Chapter 7: Metamorphosis

***

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world is over it became a butterfly"

-Proverb-

My grandmother is gone forever.

It is the inevitable truth that I can't deny.

I've been stuck here in my room for almost 3 days now from the day that we sent my grandmother to her final moments.

My family is still mourning for her death. No one dares to speak with each other and you can just hear my mother crying every night.

It's already 11:00 pm

I went out of my room and saw my mom sleeping on the floor without anything to protect her from being cold so I grabbed some blanket on my room to cover my mom to prevent her from being sick since it's also raining outside the cold weather might give make her sick.

"Kirk" my little sister called me as she awakes from her slumber "Oh, why?" I asked her "I'm hungry" she said.

We barely eat since that day that my grandmother passed away last 20th of February.

"I'll cook. I'll wake you up guys?" I said then my sister nodded and hugged the pillow beside her.

The house is a mess as I can see the dust piling up over the table. It is really dark and gloomy like the house was abandoned and never cleaned for years.

I went directly to the fridge to check for any ingredients that I can cook and luckily we still have hotdogs and eggs left. I started cooking omelet and frying the hotdogs and wait for the rice to be cooked on the rice cooker.

I also made them hot milk and coffee to warm up their stomach.

While waiting for the rice I notice that my mother is really down. I don't want her to be depressed and be sick.

"Take care of your mother and your siblings." I suddenly heard a familiar voice while preparing for our late dinner.

Mommy...

The day before she left us. She already told me the things that she wanted me to do it's like she already know she will be gone the next day.

Tears starts to fall from my eyes again and the sound coming from the rain covers my little sobs.

"Hey, I'm hungry!" I saw my baby brother Ryan walking towards me giving me his empty bottle.

I grabbed him and put him on my lap hugging him tightly. "Baby, let me hug you for a moment" I cried on his little shoulder for like a couple of minutes.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as he hit me with his empty bottle. "Dede!" I pinched his cute little nose.

"Yes I already prepared it let me just get it" Then he smiled at me patiently sitting on the chair waiting for his formula milk "Here's your feeding bottle" He grabbed his bottle and went back to the room.

Lucky him he don't need to feel the sadness and longing for his grandmother since he was only a child.

If I could only turn back time I would have been a better grandson to her.

'You're always not here'

The longing on her voice still lingers on my mind when she said that since most of my time was used doing projects, presentations, preparing for midterms or finals, and even performing with my friends.

I should have went home early to hang-out with my grandmother talking about our day.

Toot! Toot!

The rice is ready so I went to my mom and wake her up.

My mom is crying.

I can see from her eyes as she looked at me that she's always crying.

A lot has changed.

I smiled and said "Ma, let's eat I already cooked dinner" She declined and about to go back to sleeping with an empty stomach.

"That won't do mom c'mon food is getting cold you should eat now." I did not let her go back to sleep

I need to be strong for my family. I should be the one they should lean on since I am the eldest. I must not show them weakness.

I went inside the room and wake my siblings up. "Ya! It's ready cooked! Let's eat now!" I removed their blankets to wake them up.

I need to smile and be cheerful to cheer them up. Even though inside me wants to just cry all night.

I turned the television on to enlighten the mood.

"Balong I will go to work starting tomorrow. I'll entrust your siblings to you ?" My mom said "Are you okay now that you think of working again ,mom?" I asked her.

"I'll be okay" she sighed "The living should continue to live, right?" she added then she took a sip from her coffee.

"I'll take care of my siblings ma, no worries okay? By the way, tomorrow I'll do the general cleaning since the house is so messed up." I replied, trying to put a smile on my face to cheer her up.

"Let me get this last hotdog!" said Khalil "Cheater! I should be the one to have the last piece as I'm the princess here!" replied Mariah trying to get the last piece.

To prevent them from fighting just because of a measly hotdog "Let's just cut this into two so you both can have another bite of this hotdog" I let them have each others half of their share.

***

Morning came and I got out of my bed to wake my mother up for her not to be late and while she is taking a bath. I made her warm coffee and a sandwich.

"Ma you should eat this and drink your coffee while it's warm" I said then she ate the sandwich and drank her coffee.

"Take care mom!" I hugged her tightly "Take care of you and your siblings ha? There are raw chicken inside the fridge just cook it for lunch" she said.

"Keep your worries away. I'll cook fried chicken for lunch" She nodded and went out of the house.

I have lots of things to do today and I started by removing the dusts on the surfaces like the cabinet, over the television, and even on the window.

Ryan woke up then he asked me to turn the TV on so he can watch cartoons.

"You can make your coffee now Khalil there's hot water on the thermos over the table" I said to Khalil after I saw him going out of our room.

"You can see the sandwich under that plate" I pointed the plate that is covering the sandwich I prepared for him.

I started sweeping the floor and applying some wax to make it shine again. Then I washed the dishes after they ate their breakfast.

"Mariah, start taking a bath now. I'm just boiling the chicken until it was tender" I am now cooking our lunch which is the fried chicken and I'm boiling it until it was tender before I fry it.

That was the recipe that my grandmother likes when she was alive. She don't like fried chicken that was not boiled before frying because she can't chew it.

I'm tired

I'm already drenched in sweat and I told myself that I'm already tired and that was the best thing I can do because I must not show them me being weak for them to clean on someone until they are fully recovered.

"I remember mommy and daddy arguing each other when the chicken was not boiled before frying!" Then we both laughed reminiscing those happy memories where my grandparents are still with us.

"Daddy receives almost all of the curse words mommy can think of!" She added and we even laughed like there's no tomorrow

I hope everything will be okay.

As long as I am strong nothing will go wrong. The most important thing is that they are happy and continue living.

***