Two Years To Become Erin

Chapter 6 - The Dangerous Game

Jeany collapsed. My arms quickly grabbed her body from falling as I try to grasp the shocking news as well. We were both entrusted with keeping Erin safe from the disease, but within a few days only, we failed.

It didn't matter if we survived; our heads will be next anyway. At this point, it might have been better if I was the one who died; not a single related soul knows me anyway. Jeany still has his younger brother, Gab. Erin, on the other hand, is too precious to be sacrificed to the arms of death.

The Tanjuangcos, although barely heard outside Davao, is one of the most influential agricultural and political clans of Southern Philippines. Growing up, I was told that the patriarch, Don Samuel, fondly called "Don Chino," indicative of his Chinese-Filipino ancestry, was said to be responsible for the bloodshed of coffee farmers in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, which included my parents. Out of remorse and ill karma, Don Chino took me in as his valet. He was very kind to me, teaching me the ways of farming and life, and for the most part, he was almost like a father to me. And yet, I never got to confirm the truth in all those years we shared. I was afraid that what people said might be true, and I could never look again at him with fondness and a smile in my heart. Before the old man died, he gave me one final task: to take care of Erin, the heiress of the Tanjuangco industry. I guess I will have to answer him very soon.

"Roland!"

Jeany yelled, stirring me out of my midday trance.

"What are we going to do?" she asked in a flurry of tears.

"I... I don't know,"

"If Doña Ana finds out, we will be killed," Jeany added.

The encounter before the breakout came rushing back to my mind. I stood next to Jeany in front of Manang Cora and Doña Ana, silent and stiff as the grey-haired matriarch circled around her Italian vase filling it with white roses and stargazers.

"The situation is getting worse. Word from the chambers of the government speaks of an imminent lockdown of all cities and provinces," she said and took out one rose. "I want you two to take my granddaughter to the northern estate to keep her away from this miserable disease,"

"Yes, Madame," chorused Jeany and me.

"Should anything happen to her," she paused and snapped the head of the flower from its stem. "There will be consequences,"

We stared timidly at the decapitated rose. I still remember the cold rush of blood through my veins as I listened to her instructions.

I wonder if Don Chino would've approached things differently. The years of political controversy and business conflict have worn him out and changed him into a gentler spirit. But the same years never pulled down Doña Ana from her high chair. Looking back, she never had that positive aura from everyone. She was always that old, frightening lady keeping everyone on their toes.

"We need to take her body first," I calmly said to Jeany. Getting Erin a proper burial was the right thing to do. But soon enough, we learned that bodies that succumbed to Covid-19 will not be turned over for containment purposes. She will have to be cremated instead.

It was another dismal reality we both had to bear. At this point, I don't know what worse things could befall us. I sat in the courtyard blank-faced at the pavement, clueless about what to do next. I felt this brown noise filling my ears as the words of the people around me faded into the void.

A nurse approached me and told me that the vehicle taking us back to our village had arrived. I stared at her dumbfoundedly and followed her toward the truck. Jeany was in distraught as well. Her eyes were tired and lifeless. Gab sat in my direction, staring at the trail of mud left by the truck. I remember Erin again from his face. The way they looked so identical pricked my heart even more. I wish Erin was still alive. She was too young to be taken away from this world, it should have been me instead.

Maybe running away and hiding in the mountains would be better than coming back to answer the Tanjuangcos.

Two days passed, and the hospital was ready to hand over the ashes of Erin. I went to the facility and signed the papers to get her urn and the death report. For several days I placed Erin in a shrine built underneath the rain tree. Every morning I offered her flowers growing wildly in the mountains. I don't know why. This grief and guilt of keeping her secret were eating me inside. Perhaps these flowers, I think, are my only way of asking forgiveness every day for failing to protect her and for keeping her hidden from the world.

The day I feared most arrived: a call came from the mansion. I was outside, recently concluded my errand to the market to buy food. Jeany was in the living room, clasping her fingers between each other to contain the shakiness inside while staring at the vibrating phone.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

I sat next to her and took the phone. My lips suddenly turned dry, and my breathing was shorter by the minute. I looked at Jeany and asked her to remain calm. "We've been avoiding them for several days now," I said. "I don't think we can hide any longer,"

I put my hand on Jeany's clumped fists and tried to console her. There was no point in hiding anymore. If we keep avoiding the family, their suspicion will only grow further. And although our lives were at risk, I continued to place my faith helplessly at the mercy of the grand dame of the richest family in the south.

I accepted the call, and the scowling face of Doña Ana appeared on the screen.

"Where is she?"

Jeany and I looked at each other. I turned around and started explaining. "Doña, there is something you need to know about Ma'am Erin,"

"What is it?" replied the old woman. "Be quick about it so that I can speak with my granddaughter!"

"The truth is..."

The words suddenly got stuck in my throat. I could not move my tongue. It felt like I was drowning in water, and I couldn't utter the words I needed to say. My heart was racing inside my rib cage. I could feel the tears forming in the corner of my eyes. Jeany, on the other hand, was quivering. She was about to break down at any moment if I couldn't proclaim the truth once and for all.

"Erin is..." I mumbled and cleared my throat. "Erin is—"

Before I could say the final blow, someone snatched the phone from my hand and turned against me. I thought I was seeing a ghost.

"Erin?" I whispered faintly.

The figure, clothed in daisy patterned dress, turned around and stared unsurely into my eyes.

"Gab?!" I heard Jeany mutter under her breath.

I was so sure it was Erin I was looking at, but it was actually Gab. I looked down past the skirt and noticed the little hairs growing on his legs.

"What happened to your hair?!" screamed the voice on the other line.

Gab faked a peal of laughter. "I—I cut it short because it feels l-lighter in my he-head!"

I could hear Gab stammer in fear, but he persisted. At that pivotal moment, it dawned on me that we now have entered a dangerous game with Gab's god-forsaken actions. A plot that has now hanged Gab's life within the clutches of the Tanjuangco clan.

"I will not let my sister die," Gab said after dropping the call. Tears began to fall down his cheeks as he poignantly understood the consequences of his crime.

"I love you, Ate," he said.