ELYSE POV
"Percy son, don't be naughty, I'm having a hard time washing your clothing." I gently said to my five-year-old kid, He's so slender, he's almost soaked in bread flour, and I can only shake my head because he's still sporting a chief's cap, he feels like a chief.
"Yes mom, I'll stop," He replied, and then he gave me a belly hug.
I scooped up my son and put him on the side table, telling him, "My son is incredibly obedient, just sit here and watch me cook pandesal for our breakfast and our snack later, behave okay."
"Okay," He smiled and replied, turning to face me. Every time I was in front of him, I smiled because of his positive attitude, but when it came to others, he was very reserved and cold.
"Son, pay close attention to how I do this," I said, and I quickly grabbed a glass bowl to combine the ingredients for pandesal.
"This is the first thing we will do, take 3 cups of all-purpose flour, or more precisely said bread flour," I said with a smile, knowing that he can easily remember what I say, and he merely nodded.
I smiled as I mixed the flour, sugar, and salt in the Precision Master Stand bowl after adding the bread flour.
"That's it. Let's combine it. The next thing to add is a cup of lukewarm milk, a beaten egg, melted butter, and lastly, the yeast mixture. Let's simply mix it till it gets dry." I said, I swirled it for 5 to 6 minutes, until it was soft and somewhat sticky and simple to remove from the bowl.
"It's done, now let's shape the dough into a ball and lightly oil it, now that it's round, the next step is to put it in a bowl and put a wrap over it and let it rise for up to 30 minutes and an hour." Then, I put a wrap on it, I immediately take off my apron and head to the front with my kid.
I laughed and lightly pinched his nose before picking him up. I'll admit he's heavy but I can still carry him. "While we're waiting for that for an hour, I'll give you a bath first because you're so dirty first," I said.
"Mom, I'm big, I don't need to be carried anymore." He stated with a scowl,
"Even so, you're still a baby." I continued to say this until we arrived at the apartment's tiny bathroom, I took him down inside the bathroom and stripped him of his filthy clothes before washing him. He was used to cold water, so I didn't hear any complaints from him when I poured it on his body before washing him.
Occasionally, as I was washing his body, I had thoughts of who I am and my family. When I woke up in the hospital, however, I had no memory of anything that had happened. I asked the doctor how long I had been asleep, but he said that I had been dozing for six months.
I'm grateful that even though I crashed, someone took me to the hospital and paid all of my bills while I didn't even know who it was. The doctor told me that I'm pregnant and will need to rest for six months as a result of the hit-and-run. The doctor also said that I don't have to pay anything else because it was already paid for by the person who crashed into me.
The doctor also noted that I suffered amnesia as a result of the force of my head injury. I gave birth to my baby, whom I called Percy, while I was still in the hospital. My life began to become challenging after giving birth to Percy and becoming stronger.
I had no idea where I was going during those early days because I knew nothing about the outside world. I was also very pale until the hours and days passed and I became homeless.
Everyone despised me for my flaw and the fact that I still had a child, but eventually, my suffering was replaced by the comfort of being protected by an elderly woman, who settled and fed me at her home.
She also gave me a name and forced me to use the name of her deceased husband as my last name, so Elyse Willems was formed. I was very happy and I learned to work and make my son go to school to learn with my own money.
But the day also came when she passed away and left us her house, but her relative came and kicked us out with my son, so I rented until I could support myself and my son on my own.
I wrapped him in a small towel before picking him up once more and leaving the bathroom to dress him in his school uniform. After I had him dressed, we immediately went back to the kitchen to prepare the pandesal. To look for a new job because I can't rely on just being a baker at a small bakery,
I took the dough and peeled the wrap off the bowl before transferring it to a loose container. To properly accomplish it, I finished everything up until the last step, which was to place it in our tiny oven.
I placed it in and waited for it to cook for 15 minutes. As soon as it was through cooking, I took it out of the oven, placed it on the table before plating it, and prepared milk for my kid and coffee for myself.
"Come on, son, let's eat it while it's still hot," I remarked, setting the pandesal on the little table in our apartment's living room, He ate peacefully, so I considered walking up to have a shower, dress, and drop him off at their school before looking for a job to earn some money.
I told him to drink his milk first, and then I went back to my room to get a towel before heading back out to the bathroom to take a shower. I undressed completely, boiled water until I was done, washed and rinsed my body, then exited the bathroom and came out with just a tap.
I went to my room, changed out of my underwear, and then put on a fitted pair of pants and a t-shirt before slipping on my white rubber shoes. Many people have commented that I have the body of a young woman and don't appear to be married or have kids.
"Are you done, son? I'm going to take you there." When I saw that he was finished, I quickly grabbed his hand and we left the apartment. I made sure it was locked tightly before we walked to the corner because from there, we could ride a jeep to my son's school. We arrived at the corner and waited for a jeep to pass before boarding it.
I told the driver that we were at Central Elementary School, and it started. The time did not pass, we were rated, and I only had to pay before getting out of the jeep.
"Son, behave," I tell him again, and kiss his forehead.
"Okay mom, be cautious on the road." He smiled and said, I just nodded and motioned for him to enter, then I waited until he was inside before deciding to go outside and look for work. I considered using a bike to travel to towering buildings to find employment if just as a janitor, because from what I understand, the salary is good.
Because it was so hot, I get off in the tricycle until I had taken a good look at the very high building where the owner of the business appeared to be extremely wealthy. I then wiped my neck with the small handkerchief in my pocket before entering.
I thought about heading to the front desk to inquire about employment openings because the staff members were all acting quite serious as soon as I entered and I also noticed someone looking pale.
"Good morning Miss." I was great to the serious woman who writes on the table.
"Yes, what can I help you with?" She answered but her eyes were still on what she was writing.
"Do you have any jobs available here? Anything." I asked politely so her eyes went to me before smiling.
"That's right, ma'am, the secretary just got fired, but I don't know if you'll last long, do you have a resume?" She asked so I shook my head in response.
"Hmm.. if you don't have it then your hired, and give it to him because I don't want to be the one to reach out to him, I might die in no time." She said as she handed me a piece of paper. Even though I was surprised, I accepted it.
"What floor miss?" I asked her.
"Floor 98th hurry up, you don't want to be late even for a second because you will be yelled at." She said so I nodded.