60 Rebellious Daughter!

Caroline knocked on the door five times...

Thelma opened the door and was shocked to see her 'other daughter' outside the house.

Caroline kissed her mother cheeks. "Hello, Mother!"

Thelma hugged Caroline tightly, misty-eyed. It's been a long time she had not seen this rebellious daughter of hers. "Where have you been all this time?" she asked even if she already knew that she was with his drug dealer boyfriend all this time. If Catherine had been the good daughter to her, Caroline was the bad one that always gives her countless headache, shame, and worries.

"Where are they, Mother?" she was asking about her other siblings.

Thelma opened the door wide for her daughter to enter. "Lily and Jacob were sleeping in Catherine's room. Shhh...Don't wake them up!"

"I just want to take a glance at them because I miss them so much!" she proceeds to the only room in the corner and opened the door. She tiptoed and gave each child a kiss on their forehead, she placed her heavy backpack below the bed in a silent manner careful not to wake them up. Then she exited the room and sat beside her mother in the wooden bench.

"Good thing that you remembered to visit us here in the city. Have you by any chance decided to leave your drug dealer boyfriend and stay with us here for good?" asked Thelma, hoping somehow that her daughter will have a sudden change of heart.

Caroline shook her head. "This will be temporary, Mother. Please don't belittle the man I love," she defended Greg.

Thelma sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Can I stay here with you guys for a while?" she asked.

"Yes, of course, your sister will be happy to see you again. We've been worried about you since we had seen the terrifying news on TV. We just keep quiet here afraid that the neighbors will know about your involvement with Greg, the wanted man!" Thelma gritted her teeth.

"Shhh, Mother! Let's keep it a secret. Let's not talk about what happened back home starting right now," she muttered in a worried tensed voice. Caroline wants to silence her mother, although she was not wanted, she can be taken in custody by the law enforcers as a bait to lure Greg out in the open.

Thelma shook her head a few times, feeling sad about what Caroline had become.

"Mother I'm hungry! Do you still have some leftover foods in here? I have not eaten my dinner yet," she rubbed her tummy.

Thelma rose to her feet and walked towards the tiny kitchen. She took a can of sardines from the cupboard, open it with the can opener, sliced the onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Placed the frying fan in the electric stove, she added some oil and then waited for the oil to get heated. She sauteed the garlic, onion, and the tomatoes, the aroma of the fried spices filled the atmosphere of the tiny home. Then she added the sardines and together with the spices, she mixed them all using the stainless ladle that she was holding in her right hand.

Caroline watched her mother while cooking, then she roamed her eyes around the room, it's a bit bigger compare to their crumbling nipa hut in the village and it's concrete too, it has a nice ceiling and she can't see any holes on it. Nice! This place was ten times better than their nipa house in the village, she told herself.

"Nice house you had here, Mother!" she commented, impressed by the whole area.

"Yes, we are indeed lucky to be able to rent this place. The entire neighborhood is also nice. We are near to the public market, the church and the Plaza. Our living condition here is more stable and nicer than in the village. In here, we got an abundance supply of foods and the roof is no longer leaking whenever the rain is pouring heavily." Thelma's countenance displayed a broad smile of satisfaction and contentment.

"That's good! I'm glad you are all doing well here in the city," said Caroline. She took a peek at the cupboard. "Wow! You have so many groceries, Mother! Did Catherine buy all these?"

"No. It's her boyfriend who brought all these as a gift to us," replied Thelma.

Caroline frowned at the mention of her twin sister's boyfriend. As far as she knows, Catherine has no boyfriend when they left the village.

"Where is Catherine working now, Mother?"

"In a hotel nearby."

"Where did she meet her boyfriend? In the hotel?"

"No. They meet in the village."

Caroline's brows knitted together in puzzlement...due to the hunger gnawing at her stomach she brushed her thoughts aside, she went to the table and sat down on one of the plastic chair facing the table.

Thelma finished cooking, she put the cooked sardines in the bowl, scoped some rice into the platter, put a spoon and fork above it and served the food to her daughter who was now sitting in front of the table. She took the glass pitcher and poured drinking water into the glass and placed it beside her daughter's plate. Done serving her daughter she sauntered towards the wooden bench and sat down on it.

The door to Catherine's room suddenly opened and the kids went out of the room and hugged their sister from behind!

"Sister Caroline! We miss you!" they erupted in happiness and excitement after seeing their absentee older sister.

Caroline paused her eating and bestowed each of her siblings a tight hug, she fished out some loose change from the pocket of her jeans and gave them to her siblings.

The children yelled their thanks to Caroline and scrambled out of the house to go to the store nearby to buy some candies.

Done with eating, Caroline washed the plates, the frying pan, and other used utensils in the sink and cleaned the table.

Finished with the cleaning, Caroline sat down beside her mother on the wooden bench in front of the television. She pressed the power of the remote and began scanning for some news regarding the raid in the hideout the previous days...

Seeing nothing that caught her interest...she dropped the remote control in her mother's lap not interested with the show that was currently airing on TV.

Caroline stood up and headed towards her sister's room. "I'm going to lay down and rest for a while mother."

When she entered the room and sat down in the bed, she noticed the two boxes big and small in the corner, she opened the big one first and saw the white dress that looks like a wedding gown and then she picked up the small jewelry box, inside was the most beautiful golden ring she had ever seen in her entire life! Her mouth agape, delighted of what she discovered, she smiled to herself.

A mischievous idea popped up in her mind...