A piece of the past…

“I don’t even know what to do…” George’s voice said.

“We should go to the police. He beats them up all the time. This has to stop,” Jackie’s voice answered.

“But Dannie doesn’t want us to, remember?”

“What if he does it again? What if this time, Dannie wouldn’t be able to…” Jackie’s voice faltered as she started to sob.

“Hey, don’t cry. She’ll feel even guiltier if she sees you like this. Okay, if he does it again, we’ll go to the police and I don’t care if Dannie will hate us for the rest of her life. Agreed?”

“Should we wait until the next attack? Couldn’t we just do it now?”

“Dannie said she’d not let it happen again.”

Silence fell between the two girls.

Troy, Miguel and Lee stared at each other, their faces grim. Troy’s jaw clenched and so did his hands. He grabbed Miguel and Lee’s shirt and led them away from the ladies’ room. “I have a plan. Who’s in?”

“What plan?” asked Lee.

“Let’s call it the DSC—Danica Secret Operation.”

“Uh…what sort of operation will it be?” asked Miguel.

“Isn’t it obvious, dimwit?” Lee asked dryly.

“We make it our mission to protect her,” Troy said, squaring his shoulders. “Her dad touches her again and we’ll race George and Jackie to the police.”

“I’m in,” Lee said excitedly.

“I’m in,” Miguel followed with a serious look.

PRESENT DAY

They were outside the hotel, bathing in the gentle heat of the morning sun as they ate their breakfast of chorizo ala recado, eggs and rice. Troy ordered for brewed coffee while Dannie went for the orange juice.

“Here, take this,” Troy said, giving her his sunglasses.

She started to shake her head but thought she wanted to have it anyway. The sun was not going to be this gentle later. She took it and wore it, smelling the very faint smell of Troy Brady.

As she ate, she watched him work on his phone.

“I thought you wanted to enjoy this moment with me. You’re using your phone.”

“I just need to check something,” he answered without looking at her. “Just really quick. It won’t take—shit!” he suddenly shouted, leaping out of his chair an almost turning their small round table upside down.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, alarmed.

“Shit, shit, shit!” he cursed some more, bending over his phone like someone who lost a big chunk on FORREX.

“What is it?” Dannie asked again. She didn’t want to think something bad happened to George or Jackie, but that was her first thought.

“I can’t believe this!” Troy whined, pacing around. He was on his phone again and this time, he brought it to his ear. “Lee! Hey, Lee! Shit! He hung up.” He was tapping on his phone again.

“Troy, what is it?” Dannie asked, her food forgotten. She had stood up to stand beside him.

“It’s nothing. Just eat your food. I’ll be right back in a few.” His phone was back to his ear.  “Migue—what the—“ he cried out once again. He was searching his phonebook once again and within seconds his phone was against his ear. “Jordan. Hey, what the hell, man! What did you do?!”

Dannie frowned at him, trying to decode what was happening.

“I told you I’ll go online, right? Why did you kick me out of the clan? I was just about to—what? I was beat from driving, man! Of course, we’re safe. But why the hell did you kick me out of the clan?” He was listening to whatever Jordan was telling him when Dannie’s punch hit his arm. “Ouch! Danica! What the hell—”

“You’re on an outrage because they kicked you out of COC?!” she cried out in disbelief.

“Hey, come on,” he said, blocking another attack with his free hand. “This is serious, okay? Hey, Jordan, I’ll call you back. You better get me back in the clan or I’ll form another one and tear you all to pieces!” He jumped away from Dannie before she could land another fist against his arm. “Hey, come on. Don’t overreact. I told you it’s nothing, okay?”

“I was dying of worry! I thought something had happened to George or Jackie or both!”

“Hey, calm down. Let’s just eat, okay?” he said, both hands fending off any possible attack.

Dannie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You are such a child. I can’t believe I’m stuck with you. I want to go home.”

“Hey, we have a deal, remember? Okay, I won’t play a single game while we’re together.”

“That’s not what I meant. You are just…forget it. I want to get this breakfast over with and I want this trip to be over with.”

“Danica…” he whined.

She threw him a look as she sat back down on her chair and he slowly made his way back to his side of the table and sat down. He carefully placed his phone beside his plate. He looked at it with longing for a while before he turned his attention to his food. “They kicked me out. I can’t believe it,” he muttered as he attacked his rice.

*****

You wouldn’t believe where we were going.

We were on the island of Siquijor now, by the way. It is the island that quite a few people never dare visit because of the stories they had heard about the place. Many believe that the island is inhabited by witches and man-eating human monsters. A lot of weird stories have reached mainland. It was once known to be the Enchanted Island or something but I guess they were all just rumors because the last time I was here, nothing bad happened. I was with Jordan and Georgie then and they were the only two people I disliked when I was here. The island was like a paradise, really. Lots of fireflies at night thus many people had named the place the Enchanted Island or the Mystic Island. They said that you could see the island from far away at night because of the fireflies.

Anyway, despite the stories, there are still people who are adventurous enough to go here. And that included vehicles like me, of course. Fearless beetle Volks who had no care in the world but adventure, right?

But the stories about fortunetellers and witch doctors may be true after all because we were on our way to one.

Troy insisted on it.

Dannie and I disagreed, saying that such thing didn’t really exist. But he said it would be fun to try.

Tell him that only God has the power to know the future, Dannie baby. Tell him that. What would happen if the witches put a hex on me, huh? What if they curse me to never leave this place? What then, huh?

But no one was listening to my stricken voice.

We already dropped by Coco Grove to check in and we were once again on our way to the mountain. Siquijor had a lot of wonders to offer and one of them was the fact that it was an island with great white-sand beaches and of course, the very cool and refreshing mountain for caving and other adventures. But in the mountains also located were the locals who practiced witchcraft and fortunetelling.

Just go caving, guys. I’ll patiently wait for you outside the cave. I’d even drive inside if I could. Let’s just pass the fortunetelling!

But we were already on our way. Troy seemed to not mind the stories about the locals because he was fearless to ask them for direction. Most were smiling at us as we stopped to talk and ask direction, which was comforting somehow.

“I never thought you’re into fortunetelling,” Dannie baby said as we finally found the place. It was a house. A usual house like the hundreds we had passed by. There was nothing eerie. No cobwebs. No leafless trees. No gloomy atmosphere.

Fake. Let’s just go, guys. You’ll just waste money here.

“I’ve always wanted to try and I heard they have the one of the best fortunetellers here,” Troy answered Dannie as he opened my door. I wish I could lock the two of them inside and turn on my own ignition and drive us as far away from that place as possible. But I was powerless. I couldn’t do anything but wish my tires were good enough for a fast run later if something went wrong.

Dannie seemed not bothered at all, but she didn’t look eager either.

Hey! Be careful, you two! Don’t eat or touch anything! Don’t make eye contact! I shouted at them as they walked away toward the house.

*****

Dannie was not into such thing but Troy seemed eager to try it out. And since she didn’t know when she would be able to return to this amazing place, she thought it wouldn’t hurt to try everything the place had to offer.

“We forgot about my clothes. I haven’t bought any before we went here,” she reminded him as they waited outside the door.

“We’ll find a shop later,” he said, his eyes fixed on the unfamiliar signs on the door. “You think they mean something?”

“To someone, they must be. Why? Getting scared?” she asked, peering up at him.

He blinked a few times, a habit of his whenever he was being defensive. “Of course not.” He squared his shoulders as sounds of approaching footsteps came from the other side.

What greeted them surprised them as the house did. The woman looked like any ordinary woman. No dark shawl or white hairs. A mid-forty-something woman was smiling at them as welcome. “Come in, young lads,” she said, revealing a bright smile.

Dannie pushed Troy inside. They followed the lady into a brightly lit living room.

“Sit down,” she ordered, pointing at the couch in front of her. She took the seat across from them. A deck of cards was sitting on the table between them, waiting for the lady’s hands to do their magic.

“Is there any specific things you want to know?” she asked. “Love? Fortune? The usual?”

Troy looked at Dannie and he nodded when she didn’t answer. “I’ll go first,” he volunteered.

“Quite a gentleman you have here,” the lady quipped at Dannie. She just smiled in return.

The lady proceeded to work on her cards, shuffling them a few times and laying one card at a time on the table. Her face was unreadable as she read Troy’s fortune. “Hmm… interesting. You’re in love with someone.” She threw Dannie a look before she continued. Troy just shrugged at the comment as if it was not something new. The lady nipped on her lower lip. “But you think she’s unreachable. She has chosen a different path and you are losing hope.” Troy did not move or give any hint of whatever he was feeling. Dannie, on the other hand, was starting to feel uncomfortable. “But things will fall into their proper places in no time. When you get home, in fact. Things will sort themselves out.”

“What do you mean?” Troy asked, his voice almost desperate.

“The cards don’t give specifics, my boy. I just read what they tell me.”

Troy shifted in his position and cleared his throat. “I have one question.”

The lady waited for it without a word.

“Will I be happy?”

Dannie felt something squeeze at her heart when she heard the question. She wanted to leave but she had to bear this one. Troy wanted this so she’d go along with it for now.

The lady took out another card and laid it on the table. “Yes, you’ll be happy.” The lady’s face was mysterious. She was not smiling like she had been before and Dannie was pretty sure Troy barely believed what she just said.

The fortuneteller looked at Dannie with interest. “I’d like to read you now if you don’t mind,” she said. At that moment, she knew the lady was more interested in her than Troy. She wanted to flee. But she found herself curious at the same time. She just gave a small nod and the lady gathered all her cards and started to shuffle.

The woman’s face turned dark as she started to lay the cards on the table. She eyed Dannie for a while before she continued. “So much pain. So much…” she was shaking her head and for a moment she looked like she was about to cry. Dannie shifted in her chair uncomfortably. Troy was almost leaning over the cards as if he could read them himself. Dannie didn’t want him to hear whatever the lady was going to say—may they be true or not.

“Can you tell me about something else?” she asked, looking at the lady meaningfully.

The lady gave a small nod of understanding and changed the course of her reading. Dannie didn’t have to have her past or present be read to her. Those things were already known to her.

“Oh, you’re going to be a mother.”

Troy’s jaw dropped and so did Dannie’s.

“A what?” they both exclaimed in unison.

*****

They had been at it for the whole trip.

Troy was making a point about Dannie not becoming a nun from what the lady from earlier had said.

“She said you’re going to be a mother. That says you’ll marry, probably me, and bear a child. You’ll be a mother.”

“That could mean godmother,” she countered. “There are different kinds of mothers.”

“Or grandmother,” Troy said, not giving up. His face was full of excitement and renewed hope. Oh, poor boy. How do you get this feeling out of your system once she leaves you behind again?

“Or mother superior,” Dannie threw back.

Oh, that’s a good one, Dannie baby. But I DON’T LIKE IT!

“Come on, you can’t mean you aspire to be a mother superior in the future—”

“Stop making fun of my life choices, Troy,” Dannie cut in, her voice sharp.

Oops, we sort of touched a nerve there, buddy. Better save the others for next time.

Troy did not say a word. He and I both knew we had to give Dannie some space.

So we drove back to Coco Grove in complete, utter silence. For a moment I thought I was in a convent myself. I didn’t like it, I tell you.

*****

“Want something to eat?” Troy asked. “They have a sunset bar within a few minutes. We still have time before they leave.”

They were in their cottage. It had a queen-size bed, living room and a bathroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, in an open half-space were two single beds. Troy, of course, being the gentleman that he was, took the upstairs space, giving Dannie the larger bed.

He had taken her to a small shop earlier to buy a few set of clothes which she immediately changed into the moment they arrived. Now, she was sitting in the veranda outside and he was standing by the doorway, awkwardly thinking of ways to keep her entertained. She knew he was trying really hard, but she was not in the mood. She was bothered by the fortuneteller’s reading earlier. The lady had given her a hug before they left and she felt the pain the lady felt for her. If it was true that the woman could read Dannie’s past, then was it also possible that she could read her future? What did she mean when about her becoming a mother?

“Are you still mad?” Troy asked.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked at him. “No, I’m fine. Have you called Jackie and George?”

“Yes, I have.” His face was still serious. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Dannie stood up. “Yes. I’m just not in the mood, Troy.”

“So, you’re still mad.”

“No,” she almost snapped. And before she could spoil the night by being such a brat, she decided to take some time off by herself. But Troy’s hand was quick as she passed by him and he held on to her.

His strong grip as he pulled her back brought a lot of responses from her and one of them was to break free. He rarely used any force on her whenever he touched her but this was one of them. Add the fact that she had just been refreshed with her dark memories and that they were alone in a very unfamiliar place and it was a miracle that she did not scream for help.

She went rigid, almost stone-like. “Let me go, Troy,” she said, her breath escaping her. She’d suffer hyperventilation if she couldn’t control her panic attack.

Troy’s brows fused in a frown. “Danica, what’s wrong?”

“Let me go!” she finally shouted, pulling at her arm in desperation. And he did. And she briskly walked back to her chair to calm her breathing. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“What? All I did was grab your hand and—” He stopped talking as realization slowly crept in. Slowly, his feet made their way toward her but did not invade her private space. “Danica, answer one question for me, please.”

She did not move at all. Her focus one on her breathing and her racing heart. And Troy’s question which she didn’t want to hear.

“Did your bastard of a father do more than just beat you up?” he asked, his voice full of disgust.

She did not answer. The tears flowing dropping from her eyes to her hand was answer enough. Troy’s reaction was to send the other bamboo chair flying over the veranda.