Saturday.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0U3f3ehT9
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAbvuo2tl1
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuFuENkDin
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfF4Jb3oKXU
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJu4epfGAD7
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEb2Y1MnjrZ
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MasdwxQmI
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXOv1ZXwtz
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7jls74oai
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfLBsaunVt
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1xLBy8inB
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG1qE8ZejP
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GfYma5lnA
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8uChfFTRW
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfUevVLdOk
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BPTWlVAZa
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFJMzxdVuN
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5b1CBrCVVH
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6E1D07TpG
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BOcMWHFTh
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUWmsOWz7D
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFROn1ohuX
I took my place beside him.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QtDAOKPT3
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7qxsRp5lj
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQbMCe4PgX
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgiNGqYo5D1
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0lPBrOC3U
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk1yEl7KGc
"What happened?" I probed.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLaJmzf1aP
"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..."420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBydrAbcWWN
He caught his teary face in his palms.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetF5nCvyqh
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0U6fNnGnd5
"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.”420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1X29vlpVv
For sure.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ057Da8cQGR
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.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTvxp3Wosp
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.420Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbF5e6JumU
