Madonna della Seggiola (I)

It was the usual afternoon at work.

Emails and phone calls are off the hook; not to mention, urgent requests on top of that. It was really toxic; and another phone call from an irate User would set me off.

“Not again!!” I irked, when my phone rang seconds after the last call. But it wasn’t a User, it was Louie.

“Yes?”

“Nate? Si mom…”

The next few words became unclear. I froze.

“… pupuntahan ko siya ngayon”

“Hello Louie? Choppy ang line.”

“Hello?!”

The call was dropped. I tried calling again, but his number is unreachable, “F*ck the signal. F*ck the TelCos.”

I couldn’t seem to focus after that call, and the supposedly last 2 hours of work became the longest 2 hours I could ever imagine. When the clock struck thirty minutes after six post meridiem, I hurriedly went home.

“Where’s mom?” I asked my youngest sibling.

“Wala pa eh, she’s with Louie.”

“Ah ok… Ano daw ba nangyari? Ang labo kasi kausap ni Louie eh… Nakakainis.”

“Ewan ko rin dun. Basta ako, umuwi rin ako as soon as I heard.”

“Sige, let’s wait nalang for them.”

Patience is not really my virtue, but I’m working on that. For me, to wait is grueling. But what else could I possibly do at this time? But to wait... patiently wait.

From the restroom I could hear someone knocking on the door. “Bro, could you see who it is?”

“Sige.”

Wind chimes signal that the door is being opened, “Anak?”

It was mom’s voice.

I rushed towards her, and gave her a tight hug, “Anong nangyari?”

It was just then that I was able to get a look on her face, on her state. I felt a tear dropped from my right eye.

“Oh, asikasuhin nyo si mom,” a command from me; the kuya. It made me look tough and in control. 

So, while my two younger brothers attended to my mom, I slowly went to my room without being noticed. I, then, locked the doors, grabbed a pillow to cover my face, and cried. I wouldn’t want them to see me crumbling.

When I was done, I went back to check on her while she’s seated, looking weak.

***

 “She would sit there on that same chair where he used to sit. On the backrest, she would lay her head and stay still.

 

***

“Mom, ano ba kasi talaga ang nangyari?” I asked, as I pull a chair to sit beside her and hold her hand.

“Ganito kasi, anak…”

***to be continued...