Black Clouds in Manila: A People Undefeated: Book 2

Translations

PROLOGUE

Philippines has surrendered to the Japanese, and General Douglas MacArthur has retreated with the promise to return.

The Filipino people’s defense of their homeland has failed, and while they have surrendered to the Japanese occupation, they refuse to see themselves as defeated.

However low they are forced to subjugate themselves to the Japanese, they remain determined to keep faith with their country. Despite Japanese efforts to rearrange their country’s unique identity, loyalty and nationalistic pride still burn in their hearts.

Along with the rest of their fellow countrymen, the Santos Family adjusts to the new rules and regulations imposed by Tokyo... and survives yet another day... and another... and another...

CHAPTER 16

SURPRISE VISITORS

Malinao and Manila, Philippines, 1942

As Rissing had anticipated, the trip to Malinao had been uneventful once Babaah had joined them to act as their guard. They had spent the next night at a small cleared area right beside the road. Babaah had disappeared for a while, and for all she knew, he wouldn’t be coming back.

But he did, holding a chicken in each hand. Rissing had no idea where the Aeta had found the birds. She suspected some neighboring farm would find themselves missing two chickens in their barnyard, but she wasn’t about to complain.

By the time she had checked on the children, their supplies, and their bedding, Babaah had defeathered and cleaned the chickens and was roasting them over a fire. Ramon and JoJo were taking turns at the spit.

Lessie came up to Rissing and whispered, He found your spices. We’re so lucky, Manang Rissing, that he’s joined us. He’s a good hunter, a good guard, and a good cook. He’s even learning to speak Tagalog just from playing with Flora and the boys.

Good thief, you mean.

Lessie stared at Rissing. Dismayed.

He’s just doing what he knows, Lessie.

But... stealing...

"Aba! Did you think those were wild chickens?"

I... didn’t think about it. Pause. What’re we going to do?

Rissing put her arm around the young girl. C’mon. It smells really good.

The chickens were delicious and they ate every bit of it.

JoJo was licking his fingers when he turned to Babaah, "Salamat."

Respect, JoJo. Babaah is older than you.

JoJo glared at his mother silently.

Ramon looked at Babaah and smiled, "Salamat, po."

Flor stood up and started dancing around the little man, "Po. Po. Po."

Babaah laughed delightedly and picked her up, dancing around the fire as she giggled happily, clapping her hands.

And then Babaah stopped, set Flora down and approached Rissing. Nodding his head at her, he said, "Salamat, po."

She tried not to show it, but Rissing was impressed. Primitive though he was in his ways, Babaah wasn’t lacking intelligence. He was all the things Lessie said he was; but he was also a good sport, a wonderful entertainer, and Rissing had no doubt he possessed a good heart, thief or not.

She would be sorry to see him leave.

When they arrived at Tia Delfie’s on the third day, the little 70-year-old woman was happily surprised to see them. Apparently Torio had sent her a note months ago letting her know that his wife and children might be coming to stay for a while, but so much time had passed she’d forgotten about it.

Rissing had never met Tia Delfie before. She had known that Torio had stayed with her in the past and that Torio was very fond of her. Since Rissing was the supplicant in this situation, she was prepared to be as humble as necessary to Tia Delfie.

At her knock, the old woman opened the door and stared at her. The old woman’s face was the color of walnut and just as wrinkled. She wore her long gray hair in a little knot behind her head. Her black eyes were little beads shining out of the walnut face.

Tia Delfie? I’m Rissing, Torio’s wife.

The old woman nodded and stared past her. Rissing turned to find Babaah standing to her right, a short distance behind her, spear in hand.

"Sino ito?"

This is Babaah, our... driver. Of course, Rissing well knew the Aeta had never once taken the reins to guide Clara on the road. She turned to Babaah and gestured to the old woman, Babaah, this is Tia Delfie.

Babaah stepped forward and nodded his head, "Tia Delfie, salamat po."

Rissing wasn’t certain about this greeting. She looked anxiously at Tia Delfie. The old woman’s mouth was twitching, though Rissing wasn’t sure whether it was in amusement or anger.

Then the old woman laughed so hard she had to place her thin brown hands over her stomach. Babaah took that as a sign and laughed heartily himself. Rissing was stuck between them, managing a smile over a joke only the other two were getting. Nevertheless, she was supremely relieved.

The old woman ushered her in, Come in, come in. Where are the others?

Rissing signaled at the cart and JoJo tumbled out, followed by Ramon, carrying Flora, and Lessie, carrying Tonia.

Tia Delfie liked to talk. She talked about her house, how old it was, how her brothers and sisters had helped her build it. It had two little bedrooms, a big main room, and a cozy little kitchen. She put Rissing in the 2nd bedroom, equipped with two double beds and barely enough room to walk between them. She explained that she’d had the beds built in anticipation of their arrival, but she also had plenty of banigs for the wooden floor in the main room.

Then while Rissing, Babaah and the boys carried their belongings in the house, the old woman walked with them, back and forth, commenting on things all the while. She had opinions about everything and apparently loved gossip. "Old Nene down the road just found out her son’s been killed. Aray! That’ll teach her. She was always bragging what a handsome son she has. I’ll bet she won’t be bragging any more."

Rissing was taken aback at her comment, but she was determined not to judge the woman who would be providing shelter for them. She busied herself with supervising placement of all their belongings.

Babaah took one look at the bags and boxes piled up in the main room, said something in his language to Tia Delfie.

The old woman raised her hands, "Aray! Do whatever you want. I don’t care!"

Babaah motioned for JoJo and Ramon to follow him and all three disappeared.

Tia Delfie turned to Rissing, "Let’s cook. I’ve got fresh fish and some longganisa."

When the smell of frying fish and pork wafted through the air, Babaah and the boys came in to eat. It was a noisy, happy gathering. Tia Delfie handled everything with easy acceptance and a kind of negative good humor.

She shook a finger at JoJo, "You remind me of your father, JoJo. Torio was always getting into everybody’s business. Saved the mayor’s son more’n a dozen years ago and people are still expecting me to solve their problems today... like I’m the same as him! Of course I’m good at it, so I don’t blame ‘em. Aray! When Andoy almost lost his shop, I’m the one who told him to add sari-sari desserts to the shop. Now he’s making twice the money he did."

Babaah and the boys disappeared soon after the meal, and Rissing was too busy listening to Tia Delfie to question them. She nodded her head occasionally and added "Talaga?" once in a while to encourage the old woman’s non-stop commentary.

It didn’t take long for her to develop the ability to listen... while not really listening.

Just as it was beginning to turn dark, JoJo ran in, Mama! Tia Delfie! Come see what we’ve built.

There were three large mango trees in triangular formation a short distance behind Tia Delfie’s small barn. Babaah and the boys had driven tall stakes in a circle within the triangular formation and roofed the area with large banana leaves arranged over long tree branches. It was tall enough to house their oxcart, and rocks and twigs had been gathered to create a platform six inches high. Their empty boxes and some superfluous household goods were stacked neatly on the platform. More banana leaves were strewn on the dirt floor.

If it rained, the trees would buffer most of the rain. In any event, banana leaves were plentiful enough if repairs were necessary.

By now, Rissing was aware of Babaah’s character. He was undemanding, loyal and willing to work hard. Now, she was impressed at how resourceful he could be.

Babaah’s going to sleep inside the cart. Ma, can I sleep in the cart with him?

From a suspicious distrust which prompted JoJo to carry his knife around Babaah, suddenly here he was now in obvious admiration of the Aeta. Rissing wasn’t sure this was a good thing. However, she knew it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either, so she nodded.

Tia Delfie summarized the situation with a quick nod, Babaah, the barn needs fixing too. She pointed at the barn where a few pigs wallowed and Clara the carabao was feeding on some camote leaves.

Babaah giggled and nodded his head, "Salamat, po!"

Tia Delfie laughed. You’re welcome! The neighbor boys used to keep my barn fixed up, but they’re all signed up for war now. Don’t worry, you’ll be busy here.

Rissing kept her smile to herself. She had a feeling Tia Delfie would be keeping everyone busy.

She hadn’t known how she’d feel if Babaah left them. Now that she knew he was staying around a bit longer, she acknowledged her relief and appreciation.

The little Aeta was proving to be more valuable than she had anticipated.

* * * * *

When Lucing had been involved in an ongoing relationship with Freddie, she’d consulted a maghihilot... a healing woman in the neighborhood revered and loved for her kind-hearted willingness to help anyone who came to her. People called her Manang Maya because she considered herself everyone’s older sister.

Manang Maya knew a lot about a lot of things. When people got sick, they went to her. She knew about herbal teas to combat dengue fever, for instance, or which plants to wrap around wounds to stave off infections.

If anyone would know about protection against pregnancy, Lucing had determined Manang Maya would know. Sure enough, the old woman had recommended a tea made from the leaves and flowers of the Kamias tree. The old woman warned Lucing that the tea wouldn’t be a 100% guarantee of contraception, but it was better than taking no precautions at all.

According to Catholic tenets, Lucing was committing a sin to be using a contraceptive at all, but then indulging in sex before marriage, and at that with a married man, was already a black spot of sin in her heart.

And now here she was indulging in another sinful relationship... and to make things worse, her lover was the enemy Japanese commandant of her beloved Santo Tomas University.

She refused to feel guilt or remorse about it. Circumstances of life were never black and white and simple. They may start out that way, but the heart has a way of traversing its own path, generating complications upon neverending complications.

She was irrevocably in love with the Captain and there was no denying it. She’d never felt this rush of love and compassion before... not in this physically compelling way, when the heart beats so loudly it’s like a drum sounding in her heart, and her breath catches in her throat, and her entire body is frozen in such sensuous expectation.

Through the years of intimate friendship with Freddie, she’d never felt like this. Through all the casual relationships she’d chosen to experience, there had been barely a glimmer of this kind of yearning and absorption.

While she’d always love and cherish her friendship with Freddie, after this – after the Captain – she could never again sleep with the journalist. It would be sullying the passion she now felt for the Captain.

Which felt like a betrayal of sorts. Freddie had always been there for her. Intellectually and emotionally. Now, of course, she didn’t even know if he was still alive. Perry hadn’t been able to dig up information as to her friend’s status at Fort Santiago where he’d been taken as prisoner. The only thing Perry could say for sure was that his body hadn’t been tossed onto the pile of dead yet. And that news had been over a month ago when Perry had been shot and she’d been beaten up.

And now, of course, she didn’t even know if Perry had survived the gunshot wound inflicted on him that night. After that night, she’d promised the Captain she’d never try to communicate with Perry again, and she had kept her promise.

The Captain had offered to get a letter to her sister Inez, but she didn’t ask how he was going to do it. She seriously doubted he would trust anyone under his command to pass the letter on, but he said he had delivered it, and she knew he wouldn’t lie to her about that.

But now, she needed and wanted to visit her house. Not only to make sure Inez, the children and Perry were all right, but because she needed to get her package of tea.

So far the Captain’s visits to her room hadn’t resulted in pregnancy, but it was a risk she couldn’t afford to take. If she got pregnant, everyone at the camp who knew that she worked for the Captain would also know that the Captain was most likely the cause of the pregnancy. It only made sense. She was never around any other man.

Talk about complications.

She could refuse to sleep with the Captain, but that was unthinkable. She loved the delicious thrill of her body when he touched her, the breathtaking intensity of their bodies joining and moving together, the heat wherever his hands touched her.

And then afterwards, it was the most wonderful feeling to mold herself against him and bask in the warmth of his presence.

Sometimes they talked. Never about their situation. Never about their feelings for each other. Never about what would happen should he be assigned to another post.

They talked about the problems at the camp. How crowded it had become. How the internees were under such miserable conditions there were deaths every day. How the onsite hospital had no more room for patients. How there was never enough food. How the guards so often abused their power over the internees.

They discussed whether the internal governance of the camp was effective under the leadership of the internees’ own chosen leaders. They discussed that one leader was more practical than another one, but the second leader somehow tended to counterbalance the first one’s character. Of course there was always a third leader who was totally in it to benefit himself, never mind the welfare of the internees who had voted him into his position.

It amazed Lucing that the Captain’s heart could be so big and caring for happenings in the camp, but when he took his place as commandant in the morning, how ruthless and effective he was at following Tokyo dictates. Most of the camp thought he was a horrible monster.

But she knew different. Oh, how she knew.

She had already decided to ask the Captain a favor when next he came to visit her while she lay in bed. She was going to ask if she could visit Inez and the children at the house. He had the power to make it happen. Surely he would say yes and find a way.

As if in response to her thoughts, the door opened, and a sliver of light shone into the room for a moment before he closed it behind him.

Her Captain was here.

Already her heart was pounding and her body tingling. She could sense the quiet stealth of his movement through the darkness as he approached. It creaked a little as he sat down on the bed.

She sat up and put her arms around him. He turned his head and kissed her tenderly. Sweetly.

A sliver of light shone at the bottom of the door. The hallway light was always on. All soldiers had been called to reinforce Homma’s troops, so Lucing knew that there would be no guard to see the Captain leaving his room and walking next door to her room. Lucing trusted the Captain to maintain the utmost discretion in this matter.

When he’d undressed, his clothes neatly folded on her little table and his shoes under the bed, she stood up and went into his arms. He hadn’t visited for the past three nights, so they were hungry for each other.

No matter. They would feed each other’s need. She loved how they always started out tenderly, soft mutual kisses on the face and neck and lips. Then the need would build and the touches and kisses would become more intense until their bodies were straining to join. Then they’d fall on her bed and finally surrender to the hunger and their bodies would thrust against each other until thrilling release.

She usually fell asleep in a sensuous haze right afterwards. Sometimes he’d wake her up in the middle of the night, his hands stroking her body, persuasively teasing her into another bout of lovemaking. Sometimes he didn’t, the exhausting tasks of the day keeping him in deep restful slumber.

Always he was gone in the morning when she woke up.

So this night, her head on his shoulder, her left arm around his chest, she whispered, Captain, is there any way I could visit my sister Inez?

He was quiet for so long she almost thought he was asleep... except his hand was stroking her back lazily. He didn’t stop stroking her, which she would have read as some form of displeasure. That was good. She didn’t want him thinking she was taking advantage of his post-sex good humor... even though that was exactly what she was doing.

A letter wouldn’t do?

I haven’t seen her or the children in four months.

We’re both very busy.

That was a subject they could discuss for hours... all the things he had to do to maintain some kind of order at the camp, and all the things she had to do to help him do his job.

So what she was really asking was that he allow her to make time to visit her sister and the children. She knew he knew this, so she didn’t respond to his comment.

She rubbed her hand against his chest, You know I’ll be back.

Yes.

It’s important. For a second, she considered telling him about her concerns about getting pregnant. Then she decided he didn’t need one more thing to worry about. She was an intelligent woman, educated in the ways of conception and contraception. This was her problem, so she would take care of it on her own.

He moved his head to kiss her forehead, Let me see what I can do.

* * * * *

Two days later, when she entered his office just after 8:00 a.m., he nodded at her and gestured to her desk. On top of it were a private’s uniform and a baseball cap.

We’re taking a trip today, so you’ll need to get into those clothes. Neither his expression or voice hinted at it, but Lucing knew that finally she was going to see Inez and the children.

She went into her room and put on the soldier’s uniform. It fit pretty well, loose enough to camouflage her female body, but otherwise the right width and length. She coiled her hair under the baseball cap, securing it with pins so it wouldn’t escape when she least wanted it to.

This was a good idea. Several weeks ago, the soldiers had raided a tourist shop containing dozens of the baseball caps. She knew the Captain liked to wear the cap when he walked the compound on his daily routine. It was good protection from the hot Philippines sun.

When she went back into the office, the Captain studied her, head to toe, nodded his head and stood up. On his desk were two large grocery bags. He handed one bag to Lucing and picked up the second.

Stay behind me. Use the bag to cover your face.

A jeep was waiting for them downstairs, a young soldier at the wheel. Like the Captain and herself, he was wearing a baseball cap. Lucing recognized him as the Captain’s regular driver... a very young Japanese – more boy than man at this point. The Captain handed his paper bag to the driver, who placed it beside him on the front seat.

The captain got in the back and ignored her. She wasn’t a woman now. She was a low-ranking soldier who wasn’t worthy of his personal attention, and they had to act accordingly. She placed the paper bag on the seat between them and got in beside the bag, keeping her head down.

The Captain gave his directions to the driver and they took off. Along the way, soldiers saluted the Captain and didn’t give her a second look. At the gate, the guards saluted the Captain, glanced at her, and then waved them out.

She stayed quiet through the ride through town. The streets weren’t as crowded as Lucing expected. The Filipinos who were out took care to swerve away from the jeep as it passed. Once they saw that it was an officer inside the jeep, they looked away.

This was the first time Lucing had been out since she had entered Santo Tomas to offer her services to the Captain. Most of the street debris had been pushed together and gathered in piles.

Despite the Japanese intention to keep Manila in good living conditions for their occupation, many of the buildings and shops were damaged beyond repair. Burnt skeletons of vehicles were dumped against some of the damaged buildings. Still, an effort had been made to cart away signs of war. Lucing caught sight of homeless people moving around in some of the damaged buildings they passed.

When they were several blocks from her house, the jeep stopped in front of a small faded blue house. A big tree hovered over the little house, a tire swing hanging from one of its branches. While clean of debris, the dirt area in front of the house looked forlorn and empty... as if children should be playing there. The door to the house opened and a woman stood inside, just behind the door.

The Captain nodded at Lucing and she stepped out of the jeep and took the paper bag in her arms. He stepped out right behind her, using his body to shield her from the driver, who handed the Captain the second paper bag.

They made their way to the open door. The door closed behind them.

The Captain nodded at the woman by the door, Hello, Linda. He placed the paper bag on a small table, reached into his pocket and handed her some money.

Captain. She accepted the money and bowed to her waist. Her movement was graceful and fluid. When she bent, her long black hair fell over her light brown face with its pretty features. When she straightened, she tossed back her hair and smiled at the Captain, and that smile, as well as the sparkle in her eyes, altered her face from just pretty to glowingly beautiful. Lucing felt a stab of jealousy. She was careful not to show it.

Linda looked at her. Saw her for what she was and turned to the Captain, one eyebrow raised. Every move, every turn of the head – even the raised eyebrow – was performed with effortless grace. It could be that her body, small and dainty with appropriate curves, made her seem graceful, but Lucing didn’t think so.

She thought maybe this young woman was somehow gifted beyond the norm. She was early 20’s, wearing a short flowery dress. She picked up the paper bag and walked to a doorway which led to the kitchen in the back of the house. As she walked, her dress whispered around her knees with soft swishing noises. She placed the bag on the kitchen table, and somehow the move made it an act of benediction.

Lucing thought she understood what the woman was. Her every move, look and gesture was meant to emphasize how seductively desirable she was.

She and the Captain followed the woman into the kitchen. Her mind knew better than to be jealous, but Lucing couldn’t help it. This utterly seductive woman was smiling at her Captain. It was such a sexually intimate smile, Lucing wanted to push the woman away... or get between her and the Captain somehow. A woman so desirable as this... Lucing felt she had to protect her lover somehow. Something in her just knew that this woman was a black widow spider... she’d kill and destroy any man who made love to her.

Lucing wanted to throw her paper bag at the woman, grab the Captain’s hand, and drag him away. Instead, she stood perfectly still, clutching at her paper bag. Linda moved to another door, this one exiting to the back yard. She opened the door, stood beside it with crossed arms, and smiled her lovely smile again, Half an hour, Captain?

Longer this time, I think.

Then he took Lucing’s paper bag from her, went out the door and down three steps into a back yard filled with squash, tomatoes and okra climbing their separate poles in neat rows. Lucing followed him without a word.

The wooden fence surrounding this garden in the back yard was in good repair, though the white paint had mostly peeled off. The Captain opened a small gate at the back of the garden into the neighbor’s back yard. This one was all dirt, with a broken down dog house tucked in one corner. All the shutters were closed on the house