My heart twists at the mention of Pa.
I don’t point out that I can feel Ma’s hands tremble when she fastens the clasp. “I know you wanted him to be here for tonight…,” she says, and gazes at my reflection again. “Baduy ba? Everyone used to wear this style back then. Ton picked the butterfly, too, since I kept listening to that Mariah Carey album.”
I adjust the butterfly so it’s centered. “It’s perfect, Ma,” I tell her, my eyes prickling at our reflection.
When I raise my phone to take a selfie of us, Ma asks, “You’re not posting that, right?”
“My account is private.”
“Kidnappers do not care about privacy, Nika.”
After I convince Ma that I’m not going to post our picture and will listen to her advice about how other people tagging me is a “security threat,” she finally agrees to a photo.
Her eyes are glistening when she smiles back at me. But her expression quickly changes as she inspects my face. “Why do you have so many powder blotches?”
“I don’t know,” I say, and bump the face powder container farther away from me.
Ma wipes her hands and grumbles about how she paid for a makeup artist who doesn’t even know how to blend. While she’s dabbing a sponge on my face, I ask her, “Did Pa give you the necklace during your prom?”
“Alam mo naman, your father, the romantic,” she says as she keeps dabbing. “He was worried at first that I’d get mad that he spent money on the necklace.”
“Did you?”
“Of course!” Ma says, and I laugh. “Your dad already used most of his allowance buying siopaos from me and then he splurges on jewelry?”
She shakes her head, but I can see her smiling. “But I made sure I wore that necklace when Buns by Beth opened.”
“For good luck?”
Ma does one last dab and scans my face to make sure the makeup is even. I think she didn’t hear my question until she breathes out, “Because I missed him.”
She keeps talking while she adjusts the bobby pins that are holding up my hair.
“Your sister keeps telling me to go for the franchising deal, but it doesn’t feel right to do all that without Ton. He was the one who kept telling me to dream bigger.” She sighs. “That man was always my biggest fan.”
Then why are you marrying someone else?
The question gets lost in my thoughts when we hear Auntie Baby’s voice from the living room. “Annika!” she calls out. “Your date is here!”
Which prompts my mother to make the most bizarre statement. “Going to prom with a manliligaw is a big step.”
“Seph isn’t my manliligaw,” I repeat for the umpteenth time.
“… Boyfriend?”
No, no. He’s definitely notthat.
Is he?
Ma’s forehead creases. “What are you two, then?”
“Neighbors.” I stop and correct myself. “Well, friends, buddies.”
“Baby mentioned this to me…” Ma’s eyes narrow as she tries to follow. “That kids your generation have MOMOL buddies now.”
There’s no one inanygeneration who uses that term. No one!
My phone then lights up on the dresser and Ma notices the name of the contact calling me.
