Saturday.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHdceEoN0H
The clothes that I was about to wash were mountainous. Mama told me to finish it in four hours. She couldn't help me that day because they have a praise and worship practice in the church. So yeah, the so-called future mistress of the household would be in action, live from the comfort of our own home.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXBHdV4A84
I carried the basket of clothes to the back of our house, prepared the big basin, and filled it with water from the old pump. Mindlessly, I submerged all the clothes in water, took a cleaning bar, and started scrubbing.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDnrMqyWpg
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDq8ShbKHMp
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTxA0albBf
He quickly took another pail and separated all the white clothes from the colored ones. When he was done, he took all the white clothes from the basin I was working on and placed them in another container.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVRqLXpsvd
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJ1NIx4fKL
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xHBhx1klo
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0i6y5oikd
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFMhP6OXFB
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzqc0MY5NS
I dashed back to the kitchen to get a sachet of powdered detergent, fearing that Joe might raise his voice at me. When I got back, he was already working on the rest of the colored clothes, while his uniform was soaked in a pail of clean water.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywGJEIpTrY
I handed him the sachet of the detergent and he poured half of its contents on his soaked uniform. The rest, he poured on the laundry he was doing.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZIErZNOfz
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTh9zrqqslA
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn4aMG1O3r
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTTZoef3M9
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QM8AuVdkK
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyi1gvN1bbO
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrLqhvk4tB
The sun was already scorching when we managed to hang all the clothes. I wasted no time and put away the pails and the basins that we used, while Joe walked back to the house to do his business.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkAJe4DJSp
I released a breath of relief and wiped my hands dry, wondering how my brother could cause someone to feel guilty without raising a voice. When I was about to attend to the stings and scratches from scrubbing, a loud thud caught my attention.
I turned my head and noticed a movement behind the mango tree. Curious, I tiptoed toward it and saw Ben, one of my older brothers, curling like a fetus against the tree's trunk. He buried his face in the palms of his hands and his shoulders shook in an uncontrolled surge of emotions. He tried not to make another sound but I could tell he was in agony.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn8wqRgFGR
Ben was the ball of sunshine in our family. His antics would make all of us roll on the floor, laughing. Even Joe, who was usually selective in his words and emotions, could not steel himself when Ben would crack a joke. So it's a new thing seeing our brother in that state.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxm92xYqPO4
I took my place beside him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOX1vi2tixI
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xWMDTGFZd
He only shook his head and continued to sob quietly. I let my hand run through his back, hoping it would ease whatever pain he was feeling.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNUQuKSect
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWFbO7XukJ
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2STerTUd3
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQYLCzPjq7
"What happened?" I probed.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡto083JiMPb
"I don't know. I don't know what happened..." He shook his head. "One time, I went to my girlfriend's birthday party, got drunk. Then a month after, she told me she's..."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcESNji2zc
He caught his teary face in his palms.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqNVSzFDwE
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4ZJ90VFhp
"She means the world to me, man, but I'm not ready. I haven't even got a proper job." He choked. "God, I don't know how to tell mama without her dying of shame.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYirmeGpMS
For sure.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmMLMKvEdP
Mama had prided herself on being an award-winning academic head and a church leader who had raised her children well. To learn that one of her boys had knocked up a girl out of wedlock would kill her, as it would create an ugly dent on her rather flawless moral record, especially when our home stood within the compound where gossipers lurking around was a norm.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWdR1Red4S
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mg7TVxcFH
