CHAPTER TWO
Brazil, 1994
“Stop it, John,” Maria protested as John had once again took hold of her and started pulling her jokingly into bed. “John, haven’t you had enough?”
“With you, Maria, certainly not!”
“I mean, we’ve done it quite a lot of...”
“You know what, Maria,” John stopped pulling her and started sitting upright on the bed, watching Maria with scrutinizing eyes, “You fascinate me all the time...”
“Oh, stop your flattery!”
“No, I’m serious. I don’t have any doubts about you and me, together until the end of time...”
“There goes your drama again...” She giggled as she pulled her newly-bought pair of hotpants from one of the shopping bags and started putting them on. “You know, I think your stay in that Theatrical Arts school...”
“That’s Institute of Theater Arts and Stage Mastery for you, missy...” John interjected.
“Fine, Institute of Theater Arts and Stage Mastery, did you quite a lot of brain damage, talk about speech problems...”
“Hey, what’s wrong with my speech?” He laughed out loud, knowing too well not to be offended because Maria always fired these kind of straightforward and opinionated jokes.
“You always use ‘thou, thy, thee’, I mean, you’re not expecting me to answer you ‘John, O John, deny thy father and refuse thy name...’” Maria laughed heartily.
“It’s art, darling, art!” John joined in the laughing.
“Goodness, thankfully you didn’t turn out gay like Shakespeare.”
“Why? How do you know that I am not,” he now did some flirtatious feminine gestures with his hand and started acting gay, sitting right up on bed with his left hand over his chest and the other over his lower extremities hidden by the blanket. “Oh, please, I beg you, ma’am, don’t tell on me...”
“Yuck, that’s utterly disgusting!” Maria now laughed with gusto that she was about to explode in fits of amusement. “Cut it out, John.”
“My lady, I will do anything thou hath commandeth to me.”
“O John, keepeth me in thy chambers and filleth me with thy love...” She laughed all the more.
“Maria, I will doeth to thee such with pleasure!” He got up, held her tight with both arms around her body and lifted her up bed again.
“Oh, John. Stop it. I’m already dressed.”
“Oh, alright, alright. Go, flee. I will no longer hold thou from thy doings.”
“Oh, fret not, my love. I will return before dusk and be back into thy arms once again.”
“Oh, to thy promise I shalt hold on.”
They laughed all the more as each one continued to throw in one exaggeratingly silly line after another that sounded like bad Othello, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, all scrunched up and messed together, all the more prolonging Maria from leaving John. ‘Gosh, is he sexy,’ Maria thought.
Spain, 1994
“Julio, Julio, mio rancho!” Ai exclaimed as she got off Miraglos, the gorgeous black horse Teodor gave her as a gift after winning her first polo game. She still remembers the exhilaration, the feel of the gentle breeze caressing her hair as she rode out with Anghelita, her first polo horse. She remembers the tug of the horse as it galloped its way to the open stadium, then still on the fields of their hacienda in the vast Ciudad Real, north of Puertollano. Life had been relatively luxurious and extravagant for the couple during those early years of their marriage, as Teodor always put it, “Those years were the golden age of our wealth and well-being, as the comfort and sophistication of King Philip III, so were our abundance and bounty...” Of course, right now, they still are quite wealthy, and Ai knows that, its just that the old glory has gone when they left the spacious hacienda they called, ’La Escoreal’, after the grand castle built for King Philip II. A sense of history and keeping deep-rooted traditions are entwined in the family, as the Padre Real of the Familia de la Vega, la Senor Juan Paco Basilico de la Vega, strictly upheld the culture, pride, and honor in his clan. ‘Those were the days,’ Ai reminisced, “Good days...”
“Si, senora?” The gaucho strode towards Ai with large, quick steps, trying his fastest to reach her spot even with all the things attached to his boots and pants. The belt accessorized with lucky silver rings washed in the streams of miraculous streams of La Maria de Tomelloso, sewn directly on the leather belt, always dragged him down, not to mention the traditional baklos that hung from the lower heel of his boots.
“What happened to the ranch, Julio?” Ai asked in surprise. The ranch now lay wonton, with the barn doors open, cringing in the wind, the stables looking amess even from afar, hay covering most of the ground, it was as messy as a woman who just had a “quickie” with her lover, with her dress scrunched up, hair all over the place, all to that effect.
“Senora, it was the dust storm yesterday, it almost ruined the whole of the ranch!”
“Hesumariajose! What about the animals, the other gauchos, what happened to them?” Ai crossed herself fervently.
“They are all fine, Senora. With the help of the other gauchos, we moved them all to one of your abandoned stables not so far from here.” Julio reassured her.
“What about all of you, are you all right?” Ai even looks more concerned.
“As for us, we moved to the other stables just opposite the one where we moved the animals into. The storm was terrible, Senora, the worst I have seen all these years of my life...”
“Why was there no news of this dust storm? No one even cared to inform us, I mean, Julio, la villas is only a short ride from here. We could‘ve come to help.” Ai said half irritated, half forced calm in a very distressed manner.
“No, we did not want to trouble you with the petty problems, Senora.”
“Petty? If the dust storm was as fierce as you said, you all could’ve died! The very next time this ever happens, or as soon as you see any sign of impending disturbances, one of you must go to la villas and tell your Senor Teodor or me, understood?”
“Si, Senora. Sorry for the trouble.” Julio said, bowing his head.
“No, not at all. Actually, I should be the one apologizing for not being there to help you all.” Ai reaches to Julio and lifts his head with her hands.
“No, Senora. You have done us a lot just by being concerned for our well-being.” Julio said, with restrained tears now making their way to show making his eyes glassy.
“Now, Julio, call all of them out and tell them to tidy up the place, an occasion is to be held here on the ranchos.” Ai said, trying her best to cheer up the old gaucho.
“What occasion, Senora, if I may ask?” Julio asked, his eyebrows raised, failing to hide his curiosity.
“Oh, Erica’s coming home with Senor Juan Pepito and their children. Both Teodor and I are so much excited!”
“Oh, you sure would be. Oh, Senora, I still remember Erica, Mimi, and Maria, playing on the pampas like it was yesterday. I really loved those times, when their laughter filled the air and their carefree ness influenced everyone of us. Oh, I really would like to see how Erica has now grown to have children of her own.”
“Oh, yes...”
“But, Senora, have you had news from Mimi?”
“Oh, Mimi? Not a word. I am saddened that she flew away like that, leaving us like that, poor Teodor, since then, he has never looked the same as before, with the old cheer and spring in his steps.”
“Oh, I too have seen these things, Senora.”
“I just hope that Erica’s homecoming will cheer him up a bit, poor thing.”
(End of Chapter Two)
No comments:
Post a Comment