Grease
The conversation started as they were dressing for school. It continued through the rice and bihon they ate for breakfast and as they waited out on the street for the Jeepney to arrive. But when they boarded the Jeepney, all of the conversation ended. There were too many ears. Privacy was paramount. Once off the Jeepney, they almost immediately boarded a tricycle, so once again there could be no conversation. However, Janna got busy, while sitting on the bench behind the driver, texting her mother. Her mother texted back almost immediately and the volley of sms text messages followed in rapid succession until Janna was forced to turn the phone off as she entered her school.
§ § §
Joshua ate a breakfast of mango, banana and brewed coffee with canned cream. The one thing he really missed, Half and Half, was simply unavailable. But if that was the worst of it, he surely wasn't complaining. It was a relaxed morning.
Two of his girls were at school, one was away with her mother and two were still sleeping in his bed. He had no intention of awakening them. Let them sleep. Let them sleep and eat and relax.
Joshua checked his email. It was mostly spam. There were a few notes from friends, an email from his attorney asking him for details on what he was up to and suggesting a pre-nuptial agreement while at the same time acknowledging that getting such a thing done in the Philippines, which doesn’t allow or recognize divorce, might be a tall order.
A check of his finances was next on the list this morning. He was in good shape. He had budgeted far more for food and sundries than he was spending. Things in the Philippines were far less expensive. Other than the fact that he couldn’t use his VA health services in the Philippines, life here would in reality be a good deal for him. If he sold his house in the USA, the cost of a similar house here would cost about one quarter to one third as much. Food and clothing were less expensive. Gas cost more here but he needed to drive far less here. His two retirement incomes would allow him to live very comfortably here.
As he drank his second cup of coffee, he pondered the possibility of living in the Philippines full time. Maybe he would do so in the future. It required some thought, but it did have the benefit of allowing him to hold onto a potential family being offered to him in Pasay! And there was the real — not simply the potential — problem of what to do with Arlin and Mhitze. So long as he stayed in the Philippines, he could afford all of them. But in the USA things were different. Just sending six of them to the dentist for a cleaning there would be an expensive event.
He had come to the Philippines to make a dream, a reality. That was in process of happening, but there were complications. The complications had to do with the fact that it was too easy to have all he wanted here and the number of females he had access to now, had already grown to five teenagers and one adult. There were three more teens and another adult waiting to meet him in a week! This was already far too many. He needed to stop but his gonads were not listening to logic, they wanted to live the dream. They were following a more primal instinct. He knew that there must be no more additions. Even now, he wondered if there was an easy way of making Joydee and her daughters disappear from his life.
What ached in his heart most was his concern about the two waifs in his bedroom.
§ § §
Arlin looked over at her sister. This was a morning that was unlike any morning they could remember. They were on a soft bed, in clean sheets. The room was almost silent and too cool. They were snuggling under covers for warmth. Each of them was clean, having showered the previous afternoon. There was clean clothing laid out for them to wear today. There was a bathroom connected to this room that was theirs to use and no one else was in it! They neither needed to beg for money, nor food. Food, and plenty of it, was in the adjoining room. All they had to do was go get it and they could eat as much as they wanted. And best of all, they did not have to die and go to heaven to have all this. All they had ever dreamed of was already here.
Mhitze was already awake and staring at the clean white walls and nice furniture. The hum of the air conditioner was the only sound in the room.
[Translated from Cebuano to English]
She looked at Arlin, who had just awakened. Mhitze was tongue tied. Not so her sister. You were right. He is a nice man.
How long do you think they will let us stay?
Maybe a week
Wow. Oh Ate, I hope so! I feel like a princess.
If he gets me pregnant, I can have a pretty mestizo baby!
Me too!
You’re too young for a baby!
I am not! Anyway, do you think Joshua will allow us to have two outfits or just one?
I have no idea. I don’t know if he even gets to decide. Janna acted as if she would decide.
Yes, that was weird.
I am getting up and going to have some breakfast.
Mhitze giggled at the presumptuousness of her sister, though she knew it was what was waiting for them. Oh my God, aren’t we the special ones!
§ § §
At 10am, Joshua received a cell phone call from Ana Fe.
Hi!
Mahal, do you like these new girls?
Huh?
The girls you brought to the apartment. You like them?
Looking right at the two of them eating rice and adobo, Yes.
You want them?
What do you mean?
You want to add them to us?
It’s not possible.
You not know.
Huh?
You want to add them to us?
If it was possible, maybe. I don’t know them well.
Put her on the phone.
Who?
Oldest girl.
OK.
Now turning to Arlin, My fiancée, Ana Fe, wants to speak with you. I do not know why. However, you are to tell her the complete truth.
Arlin’s eyebrows raised up twice. In doing that, she was saying, ‘yes, I will.’
The following conversation was in Cebuano and translated here to English. Joshua does not know Cebuano and did not know what is being said.
Do you know who I am child?
Yes, Ma’am.
Do you want to stay with him1 and lose your real family forever? Or maybe you want to stay for a few days and then go back to your people.
Oh Ma’am, do I really have a choice?
My children tell me you and your sister are good. She says that your life is not good. Is that true?
Yes, Ma’am.
Child, are you willing to accept me as your mother and do as I say?
Yes, Ma’am.
You are able to speak for your sister as well?
Yes, Ma’am.
If I do this, for the rest of your life you have to say I am your mother. Do you agree to that? You can never be with your real family again. Do you agree to that?
Yes, Ma’am
What is your birthdate? What is your sister’s birthdate?
Arlin provided the information, and a bit more that Ana Fe asked for. Arlin was then instructed to hand the phone back to Joshua.
Yes?
I need more money. Please send me extra ₱25,000 at LBC2.
Why?
I will explain later.
OK. I will send it in an hour.
Thank you, Mahal. Bye.
Looking at Arlin, Joshua asked, What was that about?
Totally stunned, Arlin answered, I do not know. Sir, Mhitze ask me how long we stay here.
I don’t know yet, but if you are good, I would like it to be for a long time.
Longer a week?
Much longer than a week.
Mhitze hearing this, asks Both us?
Yes, Mhitze, both of you, so long as you understand why you are here with me.
You mean keep you happy in bed?
Yes.
You not worry that.
Mhitze and Arlin traded glances. Slipping out of their chairs they both approached Joshua. Mhitze knelt before him, unzipped his shorts and fished out his cock. With Arlin kneeling on his right and Mhitze between his legs, holding his dick in the air, the two of them started alternatively giving Josh some head. Joshua relaxed in his chair as these two showed him what he had taught them the previous evening. In short order, they had become highly competent at giving head. Today it would be Mhitze who would get the cum to swallow. From now on, they would not fail to remember that there was an explicit quid pro quo in their relationship. They would remember and they would do their part to maintain the relationship.
§ § §
[In Cebuano and translated]
Mary was confused as she asked her mother, You are really going to do this?
Janna and Ricca say it is the right thing to do.
Is it good for us?
I think so. It is good for Joshua and us.
Is it what Joshua wants.
He doesn’t know.
Then why are we doing this.
I think I know him in this better than he knows himself.
Really?
Yes.
Do you have enough money?
Yes.
How will you do it?
The same way I have to do mine.
But you are going to see the Local Civil Registrar in this province. I don’t understand.
I will meet with the woman who served as my mother's midwife. She never filed the papers for my birth. I didn't know that until I go get my cenomar. She has to create a birth record. That has to be recorded with the LCR3 first. The LCR sends it to the National Statistics Office. Because it is so late, I am going to have to grease some hands to make it happen. For some extra pesos, she can create birth records for my daughters Mhitze and Arlin. You know…for some reason they weren't registered at this LCR either! Can you imagine that?
I see mother. It is truly sad how inefficient our country’s record keeping is. I am certainly glad you will get this fixed for all of us, especially my sisters.
§ § §
1 - The use of pronouns without the formal noun as a reference is typical in all Filipino dialects/languages. You are supposed to figure it out by context.
2 - LBC: A Philippines company that does a number of things including remittances (same as Western Union and MoneyGram), parcel shipment and overseas cargo shipments.]
3 - Local Civil Registry. These offices have the requirement of recording the vital events of every person in a City or Province, which has something to do with the individual's entrance into or departure from life, as well as the changes in civil status that may occur during his lifetime. Such recording is continuous, permanent and compulsory, which, the Office of the Local Civil Registry faithfully performs.
§ § §