Chapter 3

The apartment that Jane and her mother lived in was on the 9th floor of a modern block in Pasay district of Manila. It was small, but it suited them as they did not need a lot of space. There was a living room, a small kitchen, 2 bedrooms – one for each of the women - and one bathroom. The entrance door opened directly into the living room. The apartment was simply furnished and Jane had set up a study corner in her bedroom with desk and chair, and space for her books and notes.

The best feature of the apartment was the balcony that overlooked Manila Bay. Here there were a small table and two comfortable bamboo chairs where Jane liked to sit and relax after a hard day of study. She found that just gazing at the waters of the bay with the twinkling lights of the buildings around the bay helped to make her feel calm and forget about the stress of studying.

Now, calming down was the last thing she needed. Instead, she wanted to confront her mother and let her know that she had discovered what kind of bitch she really was. So, kicking off her shoes, and without taking off her uniform, Jane marched across the living room and opened her mother’s bedroom door with a bang.

The bedroom was dark because the curtains were closed tight to prevent the sun from streaming in. So, Jane flicked on the light switch on the wall just inside the doorway. Cherry was lying on the bed wearing shorts and a singlet vest. She had obviously showered and combed her hair because it was no longer matted with piss. Cherry murmured sleepily, “What time is it? I hope I didn’t wake you when I came home.”

“No, mama, you didn’t wake me because I wasn’t here,” replied Jane.

That answer filtered through to Cherry’s brain and made her sit up. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at Jane standing beside her bed. “What ... what ... why are you wearing your nurse’s uniform? Are you going to work at the hospital?” “No, mama. I’m not going to work. I just came from there because they asked me last night to help out as they were short staffed. You had already left for your work, so I called to let you know, but you didn’t answer.”

“Oh, ok. I didn’t see your miscall,” said Cherry. “Sorry.”

Jane was still furious, but she thought that she would see if she could make Cherry admit what had happened to her, so she took a deep breath, and began to tell Cherry about her night at the hospital.

“It was interesting to be at the hospital at night,” she began. “I saw and heard so many different things. You know, about 3 am I saw one woman who came in in a really bad state.”

“Oh?’ said Cherry, quietly.