DARK CHOCOLATE SERIES 5: BITTER BLUNDER, SWEET SURRENDER

Epilogue - Mrs. Filomino

I wish my Isabella could feel the happiness some of the girls in Dark Chocolate were experiencing. She deserves it. But I guess, with so much question in her mind, she would find it hard to find her happiness.

At thirty-two, my Isabella was still trying to find herself. I am to blame for that.

I died to take to grave my lies. I could only hope I could hold them firmly so they could stay with me---buried, and hopefully forgotten in time.

Armado was doing all the work now. He talked to the private investigator Isabella hired. Mahusay gumawa ng plano si Armado. Nang walang mahagilap na impormasyon ang unang inupahang private investigator ni Isabella ay sinabihan niya ang anak kong humanap ng iba. He told her a friend of his said a certain private investigator from the Yellow Pages was good.

Isabella, not having a clue she was being set-up to meet Armado's private investigator, looked up the Yellow Pages and hired the one with the biggest ad there.

That morning, in Isabella's house, the private investigator who offered other services he could not have printed on an ad, was telling her a story Armado made up himself.

"Ang mga taong ito pala ang hinahanap mo---Mister and Mrs. Castro. Sigurado ako. Nandito ang lahat ng ebidensiya." The man showed my daughter dated hotel receipts and logs.

"N-nasaan na sila?" Isabella's voice trembled.

"Wala na sila." He showed her a newspaper clipping. Nakatala doon ang petsa ng paglubog ng isang barko.

"No... N-no... this couldn't be true."

"Totoo. Kaya rin siguro nahirapan tayong maghanap. Wala na ang mga hinahanap mo."

"Wala na silang lahat? Kasama ba ng m-mag-asawa ang...?"

"Oo. Nandito ang listahan ng mga namatay sa aksidente. Kompleto 'yan." Itinuro nito sa kanya ang mga pangalang naka-highlight doon---Mister Emilio Castro Junior, Mrs. Jeraldyn Castro, Emilio Castro III.

"Emilio Castro..." sambit ni Isabella.

"Nandiyan lahat ng impormasyong kailangan mo. Sige, mauuna na ako."

She nodded. When she closed the door she looked at all the papers in her hand. And then she cried so hard, feeling more empty that before. She never thought finding out what she wanted to know could feel so damned terrible. She felt emptier.

While my daughter was crying in her house, Alexandra was telling off her kids.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to go in other people's houses?"

"But Mrs. Rodriguez's door was open!"

"Don't you yell at your mother, Dennis!" singhal niya sa bata. She felt terrible immediately.

"Alam n'yo ba kung magkano ang pinababayaran sa akin ni Mrs. Rodriguez? Ten thousand! Sinira n'yo ang couch niya!"

"We're sorry."

"You always say you're sorry but you don't mean it! You're just like your father!"

And then she stopped. Biglang nag-init ang kanyang mata at bago makita ng mga ito ang luha niya ay pumasok na siya sa kabahayan.

Leticia De Dios, walking her dog that afternoon, saw the whole scene. She went to the boys.

"Kids, it's all right. Mommy's just upset because she could not give you the proper spanking you kids need." She liked the kids and thought it was only normal that one time she saw them in her backyard, trying to dig up AJ's basil. Ibibigay daw ng mga ito sa ina nito bilang regalo. Buong maghapon niyang inutusan ang mga itong ibalik sa dati ang kinuhang halaman.

"We're not bad."

"Oh, but you kids could be. You trespass other people's houses all the time."

"Not all the time!"

"Yeah! We only went to your backyard, and the other neighbors' backyards, and Kuya Marcus' garage."

"And it's not bad!"

"But you ran over someone, I heard."

"Yeah, but it was an accident. And we're not the only ones who go there. Right, Davies?"

"Yeah! We saw Mister Filomino there one time, too! He even put stuff inside Kuya Marcus' toolbox!"

Leticia's face was blank. "He did?"

"Yeah! We saw him. But he's not bad. So we're not bad, too."

"Oh, but he is bad. As a matter of fact, he is evil."

Leticia walked away. The boys looked at each other and ran to their mother and told her what Mrs. De Dios said. Alexandra, trying hard for her boys not to notice she was crying, only nodded, not really understanding what they were telling her.

Leticia walked back home, reread Gracia's diary one more time, and decided, she and Armado needed to have a serious talk.

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