CHAPTER 10: FAMILY 2
Juanita looked at her dad’s worried face and sighed, she didn’t want anything bad happening to her parents or watching them getting depressed especially when she was the root of all the problems.
“Dad, I will be here for like a week or two. I resigned from my previous workplace and will be going to Zlila for something better,” knowing her parents well, she doubted if she could hide from them any longer so it was better for her to come out clean from the word go.
Randall wasn’t surprised much but Pearle who was done washing the plates, yelled in surprise, “darling, why did you resign?”
Juan looked at her mother in a defeated manner, “it wasn’t working well there so I decided to leave and look for greener pastures somewhere else.”
Pearle looked at her daughter and felt her heartache for her, “were they bullying you?”
Juan chuckled sadly but still denied it, “how can I be bullied by anyone? Your daughter is very strong, you know!”
Seeing their daughter trying her best to hide her scars and painful moments she went through when she wasn’t around them, they wanted to deal with them so much but they knew that they weren’t powerful enough to do that.
“That better be the case, then!” Pearle glared at Juan who simply giggled as she found her mother cute.
“I will be with you, help you with your work. I miss you so much, so don’t worry about me. I will get back on my feet pretty soon,” she promised her parents as she didn’t want to worry them.
Seeing that their daughter’s mind was set, they decided to take one step at a time and see how they will settle this issue.
Since it was late, the family didn’t stay up for long but talked for thirty minutes before biding each goodnight. Juanita cleaned up and disappeared into her farm space.
She had harvested a lot of rice and she was very proud of what she had done. She had forgotten however to buy the packaging for her rice as she was going to sell the 2kg bags instead of the 20kgs one.
She also filled up some bottles of water and decided to add some of this water to her parents as she wanted to share the good ones with them. When she was done, she returned to her bedroom and slept soundly that night.
The next day, she woke up and harvested some more rice before going to wash up. She changed her clothes and went to the sitting room where she found her dad watching T.V and her mother was making breakfast in the kitchen.
“Good morning mom and dad!” she called out as she joined her mother in the kitchen.
“Good morning darling, how was your night?” Pearle asked with a smile on her face as she was happy to see that her daughter was here with her and it wasn’t a dream.
“It was very good, haven’t slept so soundly like that in a long time,” Juan confessed sincerely and the spoon stirring the pot of porridge stopped for a while before resuming.
Pearle’s mind was on the verge of collapsing with all these kinds of thoughts of what her daughter might have gotten through.
“It’s good that you slept well,” Pearle said stiffly but Juan didn’t even notice that something was wrong with her mother’s mood.
Juanita was just happy being with her parents so she began to help her mother and when the food was ready, she helped her serve it and her father joined the two in the dining room.
“Let’s pray,” Pearle said as she extended her rough hands to the two beloved people she loves dearly.
“Sure.”
The family of three prayed and enjoyed their breakfast. With their stomachs full, Juan decided that it was time for her to break out the news she had wanted to tell her parents ever since she arrived.
“Umm, I have something that I want to talk to you about. Can I have your attention?” she cleared her throat drawing her parents’ attention to her.
The couple who was busy talking was truly drawn to Juan after she said those words.
“What is it darling?” Pearle asked but her voice was laced with so much worry.
“Yes, come let’s talk,” Juan said as she made herself comfortable on the couch.
Her parents joined her and looked at her, waiting for her to speak out her mind.
“So, you know that I have been saving money for my surgery but I have no idea when the money will be enough for me to finally have that surgery. This is why I conclude that I will be taking out part of my savings to pay off the debt you paying off. The longer it remains unpaid, the longer our family will keep on working hard and there is no guarantee when the debt will be fully paid,” Juan anxiously spoke, as she was fully aware that her parents will disagree with this idea of hers and she was right.
“No, you have saved that money for years and we can’t let you take it out for this. We will pay it even if it means that we need to work from six to six,” Pearle directly rejected and refused this idea.
Juanita looked at her dad but he also shook his head and took Pearle’s side, “we will pay it. We are your parents and we want you to be happy. We know how much these burn scars have affected you and the sooner they go, the better. And if you were to pay off our debt with that money, you will have to start from scratch again.”
Juanita found herself crying, she understood her parents so well but she never expected that they will be like this till the end. However, this time, she was not going to listen to them.
She was going to convince them one way or the other. What was the point of saving money when there was no clue as to when she will have these marks removed?
What if by the time she saves all that money, she will be old and wrinkly?