C1 1: Esang

“My child needs it. . .food. . .food. . . they cannot go hungry. ”

People are looking at a dirty and torn woman wearing fun. The lady walks along the road and almost everyone avoids and hates her.

Her eyes were naughty and did not know where to go. Her mind was blank and regardless of how people looked at her. She is not in the right mind. But she only knew one thing, that was what her three children needed to leave in their shack.

She loves her children dearly and cannot leave them alone in hunger.

She stared at her palm. “Money. . . ” she whispered full of pleasure.

She rolled her eyes as if looking for something that she wanted. “Food. . . ” she whispered again when she saw a cafeteria not far away. Her eyes focused on the food that is already wrapped.

She ran and approached the cafeteria. Some of the people eating there looked at her; threw their noses away. It was as if something very foul was approaching them. Some diners near Salvi moved to a place to get away from her.

The store owner approached Salvi and drove her away.

“Get out of here you crazy! My cafeteria has affected you, I might be lost my customers, because of you. You are unlucky. ”

Salvi ignored her and kept whispering as she stared at the food. “Food. . . buy food. . . ” she said then picked up three plastic bags containing food.

The owner of the cafeteria was angry. "Thief!" she shouted.

“I was paying. . . ” Salvi handed over the money she was holding. The owner was even more annoyed by the amount of money Salvi gave her.

“Twenty pesos ?! Don't you know that the price you took was ninety pesos ?! You are a thief! ”

Salvi suddenly trembled at what she heard. She was shaking as she retreated away. “No! I did not steal! I paid the money! No! This is my for my children!”

Some people are already curious about what is happening while others are don't mind and continue eating their food.

Salvi backed away then ran. She ran not knowing where to go.

“Home. . . child. . . food. . . ” she whispered as she kept running. She could no longer hear the old woman shouting at her earlier.

She smiled and laughed. “Salvi fled. . . Hahaha! ”

She stopped running when she saw a familiar face in the distance.

“Mom!” the child cry as she approached her. She looked at their shack and smiled. She was home.

The girl hugged her. This was followed by two boys aged eleven and eight.

Her heart warmed as they hugged her tight. Tears dripped down her cheeks, because of the great pleasure she felt.

"Where did you go Mom?" Esang, the eldest of her three children asked. She is seventeen years old and she can count on her in everything.

She looked at the food items and then handed them to the children one by one. “Mom is looking for food. . . Eat inside. ”

Her heartfelt happiness when she saw the bright faces of the three children when they saw the food. But Esang's surprise, while not leaving her a stare.

“Macky and Cardoy. Go ahead to the shack and prepare that on the plate. I'll just bathe Mom. She is dirty, she has not been able to come home to us for a few days. ”

The two immediately followed Esang's words. They run into their shack.

The noise of the alley where they live. Bad smells of mixed garbage of people living in the Tondo area. Add the noise of people on the side of the road; screaming, arguing, having fun, crying baby, and fighting. In the hardships of life, they have to endure in that kind of place. If they can't handle that kind of life they will not succeed in life.

***

“MOTHER, you can eat too. Join us for this meal, ” said Cardoy to Esang's mother who was already combing her hair because she had already bathed and dressed.

The beauty of their mother that Esang inherited came out and some went to Macky and Cardoy. They have beautiful and handsome faces.

"Mom is really beautiful!" Cardoy said kindly while staring at his mother.

“Of course! We inherit it from her! ” Macky seconded, accompanied by a giggle.

Esang, on the other hand, objected and then sat down so that the four of them could eat. "I inherited it from Mom, so don't argue."

"My dear children, let's eat and I know you have been hungry before," said their Grandma Sarah — the mother of their Mother Salvi.

In the middle of their meal, there was a knock on the door of their little shack. A few more knocks after, Esang decided to open it. Two policemen greeted her.

"Does Salvi Asuncion live here?"

Her forehead furrowed. Why are they looking for their mother? “Yes. Why, Sir? ”

The two policemen stepped in. Then he went to their Mother who was quiet eating.

A bearded policeman handed something to Esang. A folded paper. "We have a warrant of arrest for your mother for stealing."

“What ?! Our mother is not a thief! ” she shouted causing her Grandma Sarah and siblings to be shocked as well.

They all got even more upset when the two policemen grabbed their mother and forced her out of their shack.

“No! I am not a thief. . . ” cried their mother as she tried to avoid the handcuffs of the two authorities.

Esang saw how her mother cried that time. She came over and hugged her.

“Mom, don't worry. We will be released you from prison. ”

Salvi shook her head and then rolled her eyes again. “I did not steal. . . I bought food. . .for my children. . . ”

Esang covered her mouth to restrain herself from sobbing. She already knew why her mother would be imprisoned.

“Mom!” her two brothers shouted as the two policemen finally took their Salvi out of the shack.

"Salvi!" Her Grandmother Sarah even chased her outside even though her knees were weak.

“My child!” Esang heard their mother shout from outside. Her heart was broken.

She approached her two brothers and hugged them. “Don't worry. Mom will come back home, soon. ”

Even if what she said was impossible, she needs to say and stand with it. She did not want her two brothers to despair. She will work for her mother Salvi's bail.