I was too young to understand the quarrels between mum and dad. Mum usually starts all the problems with buying too much expensive stuff, and dad is there to scold her about it but not tell her to stop. He just repeats the stuff mum does in words. Luckily, I got into first grade and immediately understood why they were so eager of fighting off each other.
Mum likes the drama, dad loves mum for her drama. When I realized this, I thought, they’re like clowns. So I laughed every time they would start quarrels because it is certainly all for the drama. Mum and Dad also looked pleased when I was laughing. It seems like I did a good job being an only child
Until, on the days before Christmas, mum brought all this expensive stuff, series lights, a pot-sized fir tree, Santa gnomes, Christmas balls, and red socks from MINE and DAD’s wallet!! I have barely gotten ten pennies in my wallet, why had she even run me dry as well? Dad was most especially angry. He is most aware that we live in a two-room apartment and that we are slowly running out of money because he recently got fired. He never told mum at that time yet. So they quarreled again, and again until it became annoying rather than fun entertainment to watch. Then on the evening of Christmas eve, when mum, dad, and I had dinner, not one of us spoke a word after the prayer. It was the most agonizing. I could not bear the silence that I asked, ‘is there something wrong?’ Then both answered with different responses! Mum said no, dad said yes. Then dad finally came clean with him losing his job. Then mum lost her shells after hearing the case of no more money in the wallet! Then the quarreling went downhill. I had to do something. 11 year old me could not think of anything except following my guts and my heart. I shouted, ‘MUM!, DAD!’ and showed them our happy family picture, ‘We need to be like this again! Santa will not come for me if you two keep on fighting’ surprisingly, they stopped. But my charade did not end there, I grabbed both their hands, and sat them at their respective seats at the dining table. I placed one coin on the table, one candy, my empty wallet, everything I had, even my hand I placed on the table and I told them, ‘we start over, and we need to be honest with each other. Mum can stop worrying about her drama and Dad needs a job. I want to go to school so we need to start over.’ Mom then sighed, ‘Oh how adorable you are child’ and grabbed my hand. Father followed, ‘always making us happy…even now…’ and started sobbing, mum told him to get himself together then Dad just simply could hold his emotions and lifted me high. Mum then stood up from the table and told us to stop…because she wants to join in our little quarrel. And so…in that Christmas, I then realized, I never got a present from Santa—but I am the present for mum and dad, and we quarreled happily ever after.
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