Summer Lovin'

Henry with Corky and the Titas

Summer Vacation has started.

Mama didn't approve of summer vacation. She defied it. She decided that although we no longer went to class, she would keep on giving us lessons anyway.

There were the perpetual piano lessons of course, one hour once a day, everyday except Sunday. There was reading, where we all read from books such as Dick and Jane, and Short Stories about Pioneers. She also constantly produced many many multiplication tables made of carton.

"One times one is one, one times two is two...two, four, six, eight, ten.....seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty eight....."

Daily recitations, no wrong answers, speak it aloud in rhythm.

"Twelve, twenty four, thirty-six, forty eight...."

I could never understand whether her stock of multiplication tables stemmed out of a love for math or from her extreme practicality where every spare bit of carton from used boxes of cereal or empty biscuit cases must be kept and recycled.

Whatever the reason, there it was, the never-ending supply of tabled numbers piled neatly in her "tokador" waiting for the chance to torment us.

teacher

One summer, my cousin Henry came over to spend some time with us. Mama, rather than letting us be, seeing that we had a visitor, did not spare us a moment. If that person had to be there, he just had to be included in our activities. The lessons had to be done, and so he had to undertake the lessons too.

(Hmmm, that must have been a very relaxing vacation for him...don't you think?)

Anyway, one afternoon, Mama prepared math problems for the both of us. Two pieces of paper, two pieces of the green pencils marked "Polytechnic Colleges of the Philippines." One set of questions.

We were taken outside, to the glass topped metal outdoor table she had in front of her house. I guess it was cooler there. We sat next to each other, and Mama gave us instructions to come to her when we were done.

An hour later. I was finished. I asked Henry whether he had completed the paper too, and he also said he was done. I decided to compare our answers so that we would know if either of us made a mistake. I was excited and happy, the answers matched and I logically concluded we both had perfect scores. We would be done right away and Mama would allow us to go and play the rest of the afternoon.

We finally went to Mama. I was smiling knowing I had done well. Then Mama said "May mga Mali!!"

I was surprised. How could that be? We'd both gotten the same answers....

Mama asked us to redo specific questions. She again brought us to the outside table, and sat us down. This time, at opposite "kabiseras." Then she said " Wag kang pakokopya..."

Okay...

He had copied off of my paper. That had never happened to me before. I was shocked. It never occurred to me that it could happen (Why would it? It wasn't graded after all...)

Anyway, I finished right away, and he spent another half hour with his. I checked the answers again, and Mama rechecked the papers, finally, with all answers correct, we were allowed out.

Henry never again allowed himself to get caught when Mama was in a teaching mood .She rarely ever saw him again and you can bet he made sure to make himself invisible to her all the rest of that summer.