I was coughing uncontrollably to dislodge any remains of the choked pizza while Maxine handed me a glass of water, still laughing from the prank she had successfully pulled.


“Should I call for help now or are you able to breathe again?” she taunted. “You know for a guy, you’re unbelievably gullible.”


“What did you say?!” I demanded furiously.


“HAHA,” she chuckled louder. “You should’ve seen your face. Priceless!”


“I wish I was an only child instead,” I muttered.


“Oh, come on, Kuya! Where's your sense of humor,” she grinned.

---

Color Label

Ruel San Isidro
Lillian San Isidro
Phoebe San Isidro

“Where have you been all night, young lady?” My mother welcomed me with her hands on her hips and one of her tattooed eyebrows raised.


“Mom, please. I’m exhausted,” I said and closed the front door behind me.


“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was the one making the rules on this house. I am going to ask you again. Where did you spend the night this time, Carina?”


“Mom, it’s not what you’re thinking. I was out doing my case study with colleagues.”


“I was up all night trying to reach you and you didn’t even bother to call me back? Tell me, where did you really go last night?”


“My battery got drained. I told you, I was doing my case study with my med colleagues.”


“Carina, have you been drinking and partying with your friends again?”


“If you don’t want to believe me, then don’t. Can we wrap up this conversation already? I’m practically deadbeat right now, Mother.” I walked past her and was about to climb the stairs but she grabbed my wrist to stop me.


“I am still now done with you, young lady. Don’t you dare turn your back against me!”


“Since when do you care about my whereabouts, Mom? As far as I can remember, you don’t care if I get home alive or dead.”


Her hand suddenly met a part of my cheek. “Don’t you ever say that word again!”


“What, Mom? Dead? So that word is forbidden from this house now? Why can’t you still accept it, Ma?”


“Maria Carina!”


I turned around and found my father standing a few feet away from us. He walked up to us and glared at me.“Watch your language in front of your mother. You have no right to talk to her like that.”


“You want to know what’s wrong with this dysfunctional family? Huh? You are all just a bunch of pretenders! You’re making everyone believe that we’re perfect, that we’re all right, that you’ve moved on.”


“Cacai, stop it.” It was my older sister who was trying to interrupt me this time.


“Why, Ate? Am I not telling the truth here? It was four years ago since the―”


“I told you to stop it,” she calmly repeated.


“Aren’t you all done blaming yourselves? Do you think he would be happy seeing our family like this?”


“Cacai, please. Don’t,” she warned me.


“Don’t you get tired from all of this, Ate? We have to live up with our parents’ expectations out of our brother’s shadows? We both know that Kuya Henry―”


“Don’t you dare say his name just like that. He is still your brother!”


“When will you stop holding yourself responsible, Daddy? Everyone in this family is a doctor and even I will be one, too, but that doesn’t mean that we can save everyone. You did what you can do, Dad, but we just have to―”


Dad held up his palm to silence me. “Go to your room,” he ordered.


I stared at him for a long time before I was able to find my voice again. “No. I am done following your directions. I am of legal age, Dad, and I can decide for my own.”


“Not when you’re living under my roof.”


“Then I’m moving out,” I blurted out.


“Cai, what are you talking about?”


“Don’t be ridiculous,” he scowled.


“I’m so fed up with all the gloominess in this house. I am done. Kuya would want us to be happy but apparently you’re still not over with all the condemnation.”


“You are not going anywhere!”


“Watch me.”

---

“What the hell is wrong with you, Carrie?!”


“What the hell is wrong with them? Wendy, you’ve been in and out of this house. I’m sure you can feel the sadness that envelopes our freakin’ household. I can’t stand it anymore. Every living day is like torture.”


“But this is your home! You can find another house, but you can only have one home.”


“This house hasn't been a home ever since that day, Chi,” she reminded me.


“Tell me, Carrie, where is this all suddenly coming from?”


“I don’t know, you tell me. You know me best, right?” she replied sarcastically.


“What? You're venting it out on me? You're mad at me, too?”


“If you’re planning to talk me through about staying in this depressing house, then yes, I will be mad at you, too. But if you’re with me, then you should start helping me pack my things.”


“You know you can’t live alone, Carrie. Who’s going to pay for your rent? Who’s going to iron your clothes? Wash your dishes? You don’t know how to live independently.”


“Ate Phoebe will pay for my lease and bills. She said she will also hire a household help for me.”


“In case you’ve forgotten, she’s about to get married next year and that means she’ll be starting a family of her own. She can’t support you forever, Cars. And what about tuition? You will need to pay for your internship when you reach your junior year, remember? You will be needing your parents’ help sooner or later,” I pointed out.


“I have my savings account and my sister promised to support me financially, married or not. So stop worrying, Chi, I can live on my own.”


“What if you ran out of money? You can’t just borrow money from other people.”


“Then I’ll find a work if I have to.”


I sighed, “You’re making a big mistake, Carrie. You know what you should do? You should just apologize to your parents. And to your brother, too.”


“Wendy, why should I apologize for stating out the truth?” She unzipped the huge luggage and carefully placed her clothes inside. “Can we please end this stupid conversation and just help me pack?”

---

“I think the beige tie looks better with this polo. What do you think?”


“You have to stop seeing him,” Ralph suddenly told me while I was helping him with his necktie. He was trying on long-sleeved polo shirts and neckties for the rehearsal dinner.


“Stop seeing who?”


“Gerard.” He turned away from me and faced the full-length mirror. “It was your parents who asked me to talk you through it. They said it’s not nice to see you hanging around with other men in public when you’re about to be married.”


“I didn’t ask you to stop seeing her, why are you asking this from me now?”


He was now facing me. “I told you, Pam, it was your parents’ request.”


“What about what you think? Do you think I should stop seeing him also?”


“I actually don’t mind that you spend time with Gerard because he’s already your friend long before we met, but your folks have a point. You are engaged to me, not with him.”


“Then I guess I should ask you to stop seeing Wendy as well, right? Just to play it fair?”


“Pam, don’t do this,” he appealed.


“Don’t do this to me, too, Ralph.”


“I have no choice.”


“Do you think I have a choice either?”


“Pam…”


“You know I trust you, Ralph, but just to remind you, I am just doing you a favor here.”


“Of course I haven’t forgotten, Pam, I owe you.”


“Then don’t make me call off this wedding.”


“No, no, please don’t,” he pleaded.


“I won’t,” I assured him. “As long as you can convince my parents that I don’t have to stop seeing Gerard.”


“Fine, I will,” he resigned. “But what makes this guy so important to you, Pam? Is he more than just a friend?”


“Let’s just say it’s the same as how much Wendy means to you.”