Saturday.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK95AjDYdo1
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2phwtMzTaL
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAvrgnK6fo
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOUf8ROIOK
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9jthwcFIm
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVRwL7M49s
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMbOC2X7lO
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLbVldWD8U
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64GYwtiNA7
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTl6bIW0Ra
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt4yYEpXK1
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7r8i4fSQL
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcLOr2c1y0
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6Xh5xQIya
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjHmOF7xn9
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5ydxVUCqv
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINEKTMRIiH
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DIBahjTrK
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVmegYrCCR
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogTUl9U0SJ
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqUyx7Sb0K
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAco5ZDIQRs
I took my place beside him.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokgAemWGJN
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBkkZOrpJ5
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQS0iLgxpB
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJWtmZhhU5
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6007O0whmz
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJMAyPTgJ3
"What happened?" I probed.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLS0ROi58cZ
"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..."770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrhqpWYKyI
He caught his teary face in his palms.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizxv50ZC2N
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0wCY0d8B2
"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.”770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx3L7mxuk8
For sure.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcNQqViTIE
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.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWhplnUUto
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.770Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotfMsYrSBJ
and then Add to home screen.