if you failed, huh? Do you think you can still do basketball?”

Concerned with Tristan’s red ear, Ira pacified the grandmother. “Mrs. Corrales, please calm down! Tristan’s grade is still fine. He can still improve. We’re still on the first quarter though.”

Mrs. Corrales let go of Tristan’s ear and faced Ira with a smile as if nothing happened.

“Coach P! Thank you so much for looking after my grandson. We won’t take much of your time. Have a great day!”

“Sure! You’re welcome!” Ira waved timidly at the two as they persist to argue upon leaving the room.

"See you tomorrow, Coach P!"

Ira followed them outside and couldn’t help but snigger at Tristan’s smiling face beaming at her while his grandmother kept nagging at him. Seeing that the hallway was still empty, she went back to her seat to enjoy the coffee. Recalling the two appointments, Ira learned a thing. A mother’s love could appear in different forms. It could appear in leniency. It could also come out from a nag.

Love may be hidden behind a guise, but love is still love.