{"id":210,"date":"2021-03-17T23:14:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T15:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?page_id=210"},"modified":"2021-03-18T00:51:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T16:51:38","slug":"loren-hallilah-lao","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/issues\/issue-1\/loren-hallilah-lao\/","title":{"rendered":"Loren Hallilah Lao"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pamalian<\/strong><\/h2>\n

[Fiction<\/em>]
\nby Loren Hallilah Lao<\/p>\n

\u201cGet your feet off that kayuga<\/em>,\u201d Sadik told his son when he noticed the boy\u2019s feet slung on the baby\u2019s cradle of malong<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cIt will make the baby cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seven-year-old boy had been lying on his parents\u2019 cotton mattress above which hung the kayuga<\/em> and he had both feet slung on the kayuga which he gently swayed from one side to the other.<\/p>\n

Sadik went to the narrow kitchen which was the only room partitioned from the rest of the wooden house.\u00a0 The rest of the house was a large square room in which three rows of mattresses lie on one length.\u00a0 The first was for Sadik and his wife above which the kayuga<\/em> hung; the second for their three older children and the last laid against the wall of the kitchen was for his wife\u2019s old mother and younger sister.\u00a0 Only the lone narrow post at the middle of the room, barely holding the sagging roof, divided the area so at nighttime, mosquito nets separated the group of people on one mattress from the others.\u00a0 On the other side of the room, opposite the rows of mattresses, an old sala<\/em> set was placed on the corner near the front door.\u00a0 Between this furniture and the door to the kitchen were two kabans<\/em> where clothes are kept and two cabinets with transparent glass doors, one containing unused glassware and the other clothes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you to take your feet off that kayuga!<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Sadik roared at the door to the kitchen.\u00a0 The tall lean man had just reemerged at the door carrying a broomstick and he saw his son again whose feet were still swaying on the kayuga<\/em>. \u201dYou are so hard-headed!\u201d<\/p>\n

The loud booming voice of his father startled the boy and he quickly took his feet off the malong<\/em>.\u00a0 The shout also startled the baby who had been lying on the middle mattress beside her elder sister.\u00a0 The baby wailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere, you see?\u201d\u00a0 Sadik scolded his son.<\/p>\n

Amira, the elder sister lying beside the baby sat up and scooped up her baby sister in her arms but the baby continued to wail at the top of her lungs.\u00a0 Sadik put down the broomstick and went to the mattress where his daughters were seated.\u00a0 He took the baby and rocked her in his arms.\u00a0 He tried to pacify the baby but the wails only got louder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was that?\u201d\u00a0 Jamila asked who had appeared on the kitchen doorway with her old mother, both alarmed by the shrill cry of the baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many times do I have to tell you never to sling your feet on the kayuga<\/em> because sooner or later the baby will cry but you never take it in your head!\u201d\u00a0 Sadik continued to scold his son.\u00a0 The frightened boy scampered from the mattress, went towards the kitchen and vanished from view of his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Jamila\u2019s mother asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese children.\u00a0 I told them many times over never to sling their feet on the baby\u2019s kayuga<\/em> but they never learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother and daughter exchanged knowing looks and Jamila went to take the baby from her husband.\u00a0 Her mother went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.\u00a0 Out of fear of her furious father, Amira got up and took the broomstick left by her father on the kitchen door and started sweeping the floor.\u00a0 Jamila sang lullaby to her child as she continued to rock the baby.\u00a0 Sadik sat on the sala<\/em> set looking irritated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is Abdul?\u201d\u00a0 He suddenly asked noticing the absence of his four-year-old son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must still be out,\u201d Jamila said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was playing with his friends at Babo a<\/em> Saima\u2019s yard,\u201d said Amira.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill playing?\u00a0 At this hour?\u201d\u00a0 Sadik\u2019s face was again a picture of anger.\u00a0 \u201cAmira, you go and find your brother and tell him to come home.\u00a0 It\u2019s purimon<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmira, go call you brother home,\u201d Jamila reiterated in a low voice to make her daughter hurry.<\/p>\n

The girl dropped the broomstick and went out to call her brother.\u00a0 When she was gone, Sadik turned to his wife.\u00a0 \u201cInaman,<\/em> don\u2019t let them play outside this late.\u00a0 At a time like this, you don\u2019t get anything outside except bad things.\u00a0 Ati,<\/em> you\u2019re supposed to close windows and doors.\u00a0\u00a0 Bad things start to wander around during this time and you\u2019ll never know when you will bump into these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamila did not say a single word.\u00a0 She was a tall flabby woman, a year older than her husband.\u00a0 Though she normally had no tolerance to her husband\u2019s raised voice when directed against her, this time she ignored him.\u00a0 She quietly went to put the baby on her kayuga<\/em> and started closing the windows and the door.\u00a0 The baby stopped crying and she picked up the broom left by her daughter.\u00a0 She felt the broom sticks getting loose from the rubber that tied them in place so she pummeled the handle\u2019s end on the post at the center of the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go again!\u201d\u00a0 Sadik shouted at his wife.\u00a0 \u201cYou too!\u00a0 You mark my words there will be fighting in this house again.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head in exasperation.\u00a0 He got up from the sala<\/em> set, now looking very annoyed and went to lie on their own mattress under his baby.<\/p>\n

The exasperated look on her husband\u2019s face looked comical to Jamila that he almost made her laugh.\u00a0 She could barely stifle her giggles as she started sweeping the floor.<\/p>\n

Her husband had many pamalian<\/em>.\u00a0 Slinging the feet on the baby\u2019s kayuga<\/em> will cause the baby to cry.\u00a0 Hitting the post at the middle of the house will lead to the members of the household fighting.\u00a0 The doors and windows should be closed before dusk because only bad things could happen at this hour and one should not go out during this time because bad incidents usually happen at this hour.\u00a0 In contrast, the windows and doors should be opened immediately at sunrise and one should get up because then blessings descend down from heaven.<\/p>\n

Jamila particularly liked one particular story of his.\u00a0 Before his parents went to hers to ask for her hand, they had gone first to see another woman.\u00a0 His parents were the first to visit the woman\u2019s house \u201cto test the waters\u201d.\u00a0 They were welcomed to the house but when they asked to see the girl, one of her sisters said the girl was still having a bath down the river.\u00a0 His parents never returned and he never went there.\u00a0 Thus ended the courtship.\u00a0 When a suitor\u2019s first visit to a woman\u2019s house coincides with her taking a bath, the man will become a widower of the woman.<\/p>\n

Sometimes Jamila found all these beliefs funny and ridiculous making her laugh but he would say, \u201cOur ancestors did not die for believing in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But perhaps his superstitions were made more acute by the money he recently lost.\u00a0 He had arrived early in the afternoon from the ragat<\/em> where he had a thriving business and he was very tired from his trip.\u00a0 After his late lunch, he told his wife about how he lost his sales while he was on his way to buy more goods for his store.\u00a0 But despite this, he still brought home gifts for her and the children.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should not have bothered, you know\u2026\u201d she told him, feeling sympathetic with the forlorn expression of her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot possibly come home without anything to give you and the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

This endeared him more to his wife.\u00a0 Even in the face of adversity, he still thought of his family, her and the children.\u00a0 So Jamila perfectly understood his temper this afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the matter with you?\u201d\u00a0 Sadik boomed again from the mattress.\u00a0 Jamila had just swept out of the door the dust and some small scraps of papers she had gathered with the broom.<\/p>\n

This time Jamila could no longer stop herself from laughing.\u00a0 One should not sweep dirt out of the door at night because it would mean sweeping luck out of the door also.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you relax?\u00a0 Your loud voice had me confused that I no longer know what to do.\u00a0 I get to forgot all your pamalian<\/em> out of my confusion,\u201d she said with a touch of mirth on her eyes.<\/p>\n

She finished sweeping the floor and placed the broomstick on the corner near the door.\u00a0 Then Amira and Abdul entered the door in a huff, the boy wide-eyed with fear of his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cClose that door,\u201d Sadik told the girl.\u00a0 Amira closed the door slowly while the boy stood nervously beside the sala<\/em> set facing his father but avoiding his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d asked Sadik in a flat monotone barely concealing his annoyance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying!\u00a0 I told you many times over never to stay out at dusk and you never listen to me!\u00a0 Do you want some beatings now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, you take your brother to the kitchen and make him wash his feat,\u201d Jamila told her daughter to relieve the boy from her infuriated husband.<\/p>\n

Amira took hold of her brother\u2019s hand and led him to the kitchen.\u00a0 Jamila had just sat down the sala<\/em> set to rest when a loud knock rapped on the door.\u00a0 Sadik lay back on the mattress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is it?\u201d he asked before his wife could get up to open the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s me.\u201d\u00a0 It was the voice of Raida, Jamila\u2019s younger sister.\u00a0 Jamila opened the door.\u00a0 \u201cSaima arrived,\u201d Raida told her sister when she got inside.\u00a0 \u201cShe said to tell you to go to their house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go there tomorrow,\u201d Sadik told his wife.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s already evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said it\u2019s urgent,\u201d Raida told her sister under her breath.\u00a0 Jamila winked at her sister conspirationally not to let her husband hear her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that far,\u201d Jamila said trying to assure her husband for going out at night.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s only five houses away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s up to you but don\u2019t say later I didn\u2019t warn you,\u201d Sadik said and turned his back on his wife.<\/p>\n

Jamila unwrapped the upper end of her malong<\/em> to cover her head and went out of the door.\u00a0 Raida went to the kitchen.\u00a0 Her mother asked what was Saima, the old woman\u2019s niece, wanted from Jamila.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d shrugged Raida.\u00a0 \u201cShe said it\u2019s urgent.\u00a0 Sounds of pots, ladles and plates clanging mixed with the children\u2019s noise as Raida and her mother started serving dinner to the kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmira, you go on call your father to eat,\u201d the old woman told her granddaughter.\u00a0 \u201cSo that he can retire early.\u00a0 He\u2019s tired from his trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl got up from the table and went to the door that led to the main room and called her father, \u201cAma<\/em>, the meal\u2019s ready.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go on eat.\u00a0 I\u2019ll wait for your Ina<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amira went back to the kitchen and joined her brothers and the two elder women on the table. They were midway with their dinner when they heard the front door banged open.\u00a0 The door crashed on the wall displacing the broomstick Jamila had earlier put on the corner.\u00a0 The two elder women rushed to the kitchen door, the children following immediately behind them.\u00a0 The sound also made Sadik sit up from where he was lying on the mattress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is that kiyasokaran!<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Jamila shouted as she stood at the door, her face fuming mad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d\u00a0 Her husband asked looking alarmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cKiyasokarangka!<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 She rushed to her husband but she tripped on the broomstick.\u00a0 She took the broomstick and ran to the mattress and started hitting her husband.\u00a0 The man fell on his back and Jamila straddled him and continued to hit him with the broomstick.<\/p>\n

\u201cAydao! Aydao!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this? What is this?\u201d\u00a0 The old woman asked as she rushed to the couple on the mattress.\u00a0 Her malong<\/em> fell and she stopped on her tracks to gather the cloth.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not lose the money! \u00a0He used the money to get married!\u00a0 I will kill you!\u00a0 To think that my heart even bled earlier for his story of his loss when he was having a great time with his wife!\u00a0 I\u2019m going to kill you!\u201d\u00a0 Each statement of Jamila was punctuated with a hit of the broomstick.\u00a0 Sadik tried to parry the blows but could not do it very well because he would have to hit or hurt his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cAydao<\/em>!\u201d\u00a0 Sadik continued to wince in pain.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Who told you?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t deny it!\u00a0 Liar!\u00a0 I know it!\u00a0 I know it!\u00a0 They told me so!\u00a0 You can\u2019t fool me!\u00a0 I will kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n

The old woman reached the wrestling couple and took the broom away from her daughter and threw it away.\u00a0 But Jamila continued to hit her husband, this time with her hands.\u00a0 Then she grabbed his hair and tugged at them.\u00a0 The old woman tried to take her daughter\u2019s hand but the she was no match to the strength of her daughter as the latter elbowed or kicked her mother in her wild attack against her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me a hand here, will you?\u201d\u00a0 The old woman shouted at Raida who was still immobile with shock at the kitchen door.\u00a0 The children had started crying.\u00a0 The old woman bumped the kayuga<\/em> and the baby started to wail also.\u00a0 \u201cAmira, get your sister!\u201d<\/p>\n

Raida went to the aid of her mother while Amira took her sister from the cradle of malong<\/em>.\u00a0 Mother and daughter managed to take hold of Jamila\u2019s hands which were now clawed on her husband\u2019s face.\u00a0 The fingers scratched the man\u2019s face as the two women disentangled his wife from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAydao!<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Sadik shouted in pain, his hand groping where his wife had scratched his face.\u00a0 He stood up as the two women hauled his wife away to the next mattress.\u00a0 When they had her finally under control, Jamila was disrobed of her malong<\/em> and only a thin chemise covered her legs.\u00a0 The old woman and Raida bore scratches on their arms.\u00a0 All three women\u2019s hairs were in disarray.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you?\u00a0 What happened?\u201d\u00a0 The old woman asked again in halting deep breaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me he had married a woman in the ragat<\/em>!\u00a0 He did not lose money.\u00a0 He used it for the butang<\/em> for his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you not to go out because it\u2019s evening but you did not listen to me,\u201d Sadik said wincing in pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t blame the evening!\u00a0 It\u2019s you!\u00a0 This is nobody\u2019s fault but yours!\u00a0 You!\u00a0 Yours!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJamila, keep your voice down.\u00a0 The neighbors will hear you,\u201d the old woman told her raging daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care!\u00a0 Let them hear it!\u201d\u00a0 She lunged at her husband again and the two women scrambled after her.\u00a0 They wrapped their hands around her to stop her.\u00a0 All fell on the mattress face down as they pinned the violent woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for hitting that post.\u00a0 I told you many times never to hit it with anything.\u00a0 This is what you get,\u201d Sadik said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe post, ha!\u201d\u00a0 Jamila pried away the hands of her mother and sister and went to the kitchen in long furious strides.\u00a0 She did not notice her sons who were sobbing at the door side while they watched the display of violence.\u00a0 She emerged in a moment carrying a badi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the\u2026?!\u201d\u00a0 The old woman stopped in mid-sentence when she saw the bladed weapon she used earlier to cut firewood.\u00a0 She again wrapped her malong<\/em> tighter around her waist and attempted to go to her daughter but stopped at the look of determination on Jamila\u2019s face.\u00a0 Sadik looked frightened at the sight of the badi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, you drop that,\u201d he said now looking really scared.<\/p>\n

But Jamila went to the center of the house and started hacking the wooden post with the badi<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the post\u2019s fault, ha!\u00a0 Let\u2019s see if this will stop all the miseries in this damned house!\u201d<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s cries started to get loud again.\u00a0 The three elder persons tried to come near Jamila to dissuade her but she turned to them with the badi<\/em> held high and shouted a stern warning, \u201cDon\u2019t even think of coming near!\u201d<\/p>\n

They halted on their tracks.\u00a0 They tried to come near again but Jamila would raise the badi<\/em> at them every time they did so making them stop again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody stop her!\u201d\u00a0 Sadik shouted at no one in particular looking helplessly at his wife.<\/p>\n

Their neighbors heard the commotion and the children\u2019s loud cries and they started appearing on the front door but stopped from coming inside the instant they saw Jamila hacking at the post, half of her body still covered only by the transparent chemise.\u00a0 The first neighbors to come were young women and they could only look at the hacking woman helplessly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was the commotion?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat were the shouts?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m cutting the cause of all the miseries in this house!\u201d\u00a0 Jamila answered.\u00a0 The neighbors looked at the other members of the household in askance but the latter could not supply answers as they entreated Jamila to stop.\u00a0 No one dared stop her and so they began to suggest some elderly relative in the neighborhood whom they thought could talk reason with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody call Kaka<\/em> to make her stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSi Bapa<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet Ina<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The roof sagged even more when Jamila was finally finished cutting it in half.\u00a0 When the older women and the men arrived, Jamila was almost finished with her work.\u00a0 A stooped elderly aunt of Jamila arrived and wrested the weapon from her hand.\u00a0 Jamila straightened up and let out a deep breath.\u00a0 She tucked the loose tendrils of her hair behind her ears and turned to the neighbors to answer their queries.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadik says hitting this post is pamalian<\/em>.\u00a0 It causes the fights in this house.\u00a0 So if it\u2019s hacked off, it might ward him off from getting married to more women.\u00a0 It was the cause of this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

[box type=”bio”] *This story is reprinted from the anthology Rays of the Invisible Light<\/strong> (Bidadali Press, 2015), edited by Gutierrez Mangansakan II.[\/box]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[box]\"LorenLoren Hallilah Lao<\/strong> is a Prosecutor from Lanao del Sur.\u00a0Before she went to weave actual crime stories for the court, she used to write fictional stories while in law school and while she was teaching English in Mindanao State University in Marawi City.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\/box]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Loren Hallilah Lao is a Prosecutor from Lanao del Sur.\u00a0Before she went to weave actual crime stories for the court, she used to write fictional stories while in law school and while she was teaching English in Mindanao State University in Marawi City. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":211,"parent":105,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-210","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210\/revisions\/253"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}