Chapter XIII: Summer of '84

It was a sweltering day and I burned my skin several times over from spending too much time outside. Those were the hottest days of summer. I ran around the lot trying to catch that freakishly fast chicken that my Nanay wanted to butcher and cook into tinola. I was crying while doing so, imagining the fate that chicken would have under my Nanay’s experienced hands. I tripped and fell, hurting my knee in the process. An ugly bruise emerged, and I just lost it. I stopped and yelled, “They are selling dressed chickens in the market. Why are you making me go through this? What about Mica?” My Nanay briskly walked towards me and swatted my nape. “You dare shout at your mother?” I ran in the direction of our nipa-styled house to escape from her clutches. “Come back here! Who will capture that chicken?” I ignored her screams and went inside to look for Mica.  She was still lying on the bed and snoring.  I w