Under the Shade of an Old Mango Tree

Chapter 24: Revisiting the Past

Lena went to the mango tree and sat on the stool that she had left among the roots the night before. She had overslept and forgot to check up on the miniature houses that morning. She had felt so tired that she had accidentally fallen asleep on one of the benches in the dining area. Tita Martha had gently woken her up, but she couldn't remember how she managed to clean up and crawl into bed. But it was already past noon when she stirred from a dreamless sleep.

Now, by the light of the patio lamps and the fireflies that once again gathered around the tree, Lena investigated the miniature houses. She removed the roof of one and pulled out the paper inside. She read the short note.

My dearest Lena,

I miss you. I'm sorry I left without telling you.

Until we see each other again.

Ate

Lena sniffed and felt her eyes watering. She got her handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her eyes. She put the paper back and covered the house. Then she opened another house and read the paper inside.

My dearest Lena,

I got my second ultrasound. I'm having a girl!

I'll name her after you.

Ate

Lena opened yet another house and read the paper inside. She kept doing this again and again. By the time she got to the eighth house, she was a weeping mess. Her handkerchief was thoroughly wet. It was a good thing that she had some tissues in her sling bag. She could at least blow her nose into something dry.

Just as she was about to stand up, she saw something triangular peeking behind a very large root nearly behind the tree. Lena had to walk over to it. As she squatted in front of it, she realized that it was indeed another miniature house. But it looked different. It looked like a gingerbread house. Lena touched it carefully. It was a gingerbread house! It was really pretty. The icing decorations were delicate and quite intricate. The tiny white, blue, and turquoise pearl dots glistened in the moonlight. It was a shame, Lena thought, that it was sealed. It would have tasted delicious.

So she contented herself with trying to see if the roof could be detached, like with the other houses. She lifted the roof by one of the eaves. The roof came off easily. And there was a piece of rolled-up paper inside. It was parchment paper. Lena unrolled it. Her eyes widened. The note wasn't from her sister. She felt a heaviness in her chest again as she read the message.

Lena,

I know apologies will never be enough.

I hope you'll have a happy life despite all that has happened.

Nico T.

Lena wondered when Nico made the gingerbread house—and the note. She scanned the paper's front and then back. Something tiny was written on one corner. She brought out her cell phone from her bag and turned on the flashlight. It was a date. It was about three days before her accident. She then scrambled to the other miniature houses. One by one she lifted the roofs again and retrieved the notes. She scanned the front and back sides of the notes and also found dates on the corners. She quickly ran to the patio and turned on the lights. She laid out all of the notes on the table and held over them her cellphone light. She arranged the notes chronologically and soon realized that the notes corresponded to the months of her sister's pregnancy.

Lena's sister left home in her first month and stayed with Tita Martha and Tito George. She had her first ultrasound in her second month, and then her second one in her fifth month, when she found out the baby's gender. In the eighth month, her sister was informed by her lawyer that an arraignment had finally been scheduled. She was happy.

But it was also in the eighth month that her sister and her baby died.

Lena's sister had just gone shopping with Ate Anna. Because her legs and back were starting to hurt, she opted to wait on one of the benches in front of the mall for Ate Anna to bring the car over from the parking lot. Suddenly there was a loud thud. Then there were screams. A broken electric post had toppled. The impact instantly killed Lena's sister and her baby, as well as two old women who had been sitting on the bench with her. A few others were injured, and the glass façade of the mall was damaged.

When Lena heard the news, it felt so surreal. Her parents had tried to stop her from going to Bangui to see her sister, but Tito George and Tita Martha personally went to their house to get her. Lena's father was no match for his much older brother. As Tita Martha escorted her to the cab, Lena could hear her mother screaming.

The driver brought them to the airport. And after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Lena and her aunt and uncle were allowed to board the plane. When they arrived in Laoag, Ate Anna picked them up. They arrived at the hospital in the late afternoon.

Lena felt like a zombie throughout the entire trip until the time she was taken to her sister's body. As Lena entered the morgue, her legs weakened and she crumpled onto the floor. Ate Anna and Bianca had to prop her up and support her and soon held her and cried with her.

Tita Martha took care of the cremation service. Aside from close relatives and friends, colleagues of Lena's sister also attended the wake and inurnment. Lena's sister's ashes were stored in an engraved stainless-steel urn and placed in the family mausoleum.

Her parents didn't even show up. They didn't even call her or just texted her to ask about their eldest daughter, who they will never see again.

A month after, Lena decided to leave her parents' house. She went back to get her things and to at least try to persuade them to visit her sister, their daughter.

Maybe she had expected them to not care. But she still got surprised when her father declared that bad things happen to children who are not dutiful to their parents.

Lena seethed in anger.

"Funny," she said as calmly as she could, "I don't remember your being dutiful to Lolo and Lola—yet you're still alive."

Lena didn't stick around to see their reaction. She would not have been able to. Tears nearly blinded her as she grabbed her suitcases and rushed toward the door. She quickly stashed her suitcases in the trunk of the car and then got in.

She found it difficult to drive through her tears. And before she made a turn toward the main street leading to the entrance of the subdivision, she felt the nose of the car hit something. And then she blacked out.