Saturday.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BQv23btBr
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvWmXn8xLz
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReJ5VR4Hf5
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRFUxnASCg
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLW4ZN0PJg
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFWrQVWIUI
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5b8ptYTYH
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYX6chze36v
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ViWHSdNig
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6dvupy2kG
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNiDg6sCkX8
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mzDXPPyIm
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcPFailWSC
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJqTfkC1Ew
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTKzvfXsLD
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMX1FgRKOe
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPl8ZpNzaFS
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogmwFYYN67
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQDlxdB2IO
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP23uR3pptj
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfHRFicxQJ
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pre7tbZXW
I took my place beside him.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOVDF2SfZn
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkevYWn8vYM
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9X6LwHO6hk
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRVPIiH59w
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYDLR7FbZl
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyniSnn6rz
"What happened?" I probed.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FpoTQypi9
"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..."396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnJI0Idawa
He caught his teary face in his palms.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDDLmrOGbL
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDpLADcsTG
"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.”396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF3AHCWOdp
For sure.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY0goQc9RU
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.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzfhjEy0nT
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.396Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5rHGWEt3c
and then Add to home screen.