07: The Sy's Mansion (Part 1)

*** 

THE YEAR 2007 

"Dad, I will bring Justin with me. Are you okay alone here?" Jane asked while slinging her bag onto her shoulders. Justin zipped up his jacket and wear his small backpack with his toys inside it. 

"Yeah. Don't worry about me, Jane. Go ahead," Jordan said and stood up. He hugged his daughter with one arm. Justin hugged his grandfather tightly then Jane hustled him outside of the house. They are going to the Sy's mansion, and Jane thought that it is good for Justin to take a breath outside of the house. 

Jane's work there in the mansion is going pretty well, she has been a housemaid for 5 years now, and the payment gets higher based on her length of service. There are several housemaids serving the family of Sy, and Jane is one of them. 

Justin, however, stuck in the house all day, and even if he tried to read countless times, memorize the basic alphabet, tried to count numbers, his dyslexia and dyscalculia hinder him from learning that simple thing. 

Justin stayed the same. Even though he is just an eight-year-old kid now, the pain his father left his mother is still there. It was unbearable, suffocating him in every second he knew, never thought that as a child he would have to go through these awful situations. 

Justin never heard anything from his father since the day he said that his mother is the one who should be blamed for all of this. Jane reprimanded him, but he doesn't care about his father. He cares about the feelings of his mother. Justin doesn't want to see her hurt again. 

'Having dyslexia and dyscalculia is really difficult. I can't even read the signs on the road, the numbers that I see, and the big letters of the advertisement of one of the best colognes sold in the Philippines up high the skyscrapers that I can't spell,' Justin said sadly in his thoughts. 

"Justin, we are going to the Sy's mansion, huh? I am sure you will be really fond of Danny," Jane said, enthusiastic about Justin meeting the one who she babysits since he was 3 years old. 

"Danny? Who is he?" Justin asked while looking up to his mother. Jane gripped his hand tightly and darted her eyes everywhere, waiting for a taxi car to arrive. 

"You will meet him in a few moments," Jane said, smiled at him, and waved her hand out of the blue. A taxi car arrived as Justin and Jane opened the car door and climbed in. As the taxi driver asked where is their destination, Justin looked out the window and thought of the life that is normal. 

He saw the people rushing, laughing with their friends in the side street, and the couples held hands as you see in their eyes that they really love each other. The cars zoomed in and out of the sight, and Justin came back to reality when he felt that the taxi car stopped at a huge gate filled with ivy on its sides. 

"Thank you," Jane said to the taxi driver and they both climbed out of the car. Justin looked upon the huge gate that marks the entrance towards the mansion ahead. He was amazed to see an enormous house like this. Their house is just a one-fourth of the Sy's mansion. 

The gate has its vigorous railings that are painted with brown, has an ivy organized like a downfall leaves that has been plastered onto the wall in the sides, and there were lanterns that Justin knew shimmers at night, with its faint glow that makes the road shines with yellow light. 

Jane fumbled for her card, the one she uses to enter the mansion with the scanner in the front gate that is secured with a fingerprint system. Justin observed how Jane put her right thumb in the scanner and the card in the other one. The gate clunked, and Justin took a step back out of his shock. 

The gate skidded in the pathway with a loud noise, and opened like a machine is operating with it. Justin observed the gate as it stopped opening wide. He huffed his breath and looked at his mother. 

"Welcome to Sy's mansion," Jane said to her son and held out her hand. Justin approached her and grab a hold of his mother's hand as they entered the mansion. 

*** 

"Justin's mother used to babysit and work as a housemaid in Sy's mansion. Justin was so amazed by the house of Danny Sy, the youngest of the four children of both Carline and Paul Sy. For five years, Jane doesn't want to leave her job because it's their only income," Justin said. The class followed him with their eyes as he continues to tell the progress of the story. 

"That's where he met Danny Sy, one of the main characters of the story," Justin halted at the table and smiled. 

*** 

THE YEAR 2007 

"Is this Sy's mansion, Mom?" Justin asked while his eyes looked everywhere. The whole house is beautiful. It is like a castle that is built in the middle of the city. 

The parking lot held a lot of cars in the line with different colors that range from red, blue, and yellow. The green grass is being trimmed by the person who Justin knew that it is Sy's personal gardener. The flowers lined the inside walls, and the sunflowers followed the sun where it is rising. The rose filled with thorns that are bloody reddish and lovely pink that blooms in its early evolution. 

The fountain is filled with bluish and clear water with pennies underneath in the center of the entrance. Justin peeped at the water and saw himself, sadness crossing his depths. Justin looked at the pathways that are made of cement that are scrubbed clean. Justin darted his eyes towards the main attraction: the mansion. 

It is so huge that it might take days before you finish touring the whole house. The front door is made of hardwood and also painted in an ebony color that is so elegant and luxurious for Justin. The windows are like mirrors, wherein you can see your reflection, no dirt tainted in it. 

Jane led him inside the house. She opened the front door and Justin widened his eyes as he entered the insides of the mansion. The grand staircase has marble tiles that even the mud tracks on the shoes will be ashamed to be there because of the cleanliness. There are housemaids who are scurrying over the house but stopped as they see Jane in the front door.

"Jane, you're here," one maid dressed in all pink approached his mother. Justin observed the clothes of the housemaids and realized that they are not that simple. They are serving the most elite family in the Philippines. 

The maid looked at Justin and smiled. Justin forced a smile out of the stranger he is meeting right now. Inna crouched down and beamed at him. 

"Hello, Justin. I am Inna," Inna said while smiling.

"I am Justin," he said. Inna nodded as she stood upright and shifted her eyes towards Jane. 

"Where is Danny?" Jane asked Inna. As the two talked to each other, Justin looked at the main floor of the house. He scrutinized the living room's couches that are in full white and is perfectly aligned to the wall. The fluffy carpet like a cat's yellow fur is at its bottom with the center table at the top of it with newspapers folded neatly, an ashtray that held no ash in it, and a small dark blue vase with fake tulips in it. 

The way in the kitchen is visible through the main entrance. There are people who are running in and out of the sight as Justin darted his eyes there. Justin looked up and saw a shimmering chandelier by the door, a thousand light bulbs that glow even in the broad daylight outside. 

"He's in his room. He doesn't want to get out," Inna said, worried about Danny. Jane sighed, bit her lip, and crouched down towards Justin.

She held Justin's arms and said, "Justin, can you be with Inna for a moment?" 

Justin hesitated to answer because he doesn't want to be left alone with a stranger, but as strong and brave eight-year-old he thinks he is, he nodded. 

Jane looked at Inna and nodded. Inna held out her hand and hold Justin's hands. Jane walked towards the locker room in the right hallway next to the kitchen. She entered and put her bag into her own locker. She changed from her simple outfit of the red tee and a long skirt to their pink uniform that distinguishes them as the housemaid of the Sy's mansion.

She went out of the door as she fixes the collar of her pink blouse. She ran towards the grand staircase and walked in the right hallway with lots of bedrooms that is similar to a hotel. The five out of twenty bedrooms are occupied and a lot of guests are here sometimes to stay the night. 

Jane went into the third room on the right side of the hallway and knocked. She heard Danny's shout from the inside. 

"Go away! I don't want to get out!" He yelled right inside. Jane sighed and fumbled for the doorknob. It is locked, but Jane got the key on the inside pocket of her uniform and inserted it. It clicked and she opened the door a little bit. 

"It's Jane. Can I go inside?" Jane asked softly. Danny doesn't answer for a moment, so Jane peeped her head over the door and smiled. Danny smiled and climbed out of bed quickly. He hugged Jane tightly over her waist. 

Jane patted his head and said, "Do you miss me?" 

Danny smiled and looked up at Jane. He nodded and grinned. 

"I miss you, Jane. No one feeds me better than you," Danny said then giggled. Jane loved babysitting Danny. As naughty as he was with the other maids, he is soft when it comes to Jane. He is just an eight-year-old kid like Justin, and she loved him so dearly. 

"Hmm, do I have to be here every day?" Jane asked him while smiling. 

"Yes. I don't want the other maids. You are my favorite Nanny," Danny said then hugged her tightly again. 

Meanwhile, Justin took the chance to look around the house but as soon as he heard his mother's conversation with Danny on the other side of the door, his tears fall without him realizing.