Romance of the Four Juans

Track 04

Dante heaves a sigh as he waves at Angel from the gate. He stands at the open gate until he can no longer see the vehicle that transported her away from him for the nth time. He thought she’d stay longer this time and help him manage the boys. He wanted to make her stay, he even pleaded, but everything fell on deaf ears. For the first time since his parents’ passing to the promised land, Dante dreads going into his own home, a home that he perfectly catered to his weird preference, which has now been invaded by three goblins who get along very well. Like then, he’s afraid of ghosts that linger around, it’s just that this time, it’s the ghost of his past that’s caught up to him.

In the wake of Angel’s absence, a strange, miniature girl with curly hair has appeared. She introduced herself as HB, Kiko’s best friend, but Dante felt dubious about that introduction because she looked too young to even be friends with the twenty-seven-year-old Kiko. He only believed it when HB informed her that she had come to gauge her friend’s living situation upon the insistence of Kiko’s mother, Jimena.

As the boys were still sleeping when HB arrived, Dante decided to show her around his home, asking her questions as they moved along. He stops right in front of the pond in the back garden and pretends to care for the koi he keeps. “Is she still as strong headed and pushy and plain weird as I knew her to be?”

“I wouldn’t know.” The girl pauses right beside him, pretending to be interested in the fishes before them. “She’s always gentle and kind, and she gave me preferential treatment over her children, so I’m not the best person to answer that question. You should ask her son, Uncle. It would be best if you turned the tables on them and asked Kiko what kind of mother mama Jimena had become. Trust his word, he’s good at keeping secrets but his word is true.”

Dante grins to himself. For her, he repeats the abridged version of the words he uttered at the dinner table yesternight. “She’s three years older than me, ate Jimena. We were never in love. We were only together for a good time and we both knew it. More than anything, she was a comrade. After we parted ways, she demanded I refer to her respectfully as an older sister, insisted I call her ate. She played the role well, I must say. The reason I asked is because I knew very well that her brain is wired in strange ways.” The older man takes a deep breath. “It was pure chaos when we found out she was pregnant, but I was prepared to stand as a father for Kiko and marry her as I should, but ate Jimena told me not to be stupid because she’s not wife material and told me to be responsible for the delicate Helen instead. Helen, who was seven months pregnant then, had been suffering because the man who impregnated her was a foreigner who already had a family in his home country. Ate Jimena told me to marry Helen and save her from disgrace. Because unlike Helen, Jimena has the confidence that she can bear everything on her own, she’s strong-willed, and she has been a disgrace all her life and can take another one.”

“But you did not marry Helen.”

“I couldn’t. Helen agreed to the proposal, but she died in childbirth, so we were never able to marry. I claimed her child as mine. My name is in the child’s birth certificate. We called him Huan. A few weeks after his birth, I found that ate Jimena used her pregnancy to infuriate her father and she was sent abroad. We didn’t have any contact with each other for months until I received a letter and a photo of the baby. She kept me updated about Kiko’s childhood for a while until she, in her usual flare, decided to stop because she'd found a man who convinced her to settle down and be a wife. In her own words, she said I’ve been conned by an Italian man.” Dante chuckles, his shoulders shaking as he recalled it.

“Genaro, that is his name. Mama Jimena once said he was the best suited husband for her. He’s also a good father.”

“Good for them.”

“I’m sure, you are a good father as well, uncle.” Dante turned to look at her. “If you weren’t, Kiko wouldn’t stick around for long.”

“So, my home and I passed the assessment I don’t even know the criteria to?”

“Kiko had already unpacked his bags and settled in. He meant to stay. And the only criterion is, if this is a home that’s conducive for child-rearing. Despite everything, you managed to raise a child here for years, so it’s a pass.”

“Child rearing? Why would you and Jimena be concerned about that?”

“Don’t you want grandchildren, Uncle?”

Dante turns. He never once considered it. Grandfather? Him? He once imagined Huan coming back with children, but the eldest son didn’t seem too keen about having relationships with women since his disastrous first relationship, so the thought dissipated. But now that he’s got other sons...

“You and Kiko are not simple friends, are you?”

“We’ve been through thick and thin, he and I. We built our own little world where we speak a language people wouldn’t understand and buried secrets in it. So, I guess you’re right. We are not simple friends.”

“Tell me more about yourself, will you?” Dante ushers her back into the house, tempting her with native delicacies.

While his three sons slept, then played hard the moment they woke up, Dante managed to share snacks with HB, which then filtered into lunch and siesta, finding common interests such as a love for dramatic films, music, and storytelling in general. Over that short course of time, Dante grew a fondness for his son’s friend. He considered her a part of the family the moment matchmaking came out of her mouth and tarot cards came out of her pocket. As he agreed with all accounts of that tarot card reading, Dante also decided that HB’s simple friendship with Kiko wouldn’t do, that she should truly belong to the family. And if she and Kiko won’t cross the line of friendship, then HB may very well choose from his other sons.