Romance of the Four Juans

Track 18

On the ride home from the cemetery, Huan, who has decided to ride with Kiko’s family, decides to tell them that he has been offered to lead the first episode. Except, they retracted the initial offer citing that there had been a mistake. Huan voiced out his suspicions that it was his father pulling the strings.

“They retracted the offer? Can they do that? Agh.” Kiko groans and honks the car in his frustration. “Why is papa so bent on hindering you from pursuing this career? Have you ever asked?”

“I can guess. Jigo.” Huan answers as if it were fact. “Gossip is in our blood and papa was probably worried about tarnishing his reputation if entertainment news put two and two together. I’m his son in paper, but Jigo has his blood. There’s a silver lining between us. I figured a long time ago that he supported Jigo more because he'd got no one. Meanwhile, I’ll always have him as a parent. So…”

“Hoy, don’t poison your thoughts now.” Kiko states. “We’ll make him see reason.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’m used to papa’s machinations. I’m more worried about Jigo. He didn’t know that HB wrote the screenplay and that you were going to have your directorial debut with it. He discovered it just today because of my big mouth and now thinks of dropping out of the process. He doesn’t want to be accused of getting a role due to nepotism. That kid has never been a nepo-baby, always relying on his own strengths. Now he’s second guessing, lost his confidence. I think his brain cannot accept the thought. Talk to him, okay? Assure him that you don’t have the power to influence the selection.”

HB nods. “We’ll do that. But kuya… if you want revenge, I’ll help you. Only say the word, and we’ll give Uncle Dante the worst of his nightmares, all of his sons under the same spotlight.”

That statement made Huan feel much better and he was singing by the time they reached home. He did it with such a grand gesture as he opened the double doors of the house, singing as loud as he could with the words, “Bubukas ang pinto, may sasalubong sa’yong nakangiti, bumabati ng welcome home.”

“Is that an original composition?” HB inquires as she lets Bivi down from her arms.

“Jigo’s. Welcome Home. It’s nice, isn’t it? We recorded it last time. Here, listen to it.” He plays the mp3 file from his phone and made HB listen to the entire song in one sitting and waited for her reaction at the end of it. “How is it? I did great with the arrangement, if I must say.”

“I think we just found a way for you to enter the scene. If you can’t act, push forward through the music industry.”

“Be a singer? Ahy, Dante Silverio has ties in high places, HB. I won’t be able to sell myself to anyone.”

“Don’t. If you can’t enter the entertainment circle through the traditional method, then take advantage of the new platforms. Be famous on your own. Attract attention to yourself such that you won’t be ignored anymore. Think revenge, kuya Huan. Don’t do it on your own. By all means, involve other people. That song was recorded by a band, be a band.”

Huan looks up at Kiko. “If you’re desperate enough, I’ll play along.”

Huan starts grumbling, the pieces falling in his head. “An-An doesn’t have much going on in his life, and he craves the sense of belonging, so I’m pretty sure he’ll agree as well. What about Jigo? His group recently disbanded, and he’s got projects lined up already. I don’t want to lead him astray.”

“While you discuss your future, I’ll distract Uncle Dante from you.”

“Distract him, how?”

“What do old people like to talk about these days? Rather than politics, they engage themselves by criticizing how young people live their lives and compare how they lived theirs, like how they married young, how they had children and how they tried to raise those children. So, the best topic for conversation with an old man who has three single sons is always the status of the sons’ love lives. I’ll just feed your father some fantasies.”

True to her word, HB distracted Dante away from his sons. She accompanied him and his friends at the gazebo as they played their Saturday afternoon game of mahjong. If it was a sunny day, they would’ve been under the shade of the mango trees, except that the sky looked bleak again and threatening to rain. For HB, the weather is just perfect. She made Bivi play with tower blocks on the patch of clovers right where she could see her but still far enough to prevent the child from wondering about her grandfather’s vice.

When asked why she’s not hanging out with the boys, HB answers satisfactorily, to the delight of the three older friends. She’d rather spend her time in the company of those with accumulated wisdom than listen or watch the siblings figure themselves out. There was not a hint of boredom as she browsed through the countless photo albums Candy promised to show her. There were about twenty of those, well-kept photographs of a younger Huan and Beibei and a bit of An-An trudging behind the two elder friends.

“That’s Huan.” Candy tells her as she looks at a photo of two girls blowing on a birthday cake. “Beibei likes twinning with him when they were younger.”

HB grins. Huan is a pretty boy, there’s no doubt about that. With the man’s long hair which he always kept free and with his slim figure, HB can imagine him strutting down a runway like a girl anytime. Huan’s looks are wasted on him, he should have been born a girl, the elders often mused. The father even admitted to wanting Huan to turn out gay out of his desperation for a daughter. However, Huan is disappointingly straight. What is even more disappointing for the three elders of Calle Jacinto is, when they thought every girl out there would faun over the eldest, that just like Dante, he’d be a chic magnet himself, Huan finished high school quietly without a single romance instead.

“Beibei diminished his chances of finding a girl in high school because they were always together.”

“They were not always together.” Beibei’s mother argues. “Beibei dated Lynel since high school, so Huan had no choice but to hang out with Cho Rong. If there’s anyone to blame for his single blessedness, it should be Cho Rong.”

“Don’t blame anyone but the child and how he groomed himself.” Asyong chimes in. “He’s too clean and mahinhin that people assumed he’s closeted gay waiting for the right moment to come out. It didn’t help his case when photographs of his childhood wearing dresses with Beibei resurfaced at school. So, HB, if you’re trying to find someone for Huan in those old photographs, don’t waste your time. If he wanted to date any of them back then, he would have. What’s the use of looking at them now?” Asyong nudges Dante’s arm, accidentally making him reveal a tile in the process. “And you, don’t put the girl through this ordeal.”

“Why not? I just want to go through my sons’ marriages by order of oldest to youngest. At the rate Kiko is going with his own love life, he’d be divorced twice before Huan can even find someone. He needs intervention. And Beibei met George through HB. I think she’s capable enough.”

“Beibei and George? Why? Is Beibei giving up on Lynel completely?”

“Who knows? They’ve been on and off since high school, even I am getting tired of their drama.” Candy throws a tile into the prong. “I’m just glad Beibei was given options. George is nice. He’s established himself, he’s old enough and has gotten rid of the insecurities of his youth. What more, he’s ready for a family.”

“We never question the readiness of men. Women, on the other hand, might have different thoughts. Whether George is ready or not, he’d have to acclimate with Beibei’s plans if he wanted her. So, what is our Beibei’s plan?”

“I don’t ask.”

“Then, the first wedding in this block might just be Kiko’s.”

“Kiko is getting married?”

“He plans to.” Dante glances sideways at his son's best friend. “Which reminds me, ‘nak… I overheard Kiko say, that because you’re helping him raise Bivi, you think you also now have the right to dictate him on his romantic relationships.”