FORBIDDEN AFFECTIONS: ADDICTED TO MY STEPMOM

While walking towards their ‘chief parent’s hut, I seized the time to thank them.

According to them, they saw Jack and me being chased by armed men since yesterday. They lost track of us for a while and when they decided to find us, they found out that the armed men were already near our trail. They quickly noticed we needed help so they followed us until we reached the road.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Nana understands city language. But you have to speak slowly so she can understand you,” said Bon, the only one who could speak my language among the young men who saved Jack and me.

He looked to be the age of probably 18 years old, something similar to Jonah’s son, Gio.

He briefly gave me short information about them. According to him, they were a tribe who got stranded in the mountainous part of the town and started living here a couple of years ago. Almost all of them were relatives of one another and because they had been residing in forests for the past centuries, most of them didn’t know my language–spoken in the city. Only a few of them understood the language and sadly, only Bon and the chief parent could speak it well.

As I walked toward ‘Nana’s’ hut, I noticed that everyone was staring at me. I realized maybe it was because my clothes were different from theirs and they were from the mountains and were not used to seeing people like me.

“We’re not bad people, don’t worry,” Bon said and gave me a simple smile.

Because I was still worried about Jack’s condition I wasn’t able to reciprocate it. So I just gave him a small nod and kept silent.

Soon, I finally reached the hut where their village chief resided. They called her Nana. She was a 94-year-old woman who had ornaments all over her body and tattoos that doubled the count from the rest of the tribe.

“Is that man really your son?” She asked me.

I paused, slightly stunned at the tone she used. There was no way they saw us last night… was there? I gambled our fate – both Jack and mine – as I answered her with honesty.

“Yes, he is my son. But… He is also my special person…”

Nana looked at me quietly.

For a while, no sound was emitted between us.

Then she broke the silence, suddenly asking me questions. I answered them all despite my confusion. I figured it was her way of saying she didn’t mind. I had hoped it was the case.

I mentioned our situation and how Jack and I ended up in their mountains, all of which Nana fortunately understood.

After the conversation, she ordered a few of her people to give me food and also said we could stay temporarily at their place first. The healers went on to elaborate further, specifically telling me that Jack still needed a few more days to recover properly. They said the bullet in his stomach was gone but his organs were in slight trouble at the moment. He would have to recover fast to be able to walk on his own they said.

Walk to the nearest town, that was.

“Two-hour of walking if the weather is good, four hours if it’s raining or other encounters happen on the road,” Bon explained to me while eating the grilled fish they had caught in the river.

I nodded and continued eating, thinking to myself I needed the energy if I wanted to help Jack recover fast. After that, I thanked everyone again for their kindness before I quickly returned to Jack. As expected, he was still asleep and seemed to have no intention of waking up. I grabbed his forehead and caressed it as I used to when he was a kid.

“You’ll be fine. You’ll get better soon. I know you can do it,” I whispered while looking at him and caressing his forehead before I kissed it.

I stayed close to Jack, trying to sleep but waking up whenever I felt he would wake up. I had to keep a close watch on his condition after all. But the entire night, Jack didn’t make any sound or any movement at all.

The next day, Jack still didn’t wake up. I almost lost hope when I held his hand which was so cold. Only his slow and steady heartbeat was what gave me hope that he would also wake up and recover like Nana and Bon had told me. They kept reminding me to be patient and not worry too much, even mentioning some of the great stories of their tribe members who had suffered the same conditions, most of whom were still alive to this date and able to share the tale.

I tried to calm myself after hearing those stories from Bon. And because I didn’t want to be a burden and as a thank you to the tribe, I decided to help with the women’s affairs. We went to a creek that they said was safe and could not be traced by men like those armed ones who were chasing me and Jack.

I was used to doing household chores so it was easier to finish them. My female companions smiled at me to whom I returned with the same response. We didn’t talk but whenever I hear them talking and conversing with one another, I naturally felt calmer. It was enough to keep my mind busy and to avoid getting worried excessively about Jack.

We were doing the last batch of everyone’s clothes when the 6-year-old child who tried to speak to me before came. His name was Isagani. Chasing his breath, he uttered a few words quickly but I couldn’t understand.

“Marianne! He is awake!” Bon shouted from behind Isagani.

I quickly got up and ran to where Jack was. Even before I could enter the hut, I could already hear his voice. He seemed to be fighting with someone.

Quickly, I entered and was stunned.

I saw Jack carrying a knife I couldn’t tell where the hell he had picked up from. He was pointing it at one of the young men who rescued us as though he was an enemy.

“Aki!” I called him.

Jack turned to me and almost immediately, the anger in his eyes disappeared. “Mom…!”

Jack was the one who went to me. He pulled me close and hugged me tightly as I returned it the same, my eyes getting teary. I couldn’t help but feel emotional. I was too scared and had thought he might take longer to wake up, my faith inside shivering nonstop whenever I thought about that. But he was alive. He was alive, kicking, and even strong enough to hold a knife which brought me a variety of emotions.

One that topped everything was my relief and joy that he was finally here, again by my side.