The Life of Her

A Place to Call Her Own

It has been five minutes when I met the daughter of the owner of Zealous Apartment, and then it was known for having it named the same as her boy sibling. She erected still in front of me, arms crossed as her lanky silky hair was neatly curled.

Her long lashes were permed and her thick dark eyebrows were on the flick. She was wearing a vibrant yellow dress with a red silk ribbon on her neck. Her flat white sandals were neat that I could see her well-trimmed toenails with a marble art.

And to sum her outfit for this day, her lips were colored into luscious deep red. She’s probably in her twenties. I smiled at her as she introduced herself to me.

“Hello there. I’m Shiny Grace Jordan, but you can just simply call me as Shin or Shinshin. I should presume that you’re the person whom my mom is talking with a while ago before she left.” She said in a monotonous tone.

I cleared my throat and spoke. “Yes. I’m Amber Kate Madison.”

She lend me a hand and we shook together.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

My eyes lurked the place and I should say that the units were clearly spacious for one to three persons. They were painted dark green with large numbers on top of every door.

The apartment was a two-story building with a brown roof and railings. I counted all the units and there were ten. Shin led the way to the available place. The residents were smiling at me and some were curious. A child ran in my path, clasping a rugged doll next to her chest and suddenly tripped herself and fell off the ground. I immediately grabbed her arm gently and assisted her. Her short auburn hair swayed freely when a strong whiff passed through us. She smiled at me, making me appreciated her sweet voice as she said thank you.

“Be careful next time, honey.” I meant and patted her head.

She bobbed and carried her toy back in her arms again. She paced towards a young woman who was standing near the door and hugged her tight. Worriedly, the woman examined the child and made sure that she was alright. She’s probably her mother.

As soon as she was contented with what she saw, she pinched her cheek, making her giggle and decided to go inside their unit. My attention was reverted into something else as we stopped by in front of the last unit of Zealous Apartment.

“We’re here.” She elatedly uttered, opening the door with a key.

She giggled at me as she offered the way for me to see first what’s inside the area. I gradually took my steps inside and sighted first the living room. The walls were plainly white with a brown picture frame of a dandelion hanging over the right side.

A ceiling fan was at the top. The floor was also well tiled. There was a small divider that separated the living room from the kitchen. I walked to it and discovered a window beside the kitchen sink and on the left edge was the comfort room. I went back to the living area and saw another door from my right and slowly unlocked it, revealing an empty bed and a shelf on both sides. A fan was hanging over the ceiling wall with thick, greyed cobwebs. There was also a small drawer with three compartments over the right side. Shin stood behind me and waited patiently.

“How is it?” She delightedly inquired.

I turned myself to face her as satisfaction was plastered on my face – I find it simple and peaceful to be here for a while. Shin told me everything from the monthly payment down to the rules and regulations of the apartment.

"It's pretty good. I will take this one."

She also shared about some of the residents and she said that most of them are friendly. I gave her an advance payment and she welcomed me with a hug.

“Thank you so much, Amber. I hope you’ll enjoy it here. I’ll let Mom meet you when she arrives.” She said.

“Thank you also and sure, I’ll enjoy staying here.”

She flapped her hand to say goodbye. As soon as she closed the door, I sat on the chair; stared at the piece of paper she gave me. It was her phone number. Shin told me that I can call her anytime if something will come up or if I just need something. My eyes roamed the canopy where I could lucidly perceive the thick layers of cobwebs. The window was also covered with heavy filth. I should clean the room first then have something to eat later at night. I grabbed my bag and searched for my wallet.

Luckily, I was able to save money during vacations. I still have some to spend for a week. I sighed and looked for my black notebook. I unfolded it and marked the top of my list which was to find a new place to settle down. My finger traveled to the next one and that would be to enroll myself in a new school.

I wanted to finish my studies. It was also the thing that I promised to Dad and somehow, I wanted to make it. I jolted instantly from my seat and glanced over my watch. It was already five in the afternoon and I could feel my tummy rumbling again for hunger. I should get ready.

I immediately put my things inside my room. Shin had given me the keys. There was a broom over the side and I immediately grabbed it to clean. I raised my arm tight and swept the cobwebs that were hanging on top of me. The bed was thickly covered in dust that I have to wipe it off using the broom and a towel. I also cleaned the floor and when I was over with my room, I went to the kitchen and used the faucet. I let it get wet. There was a green scrub over the counter and I used it thoroughly to clean it. The fridge was even completely empty.

I also washed the light yellow curtains that were hanging over. It took me about an hour to finish all my work. I wiped my forehead and my neck. I stared at everything – it is now sparkling clean! Taking a deep exhalation, it was satisfying.

I slouched over the couch and grabbed my phone. The time is ticking fast and I could feel the hunger crippling from within. I bit my lower lip as I rubbed my belly. Then, I decided to change my clothes into grey jogging pants and a large blue shirt. I tied my hair into a ponytail and directly went outside, making sure that I locked the apartment wholly. I’m planning to take dinner outside.

Now that I took myself away again, I could hear the rumbling sound that came from one of those units. The same woman, now wearing her flowered shorts and a white sleeveless, was chasing down another orange cat that just took her fried meatball away, which I thought to be their dinner!

Her face was all in red as she ran off. A girl was clasping down her shorts, pulling her from chasing down the thief. In the end, the woman sighed in frustration as she carried that kid in her arms. She recognized me walking in her direction, giving me a faint smile.

I’m not really used to making conversation with people that I don’t know, but then I saw a bobbly personality as she moved towards me.

“Hello, young lady. I saw you took the last unit a while ago. It’s good to see you here with us.” She said. “I’m Holly Carcey Cruz.” She added and reached out her hand.

I gently grabbed it and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Amber Kate Madison. You can call me Amber or Madi.” I replied.

“Oh. That’s a nice name.” She looked over my back and moved an inch, lowering her voice.

“Have you seen the man covered with extreme tattoos over his shoulder? Have you heard the name…Shadow?"

I looked at her with curiousness. I simply nodded. I saw her bit her lip and pulled me into a corner to shade ourselves. She glanced over both sides and looked at me intently. I gulped.

“Dear, don’t let yourself be around him. He may look like a friendly man, but he’s in nuts. You don’t want to deal with him. Ever.”

She patted me on the shoulder. “But why? Does he have something to deal with the people around him here?”

The child was reaching her hand to my ponytail, but she immediately pulled it and made an awkward, shallow sneer.

“He has a pack. Most of the time, you will see him roaming around the corner of the streets – harassing people and you know taking their valuable stuff.”

“Well, didn’t he and his group went to jail?”

“They did once…but now, most of their victims were scared because of the threat they give to their families, and rather just choose to let them take their things away from them."

I glanced over the end of the street, where a lamppost was shining brightly. I looked back at her and smiled. “Thank you for the advice. I’ll take that and please take care of yourselves.”

“You too.”

We waved each other goodbyes. The woman and her child went directly inside their unit, leaving me to continue my walk. Children were now slowly getting back as their parents scolded them for playing too much. The smell of different dishes being served for dinner lingered around. The moon smiled around the clear, dark sky. Do you see me, Dad? I hope you do.

I paced myself out and left the area. It’s seven in the evening, but I felt that I wanted to take a short walked for a while and just enjoy my free time. The highway was not even jammed with traffic. Rushing cars all their way homes were departing at me. Joggling alarms echoed as they moved fast. People who were commuting were going down a red bus at a bus stop over the distance.

I stopped and opened my purse and looked for my headset. I plugged them on and played a playlist on my phone. I pocketed my cell and continued my walked, flung myself together with the others. The berserk, extremely attractive billboards were highly lighting the place together with the shrill colorful buildings.

A crossed myself and went to the other side, where I distinguished a rectangular signage that was blinking red and blue. Chicken 2 Go was posted and somehow, people were lining up for their orders.

The fugitive smell was slowly captivating my feet to go and I let them. Taking a part of the line, I waited for my turn. They were serving grilled, fried and flavored chicken. Most of their customers were taking their orders out and few were dining in. Surely, they are enjoying their dinners. It was then I decided to take my meal inside the apartment. A yawn went out of my mouth, rubbing my teary eyes. The time that it was my turn to order, a man, probably in his twenties greeted me with a smile.

His hair was in big curls. He was wearing a red cap and a red scarf paired with a plain white shirt and skinny, dark blue jeans. I looked up to their menu and something had caught me. I looked at him as I pointed my order.

“I’ll have two cups of rice, two pieced of fried chicken with teriyaki sauce and please include one set of pork siomai. Icetea too.”

The man directly wrote my list and announced. “Thank you, Maam. Here’s your cuing number. Please wait as we prepared them.”

I grabbed it and slowly went to the side and settled on one of those chairs. I focused myself over my phone and played Candy Crush. I just started playing this for me for over a week now and I could say, I’m having a lot of fun.

The music was beating on my ears, tapping my feet with. I mumbled and continued to fun myself. I didn’t mind the others departing behind and in front of me. It was my thing – not to care the others from what they see on me to how they treat me.

I felt cold since back then. Fifteen minutes later, the man called my number once again and I presently went back to grab my order that was neatly placed inside a paper bag with their shop’s name.

“That would be two hundred twenty-five pesos, Maam.” He uttered.

I snatched my wallet over my pocket, paying him with the exact amount. We said thank you to each other and I instantly went off back to my unit – pacing as I held my food, swaying it a bit over the city’s night. It was exquisite.

This day will be the start of having my own.

No rules.

No commitment.

It's just me and the things I would do. And I would hope that those will go as ease, the way they should be. I just hoped.