RUBBER BAND IN A HOT WATER

By: Maria Elialyn D. Gio

We once lived in Agusan del Norte but we moved to Anda in the year 2000, a
year after my mother passed away. My father took care of us. He took the living being a
carpenter he used to be one of those carpenters in our school. There was a family who
offered him to work for them in building their house here in Tagbilaran.
Every Saturday at 6:00 pm, I always wait for the last trip of the bus called
Djeedap to pass by in our house to greet my father. But one night, it was past 7:00
oclock already but there was no bus that stopped by in our house.
Basin ug ugma pa to mouli inyong Papa. Tara na manaka na tas taas kay gabie
na. Panghilam-os ug panghimpuwas sa mo. My Aunte Bebe said to us as she locked
the doorknob and also the long wood across the door.
Early in the morning, someone knock on the door very loudly. I hear someone un
locking the door, it was Aunte Bebe who wakes up very early. That was then we got the
news about my father who was rushed to the Provincial Hospital in Tagbilaran City.
They said he fell from the tree while he was cutting off the branches as he
accidentally stepped on the branch that was too old enough to hold his weight. His
backbone was seriously fractured and also his neck. The doctor warned us not to move
his body parts, his legs were not allowed to be put down and he should not sleep
sideways. But my Father pleaded to his friend to move him because he was so tired
with his position and his friend pitied him so he moved him.

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April 13, 2001, early in the morning, I and my sister were playing dampa-dampa
with the use of a rubber band when Kuya Nilo told us to quickly come inside. It was then
that weve learned our father already left us.
I and my sister were left under the care of our Aunt, my late mother's cousin. We
called her Ante Bebe, she has a pale white complexion, she was thin and she often got
sick. She was so strict when it comes to the food. She will let us finished the one cup full
of vegetable each of us.She was the one who taught us to show some respect to the
one who is older than us.
We lived in the house that belonged to our grandparents in Anda, it was a very
old house and it was too big for the three of us. They said it was haunted because there
were too many souls that were left in the house.
Me, Aunte Bebe and my sister whose nickname is Lalay,were having our lunch
when I asked my sister to passed the vegetable to me.
Lay! Iduho sa nang utan bi I asked but my sister wasnt listening to me.
Hoy Lalay! Ang utan ba ambi sa! I said for the second time around irritatingly.
Rhea unsai gitawag nimo sa imoang maguwang? Lalay? Sakto bana? Tawga
siyag Manang kay maguwang pa siya nimo sugod karon. Na hala balikag ingon! Aunte
Bebe commanded.
Manang ambi sa nang utan! I obeyed.
I wasnt used to it but since that day I already got used to it. I called her Manang
because we have other sister who is older than her but she was in the custody of our
Uncle Andoy who lived in Butuan City in Mindanao when my father passed away. She
was separated from us because my Ate was a hard-headed one, she always skipped in

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her class and she just hang-out with her friends when my father was still alive, she
didnt stay at home and didnt visit my father when he was suffering until the day he
died.
Back then, me and my sister were not allowed to play while we were in the
school because we easily got sick once we were sweating and we always had to go to
the nearest center which is near the sea to had a check up or sometimes we had to go
to the manghihilot in Badiang.
She also doesn't want us to see quarreling with one another but one day, me and
my sister came home from school.
"Hoy! akoa manang lastiko gud" Me and my sister both said when we got inside
the house.
"Unsa na man pod na inyoang giawayan?" Aunte Bebe asked angrily.
"Wa--wa man Te" we both answered as we blessed in her hand.
"O paghuman ninyo ug ilis pag snack mo naay juice salt lamesa ug naa sad
bahug-bahug diha" she said to us.
"Ambi ra gud na akoang lastiko" I said angrily to my sister.
"Imoa ba di gud ni, akoa man ni" she answered back while she's trying to get a
hold on me.
"Akoa man gud na! maro man ka! awa oh kuwangan akoang lastiko" I said while
showing her my left arm with the rubber bands in it in different colors like
green,yellow,blue and red.
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"Diha! paghilom ra gud. Napildi baya ka ganeha" she said again. While we were
continuing our argument, Aunte Bebe heard us.
"Unsa man na ha" she asked when she entered inside the room and we both fell
into silence.
"Unsa na inyong giawayan" her voice thundered in the room and we were
already got scared of it. I was eyeing my sister who was still on the bed. Aunte Bebe
saw the green,yellow, and blue rubber band scattered on the bed when she got near us.
"Kang kinsa ning lastiko? lastiko ra gaaway namo?" she said.
"Mangilog man gud si Manang bisan akoa nang lastiko" I answered and give my
sister with an accusing look.
"Ambi ra gud nang lastiko! ikaw Rhea musukol gyud ka sa imoang maguwang
ba nga ikaw manghud man unta ka" Aunte Bebe scolded and grabbed the three rubber
bands.
"Lalay hugasi ning lastiko ug butangig ininit tubig ug ipainom kang Rhea" she told
my sister.
"Inag human ana paginom ug juice. Ikaw Rhea kadtong lastiko ug paresi sa
bahug-bahug" Aunte Bebe said.
After washing the rubber band with the running water, my sister put it in the white
bowl and poured some hot water in it and she gave it to me silently.
Knowing my Aunte Bebe I know she was dead serious about it. So I had no
choice but to drink it, while my sister drank her juice. I took a sip. I couldn't describe the
full taste but from what I remembered it tasted a little bit salty. My sister handed me the
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bahug-bahug and I was just looking at it for awhile and took some bite. I know I was
about to cry at that moment though but I was holding it in. I was angry but I was able to
finish it. I was silently washing the bowl and didnt attempt to talked to my sister the
whole evening then.
Year 2010, I was already a first year high school in Dr. Cecilio Putong National
High School here in Tagbilaran City. My grandmothers brother name Teofilo Inojales
decided to took care of us and he was the one who supported us since then when my
Aunte Bebe got married.
While we were studying in the terrace, our guardian Aunte Leticia informed us
that our Aunte Bebe died because of her kidney stone disease. When we heard that
news I couldnt believe it because she was still in her early thirties and I couldnt
imagine going home to Anda visiting her parents without her anymore.
We werent able to attend her funeral because she was in the Manila at that
moment. It was 2 years later that both I and my sister went to Anda and visit Tatay
Embing and Nanay Melania, her parents. When they told us about her, I never spoke
because I was crying already. I remembered how she protected us and supporting us
despite how strict she was.

END

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