RDD 84

RDD 84

While we were appreciating our rest, another person showed up.

"I'm sorry but you have to return around 1 pm to order burgers. We're having a break time."

Santiago looked at the man who was wearing a suit. The man had eyeglasses and a mustache.

"..."

As I yawned, I realized that the man who entered the store was actually my brother!

Jeremy Castillo.

"Brother, what are you doing here? I thought you were busy."

I asked because I didn't expect to see Jeremy today. This was the second time I met him since living in Cavite.

It was almost a month since the last time I met him. He gave me so many things for the shop. He even gave me a car.

He glanced at me and nodded.

Then he sat down at the empty table.

"Bro, I thought you were busy. How's the factory?"

"..."

He nodded again and pointed at the picture of a burger.

"What?... You want to order a burger?" I asked.

He nodded.

... Bro, you have your mouth. Why the fuck are you talking to me through hand and head gestures?

"Jeremy do you have a bad breath or something? You don't speak at all."

"Talking is a waste of time. I rather spend my time doing calculations and predicting the stock market."

He pulled out a scientific calculator and a small notebook.

"..."

Now I'm the one who was speechless. As always, my oldest brother knew how to fuck around.

Stock market my ass. You just don't want to speak when there were people around.

He is a bonafide introvert. Not a fake one.

Besides, what's with the outfit? My brother was wearing an American suit under the Goddamn sun. That might be hot inside that suit.

Well, considering that we are Filipinos, wearing a jacket under the sun is nothing but normal.

We never fear the heat-stroking sun.

"Okay. Santiago, can you please cook two burgers for my brother?"

"On it."

Santiago was surprised at first. He didn't think that the man in the suit was my brother.

Still, he did his job and went to the kitchen. Our shop was wide open and there was no door.

Even the kitchen was wide open so that the customers could see how we cook the burgers.

"Ah, brother. I haven't introduced you to my family. This is my wife and two children. My wife's name is Penelope."

"Hello, Brother-in-law." Penelope greeted Jeremy.

Jeremy just nodded...

"T- then, this is my son. His name is Roman."

To change the awkwardness, I quickly introduced my son.

"Hello, Uncle. I can see that we both have the same opinion, wasting time talking to idiots will bring nothing."

"Indeed."

Jeremy agreed with Roman's opinion.

I was dumbfounded when I heard my brother opening his mouth to agree with Roman.

He said a word! Now that was very surprising.

"Here."

Jeremy pulled out a Nokia 3310 from his pocket and gave it to Roman.

"As expected Uncle. You're a great person."

Roman grinned and started typing on the phone. I could not believe that Roman would receive the toughest phone in the entire history from my brother.

That cost thousands of pesos? How could he have it to my son without hesitation?

"..."

I looked at both of them.

"Roman, I think you need to return the phone to your Uncle. You don't need a phone, you are still young."

Thankfully, Penelope joined in and helped me. She approached Roman and grabbed the phone from his hands.

"... Tch."

Roman clicked his tongue but he didn't fight with his mother.

"I apologized but we can't accept your gift."

Penelope returned the phone to Jeremy.

"Okay."

Fortunately, Jeremy respected our decision. He returned the phone to his pocket.

"A- And, this is my daughter. Her name is Sophia. She's a cute girl."

"Hello, Uncle! Now I realized that my Dajjy's family is full of many handsome people! Dajjy is handsome! Second Uncle is handsome! And first Uncle is handsome!"

Yep, my daughter might have a talent for being an ass-kisser. She knew how to praise people. She waved her hands at Jeremy.

"..."

Jeremy didn't speak. Instead, she pulled out a dozen of 1000 bills and gave them to her.

Based on how thick the cash was, I deduced that Sophia could buy three or four cell phones with that amount of money.

"Eh?"

Sophia was confused.

All of us were confused.

"Jeremy, you can't just give money or cellphone to children. That's not the right thing to do."

"Why not?"

Jeremy tilted his head and glanced at me.

"Look... Brother, giving expensive toys to kids might be bad for their growth. As their father, I don't want my kids to grow up basing their lives on materials."

Did I just say something meaningful? Anyway, I don't want my kids to be exposed to so many things that might be bad for them.

"Dajjy? Why did Uncle give me so many papers? Can I doodle on these?"

Sophia pulled my clothes and asked innocently. It seemed that she didn't know the importance of these bills.

"Sophia, we will buy you coloring books later. Please return the money to your Uncle."

"Okay, Dajjy!"

Sophia happily returned the money to Jeremy after hearing that we would buy coloring books later.

Jeremy accepted the money.

But then, he decided to give Roman and Sophia 1 thousand pesos each.

"Just treat this as my Christmas presents for the kids."

I sighed.

At least Jeremy only gave them 1 thousand pesos... To be honest, that amount was actually large. A family of four could live a week with that amount of money.

Perhaps Jeremy didn't think of that. Anyway, the kids decided to give the money to their mother because they didn't know how to use it.

So Penelope promised that they would buy cakes and toys for them later.

"H- Here are the burgers."

Santiago showed up at the right moment and put the burgers on the table.

Jeremy stopped his 'calculations' and grabbed the burger. He took a bite and said...

"It's quite tasty."

I knew that my brother didn't like eating in this kind of place, but he decided to eat in our shop. I'm thankful that he liked that food.