Under One Roof

I know there will be varied reactions to this kind of situation. Let me tell you about a family squabble when the three eldest children discovered that their father is already seeing someone less than a year that their mother passed away…

The three girls were already suspecting that their father is already seeing someone else. This just a few weeks after their mother passed away less than a year ago. But they had no proof so they let it go. A few weeks ago, they got the proof they need. Their father left his new cellphone at home. The second child recharged the phone and read the messages in its inbox. She read a message sent to a woman their father was obviously seeing saying that he paid for her grocery shopping. This enraged the second child and she immediately told her older and younger sisters about it. They set out to meet with the girl, the latter expecting to see the kids’ father instead.

Upon seeing the woman in a mall in the city, they immediately grab the girl and punched her. A squabble ensued prompting the mall security to break up the fight and take them all to the security office. The three girls could have been easily slapped with public scandal or something to the effect. They caused a scene, the woman claiming one of them even knocked her head on a glass window of a nearby restaurant. Fortunately for the three, the woman agreed to a settlement and they were released by the mall security.

I can totally understand where the three girls are coming from. They are actually 7 siblings, four are even minors. Their father hardly ever gives them money, making them eat noodles most of the time. And get this, two packs of noodles for the 7 of them! Their mom was badly treated when she was still alive. When they ask for money, even for a measly five peso coin, they would get a reprimand instead. Their father was that bad. And then to see him seeing someone less than a year from their mother’s death, even buying her grocery items when they haven’t seen him do that ever…

Violence is not an answer to anything. I know that. But when all the pent-up emotions of years past boil up to the surface, sometimes you can understand why violence ensues.