Love at the Nth Time

Inevitable Cage

First Season - (Part Two)

Chapter 30

"When are you planning to visit home? Your sister always has an excuse. She doesn't wanna see us. Do you know your father hasn't been home for three days!" wailed mom.

The droplets of water in the kitchen sink echoed in the room along with the cries of my mother. After minutes of letting the sound linger, I hopped off the bed to reduce the bill.

My hand leaned on the sink and also my back, unorganized piles of paper and business materials left on the floor by those roommates I lived with, faced me again. My older sister had a business trip 7 hours away from Manila, and the lot of assistance needed in the main office stopped me from going with her.

I sighed inaudibly. The budget for this month was tight. As the people in the team grew, we needed enough financial support to carry on. The main reason we couldn't give much to our family and the pillar of the house was having a secret affair our mom fought not to believe. Six children and the only person who could provide for the members of the family left in the house was him.

A total of eight children, which my parents did not plan to control the birth numbers, and who's going to blame if everyone was suffering?

Message

Seth: I'll leave before Christmas, and it'll take months or years. I must finish my studies.

Slowly, the heaviness, as if it was the weight on my shoulder, made me sit on the floor. Seth wanted to bring me to Rome to attend ceremonies she acquired because of the success of her pieces. Then, she'd fly to London to complete her studies in Fashion, which she left off five years ago. Amazingly, her life's so big compared to the small dust of my identity.

Pressing my hand on my face, grabbing the strands of my hair to leave the form of affliction, yet somehow it cleared my mind that the presence of Seth could merely be a hurdle that I could solve in a single text.

"Celine!" I laughed as the youngest sibling, Carla, ran and hugged me. A small hand clasped on the bag full of bread and fruit I carried, Rocky took a gander at me whilst he tried to snatch the bag from me.

"What is this?" he asked playfully. I gave him the bag of food, chuckling at his screams of excitement over them. He handed it to mom. Mom passed him a plate, and the boy took it.

I held Mom's hand, and the back of it touched my forehead as a sign of respect, a cultural belief passed down by our ancestors whenever we arrive home or leave the house. Mom served the left-over viand on the table.

"Have you eaten already? Are you with Rosalinda?" Mom asked. I gazed at her from time to time whilst I helped Carla and Rocky put the food I brought on the plate.

"No, didn't she tell you? She's on a business trip for a week, I think," was my reply. Mother grunted. She had grudges with our older sister as she left the house to live alone when our family was still struggling financially. It's a nightmare I couldn't fathom. Although I lived with the older sister of the family, who sacrificed and risked her comfortable way of living to venture into the city, I was grateful to be one of the support, not part of the problem.

Mom sat down on the chair next to me and held my hand tightly. Her tears forced them not to come out of her eyes, I gulped down the emotion of weakness to be her strength.

"Your father has abandoned us." The weary eyes of mom dripped tears she wiped in haste and looked the other way. I watched the three- and four-year-old kid eating beside us on the table. The innocent children who could only depend on someone and the fragile mom who got broken apart could only ask other people to stand on their feet. Although I wanted to go with Seth, I would never leave my family in our current state.

*On Call… Sis

"What a loser. He makes sure to provide money, or I'll sue him," cursed my older sister.

"Carla and Rocky are still too young to live without a father," I uttered as I patted the side of Carla gently, lulled her to sleep. Rosalinda sighed heavily.

"It's better if you live with them for now. Our family needed us. You know what I'm doing, right?" My eyes stung. With a short nod, I could only respond. The hand trembled as I lowered the phone, and, on my lap, after clicking the button to route it on the home screen, I saw another new message from Seth. I cried.

What about me?

What about my decision?

Phone calls turned to missed calls, messages unread, and the pain remained. I ignored all of her calls and messages. With a few replies that I was busy and had no time to meet her, Seth bombarded me with multiple texts of hate and critiques about finding someone who replaced her time spending it with me, and it awakened the b***h side of me.

I answered her phone call right after she called, which I had been waiting for.

"What are you talking about?! I'm with my mom and my siblings! Should I need to be with you all the time?!" I yelled outside the house—the backyard surrounded by chicken and pig barns, giant mango trees, and other non-fruit tones. Insects buzzed and croaked, covering the silence between Seth and me.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?"

"You never mentioned you're with your family. You just sent messages about you being busy. Do I look like a mind reader to you?" My mouth hung open, and I paused to speak as Jericho opened the backdoor, and the light coming inside the house showed that it was me who was shouting nonetheless.

"Sis, mom's looking for you," said Jericho and leaned closer to whisper something, "Do you have extra money? I lost in a bet. I'll pay you back once I win the next game." I hung up the call and glared at Jericho.

"What game is that?"

"Spider," he answered quickly.

"No. Stop playing those. Focus on your studies." He clicked his tongue and fed the animals.

"You just came home, and you're being selfish," he mumbled. I rolled my eyes and faced him with my back.

"Is that the spider in a stick match? Where's your spider?"

Jericho, the third sibling, was a second-year high school student who had no interest in studying. He was close to our father, and it must have been tough for him. Since my older sister and I had not been visiting them often, our relationship had only gotten further away. I couldn't blame the lack of support other than the finances we worked for, as the two older siblings of the family's views changed solely because of the new people around us. It seemed bizarre to enjoy the time of being with other people, telling their life stories, and the typical challenges they had to face in life. I wouldn't relate if my present were not involved with almost the same issues they couldn't control.

The spider peeked outside the small box of thin wood, and limbs crawled on the hand of Jericho. My brother laughed a little. "Is it good for fighting? I'm feeding him well." We stayed in the backyard, and mom would nag Jericho if she caught his childhood hobby. A useless hobby, I could hardly decipher its value as I compared it with the hobby I enjoyed doing alone.

"Jeric," I called his name and let the spider crawl into my hand too.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay, about father?" He scoffed.

"If that's what he likes, we can't stop him."

He spoke maturely to be more thoughtful of other people than he felt. I guess that's why we're siblings. I stood up from sitting on a block and dusted my butt off.

"Let's go inside. I'll lend you money, but just a hundred."

"What? That won't even pass the admission fee." I laughed and hung my arm around his neck. He had already reached my height. In no time, he'd beat me.

"Admission fee? Are you guys playing in an arena?"

A broken glass shattered on the floor as we stepped into the doorway. The young face of a girl who bore a resemblance to me fell into tears and continuous hiccups. She pointed at me and glared at our mom.

"She's here now! She's the one you're only expecting, right!? What do you still want from me?!" she screamed and burst out of the area — Shiela, the sibling next to Jericho, a freshman who stopped her studies so her older brother could finish his.

"Sis Shiela! Come back here! Don't turn your back on, mom!" shouted Michael as he cleaned the broken plate with a broom and dustpan. Jericho jumped off the spot and guided mom to sit on the chair at the dining table. A 50-year-old mother who carried a world of agony never ceased to cry. Rocky and Carla were seated in the living area watching TV, with their tiny minds trying to perceive the situation I couldn't bear to pull out of my mind as it recalled the hardships I faced when I was their age until now.