My patience runs very thin when he blocks me from the door again. “Where’d you get your reflexes?” he asks, looking like he’s actually enjoying wasting my time.
I’m about to slam my body against him and enter the unit through brute force when Kayla says, “Nika’s going through an emergency.”
That wipes the smile off his face and he looks at me like he’s actually concerned. “Wait. What’s wrong?”
“You,” I say through my teeth. “You’re pissing me off.”
“Niks, I’m not sure this is the best way to ask for his help with Ghost Daddy.”
…
I wasn’t really sure if I’d tell Seph anything about Pa, but I guess this is how we’re doing it.
“Ghost Daddy?” Seph’s eyes bounce between me and Kayla. “Is that the title of some Taylor Swift song?”
We all startle when we hear a loud thud from the 3H unit.
Before any of us have time to react, Pa’s already peeking through the wall. “Your mom’s inside with Baby, Grace, and Jackie,” he reports back.
“What’s Achi doing here?”
Seph spins around. “Whoare you talking to?”
Pa peeks again. “They’re fixing a mannequin that fell down.”
I’m about to ask why they’d need a mannequin for mahjong when Pa says, “… Beth has a wedding dress on.”
Excuse me?
Seph must see how furious I am because he doesn’t even try to block me when I tell him to move. When I enter the 3H unit, the couch and Moseph shrine are pushed to the side to make room for a clothing rack of dresses. Auntie Grace and Achi crowd around Ma, holding up different styles of wedding gowns.
“Nika?” Ma starts when she sees me. My whole body tenses at the sight of her in a wedding dress. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
As I’m struggling to find words, I hear Kayla squeak from behind me. “We came from Bible study!”
Ma’s wearing a veil and a beaded off-the-shoulder gown that hugs her figure. She takes steps toward me, and the dress glides along with her every move. My mom has never looked more beautiful.
“Wow,” I hear Pa breathe out, as if the wind got knocked out of him—if ghosts had wind in them, at least.
My brain’s still short-circuiting when Ma stammers, “W-we didn’t want to bother you, so I asked Baby if we could try on wedding gowns here. I know how busy you are with school and classes…”
Achi can’t even look me in the eye when I turn to her. I’m not dumb, and my family doesn’t need to sugarcoat things for me. We all know why Ma didn’t want me around for this. Who in their right mind would include the daughter who bails on the engagement, hates the fiancé, and yells at her mom?
My feelings about the wedding aside, I’m tired of being the person who makes my mom’s life harder. No, I want to be the reason something good happens to her for once.
“I want to help,” I hear myself say.
Auntie Baby doesn’t notice the painful tension wafting among the Ilagan family members. “See, I told you Nika wouldwant to be here,” Auntie Baby says, scolding Ma. “You know, Seph really inherited his father’s sense of style. Sobrang porma din ni Francis. Look how great Seph, Kayla, and Nika carry themselves. Their generation knows fashion!”
No one points out the irony that we’re all wearing our wrinkled school uniforms.
Auntie Baby orders Ma to face the full-length mirror in their sala. “I’m sure Nika would agree with me about the fit.”
Ma tries pulling down the lining and glances at me through the mirror’s reflection. She then carefully asks, “What do you think, Niks? Is it too tight?”
“No,” I hear Pa answer for me.
But Ma doesn’t hear him, so she’s still studying my face, waiting for an answer.
