CHAPTER 28

"Sweetie, you can't find out yet; it was just an old discussion, okay?"

[Okay, mother. By the way, Tita Mindy earlier informed me that she was departing. How am I to be a mother? [Her words caught me off guard a tiny bit.

I'll vow, "What? What's happening? Sweetie, please give your telephone to Aunt Mindy once more."

Elyse? [Hello?]

Her nervousness is audible in her voice.

Are you leaving because you're mad at me? Just because you've been like that before, Mindy? What is my son saying?

[Grandma needs me in the province; that is the real reason. My sister informed me that my grandmother was ill and that she would take care of the bill, leaving me with only the task of caring for my grandma. It would be unfortunate if he had to employ a caregiver, he said.

She isn't truly the sister he calls; he only calls her that. Since her parents passed away when she was just one of our cousins, Mindy's mother has been caring for and feeding her ever since.

My son came to mind, and I wondered what w