Broken Bones and Scar Souvenirs

Chapter 1- That Little Thing Called Control

That Little Thing Called Control

Tinalikuran ni Sabrina si Hector at padabog na naghanap ng p’wedeng inumin sa liquor shelf ng ama. Nang nakita niya ang may bawas na Johnnie Walker ay agad niya itong tinungga mula sa bote at marahas na nilapag iyon sa harapan ng kanyang.

“So let me get this straight. Once again, by some unsurprising reason, you’ve managed to screw up my life without me even knowing.” Her face was straight but there was a menacing look in her eyes as she gulped straight from the bottle.

Masama pa rin ang tingin niya sa ama na nakaupo at hindi man lang nito magawang salubungin ang mga mata niya. Nakakasuklam, iyon ang pumasok sa isip ng dalaga nang binaling ang atensyon kay Hector. He was nothing but a small, frail man with graying hair and hollow cheeks. He was once a great man, but Sabrina knew those days were long gone.

“A-anak…” he tried to plea but as he met his daughters gaze, there it was the rage that she was known for. May kaunting takot ang gumuhit sa mukha ng matanda.

“Don’t!” Huminga ng malalim ng dalaga at mariin ng pinikit ang mata. Sinubukan niyang itago ang pagkamuhi ng marinig niya ang salitang iyon mula sa asariling ama. “Don’t you call me that. ‘Wag mo akong matawag-tawag na anak kung kahit kalian ay hindi ka naman naging ama sa ‘kin.”

“Sabrina, please calm down.” Hinilot-hilot pa ni Hector noo nito.

“Calm down? Seriously?” She slammed her hand on her father’s office table. “Tell me, paano ako kakalma sa mga sinabi mo? Did you forget or should I walk you through again?”

Her voice was significantly louder after that. Her father was pathetic to even suggest that she calm down.

“Inubos mo ang pera natin— ang pera ng kumpanya natin sa sugal. If that wasn’t enough for you you also found yourself in a tremendous amount of debt and financial blunders!” she started with just the tip of the iceberg. “At para hindi iyon malaman ng board of directors, lumapit ka kay… kanino ka nga ulit lumapit?”

“Marco Yñigo Vescozar,” halos pabulong na sabi ni Hector.

Mapait na tumawa si Sabrina. “Kay Marco Vescozar. The leader of the organization Northern Dragons. You do know that their business range from wholesome restaurants and resorts to drug trafficking and smuggling of illegal firearms. And you made a deal with him!”

“For what? 700 million pesos and offered the company and my childhood home as collateral?” She slumped back to the sofa and crossed her arms. “Isa kang malaking tanga. I would rather carve a hundred deals with the devil himself than to get involved with the Vescozars.”

Nag-umpisa ng humikbi ang matanda at nanginginig na ang balikat nito. Pero hindi iyon sapat para makaramdam ng awa si Sabrina. Bakit siya maawa kung kasalanan naman nito ang lahat ng kawalang-hiyaang nangyari sa buhay niya?

“When he came to collect what he was owed, you don’t have anything to show for. He should’ve killed you.” Hector’s eyes widened upon his daughter's words. “What? Sa tingin mo wala siyang planong patayin ka? You were useless for him and he will get rid of you in one way or another then, usurp the whole Buenavista Land Developers Inc. Pero s’yempre sarili mo lang naman talaga ang iniisip mo.”

Her father tried to reach for her hand across the table. But she flinched almost immediately. “Don’t f*****g touch me! You disgust me, Dad!” She stood up and a lone tear fell from her eye.

She finally let out all that anger she kept through the years and directed them all at once at her father. “Para iligtas ang sarili mo, pinalit mo ang kumpanya at binenta mo pati ang kaluluwa ko sa pamilya ng mga Vescozar.”

Sumang-ayon naman si Marco Vescozar ng iminungkahi ni Hector na ibigay ang kalahati ng shares ng kumpanya niya at ipakasal si Sabrina sa pinakabatang anak ni Marco kapalit ng buhay at ng utang nito.

“Sabrina, please.” Umiling-iling si Hector at sinubukang pakalmahin ang anak.

“I’m your daughter! Your only child!” she spat. “And tossed me to the wolves for 700 million. So f**k you!”

Muli niyang tinalikuran ang ama upang itago ang mga luha na nagbabadyang tumulo. She’d never let anyone see her cry. For Sabrina it was a sign of weakness and losing control. That was all she ever wanted. Control. At ngayon kahit ang sarili niyang kalayaan ay bigla na lang naglaho nang dahil sa sarili niyang ama. It was fitting. For years and years, he was always the cause of her deep-seated pain.

“Alam mo ba, Dad, umasa ako. Umasa ako na sana balang araw magising ka sa kung ano mang katarantaduhan iyan, na kapag tapos ka nang maglukasa sa pagkawala ni Mommy maalala mo man lang na nawalan din ako, na nandito pa ako. Umasa ako na sana matauhan ka, and just be a father to me. I didn’t even need you to be the best dad. I just wanted you to try.” Marahas niyang pinahid ang lahat ng luha bago hinarap muli ang ama.

This time her face was cold and void. She just gave up and shut him out for good.

“You know what you did? You just sent me from one boarding school to another, you couldn’t even be bothered to care. At nang g-um-raduate ako, ano? You just expected me to run the company and clean up your s**t and when it was convenient you, sold me off to the most dangerous family in the country, to save your life. And you told me to calm-the-f**k-down.”

She grabbed the bottle of Johnnie Walker and chugged down what remains of it.

“Dugo at pawis ni Mommy ang binuhos niya sa kumpanyang ito. For some reason, she loved you. So I will do this for her. And this will be the last thing I will ever do for you.” She blatantly said to her father. “I will agree to the marriage part of the deal to save your life.”

Nabuhayan naman ng pag-asa ang mga mata ni Hector pero mabilis iyong pinatay ni Sabrina. “Kapalit nito ay ayaw ko nang makita pa ang pagmumukha mo. After the wedding, you are nothing to me. Don’t ever try to see me or speak to me again. Or else, you’ll wish that Marco Vescozar had just killed you.”

Tila nalugmok naman ang buong mundo ng matand at walang tigil ang pag-iyak sa harapan niya. She couldn’t care less though. She grabbed her things and turned her back and walk straight out of her father’s office. This time it was for good.

Bago pa man siya makasakay sa elevator ay agad niyang tinawagan ang kanyang sekretarya. “Patrice, send me everything you could find about Marco Yñigo Vescozar and his son, the one that I will be marrying or better yet, just send me the details about all of them.”

She figured that if she was to agree with all these clusterfucks, she needed to know who and what exactly is she dealing with.

●●●●

Walang pakundangang hinagis ni Yalmar ang vase at tumama ito sa pader malapit sa kinauupuan ng kanyang ama. Nanatili namang hindi natinag ang matandang Vescozar. Kagaya ng inaasahan ay hindi naging madali kausapin ang bunso nito.

Sinubukan naman ni Yulric nalapitan ang kapatid at inalok ng whiskey ngunit agad rin niyang hinagis at baso. Yael couldn’t help but flinch on his brother’s tantrum episode. Yalmar was just about to grab the bottle of wine and throw it past one of his brothers when his father quickly stood up to intervene.

“Stop it, Yalmar!” Nanlilisik pa rin ang abuhing mata niya at ayaw magpaawat. Mukhang nainip na rin ang pinakamatanda niyang kapatid at agad siyang nilapitan at kinuha ag hawak niyang bote. Yohann shoved his brother down to the couch and made sure that all the breakable items in the room were out of Yalmar’s reach. “That’s enough!”

Stubborn as he is, Yalmar tried to walk out but his brother tapped his back. “Sit back down, Sinco,” Yohann snapped at him and using his alias.

Nanatiling nakabusangot pa rin si Yalmar at napailing na lang sa ama at mga kapatid. He slouched like a kid and crossed his arms with his eyebrows still very close together.

“I know you’re unhappy with this arrangement, anak pero—”

Yalmar scoffed and rolled his eyes. If he rolled them any harder he would see the back of his head. “Unhappy? What gave you that idea?” nasusuya niyang sagot sa ama. “I’m not unhappy, Dad I’m f*****g furious!”

Napabuntong hininga na lang si Yohann sa kapatid. Na siya namang napansin ni Yalmar. “Ikaw ba ang may pakana nito? Tell me! It was his f*****g idea is it? Like kind of a sick prank on me.” He pointed at Yohann.

“It wasn’t his idea, Yalmar. It wasn’t my idea either,” depensa ng matanda. “Pero nandito na ‘to. And I think this is a step in the right direction.”

Yalmar just groaned. He combed his fingers through his hair and fixed his slightly messy man bun. “Fancy you’d say that. The thing is, I never agreed to any of this. You just assumed I will go along with this bullshit. Hindi niyo ba naisip na paano kung ayaw ko siyang pakasalan?” His father just gave him a cheeky grin as if he was mocking him. “What if I just kill her? I’m sure you didn’t think of that.”

“You will do no such thing,” his father sighed and handed him a folder from his desk. “You might actually like her and I think she’s a good match for you.”

Agad naman niya itong binuklat. Sa unang pahina pa lang ay sumalubong na sa kanya ang litrato at pangalan ng dalaga.

Sabrina Isline Buenavista

On the file was a head to bust picture of a young woman looking straight to the camera with her face void of any emotion, eyes so dark they almost consumed him. Her hair was flawlessly straight and fell just right past her shoulder.

Napataas naman ang kilay ng binata nang nabasa ang mga sumunod na pahina sa folder. It showed several records of her suspension from different elite boarding schools in Europe. Some even had records of her expulsion and transfers from one school to another. Mas napukaw pa ang atensyon niya nang mabasa ang basehan ng mga suspension na iyon. There ranged various allegations of petty theft, assault, small time arsons, intimidations and stalking.

“None of the complaints were ever legally proven, often times it was dropped even before anyone could look into it.” Marco Vescozar referred to Sabrina’s files. “Siguro dahil na rin sa kaya iyong takpan ng pera ng daddy niya. Even then, she never really stayed at one boarding school for so long.”

Intrigued but still unimpressed, Yalmar just shrugged as he continued reading through the pages. His supposed-to-be-fiancé was a bit of troublemaker herself but her files revealed that she was smart too. She was Summa c*m-Laude from Princeton University with a double major on Finance and Public Relations.

“Simula nang maka-graduate siya at umuwi dito sa Pilipinas ay siya na ang nagpapatakbo ng kumpanya nila. For almost a couple of years she managed to keep their company afloat, mainly because her dad a bit to incompetent for the job. And now he got her in this situation.”

Yalmar fiddled with the collar of his shirt and bit his lip before closing the file. “Bakit ba kasi kailangang ako talaga ang magpakasal sa kanya? Why did you even agree to that part of the deal? You should’ve just killed Buenavista.”

Yael snorted at his brother’s remark. “See, I told you. Little Yalmar is not into girls, Dad. Forget it.”

“Shut up!” Yalmar roared.

Tumikhim naman si Yulric para awatin ang dalawa. “Sinco, sa ating magkakapatid, ikaw na lang ang natitirang hindi pa kasal. And besides, it will benefit us in a more political perspective if you agree to this marriage.”

Their father just sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. “Nagsisimula na magduda ang mga tauhan at kaalyado natin sa pamamalakad ko. Kadalasan ay kinikwestyon na nila ang kakayahan kong kontrolin ang mga katarantaduhan mo, Yalmar.”

Tumuwid naman ang binata ng upo at tinaasan ng kilay ang ama. “Sino ba ang mga nagrereklamong iyan? Eh ‘di patayin na lang natin. Then no one would dare question us again.”

“We can’t kill everyone who tries to speak out against you or there will be no one left to control.” Marco had a menacing grin but still shook his head on his son’s logic.

“Alright, jeez,” taas kamay na sagot ni Yalmar. “I didn’t say we kill… everyone. Maybe we could gather them all up, behead a couple of assholes, and the rest could lose their fingers or maybe an ear. See, I’m actually giving them a choice.” He smiled ear to ear.

“This is what I’m talking about. Kailangan mong pakasalan ang anak ni Buenavista. It has to be you. People are questioning my control over you!” Marco explained in exasperation.

It was no secret that the youngest among the Vescozars possessed an unpredictable rage and savagery which carved his reputation and made people fear their family. It worked to their favor to some extent. Yalmar was untouchable. People constantly underestimated him because of his disease but he continually proves them wrong.

He did what he wanted to do and killed who he wanted to kill and suffered no repercussions. And lately, that has been the concern of the high-ranking people in Northern Dragons. When Yalmar gets out of line, what’s stopping him from getting rid of all of them?

“Nangangamba na ang mga tao natin kung hinahayaan na lang ba kita o talagang kahit ako ay hindi kayang kontrolin ang mga desisyon mo. You will marry Sabrina Buenavista because I arranged it. It will allow us to expand our influence and our fortune. But most importantly it will send a message to our allies that you still honor my decisions and I am the authority.”

Yalmar remained silent but didn’t waste the opportunity to roll his eyes to his father.

“This will set a good president in Northern Dragons. Imagine, the wildest and the most ruthless son of Marco Vescozar, finally tying the knot and settling down,” Yohann added. “We can even make it sound like you, my brother, finally fell in love. Now that would be good publicity.”

“Don’t hold your breath, Kuya,” nasusuyang sagot niya bago binaling ang tingin sa ama. “So, before I agree, can I at least see her in person first?”

Marco was quick on his feet and clapped his hand. Nakangiti nitong nilapitan ang bunsong anak at tinapik ang kanyang balikat. “She’ll be here by the end of the week. Kung ako sa ‘yo magpagupit ka na.”

Agad namang umalis ang matanda at sumunod na rin si Yohann at Yulric. Ang dalawa niya namang kapatid na nagpaiwan ay nakangiting aso na nakatingin sa kanya. Inabutan siya ni Yves ng isang shot ng whiskey.

“Congratulations, brother! Cuatro and I already have ideas for your bachelor party.”

“Ugh, s**t!”