When the Mountains Held the Sky

Chapter 2- Claudia

Nella rested her head against the seat of the airplane. She felt somewhat aloft, feeling the engine of the plane as though its propellers were within her. A tiny hum like a cat. She finally owned herself now. Her husband would dote on her and she would be free to do whatever she wanted. The mountains may be too far for her to indulge in a new found freedom, but it was still freedom. She could hear Gabriel snoring in his sleep beside her but suddenly woke up as though he suddenly became aware that she had woken up.

“Do you want to drink something?” He asked her.

“Just water.” She replied and smiled at him as though introducing a side of her he had never seen before.

“Alright.” Gabriel coughed a bit and rang the bell above them. He ordered a daiquiri and a glass of water for Nella. He was obviously not aware she had no knowledge about various alcoholic drinks. The stewardess brought their orders and Gabriel swigged his drink. Nella sipped her water. And peered out the window beside her.

In all honesty she was exhilarated. She intended to be happy in the new adventure of her life. Ever since birth, she had been poked and prodded to be a certain woman they all ultimately wanted her to be. Now she had a chance at freedom. But she never thought she would crave to be a version of womanhood she never thought she would want. Gabriel breathed heavily and closed his eyes. She looked at him, his profile, the flared nose, the serious line of his lips and his eyes which opened now to level with her own.

“Are you comfortable?” He asked.

“Yes, very comfortable thank you.” She replied. “How about you? Are you?”

“Am I comfortable?” He asked.

“Yes.”

Gabriel held her hand and kissed the inner palm of it. And went deeper when he saw she wasn’t afraid of him. He had taken it upon himself to buy the diamond and to take her as well.

She felt the elation of a new adventure, beginning by knowing her to be husband.

***

Claudia sat beside the waters of the falls, her hands wading in the pool, while she waited for her eldest son, Gabriel, to return home.

They were not the closest of friends. She noticeably doted on her youngest son and yet she followed Gabriel into his inclinations because he had the pulse for what would be good for the business.

They had a pottery business before. Before meant previous to her husband’s death in a car crash one stormy night. After his death, she lost control and allowed her son to take over.

Gabriel and Claudia had a good relationship even though they were not close. He always asked advice from his mother. He would ask and she would relent, adding her own thoughts and feelings about the matter.

She recalled the time he asked if they could switch to another business, more lucrative, simpler and a lot more glamorous. He was a showman, his mother thought about her son. She knew it was her youngest that designed the jewelry that attracted clients from all over the world. But she dared not make such a judgement call about her eldest son. He surprises her. He had the intuitive nature of what would sell as opposed to her youngest son, Likay who drew the finest and dramatic from the rainforest and the waterfalls. He was always drawing and had an interesting visage of his subjects.

Claudia loved the way Likay was always gentle. He touched the leaves and they were green, after a shower of rain wiping away the dust of dry weather. Claudia was saddened by the fact that Likay and Gabriel did not seem to like each other and plainly treated the other with dour respect and nothing more.

There was no love between them but a mutual respect to keep the jewelry business working. And so it worked out, jewelry with gold panned nearby, semi precious stones mined from a cavern and diamonds Gabriel had to buy from various mines in Africa.

Claudia looked about her with new vista as though she had recently lived here. The mountains had always been her home. She was a student at St. Luke’s in Baguio City when each one of them students would be paired off to their respective boyfriends. She met her husband at a hamburger joint. He would always buy her softdrinks which pleased her as much as it pleased her to have the handsomest beau in town.

He was a businessman and married her as soon as she finished college with an advertising degree. She loved to draw and this pleased her husband who had her trained to be a potterist to sell as artisanal market. It was a form of art rather than function and people with good taste would flock in a pilgrimage to the mountains to buy her potteries. People from all over the world visited and bought from their pottery shop.

One night, lightning struck the trees and for awhile they were in flames until the rain washed over them and reduced the fires. Her husband insisted he had to go home from a client call in the city of Baguio. He was somewhere in the cusp of the road when he was blinded by lightning which he tried to avoid and fell down a ravine.

It took a while for him to be found and when he was, Claudia had been distraught for days, she was drawn out of energy. At the morgue she identified her husband. His face was grotesque, as though he was placed under shock and the expression on his face froze and could not be turned into a peaceful demeanor. Claudia realized she had to take care of her children alone. It was good that Gabriel was already twenty-three years old and was almost able to handle the business. But he had a fiery spirit on how to run the business. He had recently graduated from a college in Baguio City and had a dramatic flare for how he would transfer the business around. Claudia was too weak and simply relented, ending her career as a potterist and transferring to Gabriel the helm of the business.

***

After the plane landed in Manila, they boarded a helicopter to their compound. An assistant waited for them at the tarmac and helped Gabriel transfer luggages to the chopper. Nella tried to help but Gabriel refused to let her do manual work. To him, her slender demeanor seemed a reflection of weakness. She was happy enough to hold the small bag which contained the diamond.

There were other stones in the bag as well. They were semi-precious stones and diamonds inside and she held on to them as if her life depended on it.

Gabriel caught a glimpse of his bride to be. She was standing tall against the light of the noonday sun holding the bag of jewels and was looking around the activities of the tarmac. Gabriel caught his breath. She is indeed beautiful, he thought not once but a thousand times. He would create the diamond into a pendant for a necklace and let her wear it on their wedding day. Then the future owner would announce himself and everyone would give deference to the highest bidder, and soon the diamond would reach the home to whom it belongs.

After the helicopter ride wherein Nella was privy to the lush beauty of the mountains, they landed upon a clearing where a jeep awaited them. Luggages were transferred again and she was helped to sit in front. Gabriel drove the jeep through the mass jungle until she caught a glimpse of a huge house surrounded by barracks of homes for the staff of their jewelry shop. She heard the waterfalls before she found it, behind the big house. The water sparkled in the afternoon sun and she squinted her eyes watching the top of the falls. It did not even occur to her that she could swim in it, she was simply amazed at how tall it was.

Atop the falls she saw a young man about to jump from the promontory. She made no sound but was alarmed at what he was about to do. He wore goggles and dived from the top of the falls amidst dangerous sharp rocks. He landed head first into the water in fine grace.

Claudia heard their arrival and approached the incoming jeep loaded with luggage and boxes of supplies for the barracks.

A girl was with them. Gabriel helped her go down the jeep and stood all six feet of her. Gabriel led her to Claudia, kissed her mother’s cheek and finally introduced Nella.

“Mama, this is Nella, my fiancée”.

***