CHAPTER EIGHT - The Ungrateful One
1487 Words
Hiraya
Numb inside and out, I felt like I was walking dead as Calixto led me inside the hotel. There was a boulder on my chest as the video shown by Bughaw keeps on playing in my mind.
"Smile, Hiraya. Stop sulking,” Calixto whispered as he nodded to other guest who were going out of the elevator.
Smile? He really expected me to smile. How could I smile if Sinag is dying while I am draped with the most elegant dress in this hotel? The bahaghari stone felt heavy. It was mocking me that while I am leaving my life as a princess, my people were living in despair.
Before, I would try my best to please my husband. If he asks me to jump, I will ask how high. I might even do a jumping split just to make him happy. I didn't bother to smile when the international music icon Madeline Connor joined us. I was too numb to do that.
The blonde American sold millions of albums and could make grown men cry whenever she sets the stage on fire. She became a billionaire in her early twenties and in and out of rehab.
And just two years ago, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. She was just forty-five but she looked older because cancer ate up her youth and vitality. She didn't look like she was dying soon though because was holding a bottle of an expensive wine while humming a song. She was not walking straight and the assistant-boy toy was trying his best to keep her from falling flat on her face.
Calixto assisted her when she entered the elevator. "Maddie dear, are you having a great time?"
"Of course. Finally, I feel alive again. This is life."
Life. What a contrast to the world I left behind. The people of Sinag are dying at the expense of other people's lives. They had no idea what sacrifices my people made for them to live.
A sob came out of my lips. The pain was too much to bear. I tried to stop it but it got Maddie's attention and asked, "Are you crying? Did you two have a fight?"
"No, no," Calixto denied and let out a laugh. He pulled my head and pressed it to his chest to hide my face. "She has a migraine, that's why I'm taking her to our suite so she can rest."
"Oh! You should have some wine. It solves everything." Maddie offered the bottle of wine to me. "Here. Take it. Or we can have more at the bar in my suite. I have plenty to choose from…"
I lifted my head and grabbed her wrist instead of taking the bottle of wine. "You shouldn't be drinking alcohol. You are sick..."
Maddie pulled her wrist away from me. "I am healed. Thanks to the bahaghari stone. Wine never tasted better. I can finally drink barrels of wine if I want to. Cheers to that."
"But you must not abuse your body,” I reminded her.
The diva shot me with a deadly glare. "Hey listen, mountain girl! I paid millions for the bahaghari stone. It should be effective.” She touched the necklace with the heart-shaped bahaghari stone pendant. “Are you telling me it is a fraud?"
I shook my head. "No. It can heal but you have to take care of yourself as well. It can be dangerous if..."
"You mean it will easily lose its effect? I can pay more for this stone.” She pointed at me. “I can buy you, and your husband, and this whole hotel, just don't stop me from drinking my f**king wine!” She threw her hands in the air while wailing. The action was exaggerated or perhaps because she was intoxicated already. She would have fallen if her assistant didn’t support her.
Calixtro tried to pacify her. "Of course. Have as much wine as you want. As long as you have the bahaghari stone, you are free to enjoy life the way you want it. You can be a brand new person anytime.”
Maddie smirked and tapped Calixto’s cheek. "I'm glad that we are clear on that." She gave me a sour look before she walked towards the elevator. “I’m the queen of the night. No cancer can stop me now.”
I balled my fist and wanted to snatch the necklace away from the singer but Calixto dragged me to our room. My anger was simmering in my blood. My people sacrificed their lives and children were enslaved just to heal these people who slap others with money. They are abusing their bodies and the use of the bahaghari stone. It was such a shame that I am trying to save these people who had no respect for their bodies.
A blindfold was removed from my eyes. These people are not as good as I thought. They can be rotten to the core.
There was a time that there was a famine in their tribe. There was no rain and neighboring tribesmen raided our village as they scour for food to survive. Many were wounded. Some died trying to defend our people.
Centuries ago, a maiden named Kariktan volunteered to sacrifice her life and would let her people use her blood to feed the crops and let them eat her flesh so they wouldn't starve anymore. The goddess Sinagtala appeared before the maiden as she was about to be sacrificed. It rained. The water was blessed and enough to fill their tummies. Then was called to a cave and she discovered the stones to heal those who were sick.
It was a sacrifice of a good heart that healed my people. I thought I was making the same sacrifice but these people have no respect for the gift given to them.
My people are dying for these people who thought they can do whatever they want because they have money. My people are hurting because of these ungrateful excuses for human beings.
How could I allow this to happen? How can I make everything right?
Calixto was seething as we walked the deserted hallway. “You ruined the night. Why can’t you follow directions? I told you to stay in the room. But no. You went to the greenhouse and met up with that cursed childhood friend of yours.”
“I didn’t meet up with him. I didn’t even know that he was here.”
He didn’t mind my correction. “Now, people think that you are having an affair. And you even angered our valuable client.”
“I was just concerned with Maddie’s well-being.”
“Well, whatever our client does is none of your concern.”
“None of my concern? I’m a haliya. I’m responsible for the bahaghari stone and for those who use it.” And the power of the stone is something that must not be abused because its power is not infinite.
He held my shoulders and shook them. “Hiraya, your job is to bless the stone and activate its power. Do you know that Maddie is willing to recommend us to more clients? People who have more money than her and they are already spending a lot for their medication. That’s a big opportunity for us. Don’t antagonize her. No need to play a hero. That kind of stupidity will hurt us all.”
That snapped me out of my grieving as Calixto closed the door with a bang as we entered the room and it was followed by his rant. Did I ruin his night? How about my tribe? How about the people who were suffering? He promised to give them a good life and now I was not the one who was following directions?
And now he calls me stupid. Yes, maybe I am stupid. For the first time, I am seeing everything in a different light. I was mad. Raging mad that I wanted to smash something. Probably my beloved husband’s face.
“You always think of other people before me. Is money all you care about?”
“What?”
I clutched the front of his tuxedo, my eyes were blazing with anger as I confronted him. “Why won’t you allow me to go back to Sinag? Are you keeping secrets from me? Are you lying to me all this time? What have you done to my people and to the land?”
Calixto’s face became ashen. He didn’t expect that outburst from me. Of course, I was a submissive and doormat wife.
“What are you saying, Hiraya? We are taking care of them. I told you that we are building schools for the kids. Your people have decent jobs.”
I showed him the phone, almost shoving it to his face. and played the video “Decent? They are dying, Calixto.”
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