Chapter 37 Chapter 37
"Are you from Manila, children?" the driver asked us. He was about 50-something. Aurora chuckled at what Leora had told her earlier; Leora felt awkward calling the driver uncle because her own age was more than triple the old man's. In fact, she joked that by her standards, he belonged in a museum.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you look like celebrities... You're both so beautiful." The old man was telling the truth; the amazement was visible on his face as he looked at them through the rearview mirror.
"Oh, not really, sir. How about you, where are you from?"
"From Pasig..." the old man answered with a smile.
"Under the bridge..." Leora whispered, leaning back against the seat with her eyes closed.
Aurora glared at her friend for her mischief.
"Under the bridge..."
"P-pardon?" Aurora asked the old man.
When she looked at Leora, her friend was already staring back. "I told you so..."
"W-why under the bridge, sir?"
Before the old man answered, he checked on his sleeping daughter. She had fallen asleep after taking the medicine Leora gave her.
"We had a house before. It wasn't big, but we considered it our own. The problem was, we didn't own the land, so we were forced out."
Leora sat up straight, her brows furrowed as she looked at the driver. "And you just left?" From her tone, it seemed she was angrier than the person who actually experienced the misfortune. Aurora elbowed her as a warning.
"We couldn't do anything about it, hija. We built the house illegally without permission, so it was only right that we left when the owner needed the land."
"What was your job before, Tay?" Aurora inquired.
"Before?" She nodded. "Just a scavenger, hija. My wife and I worked together gathering trash just to provide for our children. I didn't finish school, so that was the only work I could manage. Back then, my wife and I were 'no read, no write' (illiterate). If it weren't for our children who taught us how to read and write letters, we might have died ignorant."
"How many children do you have?"
"I actually have three children, but we're caring for four now because we have an adopted one."
"You're already struggling, yet you still adopted?" Because of her friend's bluntness, Aurora elbowed her again. "What?" Leora asked, wondering why.
"You're so annoying, you're like a buzzing fly!" Aurora tried to quiet her down since her friend often had no filter.
"I’m sorry for what my friend said, sir."
"It’s nothing, hija." The old man smiled at her. He had the most genuine smile she had ever seen—no trace of bitterness or exhaustion despite his poverty.
"So, why do you live under the bridge if you could just rent a place?" Aurora asked, changing the subject. "Don't you have a job now, since you mentioned this car belongs to your employer?"
"Ah, yes. I’m a driver for a wealthy family. I have a salary, but it’s only enough for our daily needs, including Tricia’s medicine." When he looked at his sleeping daughter, his aura briefly turned sad. "My employer offered to adopt my youngest—the adopted one—but I didn't agree. That child has become dear to our family. Did you know that child was sold to us?"
"What? A child was being sold?"
"Welcome to the real world, friend," Leora said mockingly, even offering a handshake, but Aurora just flicked her hand away.
Aurora knew why her friend reacted this way upon hearing that a biological mother sold her child. The "wolf-women" from the mountains where Leora came from placed a very high value on their offspring.
"How much did you buy the child for?"
"We gave the mother everything we had that day."
"Why? Shouldn't you value what you have, especially since you’re poor too?" Aurora didn't stop her friend from sharing her opinion. Even though they lived among mortals, "wolves" couldn't quite understand some humans—like this old man.
"There are things in life we need to let go of, not because they aren't important, hija, but because someone else needs them more than you do. As for us, even if we are destitute, our whole family is still together, and to me, that is a happiness that cannot be matched by any wealth in this world. But the mother of our youngest was all alone. At that moment, I knew she needed help, not judgment. We don't know the true story of that woman's life, so we have no right to judge her. All we could do was help, even if we were struggling too. I also believe that not everyone who does something bad is inherently evil; sometimes, circumstances force you to deviate from your beliefs. Isn't it better that she sold the child to us rather than just throwing them away somewhere?"
"Yes." Aurora was almost speechless. She would take everything the old man said to heart.