Mango Summer by Agay Llanera

Author:Agay Llanera [Llanera, Agay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

15: Prune

The row of tall, stout baskets looks like soldiers standing guard over the staff kitchen’s entrance. Fiona hasn’t checked the harvest for days, but something prompts her to bend over an overflowing basket and rummage through the freshly-picked mangoes still warm from the sun.

She shouldn’t have.

This recent batch has dropped all pretense of sweetness. Their skins are a uniform pale yellow, their scent promising a grimace-inducing sourness that stings the tongue. But sour as they are, the mangoes still fill basket after basket, adamant in their abundance.

Nanang Isay stubbornly refuses to let a single fruit go to waste. Everyone in the farm has their fill of jam for breakfast and merienda, washed down with glasses of fresh mango shake sweetened with syrup. Upon G-boy’s suggestion, a tarpaulin is now tacked on the kiosk outside, announcing the complementary shake that goes with each box of mango jam shortbread cookies.

G-boy.

The sigh Fiona releases makes her whole body tremble—both with shame and pleasure. How can G-boy make her feel two contrary emotions at the same time? The fault is entirely hers though; with that one kiss, Fiona had unlocked a Pandora’s box. It wasn’t enough she’d ruined her friendship with Grace; she’d gone ahead and did the same thing with G-boy. The entire Mendoza family is sure to hate her now.

Fiona has to do something, anything, to ease this burden growing in her chest. She digs into her pocket and takes out her phone, its surface winking sunlight. After her thumb scrolls down to Grace’s name, she starts keying in a message.

I’m sorry.

Where does she begin?

Sorry for turning my back on our friendship.

Sorry for not being able to give you mangoes.

Sorry for making out with your kid brother.

Oh, no. She can’t possibly confess that last bit. Hurriedly, she deletes the message and returns to her phonebook. Loneliness, heavy and complete, makes her shoulders slump.

C is for clawing desperately for company. C is for confused. C is for Cliff, whom she calls.

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