Secrets of the Cactus Men
5| Degree Men

“I picked it up from the trash, Honey.”

Philip looked up when he found Flores in front of him. His wife did not come empty-handed, she handed him the necklace Philip had kept since they first married.

“I need an explanation, instead of a full gaze tanya.” Flores pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Philip. “I should have been the one staring at you that way, Philip.”

Flores often guessed what past had held Philip's memory of his family hostage. This man never mentioned his father and mother. Philip seemed to be born from the core of the earth or a blossoming flower. Sounds funny, but that's how Flores guessed when tired of guessing.

Flores crossed her arms, holding her left hand over her right. His eyes sharpened, researching the way Philip responded to the seriousness of this morning.

“Why did you throw away the necklace in the end, Honey?” Flores repeated his question. He was pretty sure, Philip had a problem related to his family.

Philip smiled knotingly. “I think the necklace is no longer useful,” replied Philip soberly. “So I was thinking of throwing it away.”

“This necklace is the last memory your parents left behind, Honey,” said Flores a little annoyed. She urged Philip to be honest, but her husband always got away.

Flores swears he will accept whoever Philip's family is, as long as it's not a bunch of cold-blooded killers that haunt people in crowded urban areas, like gangsters or mobsters.

“I'm serious.” Philip sniffed out the distrust from Flores. “I just want to empty the desk drawer by throwing away unnecessary items.”

“You threw away your parents?” Flores doesn't want to believe it.

For years she had been a puppy who always followed her husband's words, even though it made no sense. Especially the Philip family.

“Why are you so concerned about that, Flo?” Philip was confused. He made a mistake last night, but he thought the mistake vanished with the night gone by.

Flores gave a rough sigh. “Can I not know where and who your parents are?”

“Before you didn't mind who I was, Flo.” Philip insisted. “Now why suddenly you ...”

“I changed my mind.” Flores took back the necklace she gave Philip. “As your wife, I must know who and where your family is.”

Flores kept the necklace in her pocket. He looked at Philip carefully. “With this necklace ... I will find them.”

The woman got up from the chair, turned away from Philip. Philip's meal napkin evaporated in the air, lost in the tense atmosphere this morning. Philip doesn't know what demon has possessed Flores to make him change in one night.

“Flo!” Philip's after. He pulled Flores' hand. “Restore the necklace!”

Flores flockered. He only smiled looking at Philip's face this time. Philip never recovered, even when Flores fiddled with the contents of his cell phone. As a man, it is a precarious thing in the age of marriage that is no longer young. However, Philip panicked only because of the ancient pendant that even when sold, the price was not as much as Elisha's school shoes.

“Why are you so anxious, Honey?” Flores grinned sharply. “What are you afraid of?”

Philip gave a rough sigh. He's gotten a strange name lately, Black Joe, which is what Philip wanted to investigate without involving Flores in it.

“I'll find my own parents.” Philip tried to take the necklace back. “After I find them, I will take you ...”

“You said they were dead.” Flores. Without a pause, he continued. “Now you said they were missing?”

Philip was caught off guard. The hunting panic had escaped his sanity, missing from his body now. Aside from changing the topic, Philip won't be able to escape Flores this morning.

“Philip Sherburne?” Flores gripped Philip's shoulder, shaking it lightly. “I've been fooled for years for being blinded by love by you?"

Philip looked down, closed his eyes. “Love, listen to me.”

Their households have been through blistering heat and terrible storms for years. Flores always accepted Philip as he was, and vice versa. The suspicions about who it was Philip had always been successfully controlled by Flores inside his head. However, circumstances forced Flores to vent all her emotions this morning.

“I didn't mean to deceive you, Love.”

Flores is losing patience. Fortunately, Elisha had left for school an hour ago. Flores always took a moment to have a one-on-one conversation with Philip before leaving for work. Everything went well before. A simple, but comfortable chat and filling in the gaps Philip and Flores have always found, unlike today.

“When mom and dad ask about you ...” Flores lowered his tone. “I can hardly answer it.”

Flores began to feel pain in both eyes, tears made Flores eyes sparkle. “Philip, you know?”

“Every one of my friends boasts about her husband, mother and their father-in-law ..” Flores bit her lower lip, clearly she was holding back a cry. “I also want to do it.”

Philip was about to grab Flores by the shoulder, but the woman avoided him.

“I also want to boast of my in-laws, saying where my husband came from and what his life was like in the past ..” Flores smiled bitterly. “I can just shut up and listen to my friends' happiness because I don't know anything about you.”

Philip gave a salivation, his head nodded, understanding Flores. “I'm sorry, Flo. I just don't ...”

“No child is born without parents, Philip.” Flores is giving up. “At least I'm not stupid about that.”

Flores turned. When the woman turned her head, Myah had been standing at the entrance. He had witnessed a debate that satisfied his heart.

“Mom?” Flores. His body is stiff, his tongue is tongue-tied. He continued to boast of his humble household in front of Myah, saying that he accepted Philip even though the man came from the core of the earth once.

Myah approached Flores, followed by a man who entered Flores' house. Flores knew the man.

“Why did Mommy bring him here?” ask Flores confused. He glanced at Philip occasionally. “This is impolite.”

Myah laughed instead. He grabbed onto Flores' shoulder and looked at her meticulously. “As usual, your husband is useless.”

Philip did not budge, even he was reluctant to look at the direction Myah came.

“As a parasite hitchhiking in your house, he should be a submissive.” My father looked at Philip. “Not be a dog that barks a lot.”

“Mom ...” Flores is angry at Philip, but she is reluctant to hear the insults from Myah for her husband.

Myah looked at Flores again. “What if you take a walk to calm your mind?” tanyakanya. He pulled the hand of the man beside him to approach Flores. “Marc will accompany you.”

“Mom!” Flores snaps. “There's my husband here.”

Myah shrugged her shoulders, smiling unconcernedly. “Marc will pamper you, Flores. Date with him.”

“Mertua crazy!” philip's mind was shaking violently. He looked at Marc who was smiling a smirk at him. The approval he had not heard from Flores, but it felt like Philip had lost a landslide.

“Dating.” Myah confirmed her sentence. “Who knows you guys are dating.”

“Flores won't go ...”

“I'll go with Marc.” Flores cut Philip's sentence. She looked at her husband. “I'll date her, Philip.”

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