Behind the Laughter

Chapter 1

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"Naka-kuha ka na ba ng brigada slip, Aze?!"

Habang nakatanaw sa malawak at madamong oval, narinig ko ang pasigaw na tanong ng kaibigan kong si Joya. Napabuntong hininga ako nang mapagtanto kong dito kami maglilinis para sa brigada namin.

"Oo, Jo," maikling sagot ko at nagsimula ng maglinis.

Ang mga kasama ko naman ay sumunod na rin sa ginawa ko. I have Joya, Gibo, and Czu with me. They've been my classmates since grade 7. Baka nga hanggang ngayon na mag-g-grade 11 na kami, magkaklase pa rin kami.

Every year, when the school year is about to start, all students are required to participate in brigada at our school. It's like a requirement for enrollment, where we clean for one to two hours, depending on the staff.

There's also a monitor behind us to make sure we're actually doing something.

After an hour of cleaning, the monitor finally decided to make us stop. Pinirmahan niya na rin ang slip namin. After she signed it, nagpunta naman agad kami sa assigned teacher na magkokolekta sa brigada slip and other requirements for enrolling.

"P'wede pong manghingi ng apat na enrollment form, Ma'am?" Czu asked the assigned teacher.

After receiving the forms, we immediately went to an empty room to fill them out.

"Anong strand kukunin mo, Aze?" Gibo asked without looking at me, nakatutok lang siya sa form na nasa harapan.

"I'll choose GAS, kayo ba?" I answered after writing the strand that I will take.

I've heard a lot of negative things about being a student of the General Academic Strand, or GAS for short. But I want to explore and challenge myself. Maybe it will be difficult, but I'm sure I will learn and experience a lot in this strand.

"I'm also choosing GAS," Czu said, and the craziest thing just happened.

We all ended up taking the General Academic Strand.

After finishing, we handed the forms to the assigned teacher. Feeling hungry, we decided to leave the campus and find a place to have lunch.

Nang makahanap ng karinderyang fit sa budget ay umorder agad kami. Czu and I ordered one cup of rice and a bowl of sinigang. Gibo and Joya ordered rice and adobong pechay.

Masaya kaming kumakain habang nag-uusap tungkol sa strand na napili namin.

"Sabi kasi ni ate Yohan, mahirap talaga yang GAS. Pero walang mahirap kasi...classmate naman natin si Aze, haha!" Biro naman ni Joya, kaya natawa nalang rin ako.

"You know guys, you should have chosen the strand that you really want to take. Don't just choose something because someone also did it." I said, totoo naman kasi diba? Why should they settle with something na hindi naman nila gusto?

"Alam naman namin yon, Aze. But we're still in senior high naman, I'm doing this because...I know, pagdating natin sa college, watak-watak na tayo. We'll no longer see each other every day, kasi iba-iba na yong tatahakin nating daan." Well, Czu has a point.

"Okay, may point ka naman. I guess isang buong school year na naman akong ma-iinis at mababagot sa pag-mumukha niyo. Hays, kailan niyo ba ako papakawalan?" I joked and they all burst into laughter.

After eating, we said goodbye to each other and went home. We don't live in the same place, and that somehow saddens me.

I rode a tricycle to my place. My place is kinda far away from the town, kung tricycle ang sasakyan ay mga nasa 30 minutes ang byahe. If you have a personal motorcycle, just around 15 minutes lang ang byahe.

Nang makarating sa bahay, agad kong hinanap si mama at ang kapatid kong bunso.

"Ma! Lily! nandito na'ko," I said while trying to remove my already uncomfortable shoes.

"Oh, anak. Kamusta yong brigada?"

Nagmano muna ako kay mama nang tuluyang matanggal ang sapatos. Habang si Lily naman ay agad na yumakap sa legs ko, she's just three years old.

"Okay lang naman ma, kakapagod nga lang dahil ang init sa oval," ani ko at kinuha ang biskwit at yakult na binili ko kanina para ibigay sa bunsong kapatid. "Here baby oh, you want this diba? Ate bought it for you," pagb-baby ko naman kay Lily.

We talked to her in English para masanay siya, maganda rin kasi iyong marunong silang magsalita ng English. Pero minsan ay ang mother tongue talaga namin dahil mas importante parin na alam ng mga bata yong language talaga natin.

Masaya namang tinanggap ng bata ang dala ko kaya napangiti ako. She even kissed my cheeks.

"Anong oras na ah? Di pa ba umuuwi sina Papa at Rence?" They both work in a construction company. Papa is the driver, while my 15-year-old brother accompanies him whenever they have deliveries.

Hindi talaga ako sang-ayon na tumigil sa pag-aaral si Rence, pero wala naman akong magagawa dahil siya naman yong may gusto. I can't force someone with something they don't like. Mas ginusto niya pang mag-trabaho e'. But I do hope na balang araw, maisipan niyang bumalik sa pag-aaral.

Habang wala pa ang dalawa ay tinulungan ko muna si mama sa pagbabalot ng ice candy na paninda niya. Marami rin kasing mga bata dito sa'min at mahihilig talaga sa ganito, kaya naisipan ni mama na magtinda. Even tho the profit is not that life changing, mabuti na lang rin, kahit papaano ay may pandagdag na rin sa gastusin sa bahay.

Nang makauwi sina Papa, may dala silang talbos ng kamote at kalabasa. Niluto ko naman agad yon para sa hapunan namin.

"Ate, may pera ka ba diyan? Wala pa kasing sahod eh, bukas pa yata. Baka naman pwedeng makahingi ng pangload," sabi ni Rence, wala akong kamalay-malay na nasa tabi ko na pala ang mokong.

"Kay mama o papa ka humingi, baka kasi hindi na magkasya yong pera ko para sa inorder kong bagong sapatos." I ordered a new pair of shoes dahil nakanganga na yong lumang sapatos ko.

"Tingin mo ba bibigyan ako ng mga yon? Hihintayin ko na lang siguro ang himala para mabigyan," aniya kaya napa-buntong hininga ako.

"Nasa bulsa ng bag ko, kumuha ka na lang, ha?" nagluluto pa kasi ako, kaya siya na lang ang pinakuha ko.

"Salamat ate, kaya mahal na mahal talaga kita e!" niyakap ako ng mokong kaya natawa nalang ako.

"Sengkwenta kukunin ko te, ha?"

"Gawin mo ng one hundred, nahiya ka pa talaga," sabi ko at pabirong inirapan ang kapatid. Natawa naman ito at nagpasalamat ulit bago umalis sa kusina.

We may have a simple family, but I'm still thankful because we're complete. There's no other things I would ask to Him, it's just me, having a complete and healthy family.

Kahit minsan nag-aaway at hindi nagkaka-intindihan, masaya pa rin ako, dahil sa huli...magkakasama parin kami.

That's what family is.

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