Feeling author's note:

For those who will find it hard to understand Hudas' or Datdat's lines because of his difficulty with letter S, translations can be seen on the in-line comments. Also, please be gentle with him fjekxodoeixe. He speaks like meeee. I'm just a little better. Tysm. Much love.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Of Payments and Third Meeting

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Satan's strong aversion in approaching matters with the application of brute force made subtlety her strong suit for all the years that came after immaturity. Needless to say, regardless of having her most valuable possession collateralized to secure her brother's debt, she managed to deal with it humanly or perhaps sisterly whilst bearing no bitter feelings of resentment towards Hudas. 

"Kakaliwa raw tayo ro'n ta may kanto ta pinakadulo tabi nitong Wate," Hudas said as he kneeled on the car's floorboard, his forefinger pointing at the direction he told Sasa. Supporting his balance was his free hand snaked around the backrest of the shotgun seat where Lucifer was. 

Right after withdrawing the money Sasa presumed was enough to cover all the damages her brother indebted to Sigmund, she drove their way to the latter's workplace. To speak some truth, her heart kind of broke with the huge amount subtracted from the salary she recently received. It just so happened that seeing Hudas behind the bars would break it harder. 

"Sure ka ba r'yan sa address na ibinigay niyang Sigmund na 'yan?" Lucifer turned to look at Hudas. "What if he's trying to pull something scary? What if abandoned place 'yan tapos he'll abduct us in exchange for a larger sum of money? We all know that Papa and Sasa are flooring the Civil Engineering industry nowadays. What if--"

"I met that guy. I don't think he's a douche," Sasa chimed in, causing the sudden silence. Lucifer looked at her over her shoulder, face reeked of surprise. Hudas' blank face faded as his slitted eyes regarded her with a hard, lingering look. "He's the one I exchanged baggage with when I came home from Korea. The one whose name I forgot. Kinwento ko 'yon sa inyo. Don't look at me as if I didn't."

In obedience to the Alejandro siblings' secret rules, of course, she told them about the luggage and the whole story behind it. 

Unlike Hudas who nodded in contentment with the explanation she gave, Lucifer on the other hand tended to pry more. 

"You mean, 'yong ka-eyeball mo sa Veruna's teashop?" her youngest sibling asked, surprise still not leaving her face.

"Ka-meet-up. Ka-eyeball sounds off, Lulu." She gripped the steering wheel tight as she turned the vehicle to the left. "Where do we go from this street, Datdat?" She looked at him through the rearview mirror. 

He looked down at his phone to check. "Derecho lang, medyo malayo pa ta--"

"Did you also mean he's the she you mistaken as a he?" Lucifer interfered, cutting Hudas short.

"Yes, Lulu, okay?" The car plunged down a steep hill at the shortest moment she glanced at her sibling. "Ayan! Ang kulit mo kasi, 'di ko tuloy napansing may hump do'n." She chuckled. "Why are you so curious tho? Do you like him?"

"Nah," she flipped her hair, "he's too handsome and deceiving for his kind but nah. You guys know me, I like someone clean-looking. Puro tattoo and piercings kaya siya. Tapos long hair pa. So again, no, I don't like him."

"Bakit? Gutto ka ba niya?" Hudas asked.

Sasa choked herself from her saliva in frustration to contain her laughter.

"Excuse me, hanggang dito lang ang usapan. 'Wag kang makikisali." Lucifer stretched her arm to Sasa's shoulder, not missing the chance to hit her elbow lightly on Hudas' face. 

"Tata, nang-aaway na naman, oh. Naniniko pa. Katatabi mo lang no'ng itang araw na 'wag na kami mag-aaway, ayan na naman. Nagtitimula na naman."

"Bulol na, sumbungero pa."

"Mat matanda ko ta 'yo ng itang taon, ha? Umayot ka."

"Mas maayos naman akong magsalita." She rolled her eyes. "Fix your tongue fir--"

"Isa, ha? Hanggang tatlo lang ako. If I reach three, I'll tell all this to Papa and Mama," Sasa meddled.

"Then I'm safe." Lucifer smirked. "I wasn't the one who ran over that Sigmund anyway."

"But you're an actettory to my crime." Hudas grinned. "I think we're both dea--"

"Dalawa."

"Kakanan daw ta pangalawang kanto, Tata..." Hudas instructed, tone as that of a child making amends with his parents after a bad deed. "In five kilometert daw, we'll arrive at our dettination..." he added when they turned right. 

The alley leading to their destination was rife with cars, tricycles, apartments, houses, hardwares, finger food bars, car shops, and restaurants. Bystanders were everywhere in Sasa's line of vision swaying their bodies and heads along with the upbeat music blasting from the stereos placed in front of some business establishments they passed by. 

Not a moment later, they arrived at their destination. Satan peered over the windshield after parking her car in front of Sigmund's pig shop: Crispy "Freud" Peppa Pig. Same as his multi-cab she saw back when they met at Veruna's teashop, his one-story yet hectares-wide of a shop was pink from roof to the sole plate attaching the walls to their supporting structure. Black spots were all over the walls. At the center-most underneath the roof was a thick blackboard bearing the shop's name in pink, bold, embossed, and quirkily arranged letters; faces of Peppa Pig replaced the dots above each I's. The parking space was unroofed but was wide enough to lounge twenty cars. The ambiance was inviting, so to speak. 

"Real workplace address." She glanced at Lucifer. "Told you, he's not a douche," she added as she turned off the aircon and pulled out the key from the ignition. "Let's go?"

"Good morning po," greeted a group of men clad in a pink apron, streaks of charcoal following their hands and arms. Each was puffing cigarettes under the shade of a pole tent located just behind the entrance they were nearing. 

"Good morning po," Hudas and Sasa greeted back in chorus. Lucifer didn't bother, as expected by Sasa. 

The mouthwatering whiff of seasoned or probably marinated pigs being fried stuffed Sasa's nose the instance they charged inside the shop. The interior design was just a mirror image of the exterior; pink, spotted, and quirky. Fronting the generously spaced dine-in area was the three-cashiered counter. Behind the counter was the kitchen area. Beside the kitchen was what made Sasa's lips curve: three restrooms intended for men, women, and all genders. Charging out of the all-gender restroom was who erased her smile.

"Tigmund! Takto! Magbaba--"

"Ah, sakit!" Sigmund yelped the very instance Sasa laid her eyes on him, cutting Hudas' words. 

His forehead was bandaged. Arm on a cast. His eyes were squeezing and his nose was wrinkling from pain Sasa rather know if real or make-believe, thus she just watched him hobble his way towards her direction. 

He stopped mid-way, reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal an injured left leg supported by a metal brace. Sasa stepped back when Hudas lumbered over him to be of aid. 

"Torry talaga, Tigmund..." He draped Sigmund's arm on his shoulder before snaking his arm around his waist. "By the way that't my eldett titter, Tata. The one I told you who'll pay for my debt." He pouted his lips at Sasa then to Lulu. "You met Lulu already, right?" 

"Nasa'n sina Mama at Papa?" Sigmund asked, eyes fixed on Sasa. The way he uttered his question was casual, but the flirtiness couldn't be missed.

"Excuse you?" Lucifer gushed; her face bore the same stupefaction residing on Hudas' and Sasa's. 

"Oh, sorry." He smirked. "I thought I was to meet my parents-in-law. Guess not this soon, Bal, no?" he referred to Sasa.

"Oh my freaking go--"

"Anong Bal pinagtatatabi mo?" Hudas pulled his hand down his shoulder with a force that he winced from the pain. "Gutto mo balibag kita?" 

A toothy smile crossed Sigmund's face. "Upo tayo ro'n." He puckered his lips at the most isolated table at the end corner of the shop and started walking. Sasa and Lucifer followed. 

When they settled themselves on the table, Sigmund threw stares from Sasa to Lucifer seated alongside her, to Hudas reclining beside him, then back to Sasa again. 

"Magkakapatid pala kayo?" he inquired, massaging the hand, which Hudas pulled down earlier.

"Duh!" Lucifer rolled her eyes. 

"Sungit mo naman. Ikaw pa naman may pinakamagandang mukha."

Her face brightened up. "You didn't have to men--"

"Kung hindi sila 'yong mga naging kapatid mo."

"Fuck--"

"How much do we have to pay you, Sigmund?" Sasa cut the nonsense she didn't skip work for in the very first place. 

"Not really into chitchats, eh?" Sigmund asked, leaning his face closer to her.

"We don't need to be on the same wavelength to know that without me confirming." She reclined against her chair with legs crossed, one foot swinging to and fro. Her hand was on Lucifer's balled hand. 

It was the way his auburn eyes idled on her, that their week-old conversation twisted back in her mind, begging to be replayed.  

"Why shun the feeling when it hasn't even warmed up yet, Miss Sasa?"

"Because I can't see any reason not to."

"Scared?"

"More like cautious."

"Try me."

"Great offer. Only not for me."

"I can work on that."

"Your gender regardless, I don't think so."

"You'll never know."

"I always know."

"We'll see."

"May patok pa kami ni Lulu ta tchool, Tigmund, tabihin mo na kay Tata," Hudas barged into her flashback. 

Sigmund sighed. "Bente-mil."

Her brows met. "Is twenty thousand already enough? My brother told me he almost killed your pet pig. Your multi-cab was wrecked, though not so bad it's good as that. Tapos nasayang 'yong mga panin--"

He laughed. "Ikaw lang 'yong magbabayad ng utang na imbes na tumawad, nagpapadagdag pa."

"The collateral worths more than just bente-mil." It wasn't completely about the bandage wrapped around his forehead, or the metal bracing his leg, or the cast supporting his arm, or the summed-up damages. It was also about claiming back her supposed wedding ring at an amount neither discounted nor cheapened of its true value for her. "Nasa'n pala 'yong singsing? I'm sure even without Datdat's reminder earlier, you're still going to bring it with you, no?"

He threw his head back, laughing harder. "That ring is cheaper than my said amount, Sasa," he said as he eyed her again with a smug look on the face. "Forged from cheap metal. Can probably go rusty even without disuse. It's actually my first time to see a gold ring barely able to reflect light. Sa'n ba gawa 'yon?"

Ulysses didn't come from a family as well-off as Sasa's; he has a cook of a father and a teacher of a mom. He works as a trainer in a BPO company, wherein half of his salary goes to the primary outlays he promised he'd shoulder for his parents. A portion would go to his savings alloted for Sasa. The rest would go to his pocket, which he'd be stretching 'til the next payday. So that ring--no matter how inexpensive--was not a poor imitation of his love. Their love.

"I see you know nothing about true value," she remarked. There was half a question and spite in it. 

He offered nothing but a stare and silence. Neither Hudas nor Lucifer dared to speak as well. 

There was a thud when she placed her bag on the table to fumble for her wallet. She took twenty blue bills from it and slid them intact towards him. 

"Pakibilang." She gave him a cold, hard look she was known for when maddened. 

He obliged. His countless steals of glances while counting the bills didn't escape Sasa's eyes. 

"Sakto ba?"

He nodded.

"Then give me back the ring now." 

He licked his lips, taking his sitting posture to proper. Sasa noticed how his hand took its time to grope for the ring in his pocket. 

She was expecting his hand to unclench with just the ring--collecting discolorations, crowded with scratches, unsheltered as it should be with the box and pair left at her drawer. However, much to what she expected, a pink drawstring pouch was on his palm. Inside it was her ring--freshly cleaned and polished. 

"I had it serviced by a jeweler nearby," he said, earning a look from her. A small smile plastered on his face. "I hope it didn't turn out that I preceded your decision, Sasa."

Tears instantly threatened to blur her eyes. The lumps forming in her throat caused her incapable of uttering a word. When was the last time she had the ring self or professionally upkept? Not even once. The simplest move of opening the jewel box and being reminded of the life she could have had with Ulysses could already shut her world black again. Now was the first time she didn't have to be hurt to have it done because someone did it for her.

Sigmund did it for her.