Book 1-New Family
2237 Words
“Mom,” Allen smiled at his mother.
“How are you feeling, Son?” his mother asked. She was gently rubbing his forehead, neck, and body with a cold towel.
“Get up and drink this medicine.” She lifted his head and gave him a medicine tablet and a glass of water.
“Lie down and sleep again,” she said and patted his cheeks gently. He smiled at her and closed his eyes.
After long hours of sleep, Allen woke up with a lethargic feeling. He had a dream about his mother. His stomach was a bit painful and his throat felt so dry, while his nostrils were itchy, caused by the stinky odor coming from the polluted river. John and Terrie were not around, but he found a pack of bread beside him.
‘Perhaps John left it for me while I was asleep,’ Allen thought to himself.
He ate the whole pack of bread and then looked for drinking water inside the shanty. He found a bottle of water but hesitated to drink it, and he smelled it first. He drank a little and tasted it before drinking it up to the last drop.
He took his two bags, his school bag and the other small one where he put his stuff and clothes. He opened it and found out that he only got four shirts and a pair of shorts, but no underwear.
Again, tears rolled down his cheeks while looking at the picture of him and his mother. He missed his parents, especially his mother. He wiped away his tears with his fingers, but the tears kept on dripping. He opened his school bag and took out all his books and started flipping every page absentmindedly. Later on, his tears dried up.
He peeped outside and observed his new neighborhood. He found a pair of slippers of two different colors and sizes, put them on, then went out of the shanty and looked around. He did not see anyone around. There was no electricity in the area and the shanty was shaking every minute caused by the vehicles running over the bridge. It was nearly dusk and he counted the shanties. Six shanties were sharing the small space below the bridge. ‘Where are they?’ he whispered.
He saw John, with his lame mother on his back, descending the slippery and steep pathway. Allen immediately stood up to assist. He then took the small wagon from the hands of John’s mother.
John put his mother on the small wooden wagon. “How do you feel now, Allen?” Terrie asked. She moved with agility while maneuvering the wooden wagon with her two hands, then came near to Allen, held and felt his hands. “You’ are now good. You had a fever a while ago, and you were hallucinating.”
So, it was Aunt Terrie who gave him medicine and not his mother, Allen thought. “Thanks, Aunt Terrie,” he said, smiling at the woman.
“You have many books,” John exclaimed as he picked up Allen’s books one by one. “Are you good at reading?” He asked while flipping the pages.
Allen nodded. “I can read all of them.”
“Then you can teach me,” John said excitedly.
“Yeah, sure,” Allen replied willingly.
John lit up a candle and put it in the center of the small squared shanty while Terrie prepared the ready-to-eat food they had bought earlier.
“Let’s eat, boys,” Terrie called. She had already prepared three plates of cooked rice and a piece of sardine on top of each. She put water in a small basin beside them, then washed her hands and started eating by hand. John followed after his mother, but Allen hesitated to eat by hand. He used to use a fork and spoon when eating.
John noticed Allen’s hesitation. “Oh, sorry we don’t have a spoon and fork. Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll find a fork and spoon for you.”
“It's fine with me," Allen said. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he dipped and washed his hand in the water. "I will eat with my hand.” Though it felt awkward to eat by hand, he also tried.
After supper, John sat down excitedly beside Allen and asked the latter to teach him to read. “I should have been in grade six, but I stopped because Mama got sick. How about you? At what grade are you now?”
“I am in grade six too,” Allen answered.
“Really? You must be smart,” John exclaimed.
“Not really. I used to self-study,” Allen replied sadly. He remembered his mother, who taught him to read and write. “I wish I could go to school again,” he said wistfully.
The two boys started reading books until they got tired and sleepy. John prepared their bedding, which was made of cartons and a very old mosquito net. There were no pillows, so they used the books as pillows.
The next morning, Allen woke up early. “John.” He tapped John’s shoulder, who was still asleep.
“Why?” John asked, but he was still sleepy and did not stir.
Allen was wringing his belly. “My stomach is aching. I need a bathroom. Where’s the bathroom?”
“There. You go outside,” John, with half-closed eyes, pointed his forefinger in the direction of the river.
“What? Oh no... I can’t.” Allen shook his head. He was not used to peeing and pooping in an open space.
“Do it while it’s still dark, or you will walk a hundred meters away to the pay toilet in the marketplace,” John said while his eyes remained closed. He was a bit annoyed because of his interrupted sleep.
“Let’s go there,” Allen tapped John on the shoulder and begged. “Please accompany me.”
John, still feeling drowsy, sat up. “You got to pay. Do you have money?”
“I still have coins here.” Allen immediately stood up. His stomach pain worsened and he really needed a toilet.
Allen had emptied his bowels at the market’s toilet. He also took a shower at a price of five pesos. It was nearly dawn and the influx of people was thickening and vehicles were slowly filling the street. The two boys started walking back to the bridge.
“You, rich kid, should not stay in our disgusting place.” John was still frowning due to his shortened sleep.
“I’m sorry,” Allen said apologetically. “Can I stay for another day until I locate my friend?” He was thinking of looking for Miss Montes and probably asked her to accompany him to the orphanage.
“But, you can stay with us though. You can live with us as long as you want, but if you look for a better place, it’s still okay with me,” John said in a melancholic tone.
Allen nodded, but he felt sad too to leave Aunt Terrie and John.
“Come, follow me,” John whispered and motioned Allen to be silent.
“Why?” Allen whispered back.
John approached a big trash can in front of a restaurant and opened it. He took a plastic bag from his pocket and started taking the leftover food and putting it inside his plastic bag.
“What are you doing?” Allen asked softly. “Those are leftovers.”
“These are new leftovers,” John whispered, “These are delicious fried chicken.”
Allen’s eyes widened in surprise and asked loudly. “Are we going to eat these?”
“Don’t talk too loudly,” John warned Allen and glanced at the guard who was sleeping in one corner. “The guard might hear us.”
“But, it’s no longer good to eat.” Allen swallowed a lump in his throat. How could he eat those leftovers from the garbage?
“I think this is enough.” John returned the tin cover, pretending not to hear Allen’s comment, “Let’s go home.”
“Hey, assholes!
“Bastards!”
“Try your luck with us!”
The two boys abruptly stopped and turned around to where the angry voices were coming from. A group of street boys with their leader, Lucas, were approaching them.
“Allen,” John whispered, “He is Lucas with his gang members... there are so many... time to… run!”
The two boys sprang to their feet and ran as fast as they could while the group was chasing them and the leader kept on cursing them.
The group stopped chasing when a police patrol car passed by and rang a siren. The two boys were panting when they reached the bridge. Luckily, they escaped Lucas’s group in the meantime.
“What if he still hunts us?” Allen asked while gasping for air.
“Nope, Lucas wouldn’t dare to cross up here,” John replied as he also chased for his breath.
“Why?” Allen asked curiously.
“That Lucas is hydrophobic. He would never dare get near the river. And if he did, I would throw him there,” John said boastfully, pointing his forefinger to the river.
Allen laughed, “That is why Lucas never took a bath for years.”
John guffawed, “No. It’s century.”
Allen stopped laughing, a bit alarmed, and asked, “But how can we go to the marketplace again?”
John shrugged his shoulders and said, “We or you must take extra care. Lucas is brave in the presence of his allies. As much as possible, avoid them, or else we are always in trouble.”
Allen did not say anything, but at the back of his mind, he started worrying about his new environment.
Terrie recooked the leftovers for their breakfast meal. Allen saw how the mother and son devoured the bony fried chicken as if it was so special. With a rumbling stomach, Allen persuaded himself to eat the re-cooked food. True, it tasted delicious, but his mind struggled to accept the reality that they ate food leftovers from the trash.
After their breakfast, John prepared a sack and a metal stick.
“Can I come with you?’ Allen asked. He could not bear another day of staying near the stinky river. His head was hurting, and his nose was itching.
“You want to come with me?” John asked and frowned. “You might not like the place.”
“Yes, I’ll help you.” Allen nodded. He needed some fresh air and to stay away from the stinky river, at least for hours.
Allen went with John to the latter’s daily work. But a mountain of assorted rotting garbage was more stinking than the polluted river, but he chose to stay. They started picking up plastic bottles and random scraps from the mountain of stinky trash. The rotting smell of trash made Allen’s nose very itchy. He pinched his nose with his two fingers and tried hard not to throw up while digging and picking up scraps, and avoiding smelly trash as he walked over the mountain garbage.
John looked at Allen. “Are you sure you can bear the bad smell?”
“Y-yes,” Allen replied hesitantly. But the thought of staying in the area was a better choice than staying under the shaky bridge and smelling the stinky river.
“Better for you to go home and stay with Mama,” John said. He felt sorry for his companion, who was not used to a dirty and smelly environment.
“No, I want to help you,” Allen said, then looked around. If other people can, why can’t he?
“Okay.” John shrugged and then continued digging and picking up scraps.
“Why are you picking those?” Allen asked. He saw John pick up some empty tubes of toothpaste.
“For our supply,” John replied as he continued poking at the trash with his metal stick.
Allen’s eyes widened and asked, “For what?”
“We need shampoos and toothpaste,” John said, picking up a tube of shampoo again.
“But it’s all empty,” Allen commented.
“Not a hundred percent empty. You see, rich people don’t even bother scraping out all the contents of toothpaste tubes and shampoo jars. They just throw them away so that we poor people can use their leftovers,” John said, chuckling at his own remark.
There was silence between them as they kept on digging and picking up random scraps. The situation started sinking into Allen's mind, and he could do nothing but accept the reality. He ate leftover food and now would consume thrown-away things from other people. At least in the meantime, he thought to himself.
After some minutes, Allen asked, “John, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, what is it?” John answered while still focused on his task.
“Where is your father?” Allen asked. Secretly hoping that his companion would not get offended.
John stopped and anger was reflected in his eyes. “I don’t know. They are not important to me.”
“They?” Allen asked and was puzzled. He regretted asking the question.
- Writer
