Samantha rises from her sleep when the sun appears to circulate the spherical world. She kneels beside her bed and prays.

“Our father in heaven. May your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us the food we need today. Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us. And don’t lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. For kingship, power and glory are yours forever. Amen.”

She then rises from her feet and proceeds to shower. After showering, she wears her school uniform and goes down to the dining room. Her maid meets her in the dining room, showing her that the meals are ready.

“Eat, our princess. You have your favorite chicken stew.”

“Wow, thank you. I like this dish. I’m glad you made this today.”

“You can dig in now, Sam.”

Samantha sits on the chair where there is a plate of rice set against it.

‘I guess I’m not gonna do things my way,’ Samantha thought as the plate of rice was already served to her.

In front of her are bowls of meatballs and chicken stew soup with chicken meat. Shortly after she sat down, her brother arrived at the scene. He sits opposite her where a plate of rice is also set against the chair.

He looks at her and says, “Good morning, big sister.”

She smiles at him and says, “Good morning, Manny. You look refreshed today.”

“Well, it’s because of what you said to me last night.”

“What were you two talking about last night?” Her maid interjected, sitting on a chair beside Manny.

He looks at his maid and says, “I’ve been enlightened.”

“What is it all about?”

“About God stuff.”

“That’s interesting. Try telling me.”

“Well, all of the evil in the world is humanity’s fault, not God’s. And that there is a God who created the creation, the world, just as there is a painter who painted a painting.”

“Oh, that. I think Samantha and I talked about that,” her maid said then looked at Samantha. “Did we, Samantha?”

“Yes, we did,” Samantha says. “It’s about what Huck Finn said that the world was created by itself. But that’s illogical, there has to be a necessary being who created the universe.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember now. If there is a created universe, there has to be a creator. Simple logic, but complex in detail, I think. But we didn’t talk about the evil in this world.”

“Well, basica-“ Samantha says but interrupted.

The other maid came to the dining room and says, “Let them eat first, Nita. Talk with them later.”

Her yaya says, “Oh, right. Children, eat first. We’ll talk sometime.”

They nod and proceed to eat. Samantha pours out the soup on her plate and flattens the rice in the soup. She then eats the rice, gets a meatball, and nibbles a piece of it. Manny gets the chicken meat and meatballs, eating them along with the rice. He didn’t pour out the soup on his plate.

Their maid looks at him and says, “As usual, you don’t pour out any soup on your rice.”

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“I prefer not to, yaya. I like the chicken tho,” Manny replies

As they are eating, their maid reads her book.

“Hmm.”

Samantha looks at her maid and says, “Why hmm?”

“Oh, nothing. It looks like the two kings are renewing their name for their show.”

Samantha then bursts out laughing and bangs the wooden table with her fist.

“What?” Her maid says.

She composes herself and says, “Oh, just read further yaya, it’s amusing.”

Samantha then continues to eat her meal while the maid reads her book. As the maid is reading, she snickers. Samantha looks at her and smiles. Then all of a sudden, her maid bursts out laughing and bangs her fist on the wooden table. Seeing her maid's reaction, Samantha bursts out laughing. Her maid leans back on her chair and laughs out loud with a hand on her chest as she gasps for air. Manny looks confused and all but decides to continue eating.

After they have exhausted themselves, they finally become calm and continue to do what they are doing.

Manny couldn’t shake the curiosity of why they laughed so hard, then he finally says, “Why the laughing?”

Samantha looks at him and says, “Well, let’s say, it’s funny.”

“I know it’s funny, but what did you laugh about?”

“Well, it’s not for kids, so I’m not gonna tell you anything.”

Manny puts down the spoon and fork on his plate and says, “Well, let’s say, I’m gonna tell mom that you are laughing at something inappropriate in front of a child.”

“I couldn’t becau-“

Before she could finish, her maid says, “They fooled people about their show being all grand and all, and when the curtains are rolled up, out goes the king walking on all fours naked.” The maid wheezed her lungs out laughing.

Samantha immediately says, “Yaya, it’s not for chi-“

Before she could finish, Manny then laughs out loud, banging on the table with his fist. He is laughing so hard that his face is almost touching his food.

Manny looks at his yaya and says, “Oh, yaya. I haven’t laughed so hard with the stupidest sentence I’ve ever heard.”

Their maid laughs along with him silly and says, “I know, right?”

Samantha just sighs and smiles at him as he is laughing. Then she continues eating her meal.

When they are done eating, Samantha kisses Manny on his forehead and says, “Gotta go.”

Manny waves at her and says, “Bye, big sister. I hope you excel in school.”

She smiles and says, “I hope you read books while you’re at home.”

“I’m at it, big sister.”

“Good boy. Bye.”

Samantha then heads to their SUV which is on the ground floor. As she gets in the van, her driver gets in the driver’s seat.

“You’re early, Sam.”

Samantha smirks and says, “Yeah, by a thousand years.”

“Well, sorry ‘bout that.”

“Just kidding, I’m not even here for more than a minute.”

The driver laughs and says, “You and your jokes again, Sam. You seem to be in a good spirit today.”

“Well, every day for me is a good day.”

“Good. Would it be good for me to pick you up after school?”

“No, Rob.”

“Hmm, you told me that everything is good for you.”

“Every day is good for me, Rob, but not everything.”

“I’m sorry. I read a little bit too much from what you said. By the way, why won’t you let me pick you up after school.”

“Well, I just want to walk home.”

“Is there someone you want to walk home with?”

Her mouth gaped open reaching the ground and said, “How did you know that?”

The driver chuckles and says, “I can see you both while I am in the garage, looking through the window, for the past month.”

“Oh, really? I guess most of you here knew all along.”

“I told no one though, you’re safe.”

“My dad knows.”

“Oops. Your teacher told him?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a bummer. Anyways, I gotta get you to school, now. I don’t want your father to get mad at me. We’ll talk on the way.”

“Ok.”

The driver gets the van out of the garage and out in the streets heading to Samantha’s school.

“How did your father react?”

“I think he’s disappointed in me.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t want me to have a boyfriend yet while I’m studying. Not telling him made it, I think, worse.”

The driver sighs and says, “I don’t think you understand what your dad wants from you.”

“What is it, Rob?”

“I read a book from my son that the maximum amount of years for you to be boyfriend/girlfriend is 3 years, and that’s the time when you should get married. Why? Because your sexual drive is at its height by that time. You and Cesar are going on a long ride if you ask me. You better drop the mic before you can fall into an unwanted pregnancy. Just speaking from experience, I am one of those who had an unwanted pregnancy with my then-girlfriend and now wife. We didn’t finish school, and now I work a menial job for them. Not that I hate this job, but I wish things were different.”

Both of them went silent while the sound of the engine triumphed. Samantha puts her elbow on her knees and puts her head in her hands.

‘Hmm. Is this really a bad idea? It’s possible that we won’t wait until marriage when the heat is at its height. What should I do? I’m too young to be a mother. I should do something about it.’

Suddenly the van stops and Robert says, “Well, Sam. We have arrived at our destination. Excel well in your classes. You need to pump those grades up like there’s no tomorrow.”

Samantha opens the door and says to him, “Thank you, Rob.”

“You're welcome.”

She gets out and shuts the door.