Chapter 12: The Governor's Wrath

I bought two tickets to go to Bacolod City and asked Raymond to come with me. There was still a store open, and I bought some women's clothes and shoes."Which one do you like? I think a floral design, do you like it?" Raymond pointed to the clothes."Yes Raymond, I love that one. By the way, where did you get this money?"

"Remember the money my parents gave us, I put some in my wallet. Veron, okay then, take it and put on your clothes, there in the little room and there I will choose shoes that suit you," Raymond said to me.

We finished buying things for me; buy some delicacies and get on the bus. We chose the back seat for the two of us. I hugged Raymond to rest on my left arm and he fell asleep. A few minutes passed, and I still couldn't sleep because I was thinking about our situation. But suddenly, my eyes focused on a man standing near the ticket booth. I think he is the man from the chapel!

I closed my eyes again, and saw him, for sure. Yes, that's him! I quickly lowered the chair to cover us from a man's view. I gently woke Raymond up, whispered about the man, and waited for about an hour in a lying position. In my mind, I was sure that he was targeting me, not Raymond or his family. I trace my past, asking who committed such horrible acts to kill innocent people.

Passengers began to enter, one by one, some in groups, and the air-conditioned bus was already halfway, departing, at a scheduled time. The bus conductor started yelling, "Bacolod, Bacolod, Bacolod City, last chance to get a ticket ... more seats ... more seats ... Bacolod ... " Just a minute later, the bus started from the terminal up to the junction where we ate our dinner. It went to the right side of the crossing going north, and I looked out and saw the size of the sugar cane field even though it was dark. I squinted my eyes to remember the story my mother told me when I was young.

"The 30th day of September ... the date of my birth ... and in my grandfather's place ... It is in the middle of a sugarcane plantation where I was born in a small village called Tabu, in the town of Ilog, province of Negros Occidental. At that time, my pregnant mother and father were there for vacation, and asked my grandparents for a piece of land, to cultivate for us to use. I don't know why My grandfather's house is in the middle of the cornfield. Maybe, his house is like that because he can know immediately or overlook who are the thieves of his most important treasure; buffalo, cow, goat, pig, jackfruit, sugar cane, mango, and other trees with fruit.

The house has a second-level section where my grandfather stayed when he was not on the farm. The lower part of the house is made of wood, and concrete floors, where the kitchen and dining area are separated by a wooden partition designed in old carvings - a large area where no one knows why modeling my grandfather is like this. Weird isn't it? The roof on the upper part is made of coconut wood with strong walls also made of wood, and things close to his heart; shotguns, deer-skin leather carpets, dry tobacco, and his native language. He ran the family business and my grandmother supported him by recording his transactions. They lived happily with their four children; three boys and the youngest, a girl. My father – is the second child - who dreamed of becoming a soldier. He wanted to free him from the usual way of farming and raising animals. He decided to become a soldier and the only way to fulfill that dream. He was taken to Manila for Army Training. The division of the Philippine Army in Quezon City - the capital of the Philippines - assigned him to another place, near Manila, where he met my mother. They love each other very much and are too young to know what the true meaning of life is. They moved around, lived together, and my father was fired for being absent without leave (AWOL). They lived in the slums of Manila of their own accord to face the realities of life. My father could not sustain the hardships of living in an unsustainable basic family lifestyle. They moved to Bacolod City, found a job as a driver for a soft drink company through the recommendation of his new friend, and stayed for more than a year. He was transferred to the town of Hinigaran for the Company's newly opened warehouse. In this place he spent his family life, spending time with his three children; until I lived as his fourth child ... "

"Veronica, wake up Veron!"

I immediately opened my eyes when I felt Raymond's hand and his calling."Why, what happened?" I asked confused.

"You snort loudly like a pig. All the passengers are clamoring for it. Look at them ..... look!"

I straightened up and looked at them; some faces were smiling, some were angry, and I noticed two passengers just sitting in their seats. I whispered to Raymond, "Forget them, they're all as ugly as wild cows," with a grimace on my face. Raymond smiled at me, but was shy of the passengers, "You slept for an hour I think and you seem to have dreamed?"

"No, Raymond, it's just ... I'm tired," I lied to Raymond. "Where are we now ... town of Binalbagan?"

"We are approaching the town of Hinigaran. Would you like to visit your family?"

"No Raymond, this is not the time. We have to continue with our plans." When we arrived in Bacolod City, we had to buy The Daily News, so that we would have information about what happened to Raymond's family in Barrio Tuyom.

"Okay, Veronica you are the Boss ...." The silence of riding this passenger bus at night allows me to think about my thoughts as I hold Raymond in my arms. The new feeling that I found that Raymond was protecting me from any dangers gave me a lot to be a responsible person. A married woman, married for the love of Raymond, married for his future.

It was past ten in the evening when we arrived at the South Negros Bus Terminal in Bacolod City. All the bus passengers are getting ready to get off. We quickly got off the bus, and I held Raymond's hand. The bus terminal was very peaceful for this time of day. We pushed ourselves to get a cab, suddenly two men grabbed us from behind; we were pulled towards the open door of a red car. A man also pulled us inside the car. I put my right fist in a man's face, but he stuck to Raymond's body with a gun pointed at his head where I stopped."Okay! Okay! Relax friend..." I suddenly said. "Let him go!"

XXX