Saturday.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDsoaJBqpb
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewUFDtnicN
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOcWK1s9RS
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MO1t2anI5
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzncNjk9VMW
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡto9yldFEsT
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJDvZ9vX9n
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx28h6KXN0z
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4pQOfjDyx
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46JtkSicSN
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4ZoxVzy6n
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9KnN3Yk40
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNj3qrtT1y
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgEZOKaYvX
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOLTRZxHuW
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgz4sayKxp
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlqt42vg1x
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5wLQaQvIt
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4f0VzDBQOQ
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32nJOhA44s
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlflGTFLWc
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkOg6B0sfb
I took my place beside him.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9C0YGroNzL
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOQQFEdTfl
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzI7JgJxod
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgM3lWJ99TN
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKrmM0a9m1
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbDDyVnJou
"What happened?" I probed.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhpfPaZHX5
"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..."421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfqr7c2rxx
He caught his teary face in his palms.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WaTDGaOJq
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwSgIC8v1c
"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.”421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDlTjiTJPL
For sure.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMGcABb3gP
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.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSl7SDLqqbB
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QWfkfXIue
