Chapter 6 Precious

I immediately went inside the house carrying my siblings with me. I quickly locked our door. They complained because it's cooler outside, but I ignored them. I just made them juice to keep them from being annoying. They became happy because of that and started playing inside the house while drinking what I prepared. Even though he said he was just following orders from his client, I really felt scared. Scared for the safety of my younger siblings and me. Even though he's alone, he's still a guy. And it's easy for him to harm us.

After putting Baby Armina to sleep, I immediately read the contents of the letter from the guy earlier.

'Dear Mandy,

I felt sorry for Precious or not haha. Say to my lil' sis to be stay vigilant. And you too Mandy.

Ps. My mother is a p**o. He loves boys 10 years younger.

Your Dead Friend,

Jasmine

I took a deep breath. Whether the accusations against her were true or not, I focused on the thought that adults also had black mail. And particularly Jasmine's Mom. That evening, Mama and Papa arrived from work. As usual, I was the only one awake to wait for them. It was fine since I had done some advanced reading for school. While Mama and Papa were eating the pork stew I cooked, I decided to ask.

"How is Precious doing?" I asked them.

"She's okay. She screamed and called for help right away before she got hurt," Papa said as he sipped the broth from the stew.

"Did Precious recognize the one who did it? Wasn't anyone caught?" I asked again.

"Precious said she couldn't recognize the person, and the guards didn't catch anyone either," Mama said as she added fish sauce to her separate dish.

"Weren't they caught on the CCTV? Isn't the entire house high-tech?" I commented.

"That's what's strange, all the CCTV cameras were not working on that day," Papa said.

The blackmailer is quite skilled, having access to the Go family. The problem is, they can easily harm me that way because we're not well-off. Our house lacks security measures. We have a fence, but it's low, easy to jump over. We don't have a dog either. And most importantly, we don't have CCTV cameras. But still, the blackmailer managed to get into Go's house despite the high security around Precious. So, I stayed awake all night because of my thoughts. I was worrying too much about what will happen to me tomorrow. Even though I want my mind to be quiet, I just couldn't stop worrying.

On Sunday, we went to church together and ate outside. It's like a tradition for our family to eat outside after attending church. Afterward, I would go grocery shopping with Mama while Papa and my siblings waited at the park. They enjoy their time there, and they're really happy when we get back home. When we arrived home, my siblings fell asleep quickly due to exhaustion. As for me, my worries disappeared, and I managed to relax my mind a bit. I was able to visualize different places and even enjoyed some good food. While I was sleeping that night, I couldn't shake off thoughts about the blackmailer. Did Jasmine's mom confess or did something happen to her? My parents don't work on Sundays, so I had no news about her.

On Monday, after my classes, I went to the police station. Even though the blackmailer claimed to be a ghost, I didn't believe it. That person is not Jasmine, and I knew that. That person need to be caught before I became the next target. When I reached the police station, I wasn't sure what to say. Fortunately, I saw the police officer who had interviewed me before. I approached him right away.

"Sir, I have something to add about the blackmailer," I told him as I got closer.

"Hmm, and who might you be, Ms.?" he asked.

He seemed to have forgotten me quickly. They must be really busy for him to forget me so soon.

"I'm Amanda Fuentes, the one who saved Derek," I explained.

"Oh yes, Ms. Fuentes. Your case was passed on to Mar," he said.

"If you have anything to say about your case, I'll introduce you to Mar," he continued.

"Alright, sir," I replied.

"Just wait here for a moment, I'll ask if he's in today," he said, then he went to a desk and inquired.

After talking to someone, he came back to me.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Fuentes, he won't be here until later tonight. Around 9 pm. Can you come back then?" he asked.

I shook my head. I couldn't go out late at night. First, there would be no one to watch over my younger sibling at that time. Second, I didn't want to tell my parents about the blackmail. So, I didn't want to go out at night.

"Let me take your number, and I'll give it to Mar," he said.

I nodded, and he took my cellphone, copying down my number. I went home that afternoon. My parents came home early again. I greeted them and asked why they were home so soon.

"Mrs. Go got arrested," Papa said.

"Why?" I asked, while preparing dinner.

"I don't know why, but they say Madam posted something inappropriate, so she was arrested and is under investigation," Mama explained.

I knew what they were referring to. The fact that Jasmine's mom is a p*d*phile. She apparently made a post, which led to her being in jail now. I didn't know if it was a good thing for her to confess. She might be safe, but now she's in prison. But if it's true that she's a pedophile, then she should be imprisoned for life. P*d*philes are terrifying. Even if she's a woman and respected, that's not a good enough reason to do something harmful to anyone. I didn't dwell on it and focused on cooking. I had rice cooking in the rice cooker, and I was preparing 'pakbet,' a Filipino dish popular among the ilocano people. It's a lengthy process to cook but healthy as it's all vegetables. Many vegetables need to be peeled, sliced, and prepared before they're cooked in a pot.

After finishing cooking, we all had dinner together. Even baby Armina, who was just starting to eat solid food, joined us. When Mama isn't around, I feed Armina. When Mama is there, she takes care of it herself. Antonio doesn't like pakbet because he doesn't like vegetables. But he has no choice but to eat since there's nothing else to eat. We have rules in our house, most of them related to food. Whatever is on the table, eat all of it. You won't be given another dish, and you won't get snacks either. Snacks are only allowed at 10 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. So, you'll really get hungry if you don't eat. You can only get up from your seat once you've finished eating. Even in cooking, there are rules. We only cook once, and that's in the evening.

Our breakfast is fried rice using the rice that is left over in the evening and the dish that is left over will be re-heat. In lunch we just buy foods. And in one week I need to cook one dish for fish, chicken and pork. And two dish for vegetables. And the other day someone can make request.

Because if that Arturo and I never been picky to foods. And I know Antonio will learn that too.

After we eat I do my tasks and I lay down in bed. I relax and scroll through social media. And Mrs. Go is trending on twitter. As she announced being pe**ph***. And she had many victims age 10 and younger. Even though she deleted the post, many were able to take screenshots, so the news continues to spread. I've never met Mrs. Go, so I don't have a first impression of her. I've only heard about her from my parents and Jasmine. That's why I don't have a comment on her issue. But as I've said before, if she's really a p***phile, she should be imprisoned for life. I'm getting sleepy, so I've decided to sleep. But there was one more text, from an unknown number.

'Good evening Ms. Fuentes. I'm Mar, investigating your case regarding blackmail. My police colleague mentioned you have something to say about it? What time are you available tomorrow?'

I don't have any load, so I can't reply to him. I'll need to reload tomorrow. But i'm saving money right now because I want to buy a ticket to my idol, Gareth's concert. He's also studying at our school. We're both poor, but he's hardworking and admirable. We are same in grade 9, but unfortunately, we're not classmates. I have a crush on him, but I have no intention of taking him away from the person he's courting. But what I have to say to Mr. Mar is important, so I have no choice but to spend. In the name of justice, I need to spend.

The next day, I woke up early to cook breakfast to help my parents. I fried the leftover rice from last night and quickly heated up last night's dish.bAfter eating, I washed the dishes while my siblings, except for baby Armina, and my parents took turns using the bathroom. That's how it is when you're poor, there's only one bathroom. We have to take turns, especially when someone needs to go poop urgently and someone else is already in there. I felt like a pig because we just finished eating, but I was already thinking about poop. I finished washing the dishes and hurried to the bathroom. After our bathroom battle, we all finished the bath. Then Ante Lume came in with her child to take care of my baby sister Armina.

I escorted my siblings to the tricycle stop before I was able to reload my number. Then I rode a jeepney to school. I think I'm the only one from school who takes the jeepney. There are also other scholars at school, but from grade 7 until now in grade 9, I haven't been on the same jeepney with a schoolmate. So maybe I'm the only one who takes the jeepney to go to school. When I arrived at school, I went straight to my classroom. I received a message from my coach that we have practice again in the afternoon. I also texted Sir Mar that I would meet him around 5 pm. Because we have practice, I'll be late getting home. I saw Third and Desiree entering the room together. But my classmates were whispering. Whenever they're around, the school becomes a hive of bees. They're still the subject of bullying. I'm starting to feel sorry for them. I facepalmed because of what I was thinking. But the thing is, they've been bullied too much, so I feel sorry for them. Don't they realize the negative impact of their actions on Third and Desiree? If they end up committing suicide too, the bullies will regret it. They might even find a new target and the cycle of blaming will never end. What was I even thinking? It gave me a headache, so I quickly dismissed the thought. My first period of class has started and now it's the second period. It's break time, so I immediately checked my cellphone. I felt a text come in earlier due to the vibration. I was right, it's from Sir Mar. He's okay and said to just mention his name so he can personally pick me up. Finally, I can report the blackmailer. Hopefully, the information I provide will be helpful in catching the person responsible for this.