I lifted my head from his chest and we stared at each other, “I’m sorry…”
Bram looked outside, “At first I was so disappointed with mum. I could not even look at the pictures. I didn’t talk to my parents for weeks.”
I was lost for words. Even though I heard this information from Mama Credence before, it was different when it was coming from Bram. I shook my head and bit my lower lip, “I don’t know what to say…”
Bram turned to me. He rested his forehead on mine, “I don’t know how I could have handled it without you.”
That night Bram and I did not make love. We slept soundly. We slept facing my dresser, my back pressed against Bram’s chest and torso. His right arm rested on my waist. I hoped that we could have more nights like this. I opened my eyes the next morning with the sound of Bram’s alarm.
After he kissed me goodbye I went back to sleep and woke up again at eight o’clock. I checked my phone and saw missed calls from my mom. I tapped the call back option and walked towards the bathroom, “Hello?”
“Darling,” my mom said from the other line, “Sorry, I left my phone in the kitchen last night. Why are you calling?”
“I’m getting ready. We need to talk, mom. I’ll see you in a bit,” I told her and said goodbye.
I called Bram when I was putting on my makeup, “My love, can I drive on my own? I want to use my own car?”
“No,” Bram answered from the other line.
I sighed, “I will talk to my mom and my brother so…it might take some time?” I reasoned to Bram.
“I will call Maria to make sure that Jonas and Chantal are with you,” Bram said in a clipped voice, “We shouldn’t be having this conversation, Emma.” Then he hung up the call.
I ended up at the backseat of the LS500. Jonas was driving and Chantal was in the passenger’s seat at the front. We were heading to my mother’s house in the nearby province of Cavite. It only took us one and a half hours to get there. I told Jonas and Chantal to wait in mom’s restaurant. Like what Bram said before, mom’s restaurant was not hard to find. You could see it on the main road. The sign said, Emma’s.
Mom and Roland were having their coffee when I arrived at the house. They were both seated at the dining area facing each other. I greeted my mom with a hug and sat at the head seat. I switched my glances on both of them. I sighed before I spoke, “What happened?”
Mom took a sip of her coffee and stared at Roland. She was obviously dodging the question and forcing Roland to answer it for her. I turned to my brother and waited for his answer. Roland looked me directly in the eye.
“Bram’s family can’t tell me what I could and couldn’t do,” Roland told me.
My eyes widened with his words, “Well they can, if they saved your life!” I yelled at him, “If you knew who she was from the start, why did you pursue her?”
Roland shook his head, “I didn’t know who she was at first.”
I leaned towards Roland’s direction, “Well then, when you discovered who she was, why didn’t you stop? She was using you!”
“Like you’re using, Bram?” My brother interjected.
My jaw-dropped, “I can’t believe you just said that to me!” My anger flared up. My chair made a piercing sound when I pushed it back as I stood up, “Are you saying that I should have left you in that drug lord’s house and let you die, Roland?”
“I did not ask you to save me,” he said then he crossed his arms to his chest.
I shook my head in disbelief. I could see my own chest rise and fall. I turned to my mom for help. She turned to me, “I tried my best, Emma.”
I closed my eyes, “You guys are unbelievable!”
I grabbed my bag from the table and got out of the house. I got my phone from my bag and called Chantal to pick me up. When I got in the car, I told them to take me to Mama Credence’s house. Chantal made a phone call and she was told that Mama Credence was not in her Manila home. She was staying at the ancestral house in Laguna, so we drove there instead.
We got there around eleven o’clock. Mama Credence was already at the entrance. I could not help but tear up as I walked towards her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and we went up the stairs. When she closed the door of Don Agustin’s office, tears rolled down my cheeks, “Roland said no, he said that he didn’t ask me to save him.” I sobbed.
Mama Credence sat on the chair in front of me, “Calm down, darling. Can you tell me what happened?”
I took a deep breath and told her what had transpired with my mom and Roland. I told her the exact words that they used. I watched Mama Credence’s expression turn from disbelief to anger then to a meaningful smile.
“I see,” Mama Credence nodded her head. Then she handed me a box of tissues and said, “Wipe your tears, darling.”
“Sorry,” I said as I dried my eyes and face with the tissue, “Excuse me, I need to blow my nose.” I turned the opposite direction and cleared my nose.
“Do you want me to take care of things for you, Emma?” Mama Credence said. She was now standing near the window.
I straightened up and went to the trash bin and discarded my used tissue, “What do you mean?” I asked nervously.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Mama Credence said as she turned to me, “No one will get hurt…physically.”
My lips parted. I suddenly became agitated, “Maybe there’s another way to convince Roland…” I trailed off because Mama Credence was shaking her head.
“If your brother wanted to help you, then you wouldn’t be standing here in front of me, darling.” Mama Credence smiled mischievously. Then she walked towards me, “Your brother knows exactly what he’s doing.”
I followed her with my eyes as she walked towards the door. She opened it and turned to me, “My husband and I taught each other a lot of things. And we apply them when the situation calls for it. Your situation definitely calls for it.”