{"id":5728,"date":"2025-08-04T12:06:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T04:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?p=5728"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:06:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T04:06:49","slug":"wordy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wordy\/","title":{"rendered":"Wordy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adawia J. Jamasali<\/em><\/p>\n

It was an unusual day in September for Melyn. She sat outside her house, frowning the whole morning. It was so unlike her. Usually, her mornings were filled with gossip about her neighbor, Mrs. Abdulla, whose sons and daughters were already professionals and based in Zamboanga City.<\/p>\n

Melyn would proudly tell her other neighbors, Jumma and Nora, that she had seen with her own eyes how sad Mrs. Abdulla looked when she went out to throw the garbage. It was because she was alone in the house. Her huge mansion was useless now, since all her children had their own lives. Her sadness was unfathomable, worsened by the fact that her elderly husband\u2014bedridden\u2014was not with her, but with his second wife, who was far too young for him. Life must have been cruel to Mrs. Abdulla, leaving her stuck in Sulu and all alone.<\/p>\n

Jumma and Nora would listen attentively to Melyn and even admire how credible and detailed her information about Mrs. Abdulla was.<\/p>\n

Just yesterday, the three of them spent the whole day talking about the mysterious man who visited Mrs. Abdulla. He was new to them. They didn\u2019t recognize him. He wasn\u2019t a relative or a known friend of any of Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, was tall and slim. He wore a black face mask, a black hat, and black sunglasses. His black shirt was plain, with no prints or logos. He seemed very mysterious.<\/p>\n

He rang the bell at Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s house around ten in the morning, while Melyn and her companions were still arguing about the garbage truck, which was running late in their village. After a few minutes, Mrs. Abdulla, now in her late sixties, slowly opened the gate. She silently nodded to the man and invited him inside. Melyn and her two friends watched in silence. Mrs. Abdulla locked the gate, and the two disappeared into the mansion.<\/p>\n

The three women were now very curious about what they had just seen. Instead of going back to their respective homes to do chores, they stayed, waiting for the man to come out so they could ask him who he was. Jumma said she had asked her husband to do the laundry, while Nora, luckily, had no one at home, so they had the entire day to keep watch. Melyn, on the other hand, told her nephews to buy their own food since she couldn\u2019t cook for them because of the unfolding drama.<\/p>\n

They brought out their plastic chairs and sat outside Melyn\u2019s house. While waiting for more action from Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s residence, they gossiped, laughed, and poked fun at their topics.<\/p>\n

But today, Melyn was frowning. She couldn\u2019t compose herself. She was wondering why the man hadn\u2019t come out of the mansion since yesterday. He must\u2019ve spent the night there. But who was he? How was he connected to Mrs. Abdulla?<\/p>\n

She was also puzzled that Mrs. Abdulla hadn\u2019t gone out that morning to throw out the garbage, as she usually did. What could the two of them be doing? Could they be romantically involved? But that didn\u2019t make sense\u2014how could a man in his twenties fall in love with an old woman? Unless\u2026 he was after Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s pension.<\/p>\n

Melyn stood up and walked toward Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s gate. She craned her neck, trying to catch sight of either the woman or the mysterious man, but to no avail. She looked at her wristwatch. No one was coming out. And soon, her friends would arrive. She had no new information to offer them this time.<\/p>\n

She returned to her plastic chair. Eventually, she saw Jumma and Nora approaching with their chairs and paper bags of snacks. They greeted one another and positioned themselves beside Melyn.<\/p>\n

Jumma, in her late forties, a small woman with a flat tummy, brought out the snack she had prepared: pastil<\/strong>, a Tausug delicacy with bihon-filled dough fried to a crisp.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny news today, Melyn?\u201d she asked while chewing her first bite.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Melyn admitted sadly.<\/p>\n

Melyn was a few years older than Jumma. She was tall and heavyset, often mistaken to be pregnant because of her protruding belly. But she was a spinster. She was manly and nagging, and no man had ever seriously pursued her, much less married her. She had lived alone for years, though her siblings had entrusted some of their children to her care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s sad, Melyn. I thought you\u2019d feed us with some juicy news today,\u201d Nora chimed in.<\/p>\n

Nora was the oldest of the three. Tall and fair-skinned, she must have been beautiful in her youth\u2014she still carried traces of it. She was married to a police officer who was often away on duty. Their three daughters were studying in Cebu City. When her husband was at work, she spent most of her time with Melyn, gossiping.<\/p>\n

Melyn remained silent while the two women enjoyed their snacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, this is so delicious,\u201d Nora exclaimed. \u201cWhere did you buy this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Sitti\u2019s,\u201d Jumma replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see. That explains it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, you know how good she is at baking and cooking. The other day, I bought daral<\/em> and putli mandi<\/em>, and the kids devoured everything right away. They loved it,\u201d Jumma said as she chewed another bite of pastil.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelyn, try some\u2014it\u2019s really good,\u201d Nora offered.<\/p>\n

Melyn leaned toward them but didn\u2019t take any food.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still haven\u2019t come out,\u201d she finally said.<\/p>\n

The women looked at her, puzzled.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why? How did they cook breakfast this morning?\u201d Nora asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, and what clothes did that handsome guy wear to bed?\u201d Jumma added with a smirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think they slept?\u201d Nora asked again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t they?\u201d Jumma replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh come on, Jumma! When it\u2019s just two people alone in a house, what else would they do? Cook?\u201d Nora laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I didn\u2019t hear any cooking last night. Not even a voice,\u201d Melyn interrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God! Do you think they\u2019re dead by now?\u201d Nora shrieked.<\/p>\n

\u201cShut up!\u201d Melyn and Jumma snapped at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to figure out what happened,\u201d Melyn said softly.<\/p>\n

The two women leaned in to listen. Then, they all continued talking, eating, and laughing in their chairs well past noon. The sun was high and the heat oppressive. Still no sign of life from Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

By late afternoon, Nora and Jumma were stretching and yawning. Mrs. Abdulla and the stranger were still nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to go home and cook dinner. See you tomorrow, Melyn,\u201d Nora finally said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too. Let\u2019s keep watch again tomorrow,\u201d Jumma added.<\/p>\n

Melyn was left alone in her chair, her eyes fixed on her neighbor\u2019s house. As darkness fell, she stood and walked to Mrs. Abdulla\u2019s gate. She rang the doorbell. No response. She rang it again. Still nothing.<\/p>\n

Frustrated, Melyn\u2019s face flushed red. She began to push the doorbell more aggressively, over and over. The bell rang loudly inside the house. Its echo traveled through the halls of the mansion, then spread to nearby houses, then farther, until the whole neighborhood heard it.<\/p>\n

Melyn\u2019s strength began to fade as she gasped for air, still pushing the button endlessly.<\/p>\n

Some neighbors came out of their homes, curious about the strange sound. Dogs barked. Cats spun in circles, chasing their tails. Even Jumma and Nora peeked outside, looking up at the sky in search of the sound\u2019s source. When they couldn\u2019t find it, they returned to their sofas, turned on the TV, and munched on popcorn.<\/p>\n

At exactly 6 o\u2019clock, the Azan echoed from the village Masjid. Amid the call to prayer, the doorbell kept ringing.<\/p>\n

Some families began dinner. Others rose to perform Maghrib prayer.<\/p>\n

Only one person remained at the gate, still pressing the doorbell: Melyn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adawia J. Jamasali It was an unusual day in September for Melyn. She sat outside her house, frowning the whole morning. It was so unlike her. Usually, her mornings were filled with gossip about her neighbor, Mrs. Abdulla, whose sons … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5729,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5728\/revisions\/5729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}