Saturday.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNBeSH3kxq
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GtQf3UyOw
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDHMRiveT5
I had already piled half of the laundry in a bucket when the frustrated voice of Joe boomed from behind me.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmhnQDzlbX
"Goodness, what have you done?" He whined and checked the squeezed clothes in the pail. "God..."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85gAxTPwEG
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTajXJ5k9XH
"My uniform," he said, his hard face flushed in an attempt to control his frustration.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZq8tA7c4Nc
He scrubbed the white shirt as quickly and as hard as he could.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3uJqCAHLt
"Kuya..." I struggled, my chest pounding at the thought of whatever he might do next. "Kuya, I'm sorry."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nRpIITJBF
But he only released a deep breath and pointed a finger at our house.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkl6A654HP
"Go get the powder," he ordered, then went back to scrubbing.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoqedMfGaL
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkD6UrFQb1L
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlZfZagpib
"I'm really sorry, kuya," I managed to say.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBP6j6qaYW
Without looking at me, he spoke in his normal voice. "See? This is what happens when you don't like what you do."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRX0mwu8Vt
He pointed to the mess that I made to our laundry.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9cZBYMCuB
I stooped in shame and said no more. He paused from scrubbing and eyed me with an arched brow.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfqrlu9mA2
"Why are you still standing there, driftwood? Do the white ones, quick."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Cu57XLXR0
I immediately attended to the white clothes in the other container, pouring a half-sachet of detergent powder and imitating what he was doing.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HpCCE6Eo2
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr3kiue2kf
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2ggLj8bIl
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRLcxebyYi
I took my place beside him.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXsLUMo29Z
"Hey," I called. "You okay?"468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bICgPpBy8
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29CGMGKjmj
"You don't need to hide when you're with me, you know?" I assured. "I won't judge."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvzpDbLReA
He answered, finally. "Right, but what about mama? For the first time, I don't know where to find the guts to face her."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TPQ3riD5C
I kept a poker face, even though he wouldn't really see it.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MhsSelAGM
"What happened?" I probed.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBn360mtS2
"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..."468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1A0bknj4q
He caught his teary face in his palms.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tNP0czJlY
I see. That could be the reason mama called in the entire barrio to look for him last month.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2264BNOgx
"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.”468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DCfoooG0O
For sure.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXI9E0qwcCJ
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.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejY0QtWIcV
I looped an arm around Ben's shoulder. But when I saw mama coming, I pulled him in a sisterly embrace.468Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EC8mghipX
