For almost five centuries, Maria Magdalena had been the heart and soul of the Catholic Filipinos, the ever-nurturing matron delivered unto the Filipinos by Spanish Explorers. Most notably among them was Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
In the year 1567, Legazpi was a missionary for the Viceroyalty of New Spain (now Mexico). King Philip II of Spain commissioned Legazpi to lead an expedition to find and secure a Spanish outpost in the Spice Islands, where Ferdinand Magellan had previously failed.
In November of that year, Legazpi, his five ships, and 500 men departed New Spain and sailed west. After 93 days on the Pacific, they landed just off Cebu Island. However, the Cebuanos were hostile and Legazpi set sail again, arriving at Samar Island just over a week later.
Legazpi met Datu Urrao, the Muslim King of Samar, and the two men forged a blood compact. They made slits in their wrists and mixed their blood with wine in a heavy brass goblet. Then, the two men consumed the blood-wine as a symbol of their allegiance to one another.
After Legazpi made allies with the people of Samar, he island-hopped, making blood compacts with the Datus from Limasawa and Bohol. By the time Legazpi returned to Cebu, he’d gathered enough native forces to overpower the Cebuanos and after he established a stronghold in the center of the island chain, Legazpi moved north to the Luzon province and made temporary allegiance with the powers near Manila.
However, the natives struggled with foreign rule, at least until Legazpi enlisted a legion of Cebuanos and overthrew the local Rajah. With that accomplished, Legazpi used Manila Bay as a trading port with the Asian mainland. He also consolidated the islands into the newest viceroyalty of Spain, The Philippines.
For centuries, politics hadn’t changed much in the islands. There were battles won and lost, allegiances formed and betrayed, and blood contracts sealed and broken
“Hello! Hello! We’re over here, my dear!” called Anne-Marie Kwok as she sat in the middle of the Italian Restaurant and flagged down her newfound friend.
“Hello, my dear,” purred Eiselle Santiago-St. James-Lee as she skittered through the small bistro overlooking Sarangani Bay. Although the vista wasn’t as pristine as it had been just a month earlier, the interior of the restaurant was eggshell white and the faux marble floors glistened in the sunlight.
The architecture of the mountaintop restaurant was modern and angular, built to attract tourists like flies. Reproductions of old Italian paintings hung on the wall. Ferns in mossy hanging baskets lent an air of garden greenery to the stately Roman columns that supported the entire façade.
“I would’ve reserved a table on the veranda,” said Anne-Marie, “but you know how ugly it is out there. I cannot stand that awful fuel oil and fish smell coming from the bay.”
“Plus,” added Eiselle, “it’s so hot and miserable out. I wouldn’t want us getting sunburn.”
As the women settled into their chairs, the sommelier presented a freshly opened bottle of red wine for the women’s consideration and Anne-Marie immediately shooed him away. Quickly, he returned with a replacement. Without a second thought, Anne-Marie motioned for a fresh pour.
“What do we have here?”
“It’s a vintage Shiraz from the Nine Provinces vineyard in the southern Japan prefecture.”
Anne-Marie scoffed, “Japanese wine? You don’t have anything European?”
“This is an award-winning Shiraz, ma’am.”
Anne-Marie plucked the bottle from the server’s hand.
“I guess that will have to do.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sure you’ll approve once you have a sip.”
Anne-Marie shot him a dismissive look. Still, he presented the bottle again, uncorked it, and offered the corkscrew to Anne-Marie and Eiselle to sniff. However, both women flinched as the cork approached their faces. He promptly served the wine while a steward approached with a basket of freshly baked baguettes and cut them into bite-size pieces. Meanwhile, a third steward approached with a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and added a drizzle of oil onto a dipping plate. He seasoned it with fresh grinds of salt, pepper, and garlic. Once again, when the stewards had finished, Anne-Marie shooed the whole lot away like common houseflies.
“What is this?” asked Eiselle.
“You take the bread like this…and you dip the end into the oil…and then take a petite nibble.”
Eiselle mimicked Anne-Marie as they gnashed on bread and drank their wine.
“So,” said Eiselle, “why, exactly, did you ask me to lunch?”
“How badly do you want all those people to stay out of the Highlands?”
“You know I don’t like those cockroaches one bit.”
“Good,” nodded Anne-Marie as she leaned in and whispered into Eiselle’s ear, “I need you to do something very important, but you cannot tell a soul.”
“I won’t.”
“There is an important file in Arvind’s office and I need you to switch it out with a different file.”
“I don’t know if I…”
“How important is getting the cockroaches out from under your feet?”
“Very important…”
“Then you’ll find a way.”
Anne-Marie reached into her portfolio and pulled a long, blue rectangular file out and slid it around the bread and wine towards Eiselle.
“What is it?” asked Eiselle as she began flipping through its pages.
“It’s a modified version of the blueprints. That’s all you need to know. Find the original and put this one in its place. Deliver the original to me and all your dreams of a better Sarangani will come true.”
The long blue file was stuck out, even in the hustle-bustle of an Italian restaurant at lunchtime. After lunch, Eiselle felt as if all eyes were on her as she carted the file through the restaurant and out to her car. She quickly slipped it beneath the passenger’s seat of her car and drove home. When she arrived at the Lee Estate, she quietly opened the front door and pocketed her keys in her purse as she by-passed the foyer table and sneaked into Arvind’s den.
The click-click of her high heels echoed through the empty house. “Hallo?” she called out There was no answer.
“Hell-oooo!”
She skirted around Arvind’s large Executive Desk and snooped around. Every single one of his file cabinets and drawers was locked. However, with a nail file and a little patience, they popped open quite easily.
She began with the one drawer he always kept open. Before she even sifted through the contents, she knew the original file would not be there. This cabinet was much too small. She pushed the cabinet closed and with the flick of her nail file, the lock snapped into place. Then, she turned to the main drawer. This lock, however, was stubborn.
“Come on, mother pucker…” she urged the nail file. It flexed as she put all her weight into it. Suddenly, it popped upwards as the lock came free. The nail file skipped out of the lock and left a long scratch from the lock to the top edge of the drawer.
“Aw, gawd dammit!”
Eiselle looked the scratch up and down. Then, she went upstairs and fetched her makeup kit. She came down and doctored the scratch with her war paint.
“Ah, good as new!” she spouted proudly as she drew a finger across her handiwork. However, the drawer was nearly bare, filled only with an assortment of mechanical pencils, note pads, and a nail clipper.
“It just figures,” mumbled as she slid the drawer back into place and attempted to relock it. Unfortunately, it was just as stubborn as before.
“Oh, well! I don’t have time to trifle with you!”
She toddled back to her car and drove down the coastal road and returned to the Bay. The gravel lot was filled with cars and trucks. Things had turned to business as usual. It was no time for Eiselle to be seen around there. She’d wait until the night. In the meantime, she headed to Gensan to wile away the time with Lorna.
“Hallo dearie!” she shouted over the fence as Lorna slaved over her vegetable garden.
“Come on in!” waved Lorna.
“Oh…it’s so muddy.”
“Mud is good for you. It’s no different than the mud they throw on your face at the spa that you pay so much for!”
Eiselle rolled her eyes as she opened the gate and walked along the stepping stones that led halfway into the garden. She stopped on the last stone, like a child caught at the end of the street by a caring mother’s invisible boundaries.
“Want to go for a day trip?”
Lorna paused to draw the back of her forearm across her brow. It left a dirty stripe across her forehead.
“Where to?” she asked.
Eiselle stood there silently for a moment and watched her childhood friend. She simply could not understand how Lorna could be out in the hottest part of the day, knee deep in weeds and dirt, tending to her garden every day for such a low yield. Eiselle figured Lorna could take a part time job at the mall and earn enough pesos in a single paycheck to buy a garden’s worth of work.
“Anywhere you want to go. You name it.”
“I’m happy here. Why don’t you shed your heels and join me?”
Eiselle crinkled her face. Lorna just chuckled and shook her head.
“Okay, can you get me a glass of iced tea from the fridge?”
“That I will do.”
Eiselle headed out the gate and circled around to the front door. Normally, any other person would figure it to be strange behavior. However, this was Eiselle. She could not risk getting the slightest scratch on her Manolo Blahniks.
“Here you go, dearie!” she called out as she reached the back gate. Lorna pushed up from the ground and met Eiselle at the fence.
“You should go with me. Too much sun gives you cancer.”
“This from the lady who goes through a pack of cigarettes every day….”
‘Tsk, tsk, tsk,” clucked Eiselle.
“Alright, I’ll go. Just let me get cleaned up.”
Lorna went through all the necessary cleaning rituals she’d need to complete before going on a trip of any kind with Eiselle: she scrubbed the dirt from beneath her fingernails and smoothed the rough edges with a nail file. Then, she took a quick shower and ran a brush through her hair to tease it ‘just right’. A dab of lipstick and a smudge of blush and she was ready to go.
Then, she jumped into a pair of comfy jeans and a tee. As she entered the living room, Eiselle was already shaking her head.
”You are always a work in progress,” said Eiselle.
“Likewise with you, my dear,” replied Lorna with a wink. Without further ado, the girls headed to the car and out onto the coastal road. Lorna immediately noticed the raft of blue paper sticking out from beneath the passenger’s seat. As she reached down to fish it out, Eiselle reached across the seat and snatched it from her hands.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, it’s absolutely nothing,” Eiselle replied as she wedged it into the space between her seat and the door. Then, she immediately steered the conversation in a new direction.
“Where would you like to go today?”
“I’m not really sure….”
“You want to go to Glan beach?”
“That’s all the way on the other side of the bay.”
“Yes, but it’s clean and beautiful over there.”
Lorna shrugged, “There’s not much else to do.”
It was a display of sharp contrasts, leaving the trash strewn western coast of Sarangani Bay and heading into the clean white strands that still occupied the eastern half of the Bay.
“I don’t understand why it can’t be like ths in Baluntay and Alabel.”
“Eiselle,” sighed Lorna, “the coast slopes upward on this side of the bay.”
“I don’t mean the coast. I mean the people. Why can’t these people live in my part of Sarangani? Instead we have…”
“Don’t say it,” interrupted Lorna.
“We have the cockroaches. The people here in Glan are important to society instead of these people who don’t understand the value of a good life.”
“Every one of those families in Baluntay is hard working.”
“Well, there aren’t many left there now. I guess God was doing the rest of us a favor by clearing out the extras.”
“Do you ever stop?”
“You know it’s true.”
“Eiselle, please take me home right now.”
Unfortunately for Lorna, Gensan was almost an hour away, so it was a long, quiet rode back along the coastal road and passing Alabel, Baluntay, and the half-finished high-rise only made it worse.
“We have to do this again some time when you’re not all upset,” said Eiselle.
“I suppose,” muttered Lorna.
She closed the door and returned to her garden. As she dug through her flowers, though, it just wasn’t comforting at all. She planted her garden shovel in among her flowers and stripped her gardening gloves from her hands. She tossed them in the bucked by the door. Then, she went directly to her bedroom and collapsed.
Meanwhile, Eiselle headed back to the Estate and pulled up to the gate. Arvind was there, fiddling with his car. When he heard the purr of the little red BMW, he turned to see his wife pull into the drive. He walked back to meet her.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“Oh, just out with Lorna. Sometimes, I think she is crazy.”
“Well,” he chuckled, “I hope it wasn’t too bad.”
“It wasn’t,” she replied as Arvind opened the driver’s side door. Eiselle stepped out and twirled about to get her purse. When she reached back across the seat to get her purse, she noticed the top edge poking out along the door. Luckily, it had gotten caught in the side pocket and her husband couldn’t see it from his point of view. Quickly, Eiselle grabbed her purse and helped her husband slam the door shut. She clutched her purse in one hand while she twirled her keys in her fingers. She skipped quickly past her husband and up the steps to open the front door.
“What’s that all about?”
“I don’t know,” Eiselle replied, “I guess I’m just in a good mood.”
Eiselle continued skipping along, tossing her car keys on the foyer table and heading to the kitchen.
“Can you fix me something to drink?”
“You want some orange juice?” asked Eiselle.
“Nah, I need something with a little kick.”
“Do you want mango juice instead?”
“Yeah, but give it a shot of something strong.”
Eiselle paused for a moment. Arvind never typically drank liquor unless there was some pressing issue with his work.
“What’s wrong?” asked Eiselle.
“You know your friend Anne-Marie?”
“Yeah…?” Eiselle’s voice lingered on that single note, expectant of something else from Arvind. Of course, Arvind was eager to ask some great favor of his wife, although he didn’t expect her to cooperate.
“She came at me this morning about the multi-use complex. She told me she’s never going to let it get past the City Planner. I don’t know what it is with you girls, but…”
“That’s your problem right there,” interrupted Eiselle, “you don’t give us credit as hard working women.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I don’t care what you meant. The whole thing puts us down. I don’t even know why you think those people are worth your time.”
“You were once poor, too.”
“I built a network of people to help me claw my way out of the muck. I did it without help from anybody.”
“Okay,” snorted Arvind as he snatched the drink from her hands and took a large swig. He wanted to say something sharp, but he thought better of it. Surely, he wouldn’t stoop to her level.
Eiselle, however, could not let it go.
“I didn’t take help from anybody, not even you. I went to school, I started my own catering business and some businessman spotted me working the crowd at an event. That businessman was you.”
Arvind nodded.
“You chose me because you knew what I brought to the table.”
“Yes, yes, I suppose you are right.”
“Damn yeah I’m right.”
Arvind smirked slightly. Still, the mountain-girl-made-good let it slip that she was short of polish whenever her temperament rose. For Arvind, however, that was perfectly okay. Still, she always managed to surprise him.
Eiselle headed upstairs for a bit and thought about the large blue file in her car. After a bit, she returned to the foyer and grabbed her car keys from the entry table. They clanked loudly as they slid across the glass.
“Eiselle?” called Arvind.
“Yes?”
“Where are you headed?”
“”I’m not sure, just out.”
“Why don’t you stay in tonight and I’ll have dinner catered for us?”
“I…I was going to Lorna’s house.”
“I thought you saw Lorna for Lunch.”
“I…well, I wanted to see her again.”
Eiselle poked her head around the corner and spied on her husband. He was shoulder-high to his vast executive desk. To Eiselle, Arvind always looked like a boy playing in his father’s study whenever he inhabited his desk.
“Can I get a rain check?” offered Eiselle.
“Why do you need to go to Gensan anyway? You were just there.”
“Oh, alright, I’ll eat with you, but I’m heading out afterwards.”
“Can you call for us?”
Eiselle heaved a long, hot sigh.
“I figure…you’re much better at this sort of thing and you know all the best caterers.”
Eiselle ordered Italian – from the very same Italian bistro she’d been to earlier in the day – and a van arrived at the front gate just under an hour later.
A three-person wait staff set fresh linens and table service for two on the tall coffee table just off the kitchen island. The meal included a pair of three course meals and wine service. This time around, Eiselle let Arvind select the wine as she chose to entertain the idea of a romantic meal for two.
She lingered over her fettuccine, twirling it into a tight coil about her fork while she entertained Arvind with light conversation.
“So, what is it with this multi-use complex? You know those people don’t belong in the resort.”
“It was Mary Kirkpatrick’s idea and it works all over Europe in places like England, Norway, and France.”
“Well, we’re not England. Those people don’t know how to behave.”
“Eiselle, I just don’t get you sometimes.”
“What?” she replied indignantly.
“Like I said, you were one of them once, whatever that truly means.”
“Oh, you’ll never see it from my point of view.”
“Try me,” said Arvind.
“It was hard growing up. I didn’t want to be there, but I found a way out. I sold soda pops for street vendors. They’d give me three bottles and I’d run back and forth along the campus sidewalks and sell them to the students. Then, he’d give me a single peso for each one I sold. I saved up all my money and used it for whatever I needed. If I wanted something, I’d find a cheaper way to get it, usually by working for it or trading something for it. These kids don’t have those ideas in their heads.”
“I don’t fault you for your values, but maybe some others aren’t as lucky as you. Some don’t have your brains – and they definitely have your beauty. Those gifts – you can work all you want, but without them – life is hard. I’m simply making their life a little bit easier.”
Eiselle glanced long and hard at her husband as she gave it a thought. Then, she returned to her meal, mostly quiet, but also full of thought. When she was finished, she wiped her mouth on the napkin and tossed it in the center of her plate. A waiter quickly swooped in to remove her plate. As the waiter’s hand came beneath the plate, Eiselle noticed the roughness of his palm. Suddenly, she realized that he, too, worked hard for every peso.
As she rose from her seat, she rifled through her purse and produced three 100-peso notes and fanned them across the corner of the table.
“Here, this is for you.”
“Thank you very much, ma’am.”
“No problem.”
Still, when the waiter produced the check, Arvind added a much larger (and much more appropriate) tip for the staff.
“I’m headed to Lorna’s,” said Eiselle.
“I thought you were staying in tonight.”
“I told you…”
“But, there’s no reason to go again…”
“Oh, Arvind, there’s always a reason to go again.”
Eiselle leaned over Arvind and planted a kiss firmly upon his cheek. Then, she checked her makeup in her compact and straightened her hair and the hem of her skirt before walking through the foyer and out the front door.
Of course, Eiselle was not headed to Gensan, but back to Maasim to meet with Anne-Marie. On her way along the National Road, she noticed all of the homeless, the stragglers, the hangers-on, pushing ox carts filled with anything and everything they could salvage for their own.
One man sat alone on a parking block next to an oil drum. A pile of things, including a winged statue of Mary Magdalene, sat on his left side while an old juice bottle and a pack of hot dogs sat to his right. The hot dog package had been torn open as the man had pushed two hot dogs onto the sharpened ends of a forked branch and cooked them both at once. Intrigued, Eiselle pulled to the side of the road and fished the file out of the side pocket and deposited it into the oil drum.
Flames licked up at the hot dogs and the old man scrambled to pull them out of the direct flames.
“Can’t you see I’m cooking?”
Eiselle looked up from the mesmerizing orange-yellow glow of the flames only for a moment before driving away. She drove for a little while longer, letting the wind blow through her hair as she sucked down a cigarette and breathed deeply.
“What have I done now?”
She had no idea what had come over her, but she just didn’t want to be a part of it. Maybe it was Lorna or maybe it was Arvind. Maybe, after all, it was seeing so much of it – the wretched people that clogged the streets of Sarangani and Gensan after the flood. Maybe she had done the right thing, but it didn’t feel right, either.
She slept uneasy that night, with the thought of having to deal with Anne-Marie the next day. She woke early, slipped from bed, and quickly put on her war paint. She poured a tall glass of orange juice and dumped in a splash of vodka and took a long sip. Then, she dumped half of the concoction into the sink and refilled it with orange juice. Now, there was barely any vodka left as she took another long swig.
“There, that’ll do the trick,” she said aloud as she headed out the front door with her glass of juice.
As Eiselle pulled onto the main road, she adjusted her rearview mirror. A large black Lexus sedan had pulled up behind her BMW.
“Objects may appear larger…”
The sedan belonged to Anne-Marie Kwok. It was more of a cruise ship than a car, with four doors, a sunroof, and a fully stitched leather interior.
Eiselle quickly pulled to the side of the road and waved Anne-Marie up to her left side. Anne-Marie fiercely shook her head. As Eiselle persisted though, Anne-Marie finally relented.
“Why are you stopping right here?” spat Anne-Marie.
“Why are we meeting all the way down in Maasim?”
“Because your husband lives right there!” Anne-Marie pointed one long manicured finger directly at the Lee Estate.
“He’s long gone by this time of day. Anyway, he doesn’t know anything.”
“No thanks to you…now go on up to the Robinson’s Market and we’ll meet there.”
The two luxury cars stood out like a struck thumb as they pulled into the empty parking lot of the small Robinson’s Market parking lot. Still, Anne-Marie led the way to the Starbuck’s Coffee House next door and ordered a pair of lattes and took a seat.
“Did you get it?” she asked eagerly.
“I couldn’t do it.”
“It’s a very simple job. Do I have to do everything? Give me the file.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Where is it?”
“I tossed it into a fire.”
“You did what? What is wrong with you?”
“I’m having second thoughts about it.”
“I knew you were worthless. That’s why you had to marry rich. You couldn’t become rich on your own. You’re just another boring, dumb trophy wife, spending all your husband’s hard-earned money on plastic breasts and botox injections. You’re nothing but a Barbie doll.”
Eiselle drew a hand to slap Anne-Marie, but Anne-Maire caught her by the wrist. She squeezed it tightly until Eiselle finally submitted to Anne-Marie’s strength.
“Go away now, you little cockroach.”
Eiselle pursed her lips as she glared at Anne-Marie. Anne-Marie, however, was unfazed. Eiselle turned directly around, got in her car, and squealed her tires as she sped out of the parking lot.
“That mother pucking whore!” she growled. Her face turned flush as her emotions ran high. She couldn’t even stop trembling long enough to get her cigarette lit. She threw it out of the car and planted both hands on the steering wheel. She’d have to rely on a long, fast drive along the coastal road to ease her nerves.
“Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out,” she repeated over and over. After a good ten minutes of deep breathing and talking herself down off the ledge, Eiselle’s springs had finally unwound enough to light a cigarette.
“That’s better,” she sighed. She drove through the streets of Gensan and by-passed Lorna’s house as she circled back to Sarangani.
“I think it’s time to pay my husband a surprise visit.”
She piloted the little red BMW along the tattered coastal roads until the half-finished high-rise appeared dead ahead. For Eiselle, that seemed to be a very promising sign.
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