Saturday.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXPKy6puV5
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVD8tEiQRq
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgN5MIviqb
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtUVBXE5FF
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwVbI2ubWo
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRVGbsbXla
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSAfqZnh3H
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjpuMOLDEc
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7abwpJJNo
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIexMpd0T3d
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NsMfXGcpg
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQp3tvTV8cR
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyJuV2Sa3h
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLqykO6J33
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2wJVt3Oyw
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1SF3orW4P
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqf3hncw0o
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qoMwkdqJU
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlks2InjvD1
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJZ0qAqs7U
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskftCn09dU
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbWL0sWpgY
I took my place beside him.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHWxqapsp6
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPYGTDG4G2
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4R0dm3e0W
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3HxRsIrVh
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3UhzxOwou
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZzZMqwlFE
"What happened?" I probed.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYyuhvloDJ
"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..."419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0yngD1Gsw
He caught his teary face in his palms.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhCoKgsXr5
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSy31PyaTlU
"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.”419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5FxD99O66
For sure.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGO0g64dIOb
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.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0itxmhrXI
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.419Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMjTwQKsC6
