It was very early in the morning when Arianna and Tommy woke up to pick vegetables and fruits from their garden at the back of the house to sell.The day seemed no different from past days except Tommy now worked beside her… somber, quiet, and very focused.Tommy was the one who actually started selling fresh produce from their garden, but he hadn't done this for a while now. The money they earned was enough for food but could not completely provide for his needs in school and their mother's regular medicine prescriptions, and it frustrated him.He said it was too slow a job to earn money, and he started trying to find odd jobs from other farmers or commercial establishments in town who would let him work before or after school, even though he was just fourteen.Unfortunately, their mother had to be confined for a mild stroke and this really scared both of them. That was when he told her he would quit school. They were paying in installments for the hospital bill already, and though sh
Arianna was pulled back to the present by Tommy's voice calling her name. Her eyes focused on her brother as she felt her cheeks getting warm, silently thanking him for recalling her back to the present.“Ate, can we give this watermelon at his price?”“Ah, oh, oh. How much do you want?” she asked the patron with a smile, in a haggling mode, and was able to sell the watermelon at a higher price than what was being asked. That was the end of it, and they were able to return home with enough time to cook lunch.During lunch, both of them acted like before, especially after their mother expressed relief that Tommy was again helping his sister sell garden produce in the morning.“I will start helping tend the garden again. I was listening to the radio this morning and found this program with a doctor and his nurse-wife on it. The sun's rays and exercise should be able to help make me stronger,” she enthusiastically added.“Ay, Ma!” Tommy protested promptly. “You don't have to. You can sit
Late that afternoon, Tommy came home with enough fish to feed them for two days, and good news.“Ate! Mama! The chairman told me I can work in the fishery or in the paddy field starting tomorrow! He also told me I can start learning to drive the jeepney just inside the hacienda in case they needed a hand in transporting anything from anywhere inside here. I have a job!”They roasted enough fish for their supper and cooked the rest in herbs and spices. They had a very enjoyable dinner and after the dishes were done, their mother asked them to stay with her for a bit in the living room as she read from her Bible aloud for them and prayed to thank the Lord for their blessings before she went to bed. Tommy remained in the small living room to read one of his school books. She, on the other hand, checked to make sure every window was closed and the doors in the front and back were locked before maybe reading a book of her own. Her friends often would bring her their books once they were d
Days passed.It became easier for siblings Arianna and Tommy to live those days now.As her brother started to work in the fish ponds early in the morning and came back to help her sell whenever they had more produce from their little garden than they could use in the house, while their mother started to show more vigor, Arianna just couldn't help but hope they have left the past behind.It would become easier to act like she had forgotten about it if Tommy wouldn’t look like he had been bitten by a snake every time he remembered. She knew whenever this happened, and she pretended not to, either.Instead, she would try harder to show it did not affect her anymore, even though there were times it would hit her, and she would just feel out of bounds.Like, for a moment, she was just not herself.It had become more and more like she was a different person that night. Like it wasn't her that walked towards that dark house at the end of that road, and she wasn't the woman who had been ravis
A week later, Arianna came up to the house from town to do groceries after she had sold their morning vegetables. She found three sacks of rice laying down by the side of the front door, leaning against the wall.She stared at them, thinking she was imagining them.She was holding in her hand 3 kilos of rice inside a bag she just bought from their earnings that morning, and she was just think-ing about when they would be able to again afford to buy a sack as she walked towards the house with her two pitiful bags of groceries.What is going on? She couldn't think of anything that would bring three sacks of rice into their house!She immediately looked for her mother. She didn't even call for her, thinking she would excite her for nothing just in case those sacks weren’t even theirs. She found her in the kitchen stacking up grocery items on their shelves that had never looked that full. She was speechless and a statue until her mother turned towards her with a beaming face.“Anak! What
“No, Tommy. That couldn't be right,” she said. She was finally able to confront him that night after dinner and their mother was back to bed very early. Her chirpiness got her tired earlier than usual so she wasn't even able to do her nightly Bible reading routine. She pulled Tommy out of the house to make sure none of their voices didn't reach their mother, in case she wasn't deeply asleep yet. It really shook both of them to the core when they found out she was lightly sleeping that night.“How did you find out? They promised me they wouldn't let you know anything at the bar.” “They didn't. They only told me where you went but, I told you, I was making a scene so they'd tell me something. I didn't think it was him. I thought it was one of his friend's friends.”“Then how—”“I went back very early in the morning before you got up,” he confessed, It was still dark, and I... the door was unlocked. I had to find out who did that to my sister. I need to know... if he even recognized y
One month later, a new benefit was given to the workers.It was a health check-up for everyone conducted at the health center. And for the first time, it was mandatory.A mobile laboratory arrived for lab tests. The Quirozes wanted to make sure that everyone was in good health so if anyone turned out to be otherwise, they could then be treated early.Urine and stool samples were taken. The stool test became a source of puns for everyone.It took a few days to finish checking up on all tenants since there were older ones who took their sweet time to visit the center.But when Arianna received the result of her exams, something caught her attention.She'd had a pregnancy test? It was a pregnancy test—clear in the wording. And the result was negative.She already knew she wasn't pregnant. She got her period in time. In fact, she had been horrified to see the first spots of blood in her underwear because it didn't even occur to her during the whole confusing period since that night that s
“Mama, do you hear that? Is someone singing outside?”Arianna heard Tommy's loud question while she was already in the bedroom getting ready for bed. Their mother was still in the living room and reading her Bible, while Tommy was in the kitchen. He volunteered to do the marinade for the chicken they were going to cook in the morning.She frowned.Now that she heard Tommy, she could also hear the noise from outside of guitars playing.“Son of a—”“Tommy!”“Duck. I meant duck, Mama.”You better not cuss in my house.”“No, Mama. I'll do it outside.”“Tommy!”“Okay, not even outside, okay?”Arianna couldn't help but grin. Someone was indeed outside and was serenading her, therefore so her brother was being an idiot.Yes, serenading a woman still happens in provincial villages, especially here in the hacienda. She had been serenaded a few times. Tommy was seven the first time it happened, and he threw a giant tantrum and howled like a banshee that the poor teeners didn't even get to step