All Chapters of We Who Love: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

IsabellaMonster. Mama oftentimes called Papa a monster, a demon who tore our family apart. "I hate him, Ling," she used to tell me before I went to sleep every night. But for an eight-year-old child, I couldn't understand why.            Papa loved man

LingThe falls used to be Charlene's and my favorite spot in Paki-bato. Papa said that it used to be very secluded, where lovers had rendezvous, friends shared bottles of beer and sang songs with a guitar in private. But a lot had changed after many years, and many people had built their houses close to the falls. The water had turned murky and there were less fish to fish, but Papa said it was still the most beautiful part of Paki-bato.

LingThe house quaked when I woke up in the morning. Papa jumped all around our house while he packed his things for school. He grinned and sang, “Mi hija, today is the day. Today is the day the sponsor will come.”            “What time will he come?” I asked.

Ling      There was much whispering around the lone, long, round table the school faculty prepared for this rarest occasion: a sponsor's visit. The talk wasn't about the chicken adobo prepared by Mrs. Carpio, the school principal, or why my father was giving the meanest glare to kuya Ronny. Everyone, including the young teen girls of the high school department, were staring and talking about the sponsor.

LingOur spoons and forks clattered against the cheap, China plates we'd been carefully using since time immemorial. Papa coughed and drank his glass of water, and stared at me for some time before shaking his head and opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something.            I put down my spoon and rested my elbow on the table. “Do you have anything you want to say?” I