3 A Dedication. Part 3.

Sany's mother, Ciana Kubo, was a kind of woman who is usually part of every man's dream. She was quick-witted and a vivacious girl during her adolescent life. She also loved adventure and thrills, and her parents knew her well. So, none of her friends and family were a tad bit surprised when she eloped with some guy in her class and got married.

Ciana loved surprises, but when Sany turned two-month-old in her tummy, Ciana received a surprise from her partner which she didn't like at all: He eloped with some other girl, leaving Ciana and an unborn Sany to fend for themselves.

Things looked bad for them, and Ciana started considering to take a little help from her parents. In fact, she even went back to her house. She stood outside the door, wanting to rush in, but she couldn't make herself do it.

"But why, mother?" a seven-year-old Sany asked while she sat on the stool beside the old piano that stood in their little den in their rented house.

"Because," Ciana said, her fingers dancing over the piano keys, "no one can help you until you help yourself." That day, like all other days, she wore her short, black hair straight. She had been twenty-four then, but because of her punky hairstyle, black lipstick, and a choker necklace, she looked nothing more than a seventeen. "Remember Sany, we come in this world alone, we leave this world alone, so we need learn to survive in this world alone."

Sany, who then only knew the meaning of small words like lie, cry and donkey, didn't get her mother's words. But Sany knew her mother always said some cool things. So, she nodded.

"Do you want to hear something else?" Ciana asked.

"Yes," Sany said.

"Anything for my little princess," Ciana said and started playing a new song.

Sany never called her mother Queen, not until she heard others use that word. To Sany she had been just 'mother', but to the outside world, she was Queen. The name was given to her by the owner of the pub where Ciana went every day to sing songs, play her guitar and earn her living. Ciana would sometimes take Sany with her to the pub to hear her sing and play, and sometimes she would bring yellow powder with her from the pub. She would usually put that yellow stuff in a weird pipe and would sit in the corner and inhale it for hours. The day she would smoke the yellow powder would be declared (obviously by her) as Ciana-high-day. For Sany, those days usually meant no-music-learning-day. And yet, this little habit of her mother didn't bother Sany.

But it did vex her a little when one day, on the month of April, her teacher accompanied her to her house. Ciana had already been smoking that yellow stuff when she heard the bell ring. She stood up, swayed a little, and opened the door.

"Sany." Ciana beamed. "You brought a guest to our house!"

"Good-afternoon, Miss Kubo," Sany's teacher said.

"Afternoon… what's the matter, ma'am? You look worried…"

"Well…" Her teacher kept her hands on Sany's tiny shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Uh… I have news for you. And it's not a good one. I hope you know that Sany's six-months worth of fee is pending. If you don't pay them by the end of this week, we might kick her out of our school."

"Oh…" Ciana stood rooted to the ground, her lips working, trying to produce words, but nothing left her mouth. "I…"

"Take care, Sany," her teacher said, patted her shoulders, and left.

***

"You should give up on that stupid dream of yours," Uncle Kevin said. "Sany do you want some carrots?"

Sany shook her head. "I don't like it."

They were sitting at a dinning table in Kevin Numan's house. Mr. Numan taught swords and self-defense for a living. He was a kind man and her mother's good friend.

"That's right," Mrs. Numan, his wife, said. "You have been waiting for that fruit to ripe for past seven years. I think you should give up on that and look for a better job."

Ciana shook her head. She hadn't touched her food. "I know. But I visited my tree yesterday with my Surge detector. My tree is full of Surge. It will soon be bearing a black-apple." The surge was the life force, a mysterious form of energy that had encapsulated Earth and its beings after Genesis. And Sany knew her mother was talking about the apple tree which she had planted on a leased land before Sany's birth. In their world, almost everyone owned a small piece of land with an apple tree growing on top of it, with an hopes to get their hands on the legendary black-apple.

"How can you be so sure?" Uncle Kevin asked.

"I can guarantee you that it will soon bear a black-apple," Ciana said. "And I'm so sure that I already took some advance money from my boss." By boss she meant the owner of her pub.

Mrs. Numan gasped. "You are going sell that thing to him?"

Ciana nodded.

"But… But… You know how dangerous he is."

"You worry a lot, Mrs. Numan." Ciana giggled.

"How much did you take from him?" Uncle Kevin asked.

"Two hundred gold coins," Ciana said.

"That's a lot of money," Mrs. Numan said.

Ciana made her head go up and down, smiling.

"But still," Uncle Kevin said, "it won't be enough for you two to survive—"

"I'm not going to waste that money on us," Ciana said.

"What do you mean?" Mr. and Mrs. Numan said in unison, giving her a funny look.

A thin, cynical smile touched Ciana's lips. She let them in her little secret and told them she was planning to buy several apple trees with it and might also start an illegal business of selling that yellow stuff to make even more money.

"I'll let my money make more money," Ciana said, concluding. The couple found her idea preposterous and started protesting. But Ciana was not the kind of woman who would take suggestions from others.

A week passed away. Sany stopped going to school. Ciana stopped going to her pub, instead, she started visiting her tree, sitting before it around the clock, waiting for that black-apple to fall down. It was a game of opportunities, and Ciana believed she was lucky enough to win it.

The month of April was about to end, and Sany was in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She heard a loud click and rushed to the front door to greet her mother. But apparently, Ciana was completely oblivious to Sany's presence. She hurried inside with a small wooden box tucked under her arms.

"Mommy. Mommy… I'm hungry," Sany said, jumping on her heels.

"I know. I know. But you'll have to wait," Ciana said and kept the wooden box on the top of their wardrobe, rummaged through its drawers and founded some coins, and bolted toward the front door. "Mommy is going to make a call. She will be back soon." She slammed the door shut.

Sany frowned and crossed her arms. She turned away from the door, and her eyes fell on the wooden box on the top of their wardrobe. Sany shrugged and again hunted for something to eat. She found none. A few minutes later, her eyes again fell on that wooden box. This time, her curiosity got the better of her. She pulled a chair, kept a box on it. Kept another box on it. Climbed up on the precarious set-up and pulled the box down. She brought it to their coffee table, excited to open it and yet scared of it at the same time. Somehow she managed to gather her courage and opened the box.

Inside it was a big, black apple.