Saturday.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEIGLOmCpa
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6VgLSDGcZ
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflEGDQe9jf
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaeHOmzw1I
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAjMuowsyD
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPkfydVVZl
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwoUPbROIO
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpRIUlXOzV
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCIMnHdIiN
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6geMPD63M
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1RjdyjOOH
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDzT4bAGnm
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVP8FUkvJeI
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6tjWjVzaF
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwvvWHxMpW
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXk6saqc53
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw98Q5VRrmJ
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQGB0XlFnj
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxknhSvnc8
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjb0Nd0A0j
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVApHPrktB
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD2Ad375sM
I took my place beside him.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9348BOfIv
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtieSg6d75H
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKk5bLv1sA
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9gVlRFmx6
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02BJkWbe8W
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVcQdt63Dm
"What happened?" I probed.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjANhed6YSb
"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..."498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjq54oW820I
He caught his teary face in his palms.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YHvUOznM7
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBvL3ykzEe
"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.”498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNW8cDwJ4p0
For sure.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG0F5xRrJE
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.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBW8FolvAf
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.498Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLq6k5ZMKyI
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