“Pssst... Uy, Sean, kwento ka naman d’yan!”
“Yeah, nga, Kuya Sean!” Sunny backs up Enrique, accompanied by her classic giggle.
“He’s been zoning out since we called. You okay, Sean?” Angel mentions, putting her nail file aside.
Sean gets startled and looks up from his phone, seeing the three faces looking at him in curiosity.
“Yeah, yeah, teka lang... 2 orders ng sisig, 1 order ng tapa...”
“Wow! A feast for a king indeed!” Enrique jokes after hearing Sean mumble food orders.
Sunny looks closely at the screen, trying to see Sean’s phone screen and asks, “Hey what restaurant are you ordering from? Try that new one sa GrabFood! I forgot what it was called, but they make really good food!”
Sean smiles and laughs, but that smile of his shortly turns into a tired expression— appearing tired for quite some time now.
“Hindi. Kayo talaga. I’m taking note of orders from my neighbors. They text me for orders for lunch,” Sean explains calmly.
Little Sunny, curious as ever, asks, “What’s that for ba, Kuya Sean?”
Sean pauses and takes a deep breath before he answers.
“We’re selling food as a business na. Mom and Dad cook the meals, I bike around the neighborhood and deliver them to our customers.”
The three faces on Sean’s screen light up in amusement and fill his room with laughter.
“Wow, that’s so cool!” Sunny replies, giggling once more.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Angel, noticing Sean’s unfamiliar and empty smiles, asks, “Uy, why the long face? Don’t frown unless you want wrinkles pagtanda mo!”
Sean chuckles. He puts down his phone and replies, “It’s tiring to juggle all this work at home, that’s all.”
The atmosphere is soon filled with silence among the four friends. Each of them knew what Sean had been going through, which got even worse as the pandemic swept.
It was another chilly March night in Sean’s house, with only him and his younger brother, Mark, occupying the confines of their respective rooms. Their parents usually came home late from work on busy days.
Sean, still in his school uniform, plopped down the sofa, taking note of all of his pending school works and his upcoming summative.
“Hell week na naman, wala pa sila Mom at Dad... I just want to rest!” He exclaimed, letting his voice resonate the walls of their empty living room.
Sean sighed heavily and put down his phone and his papers. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. He, then, heard the daily news.
“BREAKING NEWS! The government has declared a one-week suspension of classes and non-essential work to contain the spread of the COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.”
His gaze shifted from his papers to the TV, not believing what he just heard.
“Did someone just answer my prayers?!”
“All students from all levels, both private and public, will not have classes for the rest of the week for safety measures.”
Sean’s tired expression immediately turned into the expression of an excited child. He stood up from the sofa and jumped with joy.
“Yoooo! Bro wala tayong pasok for the rest of the week and next weeeek!”
He burst into his brother’s room, informing him of the good news. Soon after, his parents came home from work, well aware of the news. The whole family talked about the news and celebrated their short break from work.
“May nakarinig talaga ng hiling ko! I’m gonna have such a good break!”
Sean and his family spent the next few days doing the things they have not been able to do with their work and Sean’s school. They watched movies together, played games, and even fixed up their home garden. The world did not seem like it was at the verge of collapse just yet; their home was sturdy, and their hearts were filled with momentary content. They had a home, they had time, and things felt as if they would work out from that point on, before they returned to their usual routines— the two-week lockdown was what they all needed to keep afloat.
“I’m pretty sure you guys know Mom and Dad. They always come home late, so we don’t get to spend much time together, but the start of the break gave us the rest and time we needed.” Sean explains.
One night, the family had dinner with the news from the TV playing in the background.
“BREAKING NEWS! The government has declared the implementation of the lockdown to happen in 3 days time in order to contain the spread of the COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. Please be guided accordingly with your respective barangay protocols.”
Sean lifted his gaze from his plate to the newscaster talking about the 2-week lockdown.
“Wow! So, we won’t have to go to school anymore?!” Mark, Sean’s younger brother asked.
“Oo, your mom and I will be staying at home din. Our admins haven’t told us anything yet, but by the looks of it, we’ll be staying at home for a longer time,” his dad explained.
“Wow, someone’s really listening to my prayers!” Sean said with his mouth full of rice.
Sean and his family rejoiced once more with the news that would bring them a much longer break— a heaven-sent miracle.
Or so we all thought.
“I really hoped for a good summer break before senior year. It was a really tiring school year, so imagine the relief we felt when we heard the news of a longer break,” Sean said, brushing through his hair with his fingers.
“True...” Angel murmured. Their batch had experienced a year they were surprised to even get through; for months and months straight all they’d been asking for was a brief pause to breathe.
“So, what happened?” Sunny asks.
“Everything began to go downhill.”
“Pa, the office called. They informed me that I’ll be laid off in a week’s time.”
Sean could hear his parents conversing from the other room. He felt guilty for eavesdropping, but he knew he had to listen.
“Ma, it’s okay, my job pays well. I have savings pa sa bank. Don’t worry, it’s a little inconvenience we can take. For the meantime, let’s find another job opening.”
Sean’s breath hitched. His family had the middle-class privilege of having two office working parents, a seat in a private school classroom, and a home to share; these were the structures of his entire life and to hear that they could be the next devastating casualty of the global pandemic made him fear for its collapse.
“No, I can start selling goods online and here sa neighborhood natin. You know I make the best brownies, Pa.”
“Fine, but I’ll still call my friends if may alam sila na job opening. But while you’re doing that, ask Sean na for help. Kaya niya ‘yan. Mark too.”
Despite his relief hearing that his parents’ decision to ask for help instead of shouldering the immense trials themselves, he felt a pit of dread at the bottom of his stomach— What will the next few months look like for us?
“Mom got laid off from her job sometime after that lockdown, so she decided to open up a small business to sell brownies and other baked desserts.”
“Yeah, I remember that! Tita’s baked brownies are so good! Will risk my whole diet just for those!” Angel replies.
“Trust me, I loved the idea, but I didn’t like how things went from then on.”
Days turned into weeks, and weeks have turned into months. What first seemed like a good time for Sean was not anymore a miracle, but a mere curse.
Their kitchen had been a mess since this morning with the overflowing number of orders they had been getting recently. Sean’s mom had been baking since 9 a.m. and her apron now looked like it had been drawn on by a toddler.
“Sean?! Another customer just called! Kanina pa sila nag-aantay for their orders!”
“I just got back from delivering other orders. I’ll go and get that delivered!” Sean said as he grabbed the next batch of orders to be delivered around their neighborhood.
Right before he could even shut the door, he heard his parents conversing in the kitchen.
“Ma, kakatawag lang ng office. They need to lay off some employees, isa na ako do’n.”
Sean’s heart dropped. He stood still by the door, out of sight from his parents, still clutching on to the bags of orders.
“Ha? But didn’t they just commend you for doing so well with working at home? Jusko... I’m not even earning enough from baking, and I haven’t found any job openings yet either...” his Mom replied with pent-up stress evident in her voice.
Before Sean could hear anything else, he shut the door and went out to deliver orders with his bike, while tears streamed down his face.
“I really thought this break would finally be kind to us, but of all things that can happen, it really had to be both my parents getting laid off from work in the middle of a pandemic...” Sean says as he held back his tears.
Everything is uncertain in this mess. It took guts for Sean to swallow the fact that nothing in his life was fixed from the beginning. He has deliveries to do after the call, and his leg bounced in his seat, but slowly, he let himself speak.
The other three stay silent as Sean takes his time in telling his story,
Months had passed and Sean’s parents had been doing their best in keeping it together and making sure they had enough money to support the family.
“Sean! One more order ng tinola for Manang Cecil!” His dad called from the kitchen.
“Alright, pasabi kay Manang I’m on the way na!” Sean said as he grabbed the bag of orders and went on his way to deliver the food.
“Dad lost his job, too, so he and mom have been working hand in hand in the kitchen - mom bakes the desserts while dad cooks the meals. Mark helps in cleaning up while I take orders and deliver it to our customers sa neighborhood.”
“Hey, that’s so cool, noh? You bike around the village delivering food? I wanna try that, too, dude!” Enrique says, trying his best to lighten up the mood.
“I guess so, but trust me, you wouldn’t want to have to go through everything else.”
Sean came back home from delivering the last order. He saw his parents with Mark, cleaning up in the kitchen. He handed the money to his dad for accounting.
“Thanks, anak. Wash your hands and disinfect, tapos rest na.” His dad told him, patting him on the head.
As soon as he was about to leave the living room, he heard his parents conversing again. His heart raced knowing that their private conversations always bring bad news.
“Pa, malapit na ulit mag-enrollment. Do we have enough money?”
“I’m not sure, pero I’ll make it work. I’ll find another job opening as soon as possible and—”
“Ma, Pa, if we don’t have enough money, I’ll stop for this year and help out.”
Sean’s heart sank at what he himself just said, but deep down, he knew it was the only choice left. He did not know what the final push was for him to step forth his silence, but he knew his heart raced at the thought of all the expenses they would have to make to keep afloat and together: electricity, water, internet, phone bills, ingredients for their business, groceries, and… tuition fees.
Both his parents looked at him in shock, unaware that he was listening.
“I’m good at Math and Science, so I’ll offer tutoring services to help out. I’ll learn in the process, so that’ll keep me occupied and help me study.”
His parents looked at him, speechless.
“It must be hard for both of you especially that you got laid off from work. It’s okay, I can take a year off. I think I need a break from school, too,” Sean explained calmly.
“Anak,” his dad replied, “we’re sorry about not telling you. Pasensya na for getting you worried.”
“I hope this hasn’t been taking too much of a toll on you. We didn’t want to make you worry about our financial situation, pero your Papa and I are doing our best,” his mom added, hugging him tightly.
“I’ve been working and helping them out in the business, but I’ll have to admit that it does get tiring,” Sean says as he takes a deep breath.
“Ano ba ‘yan, Sean! I’m tearing up na!” Angel exclaims as she grabs a piece of tissue from her desk.
“Me too!” Sunny adds.
Sean bursts into laughter after seeing the two tearing up.
“Hay.. Kayo naman, I’m tired, but I’m okay!” Enrique replies, still laughing at how red Sunny’s and Angel’s noses are. “Iniiyakan niyo pa ‘ko, mukha na ‘kong masamang tao,” he jokes.
Sunny wipes away the last of her tears and takes a deep breath before speaking, “Alright, you know what, I’ll help you manage and make posts for your business’ Facebook and Instagram page! We need those customers rolling!”
“I have tons of connections, so I’ll tell all my friends and followers! I’ll be your unsponsored influencer. I got you!” Angel says, fighting back the tears and remaining composed.
“Sige na nga! I’ll help by ordering! I wanna try Tita’s baked goodies and Tito’s best-selling tinola rin, bro!” Enrique adds.
Sean’s smile widens and his laugh grows louder. All the tiresome work and worry that occupied his head are now replaced by the overflowing support he is getting from his friends.
“It’s not easy for any of us, but we hope we get to lighten your burden— even just by a little bit,” Angel says genuinely.
“Pero Kuya Sean, will you enroll this year?”
Before he can reply, Sean’s gaze switches from the video chat to the notification on his phone— a text message from his Dad.
“Anak, enrolled na kayo ni bunso.”
Sean’s dimpled smile says it all.
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