CHAPTER 4 ENGAGEMENT GONE BAD

Across the miles, Mrs. Gonzales and son are busy preparing for the worst as they once again welcomed the Santiagos into their home. Fiona as always is as beautiful as ever in her pink suit while her father looked boring as usual. He rarely smiles unless they are talking about money, people don’t only describe him as boring but money-greedy as well. Well, today he is all smiles as he clapped Rain on the back saying “Well, my boy, let us proceed with this engagement then, shall we?” Rain winced as if he had been punched in the gut. He looked to his mom for help. “Come Barry, let us leave the children for a while. Let us give them time to talk,” she said motioning for Barry to go with her. “My son and I are looking into a business venture and I value your opinion.” Rain rolled his eyes upon hearing this, nonetheless, he smiled. Mrs. Gonzales and Barry were about to go to the adjoining verandah when Ronnie walked in. “Ohh there you are, Ronnie,” Mrs. Gonzales gushed. Thank goodness you were able to come upon such short notice. “I would not miss it for the world, '' Ronnie answered. Rain didn’t miss the scowl on Barry’s face but he knew his mom could pull this through. Trust his mom to come up with perfect excuses. Fiona felt there is something more to this than what she expected. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so flirty, she felt something akin to doom. “Rain, what is happening?” she asked wearily. They were still standing in the middle of the hall where the party happened some time ago. 

“I am so sorry,” said Rain. “May I escort you to the sofa? What I am going to say will take some time and as much as it makes me feel like a villain, I am afraid I would be, to you and to your father and I am begging you to please forgive me and understand.”

Fiona looked at him helplessly and was feeling drained already. 

“There will be no engagement party, will there?”she asked tonelessly as she sat on the sofa. Rain remained standing and was finding it difficult to talk. Fiona indicated the chair opposite and Rain sat down gingerly. “Listen Fiona, I didn't mean to cause you and your family any harm, all I wanted was to find my perfect bride and I thought I did. No offense, you are a beautiful woman and very rich as well,any other man will be happy to marry you. It just so happened that I was so foolish and cowardly during my party that I didn't even have the courage to tell the woman of my feelings. My mom and I know that it is not customary for us to have dowries but in light of everything that happened, we are willing to invest in your father’s businesses.” 

Upon hearing this, Fiona got up indignantly and she was trying so hard not to cry and stamp her feet as was her usual whenever she was having tantrums. She contented herself with slapping Rain on the face,

 “You arrogant and beastly creature!” she exclaimed. “How dare you use me, me Fiona, the famous muse of the city for your own selfish motives!” 

Rain was surprised by her outburst that he could do nothing but stare at her wide-mouthed. 

“Please Fiona, calm down.” was all he managed to say. 

Fiona walked out on him and screamed at the top of her voice, 

“Papa!, come down at once. We are going home.” 

Upon hearing his daughter’s screams, Barry hurriedly descended the stairs from where he was having coffee with Mrs. Gonzales and Ronnie on the terrace. “What happened?” he glared at Rain. Fiona grabbed him by the arm and pulled her father away from Rain. “Remember, this never happened,” she threatened Rain. “An engagement will still appear on the papers and then I will let everyone know how you tarnished my name.” 

“But of course sweetheart,” intoned her father. 

Mrs. Gonzales and Rain could only stare helplessly as Fiona dragged her father away and shoved him towards the passenger seat of their car. Ronnie came up behind Mrs. Gonzales and Rain and placed a reassuring hand on Rain’s shoulder. 

“Everything will be alright,” he told mother and son. 

They all watched as Fiona got in their car, stepped on the accelerator and off they went, nearly running over a surprised passer-by. 

A week after, Fiona made her promise true. Their engagement appeared on the local papers and then a day after, she issued a statement saying she dumped Rain because he was a maniac. Since she is as popular as Rain and seemed like she was victimized, Rain received hate emails. Rain ignored them because he acknowledged the truth. Their lawyers wanted to file a case against her but Rain stopped them saying it was his fault that this happened. As was his usual routine whenever he was troubled, he went to the old gardener’s house and sat on the swing where Ami always played when they were little. He misses his bestfriend so much but most of all he missed her comforting touch and smile. “Why oh why did I not tell you?” he moaned aloud. He wondered if Ami would remember him on the day of their birthdays. He left the swing sadly and went out. Maybe he could find a cheerful companion in the city proper. He didn’t even say bye to his mom who was shaking her head as she watched him from the deserted terrace. “God bless you.” she said even if the car is slowly disappearing out of sight. As always, Ronnie was there beside her, reassuring her and keeping her calm, but she knew from experience that her son might not come home for a few days so she called her sister in the city, Mabel’s mom. “Hello ading,” she answered her phone. “Hi manang, do you mind watching over Rain while he is in the city?” “Have you tried talking to him calmly, “ Antonia asked.“He never listens, that one. How I miss his dad. If only Rainier was here,” she said unhappily, wiping a tear from her face. 

“There, there,” said Ronnie, I am here and I will take care of you.” 

Her sister knew that once Claudia is in a melancholic mood, she won’t stop talking and she had enough of that. She also heard Ronnie so she promised 

“Alright, alright ading, I will see to it,” before she hung up. 

“Robert!” she yelled to her eldest. Looks like you have to play babysitter again. That cousin of yours is somewhere in the city probably drowning himself in gin or whatever filthy drink you boys are obsessed with. 

“Which cousin?”yelled back Robert. 

“Ambot!’, she responded. Ambot is her pet name for Rain. She knew too that her favorite nephew is nursing a lonely heart. She said it wasn’t broken because he was not jilted in the first place. People are brokenhearted only if they expressed their love and it was not returned, is it not? 

“Oh hoo, lover boy in town? Surprise, surprise!” he mocked. 

Just then, someone stormed in and brought an alcoholic smell into the house.  Jerry, Robert’s and Mabel’s brother was maneuvering an obviously heavily inebriated Rain into one of their sofas. 

“Mama!” Robert shouted. “Loverboy is here!” 

Antonia came down the stairs in a not so graceful gait and fell to her knees beside Rain’s drunk body. 

“Oh my Balong!”she purred, smoothing Rain’s thick hair. “What have you done to yourself?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jerry sneered. He is drunk, even too drunk to recognize me when he let fly a fist at the folk house. 

“ I wish I had seen that,” teased Robert. “Did he manage to get you?” 

“Are you blind complained Jerry. “Can’t you see my eye? Good thing he wasn’t sober, else, he will be the one bringing me in here instead of this.” Jerry cried. 

“Call your aunt,” their mom said. 

“Better yet, I will call her. I do not trust you boys when your cousin is like this.” 

She called her sister and after a few words of comfort, she was able to make Claudia feel at ease. 

“What happened, exactly?” questioned Antonia to her son, sending him one of her tiger looks. Jerry was uncomfortable but after some glares, he told her everything. 

“Apparently, Ambot met a girl who resembled Ami somewhat and thought it was she. Of course when he confronted said girl, she got offended and gave him quite a set down. It all spiralled out of control and he was about to trash the guy who was with the girl when I spotted them,” Jerry said with a straight face. 

“There is more to this than that, isn’t there?” their mom raised a quizzical eyebrow at Jerry who suddenly reddened. 

“Aha! I thought so”, replied their mom. She then directed them to bring their cousin to the spare bedroom upstairs where she followed with warm water, vinegar and coffee. After fussing over their cousin, she left the room and closed the door gently. “Don’t you dare disturb him,” she reminded her sons. 

“As if!”, they recited in unison but secretly hid their malicious smiles. 

Outside, it started raining again as if sensing Rain’s turmoil. Since their cousin isn’t conscious to be pranked, the brothers left him and proceeded to raid the kitchen which was smelling of pinikpikan for dinner. They waited for their mother and Robert’s wife and children and said grace before everybody started to enjoy the dinner. In Green Valley, Mrs. Gonzales was having dinner with Ronnie who was trying to cheer her up by exchanging anecdotes with her about Ami and Rain when they were still children.

“How time flies,” Mrs. Gonzales started. “Wasn’t it only yesterday when Ami had a boxing match  with Rain. I remember being horrified at how swollen Ami’s eye was and how unrepentant Rain was. Back then, Rain thought of her as another boy because of how she moves and talks and punches. I think he only realized she was a girl in their teens.”

“I quite agree,” replied Ronnie. “Once, I tried to entice her with a doll but what did she do? She got a pair of scissors and started cutting the doll’s hair short and dressing her in a shirt and pants. But when I gifted her and Ridger toy cars, she was ecstatic and she jumped up and down. I wonder how many more toy cars she will bring with her when she decides to come back. I just hope she is happy in the UAE like you told me. She is like a daughter to me and this sounds biased but I love her more than I do my son, but you know he is not really mine, don’t you? He is my wife’s son but I accepted him as mine. There is something about him though, I couldn’t quite put a finger to it. He sounds too good to be true, not that there is something I can complain about. He is generous enough to give me an allowance, although I told him I do not need it but then again, maybe he just wants to please me. Enough about these kids Claudia, you need to go to bed and stop worrying about your son. He is a big boy and he can take care of himself, besides, your sister and her sons are capable of watching over him. Give him a few days and he’ll be back to his old self. “ 

Thus saying, he helped Mrs. Gonzales to her feet and escorted her towards her room. 

“Thank you so much Ronnie, I do not know how I can make it without you always by my side.” She gave him a gentle pat on the cheek and made her way to her bedroom. 

“Nonsense my dear, you know I will always stay beside you. I will instruct Doris to lock the doors after me. Goodnight my sweet Claudia.” Ronnie affectionately said.

Ronnie trudged the short distance to Ami’s house and was surprised to see Ridger waiting for him. 

“Hi Papang,” Ridger greeted. “I brought dinner with me, maybe we can share?”

Not wanting to disappoint him, Ronnie acquiesced and led him inside the house. “Come in balong, let us go to the kitchen and share what you brought.” He did not mention that he already dined with Mrs. Gonzales because he knows how cross Ridger becomes when he learns his father was spending time in the big house. Ridger hates the small house Ronnie and Ami are living in that is why he prefers to stay in the city where he can stay in his mom’s old place in Teacher’s Camp. They both tucked into the food Ridger brought. 

“You can stay in my bedroom and I will just sleep on the sofa,”Ronnie told his son. 

“Thank you Papang, by the way, where is Ami?” Ridger asked.

“Ami flew with Mabel to the UAE a couple of days ago after the party.” answered Ronnie.

Ridger’s eyes had a sparkle in them. Ronnie did not notice and just kept eating. Ridger masked his expression as he said in the saddest tone he could muster “Ohh, how can she leave you alone? I hope she will not be feeling homesick. Do you have her number?”

“She has not phoned me yet but you can always contact her on f******k or i*******m, right?” Ronnie replied.

“Oh yes, of course!” said Ridger in a very cheerful voice. Do you mind if I retire early, Papang? I am so tired and I need to go back to the city proper early tomorrow. 

“Not at all, son. You go ahead and I will tidy up and retire too as I am tired as well, so many patients came in today. I wake you up as usual?” he asked.

“Yes please, Papang. Goodnight.” he muttered and went straight to his father’s room, not even bothering to help tidy up.