21 Summer of Story-Telling
"Children, hurry! We have to get ready to leave. We have to be on the farm before night time," Auntie Anita barked.
After breakfast, we were ordered by Auntie Anita to leave the kitchen clean. It would be our contribution to the upkeep of the temporary evacuation site in the backyard. We drew lots on who would wash the dishes, clean the kitchen and segregate the trash. I groaned when my name was drawn. I hate washing the dishes. Justine asked me If I'd like to swap with him. That was sweet of him but I said no. He was assigned to read a story to the children. In Filipino! Mrs Huang asked him to do it so he was not included in the draw lots.
While we do our assigned tasks, Gary and some of the household staff assembled a makeshift classroom in a shaded platform just outside the kitchen. He gathered the children. There were 10 of them. He distributed crayons and drawing paper sheets to everyone. He introduced Justine to the kids.
"This is Kuya* Justine. He is our friend from New York. Do you know where New York is?" Gary began the reading session.
"Yes, Kuya Gary! It's in America!" the children answered.
"You're right, very good! Do you want Kuya Justine to read to us a story?" Gary continued.
"Yes, yes! Please!" the children answered excitedly.
Justine sat in the center and cleared his throat. He then practiced his vocal chords by doing different sounds. The children laughed. A little girl confidently tugged at his shirt sleeve.
"Can I sit on your lap, Kuya?" the girl asked. Justine took the girl and sat her on his lap. Justine's and my eyes locked for a brief moment. 'Can I sit on your lap, too?' He laughed silently.
"Me too, me too!" some of the children said. They rushed to Justine. One put his arms around his neck. Another hooked her arm on his arm. Another one took his hand. Gary disentangled the children's hold on Justine and told them that he would have them instead. The children joyfully agreed. It was evident that the children were familiar with their Kuya Gary. They must have come to the Huang's residence a number of times.
Justine introduced the book: Ang Pakikipagsapalaran ni Isko sa Pagyanig (The Rat Who Survived an Earthquake)*. It was the story of a young rat that survived an earthquake. It talked about what to do in cases of emergencies in such a way that children are not frightened.
The children were mesmerized by the story. Justine used different voices to convey different characters. Sometimes he would ask the children to create a sound, like the sound of an earthquake. The children stamped their feet on the ground and pounded the table. They also made sound of panicked people by imitating their parents. The parents who were nearby were flabbergasted by this judging from a number of dropped jaws. The children also made sounds of blaring ambulances. They also reenacted the 'duck-cover-and-hold' protocol when a shaking occurred. Laughter would ensue after. The children were obviously enjoying the session. The parents were teary-eyed watching their kids interact with Kuya Justine and Kuya Gary. It dawned on me that the goal of this session was to get the kids talk about their ordeal during the earthquake. It was a sort of a psycho-social debriefing through story-telling and drawing. I had read about this method somewhere. This makes the survivors manage their emotions after a terrible event. The Huangs were truly admirable on how they treat their employees.
I was mesmerized too. Justine was a revelation in this session. He sounded funny when he spoke Filipino but sounded like a local would when he read it. And the way he interacted with children was impressive. I was so proud of him.
"Oi, Nina, we don't have all day. Rinse the plates," Alexis nagged.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" I answered, annoyed.
"Why don't you just go and sit on your beloved Justine's lap instead of being useless here?" Victor seconded. I splashed both of them with a little water. They were about to retaliate when Auntie Anita passed by to check on what we were doing.
A heartwarming applause rewarded Justine. I clapped too. Justine bowed several times to the kids making them clap some more. When the applause settled, Gary instructed the kids to draw whatever come to their minds about the story. The children eagerly sat down and concentrated on creating their masterpiece.
The 3 cleaning teams were done and had passed Auntie Anita's standards. We were free to observe the children's drawings. The girl who sat on Justine's lap drew a stick figure of a girl and a taller boy holding hands. There was also a table full of books. I asked her who were the people in her drawing.
"That's Kuya Justine and me. When I grow up, I'm going to marry him so he can read to me a hundred books everyday like these books on the table," the little girl said while pointing on her drawing. 'Awwwww! This girl is quite smart, isn't she?'
"You have to be a very good girl then, okay? You have to listen to your parents, eat vegetables and drink water, hmn?" I encouraged my very young rival, amused. The girl nodded.
Justine laughed and scooped the girl and raised her in the air. He asked the girl to kiss him on the cheek. The girl gave her a wet kiss. Justine put her back on the ground and adjusted his height so he could talk to her eye to eye.
"Celeste, I'm honored by your proposal but you see I am already taken." Justine took my hand.
The girl named Celeste pouted. She put her hands on her waist and scrutinized me. "Can she read a book too?"
"Of course, that's why I like her. She's Ate* Nina by the way," Justine said, playfully. I wasn't sure but I think Gary stiffened when my name was mentioned.
"Well, it's okay. I will marry both of you. She can read me books at night." Celeste decided.
"Awwwww, you just broke my heart, Celeste. Didn't you say you're going to marry me?" Gary said clutching his heart. Celeste went to her and hugged his legs.
"Don't worry Kuya Gary, I'll marry you first. You can buy all the books I want, okay?" Celeste said, hugging him tighter to console him.
Everyone erupted in laughter. Such a smart cute girl. Her innocence was refreshing. She went back to her drawings. Some of the kids showed their works too. Gary and Justine patiently complimented each one by giving him/her a thumbs-up or a high-five. When the session was finished, they helped the kids post their works around the kitchen. Gary encouraged the kids to say thank you to Justine and the rest of us. We said our goodbyes.
We were going back to the main house when Celeste ran after us and called Gary.
"Kuya Gary, Kuya Gary! she rushed towards us.
We all stopped to hear what the little girl had to say.
"Is Ate Nina the same girl in your story Finding Nina?" Celeste inquired, curious.
"Ah, you mean Finding Nemo?" Gary answered, a blush starting to cover his face.
"No, not the fish. Finding Nina! The story about a boy finding his lost love." Celeste clarified. "You told us to help the little boy find her. We pretended to go the market, to the forest, to the park, calling her."
"You would say 'Nina are you here, my love?' and we would answer, 'Sorry, she's not here!' remember?" a little boy joined in.
"No, no, no!!! It's a different Nina. The Nina in the story has red hair and orange shoes, remember? And she's more beautiful." Gary protested, his face crimson.
"I bet the Nina in the story is kinder too," Justine volunteered. Gary threw him a grateful look.
"Yeah, I think it's a different Nina" the little boy agreed.
"I'm glad it's a different Nina. The boy will be sad if his Nina is Ate Nina because Kuya Justine found her first." Celeste concluded.
"No, I don't think so. The boy will still be happy because at least Nina has been found, right?" Gary said, But he said it more like he was talking to himself.
The two young interrogators looked confused but nodded just the same. They were done asking questions. They ran back to their playmates who were already munching on snacks.
Gary looked like he was wishing for the ground to swallow him. There was an awkward silence. 'Has a secret been revealed?' I didn't know how to take all this. The gang gave me impish smile, suppressing a laugh. I was surprised when Justine approached Gary and patted him on his shoulder. Gary looked at him meaningfully.
"Thanks, bro." Gary said softly.
"Wow. What-long-hair-you-have, sister!" the girls teased, flipping their hair. I glared at them.
We all trooped back to the house. We can hear Auntie Anita's nagging.
_________
*Kuya means older brother in the Philippine language
**The children's book mentioned here is fictional
***Ate means older sister
****'What-long-hair-you-have' is a Filipino slang expression which means one is popular with the boys or girls.
