Rewind

Chapter Four: Carnage

As I woke up the next morning, I realized that I had cried myself to sleep when I saw my pillow soaked up with my dried tears. Dear me, I said to myself. I'm such a mess, and so is my family.

"Good morning, love," said a voice from behind me. I turned to face the other side of the room to see Mommy sitting on my bed.

"Y-you were here all night, Mommy?" I asked then yawned.

"Yes," she replied and began to stroke my hair. "I thought you'd still come down after you finished what you had to do, but you didn't return, so I decided to check on you." She sighed heavily. "It turns out that you cried yourself to sleep. I'm sorry. Was it because of what your Dad and I were arguing about over dinner?"

I didn't say a single word and hugged her. My eyes began to well up and before you knew it I burst into tears again. "Everything will be alright before you know it, dear," she assured me as she stroked my back. "You know that we want what's best for you."

I slowly pulled away from her. "If you do want what's best for me, then you'd get back together with Daddy!"

"You know that's not easy, Brie. Some things just can't go back to the way they used to be."

I wiped away the tears from my eyes and stared blankly at her. Those words hit me right in the heart, just like a person being run over by a bullet train.

"Mommy," I said, taking a deep breath, "I can't believe that you're actually giving up on Daddy when you were the person who taught me to never give up on something or even someone. Those words you said left an indelible mark on my brain and on my heart. I never gave up on you. I knew you'd come back even if everyone told me you never will. And you did come back. That's why I believe you and Daddy could still make amends with each other. I really do. I might sound mad, but I know both of you could still work things out."

Silence filled the air for quite a while before Mommy began to speak.

"Darling, I'm sorry, but I really think it's no use. Your Dad and I had grown apart ever since I left for New York. Our relationship's gone icy. I think we'd need a miracle worker for us to go back to the way we used to."

Our conversation was cut short when Daddy barged into the room, all dressed up for church in his slacks, white long sleeved polo, and black shoes. He didn't look at all happy.

"Brie, go take a shower. We're nearly late for--Lea, ano 'to?!"

"We were just talking and--"

"Talking tapos umiiyak yung bata? You must be joking."

I'm in the middle of yet another argument. This should be nice.

"Believe me, Aga, we were talking about something important and--"

"I've had enough of your excuses, Miss Broadway Diva. It's obvious that she's crying so--"

"Will you quit interrupting me and just listen to me? Brie was crying because she was greatly bothered by the prospect of...our marriage's annulment."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Brie would never cry over such a thing. You left her. Bakit ka niya iiyakan?"

Mommy didn't answer. Instead, she slapped him really hard in the face, which only made me cry harder. It was unlikely of Mommy to do that. I've never seen her so mad.

Daddy looked at me and said," Brie, stop crying and go take a shower now. We'll handle this ourselves."

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