“The city’s fine,” she smiled, but there was this sudden urge to know more about this Michael.
“So, what exactly happened to you? Why do you have this amnesia thing?” Michael was careful in asking it as he forked a cut of beef on his plate. His voice seemed so neutral, so Sophia didn’t hesitate to share the details.
“I had a car accident.” She stared past him, when she said it. She couldn’t look at him. But when she did turn to look at him, his face was so worried she had to shut her eyes.
His eyes dimmed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Then he drank from his bottle of beer, while Sophia sipped her glass of soda.
The rest of their conversation was more careful and selective. Michael now talked of their grammar-school days and he shared how he had helped Jericho to save her from the water, one day at summer camp. Unknown to him, the very mention of Jericho made Sophia ache, again. Michael was unaware that the two were back together and had split up again.
Sophia staggered at the info, her eyes unsteady. Knowing that she had almost lost her life and that Jericho had saved her, her emotions went to war again. Her face reddened and Michael was alarmed.
“Hey, are you all right?” Michael rushed to ask and leaned forward to examine her. He thought it was the food that made her sick, and he was about to call her dad when Sophia held his arm, to stop him.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I think I’m allergic to one of the ingredients.” She hoped the lie would spare her but she was wrong.
Somehow, Michael had a hint it was because of Jericho. He knew they were once an item, and he regretted being reckless and insensitive. He was clueless about what was happening between the two, lately.
To Sophia, it was clear now that the town and its people would never put her to rest. They would always be linked to Jericho. And if she wanted to go by, unhurt… she would be better off never making any visits nor contacting anybody. But it was here where everyone she loved, belonged. And in a way, she belonged here, as well.
A thousand things raced through Sophia’s thoughts as she got seated in Michael’s hoary truck. She was there after she accepted his offer to take her home, under Philippe’s approval at the bistro, earlier.
They passed through backstreets and main roads, and the brief silence they shared pushed Sophia to ask Michael about random things.
“What’s love to you?” she said, taking him completely by surprise, and when he finally took in the question, he laughed.
“Love is a game. It’s either you win or you lose.” He exclaimed, sounding as though no one had ever asked him the same kind of question before. “And love,” he was grumbling, “oh, there is no such thing as love at first sight.”
Sophia giggled at the idea. “What makes you say that?” She looked at him, full of questions, wondering why he was defying such an old notion that got everyone believing.
“I’ve been in love once, Sophia.” Michael’s face turned serious for an instant. “And believe me, it was lust at first sight.” He broke into a loud laugh that got her laughing, too.
“So you are saying,” she paused when he couldn’t stop laughing, and then continued when he finally did, “so you are saying that people mistake lust for love?” She laughed, too.
“Yeah, I believe true love arises only when two people are completely in sync with each other’s music. And dance with them.” He was explaining seriously, and that left her amazed. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this from a free-spirited guy, who didn’t even look at life seriously. He was refreshing. And thank goodness, she unlocked such a random topic when all she wanted was to kill the awkward silence.
“How about you?” He returned his gaze to her. “What is love to you?”
“Love?” she sighed and fell into a sudden silence, thinking. Now she had to answer the same question that she, herself, wasn’t sure of. “Love is… elusive. It has the power that only few can handle,” she said, and was saddened by the fact that she didn’t handle it well, herself.
“Deep,” he bellowed. “But you think love is eternal?” He chuckled as though it were some form of mockery or irony.
Sophia was mute for a moment. It was now a harder question, and she said, “To many, eternal love lasts forever. But for me, eternal love is not about duration. It is about a divine something which puts this life into something way beyond what is physical, what is timed, and what is measured.”
Michael was silent, afterward. He was stunned and wondered where Sophia got all these? It was a comprehensive exchange of ideas for them, and they were hushed into pondering over such insights. They loved each other’s acumen. It felt inspiring.
As they continued to pass through narrow and dark streets, Sophia wished to ask a few more things. Things that she knew she could never get from anyone else but this guy could give them, because he seemed to be so seasoned, and yet so understanding.
“I wonder if you know where Jericho’s mom is…” Though uncertain, she stiffened her spine while asking it.
“Oh, Aunt Diana! She’s in a mental hospital, or didn’t you know?”
Mental hospital? Sophia was shocked. Information had been coming in, unexpectedly, but this one knocked her out more than anything else did.
“Mental?”
“Shocking, huh?” He looked at her for a bit, and then concentrated on the driving, again.
Sophia squeezed her eyes shut and asked again. “How did she turn out that way?” She looked at him, and pretended she was cool with it.
“They said, she had this psychotic break while being pregnant with Jericho. It became even worse when she already gave birth to him.”
Sophia, strong-willed, turned, and wanted to test some things. “Who’s Jericho’s father?” She looked straight at Michael’s eyes.
“Uncle Chris.” Michael was now wondering why she was asking unlikely questions.
“So, they got married?”
“Of course, Sophia! Uncle Chris is, in fact, still alive.” Michael wondered again. “Your questions are too personal, you know?”
“Yeah, I know but…”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Sophia then slid her gaze downwards, thinking she was pushing him too much. But, to her, the gate to the unfamiliar stories was now open; it would be better if she got the most out of it, so she asked again. “Where’s that Chris, by the way?”
“You’ll never stop, do you?” Michael put in a silly laugh and willingly responded to all her queries. “He’s in town. Drinking Jack Daniel’s all day and night.” He tried not to say it with enough condemnation, though, and disclosed that Jericho’s father was, indeed, loathed by the entire town for burning his own house down, upon Diana’s diagnosis, and for replacing her with a prostitute, and Jericho was only a toddler then.
Learning all these, it was clear to Sophia now why the people treated Jericho and his family differently. Even her Grandma Lucy did so.
“It was good Jericho’s grandpa had sold their mountain to a mining company,” Michael added. “At least, they got to feed their mouths and Jericho was able to go to med. school.”
Sophia was quiet for a matter of seconds, taking in everything she learned. When she noticed he’d been waiting for her feedback, she longed for another question. “Does Jericho still live with him?”
“Not anymore. Since Jericho became a doctor, he moved to his own house.”
She nodded and went to another pause.
As for Michael, he’d only watched her through the tips of his eyes and debated with himself, and then said: “I know you two were love birds but... I suppose you know Jericho is already tying the knot.”
Sophia then bowed her head with shame. “Yeah.” She was gripping her own hands when she admitted it, couldn’t wait for the truck to reach her grandma’s and to sleep everything away but then…
“Jericho’s not the son of your dad.” Michael, out of nowhere, revealed. “The rumors aren’t true,
I’m sure.”
“What?!” Sophia was absolutely blown away. Did he just say Jericho’s not the son of her dad? And how come he knew all of these? It was supposed to be a family secret!
“My mom’s a midwife. She was the one who helped Diana deliver her first child, the one the townspeople had been alleging was your father’s love-child.” He was still speaking when Sophia began freaking out, and he temporarily stopped to search for a brown bag so she could breathe into it. When he finally found one and Sophia was already stabilizing, he asked if he could continue.
Sophia was only silent for a moment, catching up her lost breaths. And when she was calmed, she begged him to continue.
“It was stillborn. And after a year later, Uncle Chris married her. They had a child and it was Jericho.”
“What?!” Sophia was panicking again, but this time she was filled with anger, hatred, among other emotions she couldn’t identify at that moment. She couldn’t believe that she was actually fooled by all of it.
“I don’t know if you would believe me but…” Michael ensued, tangled in hesitation if he still had to carry on.
“What…?”
“Your Grandma Lucy knew it was stillborn. In fact, I don’t know why your grandma is still exclaiming Jericho is your father’s son. Maybe she made it all up.”
It was another blow to Sophia, and she could almost curse her grandma. She wanted to know if other family members were involved. But, somehow, she also had doubts if what Michael exposed was actually true. Yet…even so… Jericho was already getting married—by his own volition and everyone’s support. What else she could do? It was the dead end. For both of them. And she got tired pondering over it until they reached the manor, right after the lights were turned off.
CHAPTER 24
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grandma lucy’s birthday
Grandma Lucy’s seventy-sixth birthday was the longest day for Sophia’s life. And a doomed day. Everyone was bursting with enthusiasm for tonight’s occasion, and Sophia could almost pretend she was all right. Everything that happened, happened too quickly, too badly—she didn’t even know what to believe anymore. And who to trust anymore. It seemed everyone had been having fun in this circus of lies and manipulation.
She stayed in the balcony and reflected for a while when she saw something glistening in the spaces of the designed concrete wall. To her surprise, it was a feather, white as the clouds at day and much finer compared to a typical avian feather.
She refused to think that it was from Abanir or from someone of his race. Why would someone like him be ever in that place anyway, considering that the forest was quite isolated from the town?
Downstairs, there had been too many people setting up elongated tables and marvelous decorations. It was one of the most anticipated events of the town. She wanted to leave but where can she go, except to the lake house?
The celebrating hour arrived, and everything was all done in Spanish design, to indicate the Spanish ancestry in the family. Above was a majestic gemstone chandelier that scattered light in every direction across the magnificently furnished living room (that the family had taken good care of for centuries since the arrival of Giancarlo Ruy Vabueretti, who was one of the explorers that King Charles I of Spain had sent to sail the Pacific, after Juan Sebastian Elcano’s return from the Spice Islands). As everyone knew, he was the first gobernadorcillo (town mayor) of Quiño, Forest Green’s former name, when he married a beautiful native woman.
Sophia worried too much at the prospect of bumping into Jericho again. She didn’t know if what scared her the most was to feel the same feeling of desire upon seeing him again, or the jealousy she would feel when she’d see his wife-to-be.
The latter feeling came to reality the moment she saw Jericho with a woman in her late 20’s. This blonde-haired gorgeous woman was exactly the way she pictured her. This must be the famous Dr. Lee everyone was whispering about—tall and fair-skinned, just like her, but a medical professional and a non-government organization volunteer while she was the shy-type dreamy artist with a lot of personal issues.
They were polar opposites.
She and Jericho looked good together, and Sophia had no choice but to destroy her romantic memories of him and bury them deep, to a place where they could not be resurrected.
It was too much torment for Sophia, and the fear compelled her to hide quickly. She ached to call Francheska, but found out that there was a weak reception. “Why?” Her heart screamed out. “Why, now that I need to talk to her?”
Outside, underneath the frail flicker of stars, was the heart of a vanishing soul. Sophia struggled to breathe. To think. To refuse to acknowledge everything that she witnessed. Oh heaven, help! It was too late now for anything but prayers. Prayers to restore her sanity.
Seeing one of the workers help the caterers in and out of the manor, she decided to approach him and ask for the delivery truck’s keys. She needed to leave or else she would die of pain!
In his shock, Pedro was of two minds, at first. But how come he could ever refuse, when it seemed this fragile girl was now about to crack into pieces? Sophia was looking so desolate, and handing her what she asked for could probably lighten things up, a little.
“Sure, but may I know where you’re going?” Pedro asked her.
Sophia didn’t give a response, and so he restarted his wagon. The lake house was the best place, to soothe her. She arrived there and sat down at the veranda and was hurled back to the night she and Jericho tried to elope. She was sitting at the spot where he used to console her, when she was having second thoughts at running away.
For not too long, she heard a flop of wings. And it sounded as though it was only a footstep away. Then out of the blue, Abanir came into sight. She shook her head in hesitation, supposing it was all in her mind, but the presumption became real the second he moved closer to her, bearing a more masculine and stronger figure, and touched her in the most careful manner he could.
His presence was hypnotic. Sophia could almost feel she had a personal narcotic. She could hear his heartbeat and the rush of blood in his veins. What seemed to be impossible had taken place again.
Sparks heated and electrified on Abanir. But, to Sophia, she couldn’t go through with this new state of events knowing she had unsettled matters. It was hard, for the circumstances had been fooling around with her feelings. But watching Abanir’s eager bearing and majestic pair of wings, a thrill of joy shot through her.
Carefully, he began to hug her to his chest and he sprinkled kisses on her forehead. Her warmth made him doubt that he could ever let go of her. He’d been missing her for ages.
And somehow, she’d been missing him, too. Earlier, sadness was upon her. But right now, happiness descended. Yet it felt mean not to think of Jericho. And the things that Michael had said… What if it turned out that, indeed, she wasn’t related to Jericho? How about their young love, then? Their promises to each other?
Abanir finally released her and she could only respond with a vague hello. And his stare, so sharp that seemed to see past her physical body and delve straight to her soul. “I thought I lost you forever,” he whispered gently, though she couldn’t understand his words. But they were undeniably tinged with pining. And a touch of unspoken plea.
Sophia listened to them and sensed they were uttered only from the depths of his love.
He lingered, his eyes searching her eyes. He felt utterly weak, and realized she had always been his flaw. He seized her and flew with her in the air, their emotions heating up the misty air. They landed at Harem Falls, the very place where their affection for each other first began.
The plain kubot was still there. Gallantly, Abanir asked her to wait there, and he rubbed two stones to create a fire. He saw the moon climbing over the eastern clouds, almost a full moon. The night was not yet old, and underneath the starry sky wer
e two young souls alight with pure innocence that this world cannot understand.
Beneath the full moon, as Sophia watched him tend to the fire, she realized his worth to her. At last, her heart seemed to beat of its own accord. Again.
CHAPTER 25
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return to the Forest
When Sophia woke up the following day, Abanir wasn’t around anymore. She was flustered but the reassurance of last night pacified her. He’d been too caring towards her, providing his chest as her pillow as he let no insect land on her skin, except for his lips on her hair, and only on her hair.
He returned to her quickly. In his hand was a basket of food that he slid from his back when he visited the tribe very early, this morning. He wanted her to experience Kravena’s top delicacies, prepared by the finest chefs in the palace. There was roasted fish meat splattered with various herbs and spices, fresh grains delicately heated in a bamboo tube, and a root crop cake baked with coconut husk, to give aroma.
He was smiling at her as a shaft of light passing through the giant trees glistened behind her. She seemed the fairest of all fairies. To him, no supernatural being in the wilderness was a match for her. He neared her and gathered her in his arms and squeezed her with tenderness.
“Abanir?” Sophia murmured to him, sleepily. She wanted to know what he was thinking at that very moment.
“Mmm…?” It was all he could answer, his look gentle enough to shut her up for the moment.
Together, as they finished their meal, they listened to the songs of birds nearby. The heavenly symphony wasn’t new to Sophia, and it felt like she’d only been away from the forest, for a while. They watched the bees and butterflies kiss flowers all around and were spell-bound by the splendid aromas of the dama-dama flower. Not only did it remind them of their last moments there together but… it symbolized their unity, as well.