Chapter 5
“LIVE show!” shouted a man wearing a brown jacket and washed-denim pants. “Live show!”
The man clapped his hands loudly and shouted again as if selling something on the streets. He was standing in front of a narrow alley surrounded with red curtains, and on the side of the entrance was a hall of pictures of different naked women. But, the woman on the hanged tarpaulin caught Euclid’s attention. She was wearing a thin red net dress that barely covered her intimate parts.
Euclid stared at the woman’s masked face. He doesn’t know why he felt a sudden sadness just by looking at her brown eyes. The side of her face up to her eyes was covered by a red feathery mask, but even with it, her plump red lips were enough to say that behind that mask was a beautiful face.
‘Magdalene…’ Euclid whispered in her mind.
“`Wanna see her dance naked, sir?” The man that’s called a ‘barker’ of the club approached and asked Euclid. “Magdalene is one of our premium dancers here.”
Euclid smirked and lowered his head. He stepped closer to the barker and whispered. “How much will it cost me to take her out?”
The barker smirked. “You’ll bid for her, sir. Every weekend we are conducting a bid for Magdalene,” he said in a low voice that seemed unnecessary because of the noise around the streets. “And, only a few can take her out.”
“Give me an estimation of her value,” he said and looked at the tarpaulin. “How much is her time?”
*
“WHAT happened to your eyes, Mom?” Sara asked Maria as soon as she went out of her room. “Did you cry?” she asked worriedly.
Maria shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I think it’s just because of my headache,” she lied. “I haven’t slept, right? When your sleep is not enough, you’ll get these puffy eyes.”
Sara gasped. “Oh, but it’s different from Aunt Wendy. She has dark circles under her eyes—”
“It’s because I watched too much Kdramas at night,” Wendy said, rolling her eyes heavenwards. “Come on, let’s go to the mall.”
Maria’s daughter jumped in excitement. “I can’t wait to buy a new dress and shoes and a lot of dolls!”
“Don’t run, Sara!” Maria called for her daughter when she started to run away from them. “Sara, you’ll get tired. I told you, it’s bad for you to get tired.”
Sara stopped and looked back at her. Her eyes and furrowed brows were like throwing her questions. “But, the teacher said, running is good for the health.”
Maria held her daughter’s arm. “Yes, it’s true. But, you’re still too young to exercise, sweetie.”
Sara pouted her lips. “Okay. Then you have to carry me,” she said and smiled sweetly at her.
Maria felt a lump in her throat. She can’t cry in front of her child. She doesn’t want Sara to see her in weakness. She has to be strong for her daughter and for her friend, Wendy.
“`You okay?” Wendy asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine…” she said and smiled. “Thank you for everything, Wendy.”
Wendy snorted. “I hate dramas,” she said and took Sara. “Let’s ride a pedicab. Your mom is sleepy and can’t walk anymore.”
“What’s pedicab? Was it the bicycle with a carrier?” Sara asked curiously.
Maria smiled, her daughter never ran out of questions. “You got it right, sweetie. They’re called pedicabs because they run via peddling. Ped for Pedal and Cab for Cab, just like in TaxiCab. And that kind of transportation is only available in our country.”
“Wow!” Sara exclaimed. “I want to ride a pedicab, Mom! Please?”
Maria chuckled. “We will. We’ll just wait for one to pass by here.”
“They’re everywhere,” Wendy added. “Some of our neighbors are pedicab drivers.”
Sara nodded. “Lesli’s father has a bicycle, and he uses it to bring and fetch her to school…”
Maria knotted her forehead when her daughter suddenly stopped talking. “Why, honey? What’s wrong?”
Sara hesitated to answer, and it upsets Maria. “Mommy…” she paused and then looked at her. “What’s a prostitute?”
Maria caught her breath. She doesn’t know how to answer her innocent daughter’s question. Even Wendy was speechless. She shot her a questioning look.
“A-Sara… where did you get? Who told you about that word?” Maria asked panic was starting to eat her sanity.
Her six-year-old daughter bit her lip, and then after a few seconds, she started crying. “Lesli told me my mom is a prostitute… I asked Teacher what does it mean, and she said that it’s a bad word.”
Maria took Sara from Wendy. “Shh… Don’t cry. You promised mommy that you’ll never cry again, right?”
“Mommy, it’s not true, right?” Sara asked, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. “You’re not a prostitute, right?”
Tears stung her eyes. “No, I’m not…” she murmured and hugged her daughter. “You’re mom isn’t a prostitute.”
*
“YOU’RE going alone tonight?” Fred asked Euclid. They hang out in a KTV bar near their apartment to watch the people around their assignment city.
Euclid drank his bottle of beer. “Get the owner’s details then ran research on our database for hints.”
Fred groaned. “Can I just go with you to the bar? It bores me to just sit in front of the laptop. I wanna see sexy women dancing in the spotlight.”
Euclid scowled at his partner. “Then why did you accept to be an IT specialist?”
“Because it’s easy for me,” he said in a bored tone. “But, ‘easy’ doesn’t mean ‘fun’ for me.”
Euclid shook his head. “Let’s switch jobs for tonight. I need to take a break. The barker saw me twice yesterday.”
Fred’s smile widened. “Then it’s a deal.”
“Don’t make any stupid move, Fred, if you don’t want your ass to be hauled out from the team,” Euclid warned him. “We can’t afford to lose this case now.”
Fred clicked his tongue and winked at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll just watch the famous Magdalene sway her hips on the stage.”
Euclid paused upon hearing the woman’s code name. Her sad brown eyes flashed before his eyes, her luscious lips, and her sexy body. Euclid felt something familiar inside him, and he also knew that this kind of feeling shouldn’t be entertained.
***
