The Taste of Good Food

The sun shone brightly from above while the streets down below lay abandoned, ghosted by its inhabitants. A young boy slowed his pace as he frantically licked the ice cream that he held. He had just bought the popsicle a few minutes ago and yet it had already been reduced to a sticky liquid that was crawling down his hand.

‘Better risk saliva on his hand than waste all that ice cream’, the boy thought.

It’s not every day the boy can eat a popsicle. He had been out throwing trash for a young lady when she gave him an extra 20 pesos to buy himself some food as a reward for his hard work – which is why he had gotten himself a popsicle.

The boy continued to walk down the empty streets, a now naked popsicle stick in hand. A small, broken down structure made of wood was slowly coming into view - home. He approached the house and found his mom squatting outside their home washing clothes from a basin, her hair up in a bun as sweat dripped off her forehead.

“Oh, Jun-jun. You’re back,” she said, pausing her work to greet her son.

She stood up and wiped a hand on her oversized shirt – extending it towards Jun-jun. The boy took it and lightly touched his forehead to his mother’s knuckles.

“Kuya!” A cute voice called out from inside. Suddenly, a small body crashed against Jun-jun. He embraced the little girl that launched herself at him. Another boy, one who looked like a younger version of himself, came into view with two small children – one hanging off his back and the other beside him holding his hand.

“Kuya, come on! Let’s play!” The little girl who was hugging Jun-jun tugged at his faded colored shorts.

“Wait, Lorraine. Let me go in the house first.” Jun-jun replied, trying to walk away from his little sister.

The kids ran back into the house as their mother called out to them to be careful before going back to her work. Jun-jun rushed to their bedroom and took an old plastic coin bank that sat near his bed. It wasn’t the prettiest looking coin bank but it was good enough– his father had gotten an unused plastic can and made a hole on top for the money to get in. The boy reached into his pocket and brought out 35 pesos – the results of his hard work for the day. Smiling, he dropped the money into the coin bank and shook it. He enjoyed hearing the sound the coins made as they hit each other, even if there were only a few coins (and maybe two bills) in the can. He imagined that, maybe one day, he could buy himself some really good food. Maybe from some fast foods like Jollibee or McDonald’s? He’s only eaten there once, and he’d love to eat there again.

“Kuya,” Lorraine called out, “come on! Let’s play!”

***

The kids played until the sun went down. They ran around with the neighboring kids, trying to catch each other while avoiding the adults that walked around. One of them even nearly fell into the sewer in the process.

The five siblings went back home, sweaty from all the playing they had done. Their mother had finished doing the laundry and was now cooking food for the family. Their father, who had just come home from work, was watching the news off an old television he found in a garbage pile that one time. The screen had some issues, and there were some scratches here and there, but it still worked. 

“Papa! You’re back!” The siblings simultaneously blurted out (the loudest of them being Lorraine). Their father smiled at the sight of his children, the apparent weariness on his face seemingly disappearing.

The children unconsciously fell into a line (or at least it was supposed to be a line) and blessed their father’s hand – a gentle forehead to knuckle action.

“You’re all so sweaty. Go and take a bath first and change before eating dinner,” their father said. The kids followed suit and raced to the bathroom, fighting over who gets to bathe first.

***

After the siblings all had their turn at the bath and got dressed, the family gathered at the dinner table, their mother bringing to the table the rice, the fish, and the soy sauce as they said their prayers. A simple prayer of thanks for the food, thanks for the provision so they’re not starving even amidst everything. The kids happily started to eat. It’s been a while since they’ve eaten a fish, considering that, most of the time, they only had soy sauce to put onto their rice. Soy sauce on rice isn’t all that bad, but soy sauce on fish, together with some rice, just brought along a different flavor (to say the least).

“Don’t fight over the fish,” their mother reminded. Even if they all wanted to eat as much of the fish as they wanted to, they simply couldn’t. Everyone had to share one fish. It was a pretty big fish though, but not big enough for a family of seven.

***

The family had just finished dinner and the kids, happy with what they’ve just eaten, went on to watch TV. Their parents had stayed behind in the dining area to wash the dishes (it was the mother’s turn to wash the dishes).

Jun-jun stood up from his chair to get some water. As he got closer to the dining area, he heard his parents having a conversation. A serious one.

‘I probably shouldn’t eavesdrop,’ the boy thought.

He still did though.

He stood a distance away from the dining room entrance, enough for him not to be noticed. He could see his dad sitting down on a chair while his mother washed the dishes.

“Where will we get money now?” Jun-jun heard his mother say.

“I don’t know, Mar. I’ll find a way.” His father sighed. “It’s just that… work’s hard to find during this pandemic.”

“Maybe we could ask Jun-jun if we could use his savings?”

Jun-jun’s heart sank. It wasn’t the first time his savings had gone down to 0 but it still affected him.

‘Nope. Don’t think like that. It’s for the good of everyone in this family.’

The boy walked sighed and walked into the dining area, putting on a small smile on his face. His parents paused their conversation and watched Jun-jun get some water, checking up on him and his siblings along the way. After chugging down glass of water and answering his parents’ questions, Jun-jun hurried back to the living room so as not to miss much of the show. He sat back down beside Lorraine (who almost always clung to him like glue) and leaned back.

After a minute of silence, Lorraine leaned towards Jun-jun and whispered, “Kuya, didn’t you eat ice cream a while ago?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well,” she paused, “was it yummy?”

Jun-jun chuckled quietly. “Yeah, it was. I’ll buy you one someday, okay?”

The little girl’s face lit up. She aggressively nodded her head and smiled.