Saturday.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5Yer4ul8A
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLZKd1oOLm
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1XabNZbh4
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6ABMkMn84
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciCKz1Bwr6
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVpP7Qn83M
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5Va5bXxlk
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz76LsTXnOt
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeU8DlO8aI
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oNpxXmIKN
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87NqoVvQ7S
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9AVv05O1o
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsYDFygMd0
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIvE6G6Gkc
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9D86oP9XSM
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuatRU0xXSb
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZL3J9HnqtA
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVQFeT9wPP
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhD2QxRAdz
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipj6VrbjL3
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfg3Y2J9mO
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBEx6VP6pi
I took my place beside him.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTM7vvwdsBc
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7rqTy2dcu
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboGacviFNc
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1imaDNshfR
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnQ1cuy7qQ
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0P0UNFuOQu
"What happened?" I probed.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCXnfGM62B
"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..."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDIcrHKVby
He caught his teary face in his palms.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QbECcp3iQ
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeR59ilsisw
"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.”365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4keA1aH3S4
For sure.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAigUdtXPYQ
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.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTtl24AElk
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pkyOai5N0
