Misleading of the Variance (Secondary Series #3)

03

“Do you want to join me and your ate Abi to play?”

I asked the still teary James sitting on the floor. His legs are crossed in an indian sit form while holding one toy car on hand. His tears are still flowing a little and he is still slightly sobbing but he looks calmer now that he was when his brother shut the door at him.

“C-can I play with the t-two of you? W-will ate Abi wants to p-play with me?” He stammered asked as I put on a small smile before nodding.

“Don’t you play with your ate Abi?” I asked as he only shook his head. “My siblings and I play with one another everytime we can. I’m sure your ate Abi would want to play with you as well.”

He looks hesitant when I reach out my hand. He looks at it before looking back at me. I made sure to put on a smile for him so he wouldn’t feel like this is just out of pity. He doesn’t have anyone to play with. His brother shuts him down and the only person he can play with is me and Abi.

“Let’s go to your ate Abi’s room,”

We went to Abi’s room hand in hand. I made sure to hold his hand, helping him go downstairs carefully since he is small. He is just about on my shoulder and he walks down cutely, two feet per staircase before going to the next one so it took us a little while before we arrived down to the second floor where his room and Abi’s is.

“Oh? Why is James with you?” Abi asked when I opened the door to her room with James following me, head down.

“Can he play with us? He doesn’t have anyone to play with,” I said before guiding James to sit on the couch, helping him.

“My toys are for girls. Do you want to play with us James?” Abi asked her brother in a soft tone.

The latter just nodded as Abi nodded. She signaled James to sit beside her on the floor as I sat adjacent to them. I put James' toy car box on his side so he can play with it still if he didn’t like Abi’s toys.

“Did you cry?” Abi worriedly asked James. He glances at me, not knowing what to answer to her sister. “Did kuya make you cry again?”

Again?

“I want to play with kuya b-but he doesn’t want to play with me, ate.” James complained as tears started to form in his eyes again.

“Kuya never played with me as well anyway. He is always busy reading books.” Abi says, telling his brother to calm down by giving him a hug. “If you wanna play with me, just go here in my room then we can play with my toys or your toys. Just tell me, okay?”

I watched them talk to one another. Abi is like kuya Adam to me. She is soft to James and she speaks in a way that will make her brother calm down. Her actions towards her brother are also so alike with kuya Adam.

“Is this the robot that daddy brought you last time?” Abi says, raising the robot James was holding earlier.

He nodded as I stared at it, realizing it was the robot kuya Evan wanted to have. He keeps asking papa to ask him that one for a long time now but papa says it’s too expensive for him to buy. At the end, he just brought kuya a basketball ball for him to use since he likes to play ball outside with his friends back in Cebu.

“Then how about we use your robot to play? You will control your robot while Ali and I will control my Barbie dolls, okay?”

We did what Abi says. We ended up messing her room a little. Her bed was also a mess before we used it to hide and her pillows are on the floor. When we got tired of playing with their toys, we ended up watching television instead.

“Ate, can we watch The Lion King please?” James pleaded after we finished watching Winx Club.

“But we will watch Barbie,” Abi says, glancing at me.

“We can watch Barbie after watching The Lion King, I think?” I told her as she sigh in defeat before switching the show on the television to what James wanted to watch.

We just watched the movie while laying down on our stomach in Abi’s bed. Abi and I are on each side while James is in the middle.

“Ate, I’m hungry.” James says when The Lion King ended.

“Let’s go downstairs to eat. I wanna have cookies too.” Abi says.

We cleaned up a little to her room because I told her we should clean up a little. Mama always tells us that if we want to play around then we should learn how to clean up our mess even just the ones that we can clean.

“Oh, kids! I was about to bring some snacks upstairs, are you done playing?” Manang Flor asked when we entered the kitchen where he was.

“Yes manang! We also cleaned up a little so it won’t be hard for ate Diem anymore.” Abi says as she takes a seat on the high chair while I help James to sit next to her before sitting down.

“Really? You cleaned up your toys?” Manang shockingly asked as Abi nodded.

“A-ate Alina said we should clean up our toys s-so we did.” James answered.

Manang looked at me as I gave her an innocent smile. Her eyes looked at me in amazement before smiling in relief.

“You suggest cleaning up, Alina?” I nodded.

“Mama told me that we should always clean up after playing so I told them about it. Did I do something wrong, manang?” I worriedly asked.

“No, anak. You did well.” Manang both turned to James and Abi. “Alina was right. When you grow up, you will know that you cannot always depend on the simplest things such as cleaning the small ones to others.”

“Did we do well too manang?” Abi asked as manang nodded.

“So well, anak. Very good!” Manang complimented as Abi cheered. “So, are you kids hungry? What do you want to eat?”

“Can we eat cookies, manang? Please?” Abi says as manang nodded before leaving us to get some cookies.

I stayed silent before I heard James calling for my name. I turned to him in curiosity as he looked hesitant to say something.

“What is it?”

“A-ate Alina, c-can you help me get some water? I’m thirsty.” He says as I nodded.

I helped him get down on the chair and taught him how to get his water from the water dispenser. Their glass is not plastic but real glass so I really had to help him in case it would slip off from his hand.

Manang gave us a big plate of cookies that we shared on. She even gave us a glass of milk, one glass for each of the three of us. We talked with her about some things and even laughed. The crying James that I met earlier was completely gone. It’s like he didn’t even cry because of how happy he looked right now.

“Manang, can we swim? Abi asked as Manang Flor looked hesitant.

“I’m not sure Abi. It’s still hot outside to swim. Do you want me to call your mom to ask her?” Manang says.

“Call me for what?”

The four of us quickly turned to the side when we heard a feminine voice. Abi and James quickly and carefully went down to their chair before running towards their mother who welcomes them in open arms. I also went down from the chair, standing just there, watching them hugging each other tightly.

“You two looks happy. What did you do?” Ma’am Helen asked them.

“I played with ate Abi and ate Alina, mommy!” James excitedly says as their mother looks at him in shock because of his high pitched voice.

“You played with the girls? I thought you would play with kuya Benj?”

“Kuya Benj didn’t play with him, mommy. He made him cry!” Abi complained.

“Kuya Benj made you cry? Why?” Ma’am Helen worriedly asked.

“Because I was disturbing him while he was studying in his room, mommy. But it’s okay, ate Alina asked me to play with her and ate Abi instead and I had a lot of fun.”

Ma’am Helen quickly turned to me, giving me a warm smile. I returned the same one as well, standing next to manang already.

“I will talk to kuya Benj, okay? What else?”

“We cleaned up our toys after playing, mommy!” Abi says, their mother had the same reaction as manang Flor when she said that.

“What do they mean manang?” Ma’am Helen says.

“They told me that Alina told them that they should clean up before going downstairs so it wouldn’t be hard for Diem already, Helen. I was also amazed because I didn’t know they would do it.” Manang explained as she gently patted the top of my head.

“You two looks like getting closer to Alina.” Ma’am Helen told her kids before turning to me. “How about you Alina? How are you dear? Are you having fun with my kids as well?”

I just nodded in agreement because I still feel shy talking to ma’am Helen. Not scared by really shy. She looks really kind but her smiling is making me shy.

“Well then, that’s great since you and Abi will be classmates for sure once class starts. It wouldn’t be hard for you already.”

“Mommy, can we swim please?” Abi told her mother.

“But it’s still hot outside, dear. How about later? When the sun is not that hot anymore?” Ma’am Helen says as both James and Abi nodded.

For the meantime, we just watched in a room where there is a big television in front of us. It’s not actually a television. Ma’am Helen says it's called a projector. We stayed in that room, watching one movie before it’s time to swim already.

“But I don’t have any extra clothes anymore to wear.” I told Abi when she asked me to join them.

I really wanted to join and play with them in their pool since we haven’t gone swimming yet for the rest of the summer. But how can I swim when I don’t have any extra shirts with me. Besides, I don’t know if papa will allow me to swim as well.

“You can use Abi’s clothes to swim Alina. You two are about the same size anyway.” Ma’am Helen says.

“But I don’t think papa will allow me, ma’am.” I told her as she smiled, approaching me.

“I think it will be better if you call me tita Helen already instead of ma’am Helen.” She says, giving the top of my head a pat. “And about your papa, Diem, can you call Elias outside please?”

Ate Diem went outside and came back with papa following her already. I didn’t know papa was already back. I thought he was still with sir David because he was the own who drove him to his workplace.

“Is there any problem ma’am? Did Alina do something?” Papa worriedly asked, glancing at me.

“Nothing serious Elias, don’t worry. Abi and James just wanted to swim and they wanted Alina to join as well. Alina says you might not let her swim so I asked Diem to call for you.” Ma’am Helen explained as papa nodded.

“It’s already too much of a bother that she comes here to play with ma’am Abi, ma’am. Maybe she should pass this time, ma’am. And she also doesn’t have any extra clothes anymore to wear as well.” Papa explained as I tried my best not to look sad.

“Oh no, Elias. It’s not a bother! In fact, your daughter has taught my children a lot of things. My kids cleaned their toys after playing for the first time because Alina told them that they should clean up before going downstairs. She really is a good kid, Elias.” Ma’am Helen says.

When I looked up and looked at papa, he gave me a proud smile, sighing in relief. He called me to approach him so I did. He kneeled in front of me on one knee, caressing the side of my head gently with his hand.

“You said that, anak?” He asked as I nodded. “But why?”

“Because mama always told us to clean up after playing, papa. She said that we should learn to clean up the mess we make on our own instead of waiting for others to do it for us.” I explained as papa smiled once again.

“Good job anak, good job.”

“Your wife raised your daughter so well Elias. You should know that.” Ma’am Helen says. “So, will you let her? The sun is not scorching anymore and she can use Abi’s clothes to swim as well.”

“If she wants to swim then I will let her ma’am,” Papa answered.

Abi approaches me, clinging her arms over mine. “Swim with us… please?”

I glanced at papa as he gave a small nod before I turned to Abi to nod as well. She didn’t waste any time and pulled me with her already.  Ate Diem helped us with the clothes we will wear. Abi is wearing a pink one piece short sleeve swimsuit while I wear a blue one. She has a lot of swimsuits in her closet.

It was also my first time to see the other door inside her bedroom that I haven’t seen. It was full of clothes placed in different cabinets. There are a lot of dresses, pants, shirts, and even gowns because her family frequently attends parties as what ate Diem says. Her shoes, heels, sandals are also there as well as her different kinds of bags. She even has a big mirror in the middle of her room and a couch inside as well. It was almost as big as her main bedroom which is really fascinating.

“Here, let me help you put on sunscreen so it will protect you from the heat.” Ate Diem says as she puts on lotion in our body that is not covered from the swimsuit we are wearing.

We went downstairs and everything was already prepared. There are countless inflatable floaters for us to use. There’s also goggles for us to use if we want to dip down the pool and a ready towel on the side. So this is how their life is. If they need to prepare something, there will be someone to prepare those for them. If they want something then they can get it anytime they want.

“Don’t go in the deeper area kids!” Tita Helen shouted from the chaise lounge.

James and I watched Abi swim on the other side. She is actually a good swimmer. I also know how to swim but I just don’t want to leave James alone on this side. He told me that he just started to learn how to swim this summer so he is not really super good at it so I decided to accompany him instead.

“Ate Alina, don’t you want to go to ate Abi?” James asked me in his small voice.

“You will be here alone if I go to her. I can swim around here as well anyway.” I told him as he nodded.

When Abi went back to our side, tita Helen called for us to take a short break but James insisted to say so he was left behind there. Tita Helen went inside for a while to get more snacks for us, leaving the three of us alone.

“It’s yummy, isn’t it?” She asked, taking a bite from the ice cream cone that has fruits on the inside.

“Do you know? Whenever we go to swim, our snacks are usually grilled pork belly or grilled hotdog on a stick then we will go back to swim again. This is the first time I ate fruits as a snack while taking a swim.” I confessed as her brows furrowed.

“Really? I want to eat one of those too!” she says and was about to tell ate Diem when we suddenly heard James calling our name.

We both turned into the pool only to see James struggling to go to his inflatable floater. Abi was left standing in his spot, shocked, and so am I. But I decided to be the one to act instead of just leaving James struggling there.

I jump into the pool and help him go back to his inflatable floater. I also pushed it to the shallow area. Just at the right timing, ate Diem came running to us. She helped James to go out of the pool and also helped me. James was shaking due to the shock of what just happened.

“Sir James? James?” Ate Diem called for his name but he kept shaking and was staring into the air. “Can you look after him for a while? I will call ma’am Helen.”

She left to go inside. I looked back to Abi and saw her still standing at the same spot. She wasn’t moving at all and was just staring at us with wide eyes and lips parted in shock. The cones she was eating were already on the floor but she doesn’t even care.

“James? Can you hear me?” I called but he didn't respond.

I shake him a little hard to bring him back to his senses. He looks at me and his tears start forming as he suddenly wraps his arms to my neck, hugging me. I put my hands on his back, caressing it gently to help him calm down. This is what kuya Adam did before when I also experienced the same thing.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” I whispered.

“James!” I heard tita Helen’s voice as she sighed in relief when she saw us.

We didn’t stay in the pool anymore after that and decided to change. I took a bath and changed my clothes in Abi’s room. When I came out, she was just staring blankly in front of her while sitting on the couch.

“Abi? Are you okay?” I asked, sitting next to her.

“I just stood there. I was scared.” She whispered as I went to hug her immediately.

Actually, Abi is 9 months younger than me but we are at the same grade level and just act out as friends. It’s not really a big gap but there are just times when I wanted to act like how I do towards Peyton to her.

“It’s okay Abi. James is okay now.” I told her as she nodded.

“Thank you Ali… for saving my brother.”

I didn’t stay long anymore and went out of her room. Papa told me before I went to change that it’s time to go home already. It’s already night time as well anyway.

“Alina?” I turned behind me and saw Benjamin coming out of James’ room.

“Sir Benjamin,” I called as a smirk formed in his lips.

“You call my siblings by their own names but you call me sir.” He frankly says.

“It’s because I am close to them.”

He stayed silent by my answer but he just kept his stare at me. He just stood there, I don’t know if he is planning to talk or not. When I was about to turn my back and walk away, he called me again.

“I’m sure you saw what happened this morning. You were the one who stopped James from crying.” He says.

I look back at him, raising my head because he is taller. He is at the same age as kuya Evan based on what papa said so of course he would be taller.

“And?”

“Our mom scolded me about it because Abi told her. I’m sure you also misunderstood the situation but I didn’t do it just because I want to. I was just busy studying and I didn't have any time to play with him.” He explained.

“Why are you studying when the classes didn’t even start again?” I question.

He looks hesitant to answer my question. I just ignored his explanation already because I don’t know why he was telling me about it.

“Because it’s the only way to make our parents pay attention to me as well. Before James was born, our parents' attention was divided between just me and Abi but after that, dad focuses on James and mom focuses on Abi. So I thought if I study hard and am willing to study more, they will give me more attention as well.” He explained again.

“Papa says you are at the same age as kuya Evan. My kuya is just playing outside with his friends during summer but you are studying. Don’t you want to play? Don’t you want to play with your brother?” I asked him.

“Of course, I want to play with him. He’s my only brother so of course… but playing is not good for me as well. Dad wants me to keep focusing on studying so I have no choice.” He answers.

“But that doesn’t mean you can just push James whenever he asks you to play with him but you don’t want to. You can just tell him that you can’t and he will understand.” I said.

“I know that and I told you, what happened earlier was not intentional. So can we just forget about what happened already?” He questions as I nodded since I’m easy to talk with. “Can you stop calling me sir as well?”

“Then I will call you Benj!” I said excitedly.

“But i’m two years older than you!” He complained.

“Then I will keep calling yo-”

“Fine! Benj!” He surrendered as I laughed which he ended up doing as well. “Manang was really telling the truth when she says you were adorable.”

For the next few weeks, it became just a non ending cycle of me going to their house and playing with them. Every week, I would visit their house three to four times just to play with Abi and James. The more I go there, the more I grew closer to them as well and the same goes with Benj and tita Helen.

“Are you ready Abi?” Tita Helen says when she enters Abi’s room. She said that they will be going to the mall today.

“Yes mommy.” Abi says, coming out of the room full of her clothes with ate Diem. “I really want to play with you today but we have to go to the mall.”

“It’s okay, we can just play tomorrow.” I told her with a smile.

Manang Flor told me earlier that they will be going to shop for school supplies that they will use since our classes are about to approach. We only have two weeks left before our class begins. My new uniforms were all ready but we still haven’t gone to buy my school shoes and things.

“Do you want to come with us Alina? So all of you can play in the arcade instead?” Tita Helen asked.

I was given no chance to say no because Abi pulled me with her already. I ended up being in their car. Their driver and ate Diem in the front while tita Helen, James and Benj are on the back seat leaving me and Abi behind them.

“Do you want this design or that one?”

Abi pointed to the black shoes that have a strap and heart design. We are in a shop that sells shoes right now. Both Benj and James already got theirs while Abi was still picking hers. I just sat next to her, patiently waiting for us to go into the arcade already.

“How about you Alina? Is there anything of your liking?” Tita Helen suddenly asked me.

“I’m okay tita. Mama said that we will buy my things this Saturday.” I told her as she smiled.

“We’re already in the mall so I might buy you one as well now.”

Minutes later, it wasn’t just shoes that I have with me already but everything I need for school. The bag that I will use, the school supplies, some personal items and many more. She even brought my siblings as well. It was so easy to buy all these things for them.

“What is all of this, ma’am Helen?” Mama asked when we arrived at our house.

Ate Diem, kuya Jonas and Benj were the one who helped me for the things tita Helen brought for me and my siblings. Each of us has our own bags and things in each plastic bag except for the shoes since we don’t know their sizes.

“I took the kids in the mall today to buy their school supplies to use since classes are approaching. Since I brought Alina with us, I decided to buy one for your kids as well. I hope you won’t reject them.” Tita Helen explained.

“Thank you so much ma’am. You already helped us a lot and this is already too much.” Mama says, glancing at the plastic bags.

Kuya Evan and Peyton excitedly check the plastic bags. Kuya Adam was just left standing behind mama. They didn’t stay long anymore since it’s about to get late already. While mama was dividing the things for my siblings, kuya Adam suddenly spoke up.

“So we also have to accept this? Mama!” He raises his voice, making all of us shock.

“Adam we should be just grateful for their help.” Mama told him.

“What would be the exchange for all of these? Do you really think they wouldn’t need something in return in the future, mama?” Kuya argued.

“Stop thinking like that Adam. Your papa’s boss is the reason why we were able to move here in Manila and got the four of you in a great school.” Mama reasoned out.

“I didn’t ask for any of that mama!” Kuya raises his voice again. “We were doing so good in Cebu, going to a school that we can afford on our own. Why do we always need to depend on them?”

I felt Peyton’s tight hold in my shirt as I noticed the verging tears on her eyes. Kuya Evan looks at kuya Adam in annoyance but stays seated because mama told him not to butt in.

“They are your papa’s boss Adam. We can’t just reject their offers when they already reach out.” Mama says.

Kuya paces back and forth, messing his hair. He scoffs and looks at mama in disbelief.

“We cannot depend on them forever mama.” He turns his back before stopping just before he can step foot on the stairs. “I’m not going to live my life being their own charity case.”