Saturday.291Please respect copyright.PENANAhSETzXsk4p
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAi1WFs9Ckyl
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAQ5j5BQZjGt
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.291Please respect copyright.PENANAHl67kGuU3k
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."291Please respect copyright.PENANAhzasQZkfg1
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAp674d9y9qj
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.291Please respect copyright.PENANAn46AUkHGVM
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.291Please respect copyright.PENANAptnk2RcfLm
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."291Please respect copyright.PENANAigah5bIwEZ
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.291Please respect copyright.PENANA4OKUz8wGqG
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.291Please respect copyright.PENANAI3IX1t38ZY
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAgesO9CtEBY
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAqzZDYGgSdD
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.291Please respect copyright.PENANAQJgVGZxPpJ
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."291Please respect copyright.PENANAHuizWABm6q
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.291Please respect copyright.PENANADgYsyp24DA
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.291Please respect copyright.PENANAblhk9xpTX9
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."291Please respect copyright.PENANAL6DNTTZXh8
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.291Please respect copyright.PENANAtIwdw2Cj2X
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAKHuzzBz2lu
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAA5ZdmPCP98
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAWdQanHfiQ0
I took my place beside him.291Please respect copyright.PENANAG2xib17UPp
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"291Please respect copyright.PENANA53qwmvOmXv
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANApw4zB4ZYCi
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."291Please respect copyright.PENANAPEMcbU97L0
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."291Please respect copyright.PENANAWZm7Pxi5cf
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.291Please respect copyright.PENANAYaurYObYTJ
"What happened?" I probed.291Please respect copyright.PENANAYWDF8VMLlF
"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..."291Please respect copyright.PENANAHwrxEl0ZaG
He caught his teary face in his palms.291Please respect copyright.PENANARdEryC2Woa
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.291Please respect copyright.PENANAUzijEH2USZ
"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.”291Please respect copyright.PENANAMkaRiD0avW
For sure.291Please respect copyright.PENANAqeu7K6ulA5
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.291Please respect copyright.PENANAXyrDJBBZpM
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.291Please respect copyright.PENANASjXBqvNtKX