Surpassing Those Rough Pages

V

The door to our room opened slightly while I was working on our review of related literature, or RRL, and my mother peeked out. When my eyes met hers, she smiled charmingly.

“Kuya, puwedeng turuan mo muna ang kapatid mo sa assignment niya? Busy pa kasi si mama, eh,” malambing na paki-usap sa akin ni mama.

Right away, I nodded. “Sure, Ma.”

I shut down my laptop and went straight to our dining table to follow her. When I saw Shane, looking at her notebook and on the edge of tears, I laughed silently.

“Kuya. . .” her voice broke when I sat next to her. Agad niyang kinuha ang notebook at iniabot sa akin. “Hindi ko talaga maintindihan.”

Mabilis kong binasa ang nasa notebook niya. Their topic was about circulation of blood through the heart. And her assignment was to draw and label the parts of the heart and explain the process of blood circulation in her on words.

Napatingin ako sa orasan. It was already ten in the evening. Kaya naman pala aburido na siya dahil inaantok na, pero hindi pa niya tapos ang kan’yang assignment. Mabuti at tapos na siyang mag-drawing. Ang pag-e-explain na lang ang kulang.

I held my jaw while thinking how to make my explanation more easier for her to understand their topic.

“Listen,” utos ko bago ko pinakita sa kan’ya ang ginuhit niyang puso sa notebook niya. Agad naman siyang tumingin doon.

“So, blood is pumped from the body into the right atrium, where it enters the right ventricle—” I pointed each part as I explained it to her. “—and travels to the pulmonary arteries in the lungs.” I pointed the pulmonary arteries before moving my index finger to an imaginary lungs. “Then the blood returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins, passes through the left atrium and ventricle, and then exits the body by the aorta to reach the tissues.”

Nakakunot pa rin ang noo niya ngunit tila naiintindihan naman niya ang tinuro ko. Hindi kumbinsido na na-gets niya ay tinagalog ko ito. Saka lang siya napangiti at napatango sa akin.

“Okay, gets na! Thanks, kuya!”

“Yeah, no prob. Tapusin mo na ’yan at saka mo ipa-check sa akin mamaya sa kwarto.”

“Sige, kuya.”

Tumayo na ako at bago ako tuluyang umalis ay sinilip ko muna ang ginagawa ni mama sa laptop niya. It was a report on something related to the health of the students of the elementary school she was working at. She is the school nurse there. Same school sila ng pinagtatrabahuhan ni Papa kaya mabilis na umabot sa kan’ya ang chismiss na may ibang babae raw si Papa. It was three months ago. Thank God, our parents were finally on good terms. Matinding panunuyo rin ang ginawa ni Papa kay Mama, inabot ata siya ng isang linggo.

I yawned when I was still on the half part of our RRL. Kailangan ko nang matapos ‘to ngayon dahil pasahan na namin bukas. Tumayo ako mula sa silyang inuupuan ko para mag-inat.

“Kuya, tapos ko na.”

Umayos ako ng tayo at hinarap ang inaantok na kapatid ko. Mabilis niyang inabot sa akin ang notebook niya bago siya nagmadaling umakyat sa hagdan na nasa gilid ng double deck at pasalampak nang humiga sa kama niya.

“Good night,” tumatawang sabi ko.

“Hmm. . .” tanging tugon niya.

Hinayaan ko na siya at binaling na ang tingin sa assignment niya. Napatango ako nang makitang tama ang sagot niya. Nilapag ko na ito sa study table kasama ang ibang mga gamit niya bago ako umupo at natulala sa harap ng screen ng laptop ko.

Habang iniisip ko ang assignment ni Shane ay naalala ko si Alexandrine. It was two months ago when she told me about her heart’s condition. Natakot ako at natatakot ako na baka mawala siya, pero isinasantabi ko iyon dahil gusto kong lumaban kami. Gusto kong gumaling siya at mabuhay pa ng mas matagal.