Malediction

Behind Lies

"Who the hell would have this kind of work without an ulterior motive?" Tim asked, panting from the heat of the sun, burning his skin all day that day. "Blackmailed people, I guess." I replied with a laugh. I wiped the sweat off my forehead. We just came back from delivering paperwork for the office. We were exhausted due to the distance we had to travel. Traveling for hours just to deliver important documents that can't be done online due to its was like going back to the 50s. We were messengers for them. This was new for us, We were not expecting such tiring work just to be unsuspecting.

"Sit down." That was the first thing Pen said days after bringing us to the mansion. He motioned us to the seats empty in front of his table, not minding our sweat ridden clothes. Luis wasn't there that time. "I would like to let you know something about that mansion. I think it is befitting for you to know what we are used to there before this man," he pointed to me, "created a misunderstanding between them." I was surprised. I looked down to the ground immediately. Wasn't that family going down, anyways? Oh, he didn't know and he doesn't have to.

Pen didn't expect such revelations to be uncovered in the mansion from the days that passed, such noise was new to him. "Silence was what took over its entirety ever since." The thin and sensitive Pen told us, reminiscing the years when Elo was just a mayor. "Despite the animosity between Elo and Amanda now, that home was as quiet as a house with no living soul." He added. "It has always been that way." He sighed as he stacked the papers we sent to him in the office. "They were always away and Matilda only knew to grow alone. That girl grew to be quiet and reserved. Always to herself." His eyes looked blank, as if he was seeing another thing aside from us. I was thinking it may be Matilda when she was young. He was smiling then it disappeared. "I wish I did something more than guard her. Maybe give her a life more meaningful than being under her parents' shadow? Ha… She's probably pent up from these stressful events to be so aggressive that time." Pen stretched his back as he leaned lower to his chair. He sighed heavily as if he released what's bothering him as well.

"I think she values her family more than anything, Sir. It's the only thing she has." Tim commented. Pen And I nodded in agreement. It was that and nothing more. Matilda just wanted her family to not break apart when she could stop it from happening. With their imperfections, she probably just understood them as they were and loved them. It was what any kid would do to their parents.

Parents. What was my mother like? I thought.

Since Pen was not feeling well that day and hadn't gotten over how Matilda changed from refinery to unhinged, Edward took over and brought us to the merged lands of Amanda and Elo in the more rural parts of the city. He took over introducing us to locations that we would go to for the work we would do.The Pelaezes had a hacienda rich with crops exported to foreign countries. With its increasing demand and their monopoly, it was a successful business that continues to thrive among the best producers of corn and coconut.

This was no secret to many that they were the royalty in Leyte. From the political and economical sides of this province, they hold everyone by the neck. And Matilda Pelaez, the only child of the richest families in the rural cities of the east, was the best bride a man could wish for: Rich, powerful and beautiful.

Tim was itching to get his camera to capture the wonderful scenery that beholds us. It was like a different time in the hacienda. It felt like we were walking in rural history. "James, do you think she would mind if I took some pictures here?" He was talking about Andrea. She had restricted us to basic cheap android phones rather than our original ones despite Tim's pleas. I hesitated to answer, so Timm took it upon himself and pulled the low grade phone out.

"Who's she?" Edward turned his head towards us, who were at his back following him. I am not really sure, but both of us felt like we stopped breathing at that moment. It took some time to regain our thinking. Was Tim too loud or does Edward have sharp ears?

"Sandra." I blurted out, while Tim was still dumbfounded. It felt so unnatural that I wished Edward was stupid enough to think of it as fear from him asking that way. He looked skeptical about it for a moment but he ignored my earlier reaction. "Don't mistake Sandra as your boss," he said, reminding us. "She's just Amanda's personal assistant. Your boss, our boss is Governor Elo." He said in reiteration of our first meeting. He turned toward his original line of sight again and moved forward and looked for a familiar face among hundreds of farmers taking care of the land.

I also observed the pride of Matilda's family. It was a picturesque view of agriculture. It was a colorful landscape of healthy looking crops spread across to what seemed like an endless scene of greenery and coconut trees. The farmers we met looked all happy and continued on to their work of a pattern we can hear. There were beats of coconuts falling on hard ground and on grass, corn being peeled off continuously and machines churning crops into goods. It was their own kind of music.

As we sped along the hacienda Tim noticed a small man lifting a sack that was probably heavier than him. It seemed like there were plenty of dwarves in the population of the farmers here. It was probably a gene that was dominant in their blood, I thought since I couldn't see much from a distance. All I noticed was they were small for the labor they endure.

One came near us to offer water after our long ride. Tim and I were shocked to see him in close inspection. He was not a dwarf like we thought he would be. This was a child. He was a young child with cut ridden fingers and hands worn out from continuous labor. His skin was so tanned from plowing dirt on the field all day under the sun. His makeshift cloth as a head cap and clothes five sizes larger weren't helping him, they only gave him minimal protection from UV exposure. His sweat was the only thing that lustred in the morning light, while his eyes were already dull with obvious exhaustion. Yet, here he was, helping others alleviate the unforgivable heat. I accepted the water he offered to me with sincere gratitude. I smiled at him, which made him happy and proud of his good doing.

He was a child exploited for labour. Like all the others we've seen. We made a mistake upon judging them to just be small,when they had not even fully grown yet.

An idea struck my mind. If Elo was personally taking over this entire operation, he would've been jailed a long time ago. So who was it that thought of doing such illegal acts in modern times where these should be long gone?

"That's how we get our produce cheap for the market. Genius, right?” Edward said proudly as if it was an innovative strategy. I didn't want to think that it was who it was but it was important to know. "Yeah. It's great to take advantage of the situation. So who was the genius behind this?" Or the heartless animal who only thinks about himself? I wanted to add. My blood was already boiling from the anger of such an inhumane act. These children have futures to focus into, not this exploitation. "I did. Their parents were happy to let their children be useful in bringing food to their table, there were no contradictions." He smirked. "How could they? It's not like they can go against losing their only source of income here." Edward told us, looking into the working kids a hundred meters away. "What do you mean?" Tim asked. "A kid or die of hunger. It was simple."

Shocking me once was acceptable, but twice for every gradually increasing atrocious act he does was unbelievable. Yet here it was, it happened.

I was holding my composure to its limit. My politeness for logical reasons was slowly fading into nothing. My eye were becoming blurred with rage. I wanted to hurt him in any way possible as I held my fists tightly with my fingers digging into my palms. I placed my curled hands to my back so the animal named Edward wouldn't notice.

His laughter was my turning point. I was ready to give him a good beating.

Tim held me by my shoulder and shook his head to gesture a 'no'. I looked at him in utter confusion as to why he wanted to stop me. My head was not thinking straight. Luckily, Tim gave me the look to say, "Don't do something stupid."and pressed my shoulders hard to let me focus on the pain rather than my rage which was eminent with my glare to Edward's back.

The pain method was effective. With Tim's strength and large hands, I know the handprint would mark for a few hours with bruises along his fingerprints. I composed myself again and took long breaths to clear my mind.

Edward turned back at us after I calmed down. He had no idea I was even wanting to hurt him so badly with his stupid extreme ideology of capitalism. I wanted him to disappear, but having him gone will make Pen more lonely and miserable with the amount of work he'll be handling alone. It was the only good reason I thought to keep him as he is, alive and well as Pen's partner.

"This will be a secret of ours, boys. Better keep it to yourselves from now on… or else." He told us and smirked with his canine showing like a predator caging his prey. I nodded and smiled, like it was nothing but deep inside I knew he meant death for us if we won't keep our mouth shut about this. It seemed like he had some who failed him before. It looked like it was not new to him to threaten new recruits.

I thought of him as a master initiator teaching neophytes in the dark parts of his field of work because that was what it was, the beginning of an initiation.