Romance of the Four Juans

Track 20

It only took overnight for people to get to know the name, thanks to Huan working to polish the composition, to Kiko being adept at video editing, and in part to Jigo posting something on his social accounts after putting it online, appealing to whichever fans he has left to support this newly formed a band. The boys felt so proud of what they had accomplished that they all went to sleep grinning, not caring about how their father would take it if he found out.

Dante got the news of his sons’ quick rise to fame two days after their video was uploaded.

The boys were awakened by the loud banging of a hammer on the door.

Huan, who was nearest to the commotion, rose up and finds Dante hammering a slab of wood to the pristine carved door of the music room. All his life, he had only seen his father fuming in anger twice, and the anger always manifests itself by locking something in or throwing something out. This is the third time. Dante might as well do both, lock the musical instruments away and throw all his sons out of the house.

Huan could only do what he felt was right at that moment, call his dearest Uncle Asyong, who came right through the wedge separating the two houses to see what was going on.

“No more jamming sessions!” The father declares, hammering the last nail into the door.

“Why?” Asyong asks, coming into the back door. “That’s their way of bonding with each other. Why are you depriving them of it?”

“I got betrayed.” Dante points to Huan who sighs. “That one is still rebelling. And he has involved everyone of them.”

“I wouldn’t really call that betrayal, father. I’m merely trying to live the life I want. And they…” Huan falters. True, he wants to break through the entertainment industry, but he couldn’t say the same about the younger brothers. For all he knew, they just agreed to join him out of boredom. In part, Dante’s accusation is right, it’s a rebellion. It’s not at all his idea, but Huan chose to bite that back.

“Want to inspire others.” Jigo supplies for him.

“Take that channel down or else… I’m kicking you all out of my house and cutting off all relationships.”

“Who are you threatening with those words?” Asyong looks at the four boys. “If he cuts you all off, I’ll take you all in. You can be my children instead of his.”

“Asyong!”

“Manong.” Asyong calls him, referring to Dante as how he should be called, since they are still first cousins. “We no longer have any family left aside from them. You’re being ungrateful, right now. If you cannot appreciate your sons and support them, give them to me. Anyway, I’ve already decided that I’ll divide everything I own among them when the time comes. Our years of friendship and our familial ties aside, I’ll go against you for them anytime. Children are supposed to be treasured. You’re driving them away when they have just returned home, so I’ll take all of them for now. I’ll return them once you’ve calmed down.”

The brothers looked at each other. That escalated to full abandonment in record time. And when the eldest nods to the younger ones, everyone follows Asyong out of the house, leaving their stupefied father alone.

Except for the youngest who’s feeling rather excited about the turn of events, the three older brothers sigh as they huddled in Asyong’s living room, sitting on the black backless sofa by order of birth. For their uncle, they recount the events leading up to this day.

Everyone went silent after, until An-An broke it with his usual flair. “Uncle, are you really giving us everything you have? What do I get?”

“Tsk. An-An!” If Huan could only reach the youngest, he would’ve pinched him right then.

Asyong laughs. “What do you think?”

“I like your house.”

“Ah~ Whoever comes to live with me will inherit the house.”

“But we’ll all live with you from now on, right?”

“I know what I said, but you know it’s wrong for anyone to steal someone else’s children. I said it to snap him out of his anger, to make him realize what he'd lose and make him regret his words a little.” Asyong leaned back and got comfortable in his reclining chair. “Your father should not wait for me to return all of you. Even in his anger, the lot of you should brace yourselves and go home.”

“Is what we did so wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong, children. It is your right to pursue the things you want in life.” Asyong’s voice is soothing and kind. Even the youngest paid attention. “There are just some things that you shouldn’t let your family know from other people. Go to him and give him a piece of your mind. He’s only one man, there are four of you. It’s high time he learned how to lose, as parents do.”

“And if he still doesn’t give way?”

“This is what my uncle, your grandfather, told me when I was about your age, words that your father probably never heard of because he always knew what he wanted and never hesitated. He said, when you’re set to do something detrimental, life changing even, you don’t need to ask for permission from your folks, but you might want to ask for their blessing. Permission and blessing are never the same. Permission gives you a temporary feeling of freedom, but it binds you to whoever gives it. Blessings when given provide wings. It is freeing. And whether you have Dante’s blessing or not, it is still better to have said it than not at all. Okay? You might want to remember those words in case something similar happens in the future, and I’m no longer around to remind you of it.”

“This won’t happen again, Uncle. Consider us learned.” Jigo responds.

The ever curious youngest pulls his feet up on the sofa and is swaying back and forth. “But what circumstances were you in for grandpa to tell you something like that?”

“I was trying to escape from an arranged marriage, wanting to marry someone else.”

An-An gasps, then bounces on his seat. “You were in an arranged marriage? With whom?”

“With Helen.”

“My mother?” Huan got the hiccups in his shock. He stands and sits right back when it dawned on him. “Did you try to escape it even before I was there or when you learned that I’m already inside of her?”

“The marriage was arranged by the parents when they learned of her pregnancy. I was their only choice because Jun has Candy, Dante has ate Jimena, Hwan was already married.”

An-An raised his hand. “But why did you not want to marry Kuya Huan’s mom?”

“You can count it as an excuse, but refusing was my way of telling that man to abandon everything and claim Helen and the child. I believed he would. So, your mother was not the only one who was disappointed when he never showed up. I felt it just the same. I’m so sorry I wasn’t man enough to accept you both then, ‘nak. But your father was. And all this time when he’d been preventing you from being seen by the world, know that it’s because of a promise he made to your mother on her deathbed, a promise we all made, not to let the man who abandoned you both get a glimpse of you in any capacity or take you away. Dante is a good man. It shouldn’t be denied.”

“Is that the only reason why, Uncle?” They turned to the youngest, his chin prepped on his hand. An-An looks bored.

Asyong almost laughed. “Fine. Maybe I wanted to marry for love.”

“But you remained unmarried to this day. So, you weren’t able to find love?”

“Ahy! An-An!” Jigo pinches him, hoping he’d take the hint and stop.

Asyong laughs for a while. He even wiped the corners of his eyes from excessive laughing. “It was love, but it wasn’t mutual love. The girl has a thing for your father. In fact, she loved him enough to bear him a son. I was a coward. I think if only I’d been braver, maybe one of you wouldn’t be his, but mine.”

The world went to a standstill again.

Kiko also knew that there was never love involved between his mother and his father and felt assured knowing that. After Asyong’s revelation about escaping from the arranged marriage, Huan knew he couldn’t possibly be talking about him. But what if Asyong loved the mother he grew up with? So, now, the two eldest brothers dart careful glances towards the youngest two sitting innocently, Asyong’s words not bothering them a bit. Kiko in particular stares at Jigo’s profile, the third child who grew up in his grandparent’s care, who never once mentioned anything about his mother to this day.

Their family’s complicated past filled with unrealized feelings, stories of fateful meetings and partings are slowly unraveling before them, unfurling like a cabbage, leaf by leaf. And everyone seems to have a version of the past that led them to this point.

“Ahy, since I’ve already slipped up and told you about inheritance, as a sign of good faith, I will hand one of my properties to you now.” Asyong stands and goes through a drawer in the living room. He came back with a small chest full of keys. “Since your father has barricaded your music room, you need a place to continue playing. And if you want my opinion, you can’t just upload a video of you playing songs and wait for it to be viewed. Have the decency to play your music in front of people. It’s been so long since it was opened, but it’s well maintained. One of you might have to get the necessary permits before you can open it and turn it back into a profitable business. You can start by stealing some of your father’s hard alcohol. He cannot have alcohol anyway. He needs to take good care of his liver.”

Huan’s eyes widen. He knows some of Asyong’s properties in town and there could only be one property that coincides with their passion for music, the place where Dante Silverio played with his band way back in his youth. “You’re giving us the bar?”

“If you can find the key, you can have it.”

“Ninong!” Huan fell to the floor and crawled to Asyong’s side, taking his uncle’s hand, and pressing it to his forehead before rising and giving the old man a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Then, he urges his younger brothers to do the same. They faun over their generous uncle, singing his praises.

“It changes nothing. You still have to go to your father and ask for his blessing. You still need his music room to record your songs.”