Elamar “Ela” De Leon is a headstrong, compassionate, and intense individual, whose values and beliefs encompass who she is as a person, defined by the littlest traits, of the small nuances of a pen etching carefully crafted words in the book of her life.
Bought on to the world in the second of November 1991 through loving parents, Mario De Leon and Edna Ojano, Ela was the youngest of her siblings. She grew up in a relatively kind household, a reminder of a bright childhood through warm hugs, gifts, and kisses.
However, reality is far from the fairy tale’s children are led to believe.
In a random day, just like any other, Ela was accompanied by father, going on their way to her mother’s house for bath. She remembers it vividly, the soft a smile on her lips where his rough, calloused palms gently held her hand. It felt like eternity, a gentle reminiscent of childhood.
His death, however, was something that engraved itself on her being. Something that felt like a piece of her soul was torn apart from her.
Ela was just five years old when her mother, in quiet whispers told her that Mario, her beloved father, had died, minutes after she was with him. Edna has held her close that day, narrating how the barrel of a gun was pressed coldly against her father’s temple, with an unknown man his reaper.
The scream of onlookers now becomes an echoing reminder of blood staining concrete; of how loudly their voices resonated within their chest, and how the expletives released from their mouths became an incessant noise of how her father perished in the neighboring barangay.
There were no named suspects, witnesses nor no leads. Motivations of the murder led to speculations of money problems. Its reality made manifest, where it is not completely free of pervasive despair and misery. It is a sad thought that Ela had to learn it early.
Life continued to move after that, but the grim truth slowly becoming a reoccurring thought in Ela’s mind.
The following year, her mother married once more, becoming pregnant with another daughter. One of her cousins narrated that other than the siblings she knew, there were more in her father’s side which, unfortunately, she had not met until that point of time.
The sands of time continue to trickle by, leading to an act of rebellion in Ela’s younger years. She was always left at home alone, where her mother and her new family found solace amongst themselves, seemingly leaving her behind. Ela has found a haven in her elder sister, another human that played a significant role in her life where she became a source of newfound strength. Despite having to study in Dagupan, four towns away from her, that older sibling often went home for the weekends. Unlike her mother who grew distant from her, never attending school gatherings nor celebrations like her graduation.
It is a sad reality, Ela muses to herself.
Low scores in tests resulted in being beaten black and blue. The simplest of mistakes led to her mother’s heavy hand on her young body, like forgetting to wash the dishes, the rice prepared was too wet, the baby bottle’s were not warmed up properly or the chicken feed was soaked in water. She tried to run, but to no avail. Ela did not have anywhere to go.
The members of her family grow weary and, somewhat afraid of her mother.
Ela, in young fervors and often casual mistakes, has learned to drink liquor at the raw age of twelve, the same age where running away from her dysfunctional household became a norm. She met her first boyfriend and started smoking thereafter. A child living in an adult’s world.
Entering her teenage years, events of infidelity were put on the forefront where her stepfather was sleeping with another woman that led to his and Edna’s separation. Ela always seemed to know, to understand the nuances of lip stick stains and beautiful smelling perfumes, but seems like a drag to get involved in.
In her 2nd to 3rd year in secondary education, she was often accompanied by someone due to her stubborn and rebellious nature. She found it to be the last straw when she entered the last year of high school, Ela could only bring a small smirk on her lips when she realized her guardians have grown tired of telling her off.
Years later, an older self-came into view. No longer were baby fat evident in her flesh, the way she presented herself was now different. A course in her life was starting to take view.
There were still conflicts present between her and her mother, where she wasn’t able to take pre-law due to Edna’s repeating words that Ela became too much to deal with. She ended up having to take two years of Human Resource Management in a local private university, which led, interestingly enough, made her more defiant. Often times, she would come into class drunk, the scent of cigarettes sticking onto her clothes hid only by perfume. Despite this, her grades were top notch, which is a feat in itself.
However, Ela was slowly marked as the black sheep of her family, an unwanted child.
She was found by her mother drinking liquor haplessly at some shady bar, calling a friend of Ela’s who tattled on where she could be. Ela found it hilarious, her mother thought differently.
Going back to the contention of being an HRM graduate, Edna wanted her daughter to apply as a data encoder in Bayambang, Pangasinan. It felt was though she was trying to get rid of Ela for good, and the small changes of not wanting her daughter to attend her own graduation felt like a nail in the coffin, where words of it’s a waste of money if Ela went.
Ela knew that she was the best in bartending, and she felt like she needed to go. And so, she did without the knowledge of Edna. She walked alone, and she stood alone in the stage as she gathered her award. Ela could only laugh at her own teacher who wept when they knew of her situation and told her that if no one is going to walk her, they could have done so instead.
Despite her prior protests, Ela did work in Bayambang, earning the title of the top three faster encoder. She only worked for about three months, not being able to stomach the 12-hour shift where her eyesight grew blurry and that her mother could not be bothered to care about her wellbeing. She decided to go back, in Dagupan where she works in the law firm of her uncle while studying for commerce, leading up to eight years of work experience.
He mother got caught in an accident, thereafter, leading to a different perspective in her life.
Ela ended up having to take care of her mother, who became bedridden for almost two year. She had to change her diapers, bathed her, just like she would a newborn baby. That was the moment where a brittle relationship renewed to a sharper steel, where they got better about the past.
She also had her somewhat serious relationship, where both she and her boyfriend stayed together in an intermittent relationship. After she caught him with a random woman from the beer houses, well, Ela immediately broke up with him. Having to believe that he is not worth the tears for since she has another person in mind.
He was Ela’s impulse control, the one who told her to stop smoking or to go out needlessly. What her guardians could not do, he did it easily. Ela knew that he was the one. The way he cares for her, his affections made her heart skip a beat. It felt like the perfect fit in a jigsaw puzzle. He was a parental figure, a best friend, a sibling, an enemy and a lover. Ela became a better person because of how he poured so much of himself to allow her to change, to chase her dreams in becoming a lawyer.
Needless to say, Elamar De Leon is on her way to create a legacy for herself. To build an image of social responsibility for the youths who experience the same hardships as she did. With the people she trusts and with a partner that will stand by her every step of the way.
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