"keg". it was tattooed on the inside of his left arm. that's all that erma remembered of him. in the years during the war, she would have seen him a few times whenever he visited señora carmen. he would talk to and tease erma's older sisters and cousins, openly flirting with them, typical teenagers. but everyone knew he and señora carmen had become lovers.
one time, he came with his older cousin rizzo and he and julia, one of erma's older sisters, instantly fell in love and got married before the war was over.
señora carmen's american husband died during the battle of manila. erma had heard from her sisters that keg and señora carmen were living together.
when julia gave birth to her fourth child, she needed someone to help her manage her family. their mother was getting weaker so they had to send for erma to come and help out. rizzo was going to be away and he suggested that since the family knew keg, he could go and get erma to manila. and so he did.
he had expected and yet still got a surprise when he saw her. erma was by then fifteen years old and had grown to become a really beautiful woman. he had heard from julia and rizzo that she would have had a lot of suitors if not for the accident. he noticed the far-away look in her eyes, and she was more quiet. that day, she refused to go with him alone, and nena, the eldest, did not trust him either. but the letter from their mother clearly stated erma had to come. their aunts and uncles declared keg could be trusted enough so erma rode the bus with him.
the people in the bus stared at the short shy woman and the tall chinito who dressed like a gentleman. he let her take the window seat and during the ride, when the breeze blew through the window, her hair would gently whip across his shoulders and it had a certain sweet smell. he thought of strawberry and plumeria flowers at dusk and jasmine flowers at dawn. it was dark inside the bus, the three-hour ride would take them well into midnight. when she fell asleep, her head tilted towards his chest, he pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek. she stirred and woke and realized what he had done. she straightened and looked around, but he whispered to her, all the passengers were sleeping. she stayed up for the rest of the ride, and did not talk to him even when they stopped and he bought her peanut brittle. the vendor told him "sir, you have a beautiful wife, and she's so young. you are so lucky." but erma quickly told the vendor "i'm not his wife!"
life in manila was harder than life in the farm. but erma is used to hard work. aside from helping out with julia's children, she also managed to sew gloves by the piece meal so that she and her mother would have their own money.
one day, her mother called her. "is it true that keg kissed you that night?" erma stood in front of her mother, her head bowed, shuffling her feet and she started to cry. "then he must marry you," her mother said.
she protested, "but he and señora carmen..."
"he is in love with you, and he wants to marry you. you cannot live your life forever caring for someone's children. i am thankful that you took care of your younger siblings. and julia can find a paid help." her mother looked away, and continued, "let's face it, erma. after the accident, you are lucky, we are lucky, keg still wants to marry you."
señora carmen was furious. erma's sisters were also furious at their mother for giving blessing to this marriage. most of keg's relatives, the beneficiary of carmen's generosity were equally mad. it was a marriage only a handful of people approved of. they were practically on their own.
and that's why, unlike most filipino families, we were not dependent on relatives for dole outs or help.
-o0o-
this was manila sunset on february 7, 2014.
(based on my notes during my interview with my father in 2004 and the stories i have heard growing up. and yup! i hear you, just a kiss...)
