Chapter 4: Chapter 4

One morning, Valor was removing coconut from the fiber. His mother wanted to prepare coconut rice for them to eat. He finished the peeling on time. Other children came and gathered around and watched him. He broke the coconut and shared its juice. All of them struggled to have a taste of it. Very soon, he removed the copra and began to grate them on a local grater. The cooking had begun. Valor usually disappeared whenever his mother cooks. He got himself busy in order not to run any errand concerning things in the kitchen. He preferred sweeping the rooms than to be in the kitchen. After several minutes of restlessness, his mother called him to come and get his food. He got his food and began to eat. Coconut rice was his best food. He ate as if he was in a rush. After the first bowl of rice, he requested another one. His mother was surprised and remembered that it was her son’s best food. She started talking to him “Your best food, you cannot cook, and your stomach is like that of a goat, always hungry. You don’t even hang around in the kitchen to watch. All you do is purge your stomach and wait for the best. I have been telling you to find a wife that can cook before you finish school. Even girls nowadays cannot cook. Our tenant behind, all you will see in her waste bin is noodles pack and eggshells or you see moin-moin leaf wrap inside a bread packet. All kinds of fast food inside her waste bin. I don’t want you to marry a lazy woman.” Valor became astonished and replied to his mother, “So, you check their waste bin to see if they can cook, Elderly age is very funny.” “Our mind goes a long way. If a woman cannot care for herself, then how will she care for her family with the simplest thing such as food. You better be wise if you want to know the woman that can cook. Check their waste bin before it gets filled up then you would know what I am talking about.” Valor started laughing, he collected his plate of rice and said, “Mummy, you amaze me.” He left her and was still laughing. All she said, Valor did not care to listen again. He started preparing himself to sneak on his female friend’s waste bin.