Fifteen
Copyright © 2019-2020 by VeryWellAged
Author's note: These chapters are NOT stand-alones...The story starts here.
The way forward...6
It is Saturday morning. We have a party tonight and no one coming here today that I know of.
However, I note that all around me are in motion, though quiet. An intense effort at cleaning is underway. The gals do some cleaning on a constant basis each day. Floors are frequently swept during the day. On occasion, windows are washed, the counters are scrubbed clean, not just wiped down. The fridge is unloaded and cleaned. Yes, all these things happen but not all at once.
It's Mel who is currently unloading the fridge and it is to her I approach.
What is going on?
We getting ready for my mother.
Your mother is coming, now?
You say she can, so I call her last night.
Why all the cleaning? You didn't do this for your father or Jana's family. Why now?
Ha! My mother, she will check. That why.
Mel, you are over doing it. Just reload the fridge and tell everyone to stop.
Please, Craig, a little bit more. She will be here soon.
Mel, I really think you should...
Please! Just a few more minutes. Please?
OK, OK.
Craig, let me see your nails.
What the fuck is this about? Why does she want to see my fingernails?
Why,
Just show me!
So I do, and Mel is immediately calling for Lexi in her language. Three minutes later, Lexi is by my side with a manicure kit. She is here to clip my nails.
I gather that their mother is going to inspect my nails. This is way over the top, way over.
All this is nuts. It really doesn't matter what their mother thinks. She isn't staying. Yes, I said she can stay if I bed her. But I have no intention of that ever happening. Hell, I don't even know what the gal looks like. It is just that I am sure she will run far away from here as soon as she gets wind of the requirement.
I don't expect she is ugly, not with two very good looking daughters, but she balked at Mel's father, as he is a polygamist. So that makes her position clear enough. I know why she and Lexi's dad are no longer together as the man is dead, but she doesn't sound like someone who is ready to just settle in and build a nest next to the nests of her two daughters.
Lexi has my fingernails done and has now removed my socks and shoes. She is going to clip my toenails. There is no fucking way her mother is going to see my feet, but there is also no reason to refuse the pedicure.
Lexi, how did you father die?
He die of Diabetes.
I see. When?
Two years ago. Mother have to work then as a maid, at the house of the employer. Mel, she the one to be with me.
Where does your mother work?
Here in GenSan.
If she works as a maid, did she need permission from her employer to come here today?
No she have off from after lunch on Saturday to after lunch on Sunday.
So, she will be here this afternoon?
No, her employers are in Manila this weekend so she coming now.
Right now?
Yes, I think this.
Lexi has finished her work on my grooming and is putting her equipment away. Mel and company have stopped their preparations as per my earlier instructions.
Why do I feel like I may have set something into motion that I will wish I hadn't?
But, what is the worst that can happen? I get screamed at? I haven't broken any laws. OK, so she screams. I guess the thing is, just let her scream. She has to stop at some point.
I am over-thinking this. What I really need to be thinking about is what we are going to do about the maids. I suspect Lexi was serious about recruiting some of her high school girlfriends to take on the jobs. But how do I bed Lexi and send her to college, and then bed her mates and keep them as maids?
I don't think that works.
I am not sure how long I have been thinking, my mind wandering down dead ends and blind alleys. Nothing is any clearer. I have no solution. I see paths, but not a one of them produces the outcome I need.
It is approaching lunchtime and the mother has yet to arrive. That doesn't signal much, other than Lexi's expectation that her mother was going to get off work sooner was most likely unfounded.
I am debating if I have the time to get my current book, which is sitting in the bedroom, or if I should just sit still and wait for lunch to be served. But that reverie, which itself appears to have eaten up some minutes, is called up short due to the presence of a guest.
Mel is introducing me to her 'Nanay'1
I'm Craig. It's nice to meet you, but I don't think I can call you Nanay, so might I know your name.
Yes, Sir Craig, of course, my name is Maribel.
Your nickname is Bel?
Yes! Yes this is true. Very good, Sir.
I am not looking at an ugly woman. I am not looking at an OK appearance. Bel looks just fine. Maybe even better than just fine. I can guess that, about twenty years ago, when Mel's dad asked her to join his harem, she might have thought she could do better.
Maybe the relationship with Lexi's dad was far better, though I gather that they also didn't marry. Much of the lives these folks have lived is hard for me to decipher.
Well, I am sure you want to spend time with your girls, so just ignore me and enjoy your time with Mel and Lexi.
Yes, Sir, I will do this, but I see them before you return here. I see them many times. Sir, I am told you need one or more maids. Is this correct?
Yes, I need help here. All except Mel are back in school starting on Tuesday. This house is far too large for one person. Can you recommend someone I might want to hire? I am afraid that not anyone will want the job, because I will bed any woman who joins us. And I may make that person pregnant, just as I have done with Lexi and may yet do with Mel and the others here.
This is necessary, Sir? That the girl must be yours?
Yes, I am convinced of it. Actually I am not, but I don't want Bel here. I just don't see a positive outcome should she stay with us. I don't think I need to remind her why this will not be a good option for her. That will be obvious. Just let her visit with her kids and she will put an end to this attempt all by herself.
Bel is moving off toward Mel when Mel asks her a question and gets a response.
Sir, my mother has not eaten. It OK if we feed her in the dirty kitchen?
That really isn't necessary. I don't want the woman to stay, but I am not pissed with her. Why would I want to send her away to eat?
No, set an extra place here and we will both eat.
Bel appears to be shocked. Mel appears to be happy and Lexi, who is standing off a way, is giving me what I can only describe as an approving look.
During lunch, I have a desultory conversation with Bel. I am curious about her second partner. She knows I am familiar with the first. She tells me that Vincent, number two, was a decent, hardworking man. He worked as a mason until the diabetes made work impossible.
Even with the government health program, PhilHealth, she couldn't afford treatments and medication. His passing was painfully prolonged and hard to witness. It was actually at that time that Mel and Lexi started their life on their own.
I don't think Bel loved Vincent. He was good, safe and, until the illness, it seems he provided enough money for her children. If she regretted her decision not to stay with her first partner, this second one was not her one and true love, either.
Bel is forty now. In her world, a woman of such an advanced age has no chance to marry or find a mate. All she can do is hang on to a job or find a relative who will take her in.
She has a job she has been hanging on to and was hoping that she might be able to find shelter via her daughters' arrangements. I have killed that. ... Or have I? Maybe she thinks I would not consider bedding her because she is forty. Maybe. But what if, all things being equal, what was distasteful before becomes compellingly necessary now?
Does my bedding her daughters, something I have no bones about doing and the clear proof of my actions in Lexi's pregnancy, ... does that provide enough negative reinforcement to ward off any interest in joining us?
Did I not think this through enough? I had months, years, to formulate a plan before I came to the Philippines. But now I am winging it much of the time. Have I screwed up?
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1 - Means Mother.
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