The Montelier Bride

Chapter 21: The First

Caesar's POV

THERE is a phrase I keep being told ever since I can remember. The most unforgettable, yet also the most harrowing moment I've heard of it was probably when my grandfather died. It was a long summer. It is a season when you can imagine the crowns of young men and women getting kissed by the sun. It is a time when the breeze hardly comes and the wisterias known to slither on every corner of our house were in full bloom.

That's right. In a picturesque period such as this, my grandfather died... or so we thought.

Sa tuwing may namamayapang kaanak o kakilala, gawi na para sa isang musmos na bata ang maghintay sa isang gilid habang ang mga nakatatanda'y may kaniya-kaniyang mga usapan. Habang ngumangata ng biskwit o 'di kaya'y inaaliw ng mga kasambahay, tumatakbo ang oras nang hindi mo namamalayan. Ngunit sa bandang huli, ang kabaong na inaasahan naming kayumanggi na nabubudburan ng pilak sa mga sulok nito, hindi dumating. Bagkus, isang karton ang inilapag sa mga paanan namin. Isang kartong naglalaman ng labi ni Don Frederick Montelier. Ang mga braso nitong bali, ang mga binti nitong nabalatan, ang mga ngipin nitong isa-isang hinatak, at maging ang ulo nitong biniyak.

My grandfather didn't die. He was murdered. Brutally. Intimately.

What is the phrase I keep being told, you ask?

"Caesar, it requires a ridiculous amount of courage to be the first, but more so on preventing yourself to be the last."

Hindi ko pa inda noon ang bantang nananalaytay sa ilalim ng mga katagang 'yon. Hawak-hawak niya ang pira-pirasong mga labi ng anak niya ngunit heto siya't tila nakikinita na ang susunod na magiging labi. Tanging nang sumapit ang araw na kinitil ang mga magulang ko sa harapan ko ay doon ko lang napagtanto. Ang babala ni lola, hindi para kay papa kundi sa 'kin na apo.

Hence the moniker stuck on my forehead wherever I go— 'The Last Montelier.'

"Aba, aba! Dito lang pala nagkakanlo ang gago matapos umalis sa kanila," ismid ni Eldridge nang makarating siya rito sa rooftop nang humahangos pa. "But isn't this quite the downgrade? Hindi ba't may mansyon ang mga Aguirre sa Cavite at Mandaluyong habang may prestihiyosong penthouse naman si Calvin? Ba't dito siya nagtatago?"

I pressed the end of the cigarette to my lips for a second and then took it out using my left hand before finally exhaling. "Who knows?" I lazily said as I watch small puffs of smoke form from my very breath. "He's never understandable in the first place."

Napapilitik na lang ako ng dila. "After we spent about two months courting him to give us the files we need, he fled and paid a lease for a second-rate apartment located far from the metro and from his own father." 

Even if I try to put it in words again, I still can't make sense of what the only son of this country's Chief of Police is doing these days. And if only he wasn't Hugo's only son and someone who has something I need, I wouldn't even bother to try and make sense of his deeds.