by Thessa Lim
“That was just for fun.” Anne grinned at them.
“So who’s getting married this time?” Zack asked.
Zack parked the car at one end of the Calamansi Street. Nobody was out and about. Only the birds chirped as they flew their way over the trees.
“It’s over there—the one with the white gate.” Jazmine pointed at the house.
“Are you girls ready? Like we planned, okay?” Anne queried, studying each of them for a while.
They all nodded at her.
“Zack, will you be okay here?” Anne asked.
Zack nodded. He looked at the girls, except at Anne. “You all be careful, okay? Call me if you need me to go in.”
“I should’ve taken a shot of tequila before we came here,” Zara muttered.
Zara stepped out of the car and put on a pair of sunglasses. She was dressed in khaki shorts and a cream collared button-up shirt. A messenger bag was slung around her shoulder, while a couple of white C4 envelopes filled with blank sheets of paper jostled inside. An arm cradled a box filled with two wine bottles. She halted when she reached the other end of the road, right in front of the Palma residence.
It’s a good thing it’s a street-corner property.
She placed the box on the ground and studied the front yard. Nobody was outside. The parking spot was empty. She glanced at the windows and did not find any signs of movement there either. She clicked a button on her phone, speed-dialing Anne.
“Nobody out on the yard. You can get into position,” Zara spoke into her earpiece.
Anne, Laine, and Jazmine got out of the car and walked down the adjoining road. They strode down Atis Street to get to the other side of the house’s gate.
When they reached the side perimeter, Anne spoke to Zara, “We’re in position.”
“I can’t see if anybody is home. Or how many. Listen in first, okay?”
“Okay.”
Zara rang the buzzer. When she saw Sitti step out, she sucked in a breath.
Steady. You can do this. Liam needs you right now.
“H-hi,” she greeted the young woman, who was clad in homely wear.
“Hi,” Sitti answered back. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah.” Zara huffed out a breath. “I have a letter for a Fiona Palma. Is she here?”
“Yes. But ma’am is napping now. Can I take it for her?” Sitti opened the lock and crossed over the threshold.
“Okay. As long as she lives here. I’d need you to sign.” Zara pretended to reach into her messenger bag. “Oh wait, I got this box as well. It’s for a Dennis Palma. Does he live here too?”
Sitti nodded. “Sir is out though. He had to go to Pasay.”
“Oh, okay.” Zara shrugged.
Zara’s heart began to race, and her fingers trembled as she reached into her bag. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Jazmine and Laine boosting Anne over the side gate.
Time to keep this girl’s eyes on you.
“Oh shit! My toe!” Anne hissed in between breaths, wincing as she bent down to rub her foot. She had misstepped and hit the end of her toe against a rock by the gated wall.
Jazmine, Anne, and Laine sneaked to the part of the wall farthest from where Zara and Sitti talked. They made their way through the bushes in front of it.
“The curtains are drawn. I can’t see,” Jazmine grumbled.
“The maid says Tita is sleeping. Mr. Palma is out,” Anne reported. “Okay, gals, hoist me.”
Anne clutched on to the window ledge, getting ready to lift her body.
When Jazmine threw her a look, Laine said, “I can go last. I can pull myself up.”
Jazmine and Laine started pushing Anne up the wall, while keeping their eyes on Zara and Sitti and looking out for any passersby. When Anne got her upper body over the window ledge, she lifted a leg over. Too bad, she lost her balance and crumpled to the floor. Thinking she should have trained more that morning, she clutched her side.
“You can sign for both packages, right?” Zara took out one of the envelopes and a sign sheet. She winced inwardly when she saw Anne on the ground.
“Of course. I have to say, they don’t get too many packages. And two in one day, wow.” Sitti chuckled and reached for Zara’s sign sheet. “You just started today? You got only five other signatures on this.”
“Y-yeah. I work the afternoon shift.”
Zara watched as Anne peered into the windows of the house. Jazmine climbed over. Laine was next.
“So Pasay? What’s in there?” Zara prodded. “Thought that part of town is uneventful.”
“Sir is meeting with a friend who lives there.”
“Good.” Zara glanced at the houses behind her. “Seems like a nice neighborhood here. Do you look after the house by yourself?”
Sitti took the envelope from Zara’s hands. Zara looked over the maid’s shoulders just as Jazmine turned the knob of the front door.
“I did,” Sitti answered. “It wasn’t bad. Now though, we have a baby in the house, so ma’am brought in another maid just this morning.”
Zara stiffened at this. “Cool. A baby, must be cute. Whose baby?”
“Madam’s son’s.”
Zara nodded. “So the new girl looks after the baby?”
“Yeah, I think they’re napping now. So . . . is that sir’s box?”
Sitti reached down to get the package from the ground. Zara glanced up and saw that the girls had already gone inside the house and closed the door behind them.
“You know what, this is really heavy. Let me help you bring it inside,” Zara offered.
“Zara, don’t. We need you outside,” Anne whispered over the line. “We’ve got this.”
“Maybe let me bring it to the door for you at least,” Zara suggested.
When Sitti let her, Zara sighed in relief and took her time ambling toward the house.
Jazmine looked from one end of the hall to the other. Afternoon sunlight seeped in from the windows. Nobody was in sight. She motioned Laine and Anne to the left, where the bedrooms were. The rubber soles of their shoes matched the silence in the house.
“Jaz, a nanny was brought in today,” Anne whispered. “She might be in the room with Liam.”
Jazmine tensed.
What now?
She reached the door to Liam’s bedroom and turned the knob. The smell of talc reached her nostrils.
Liam, I’m here. I’m not leaving you behind.
“If she resists me, be ready to strike,” Jazmine whispered to Anne and Laine. “You can say I did it.”
Jazmine peeked inside the room and saw an unfamiliar girl stir on the rocking chair beside the crib.
Maybe she hasn’t been filled in on Tita’s drama yet?
Jazmine turned around to look at Anne and Laine, then motioned them to conceal themselves by a beam outside Fiona’s room. Anne and Laine nodded and hid themselves. Jazmine stepped into the room just as the girl opened her eyes.
“Hi,” Jazmine whispered with a smile on her face. Her heart beat furiously against her chest. “Tita told me you’d be coming in today. To look after Liam?”
The new girl sat up, rubbed her hands over her eyes, and smiled back. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I-I’m Tita Fiona’s n-niece,” Jazmine said.
Could Tita have told her about me?
“Can I look at Liam?” Jazmine asked and moved toward the crib. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“He’s sleeping, ma’am. Just be quiet.” The girl brought a finger to her lips and grinned.
She’s buying it!
Jazmine looked down at her son.
Sleeping so peacefully. He has no idea my world could’ve just been turned upside down.
“It’s a little cold in here. Can you get me a blanket for him?” Jazmine requested.
When the new girl turned around to search in a cabinet, Jazmine lifted Liam from the bed and cradled him.
“Here it is—” The girl held out a folded linen just then, and her mouth
formed an O. “Oh no, he might wake up. Ma’am Fiona might get mad at me if he wakes up.”
Jazmine walked out the door, not paying any heed to the girl, who scurried after her. Jazmine pressed her lips against Liam’s cheek. In that moment when she could smell his skin and rub her cheek against his, her breath lengthened, her heart relaxed, and the muscles in her back loosened.
Then reality set in.
“Ma’am. Ma’am, please,” the girl pleaded and ran after Jazmine.
Before Jazmine could say anything, Anne stepped out from the corner she was in, blocked the girl’s way, and raised a fist as if to strike. The girl stumbled back and landed on her bottom. She stifled a cry as she swallowed.
“We’re sorry,” Laine apologized to the girl on the floor. “But this is her son, okay?”
Anne looked around and warned, “We’d better go.”
Just then, Liam began to wake up. Jazmine reached into her blouse to make her breast available to him.
“Zara, we’re about to go out,” Anne announced over the phone.
Before Zara could make Sitti move away from the door, Jazmine marched out of the house. Liam nursed from her breast, and Laine and Anne ran right behind her. The three ladies strode through the front yard and the gate.
Sitti’s mouth dropped open. “Ms. Jazmine?” She gasped. “Ms. Jazmine, wait please. Please wait!”
Zara pulled Sitti back by the wrist before she could run after the mother and son. “Don’t! Don’t get yourself involved.”
Sitti gasped as she eyed Zara from head to toe.
“What your employer did is refusing a mother custody of her child. Don’t get yourself mixed up in this,” Zara ordered. “Say that you didn’t see anything. You were just in your room.”
Sitti trembled as Zara’s words sank in. When Sitti nodded, Zara grabbed the envelopes and the wine box and hurried after her friends. The four girls ran to the car, and Zack drove away as fast as he could.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The Manhole
Jazmine’s phone rang.
Anne looked up from one end of the couch. She had offered a room in their home to Jazmine and Liam earlier, but Jazmine refused.
“This is Liam’s home,” Jazmine had said.
So instead Anne had asked her parents to have Ate Helen work full-time with Jazmine for now.
After debating with the girls about staying, Zack had relented and left. He had wanted to stay behind in case anybody from the Palmas charged into Jazmine’s apartment.
Jazmine picked up the phone. Her hand trembled. It was the call they knew would come.
“H-hello,” she answered.
Woman up, Jazmine. Your son is in the middle of a mess. It’s up to you to get him out of it.
“Jazmine, how dare you trespass my house?” Fiona demanded. “You and your friends scared my maids to death.”
Wow, she sounds so different now.
“Do you know how many laws you’ve broken?” Jazmine argued. “Y-you denied me custody of my son for twenty hours. I c-can file a case of kidnapping against you.”
I’m messing up the speech that the girls prepared for me!
“No, you can’t.” Fiona huffed a breath. “I’ll lawyer up.”
“I’ve already lawyered up . . . Fiona,” Jazmine spat.
A gasp came from the other end of the line.
Jazmine could not resist. “How could you have done that to me? I trusted you. I thought we’d become friends.”
“This has nothing to do with you. This is about Liam and what’s best for him,” Fiona retorted. “He can’t keep staying at your apartment—which is so rustic and potentially unsafe.” Fiona scoffed. “Don’t you think it’s better for him to live in a proper house? With stay-in help? Where he’d have his own room and won’t want for anything?”
Jazmine shook as she retaliated, “What’s best for him is to be with his mother! Who knew him even when he was yet to be born! Who . . . who . . .” Jazmine continued when Fiona fell silent, “I’m more than prepared to fight this with you. My work brings me in close contact with people from human rights groups. Most of them are children’s rights advocates. If you fight me, I’ll ask for their help. And some of them will be more than happy for the media to weigh in on this dispute.”
Fiona paused and then harrumphed. “Well, don’t forget. You’re not the only one entitled to custody of Liam. My son is too.”
Then Fiona hung up the phone.
Jazmine dropped the phone and covered her mouth with her hands.
“What is it, Jaz?” Laine frowned.
“She’s threatening to get Braden involved,” Jazmine breathed.
They all stared at one another with wide eyes. Nobody knew what to make of that.
Anne stood behind the door to the apartment. Inside the apartment was dim.
Dim is good.
Zara and Laine were right behind her.
After dinner, the three girls had left Jazmine’s apartment. It seemed that the problem with the Palmas was not over yet, and so they had reconvened at Anne’s home. After weighing the options they could think of and checking posts on social media, they had changed into black tees and pants and slipped on gloves. Then they left Anne’s home and went north.
It was now nine o’clock. They hoped this place would be their last stop for the day.
“Palm strike,” Laine chanted behind Anne and executed the movement. “Chasse kick.”
Zara squinted in the dark and nodded. “That looks good.”
A flash of light came in from the window. Anne brought up her right hand and clenched it into a fist.
This is going to be fun.
Footsteps made it through the cement parking spot. Then the doorknob wiggled.
“Look fierce, ladies,” Anne whispered.
“Y-yep,” Laine whispered back.
The door opened, and Anne sneered. Braden walked in, and when light from the yard seeped into the living room, he took a step back. Anne stepped forward and kicked the door shut.
“Hi, Braden,” Anne snarled. “Remember us?”
“W-what are you doing here?” He looked around the room. “How did you get in?”
“When you need to do something, you find a way to do it.”
Anne took a step toward him and raised a fist. He stepped back—his face registering shock. Braden towered over Anne by a few inches, but Anne had a glare that could burn and arms that trained with weights and a punching bag. The ladies hoped their number would intimidate him enough as well.
“So, Braden, guess what? Your mother threatened a friend of ours. She said she’ll take a certain baby away from our friend by getting you to fight for custody . . . of Liam.” Anne glared at him. “Does the name even sound familiar?”
Braden raised his hands in front of him. “Look. Mom tried to talk me into getting back with Jaz. I told her no. I’ve burned that bridge.” He shrugged. “Now Mom just wants some hold over Liam. She’s attached to him.”
“Well, tell her to un-attach herself. Because she. Has gone. Nuts!”
“Don’t raise your voice at me, Anne, or I’ll change my mind just to spite you,” he warned.
Anne shook her head. “Who does that—what your mother did?”
“I . . .” Braden bent his head and murmured, “I visited Liam one time . . . Mom made me play with him. He and I . . . Somehow I enjoyed myself.”
“What?” Laine gasped and stepped forward, but Anne raised a hand to stop her from going any farther.
Braden scratched his head. “Mom saw it. She must’ve thought . . . she must’ve thought I’d want to keep him. That we could somehow have Liam . . .” He cringed. “On our side.”
“Are you telling me that you’ve fallen for the boy?” Anne barked. “Seriously?”
Zara and Laine grabbed for each other’s hand.
Braden raised a palm. “It was only that moment.” He shook his head. “I . . . I can’t allow myself to—I can’t have a kid in my life right now. I�
��m trying to build a business. This just isn’t in the cards for me.”
Laine let out a sigh, and her shoulders slumped. Zara brought her palms to her temples and muttered a curse under her breath.
Anne scoffed. “You almost had me, Braden.”
“Shut up, Anne,” he bit back. “We have our own family . . . stuff to deal with.” In a rushed voice that was barely audible to the girls, he muttered, “Dad made me move out. Men need to be independent, make a name, and all that. He and Mom didn’t see eye to eye about that . . . They haven’t been good till Liam came to stay at the house.”
Braden sniffed and rubbed the back of his palm at his nose.
“Look. Jazmine shared some things with Mom that upset her. My mother has been friendly to her all this time . . . but she’s never really been fond of Jaz.”
Anne huffed out a breath. “Whatever. We don’t care what she thinks. We know better. Just tell her to back off, okay?”
Braden’s head bobbed.
Anne raised a finger and continued, “And I want your guarantee, mama’s boy. Or next time I’ll go visit her in her home, in her room.”
“The name-calling isn’t helping your cause.” Braden shook his head. “You scared Mom’s maids. Did you hit or push one of them? One of them was hysterical all afternoon.”
“Nobody pushed anybody,” Zara spoke up from the back.
Laine explained, “She just stumbled backward ’cause she was shocked to see us.”
Braden glanced at Zara, then at Laine, and nodded.
Laine added, “We’ll send her something.”
“That’d be good.” Braden looked at Laine and shook his head yet again. “I don’t want this drama, okay? Liam is Jazmine’s. I don’t want anything tying me down.”
“We’ll be working on getting your name off his birth certificate,” Zara spoke up, raising an eyebrow at Braden.
Braden threw up his hands and shrugged.
“Make it clear to your mother,” Anne rasped. “Plus we want you to sign papers.”
Anne help up a hand, to which Laine passed a set of papers they had acquired from the lawyer. Anne had them drawn up that morning in case they could not retrieve Liam.
