Chapter Twenty-FourMechado
1 kilo of sirloin cut beef cut into cubes
1 onion, minced
1 clove of garlic
2 medium-sized potatoes
3 pieces of calamansi
1 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of soy sauce
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1 crying mother
When Mama asked me if I wanted a debut on my eighteenth birthday, I told her no and Mama cried. It was last year. I had just turned seventeen. Mama was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at me as if I had completely waxed off both of my eyebrows.
Mama thought it was about money. And partly, it was. She assured me that money would not be a problem. That she had it covered. That she’d get me anything I wanted within reason. A girl only turns eighteen once, she said. But I didn’t want them to spend thousands of pesos over me, and just for
