When the Elephants Dance (17 page)

I handed her the basket and she lit a match.

“Where is the candle I gave you?” She whirled around, her silken hair catching my cheek. She took the candle and the wick came alive from the match. She peeked into the water. “I don’t see anything, Roman. Here, you are the fisherman.” She handed me back the basket. She did not notice, but the moment I took the basket, the water came alive with motion.

“Oh, they have been here all along.” Aurora laughed. “Look at all the fish. We have come to the right place. Throw the basket in, Roman.”

She took the breath from me; where had I heard that last phrase? I tried to remember, but I was transfixed at the two violet orbs that peered out at me from the shadows of the tall swamp grass. The boat floated about, and the moonlight danced just before the shoreline of thick trees. It was then that I saw him. Mang Minno stood silently, violet fins threading around his feet.

“The tribunal.” I mouthed the words. I almost panicked and turned the boat around when I noticed that the glowing eyes were not directed at me. He was staring at Aurora, his daughter.

“Roman.” Aurora put her hand on my shoulder. “Throw the basket in.”

I did as she instructed, terrified, already knowing what would happen. The basket sank downward, and I heard her gasp. She thinks it will be lost, I thought, but the handles remained floating. I was rooted to the wooden seat, watching the basket.

“Well, pick it up.” Aurora smiled at me uncertainly. I looked at her with trepidation, flexing and clenching my hands, which were each propped upon my thighs. She seemed to catch my unease and glanced at the basket curiously. The moment I reached my hands out to the handles of the basket, I swear to you, the basket practically jumped into my hands. I swallowed and pulled up, dreading what I would see. I was in shock. With all the different types of fish swimming and mingling about our boat, the container was filled only with
bangos
, the milkfish that our cook, Octavia, always marinated in vinegar and garlic before baking.

“Only
bangos,”
I said with wonder.

“Ooh, my favorite.” Aurora laughed.

My attention snapped to her, and then back to the shadows, where I saw the violet orbs recede into the dark.

“We should be getting back. Getting you home, that is.” I gestured to her.

“It makes no difference, Roman, they won’t even notice that I am gone.”

I only liked her until that moment, but those last words, they echoed my own heart. I fell for her then. “We can return again,” I suggested.

W
HEN WE DOCKED
in the little pier, the guests were already leaving, carrying plates of take-home food. They looked like ants marching away from a picnic. The servants balanced flat woven containers over their heads. Eduardo was waiting at the dock, like a true friend. Some of my brother’s friends passed us on our way in. “Your father is looking for you,” they said in the same tone they’d use to say, “Oh, boy, you are in for it.”

Eduardo’s father was the first adult to see us. He strode over, rolling his sleeves. “Sorry,
Tay
.” Eduardo’s shoulders rose to protect his ears, his father’s favorite target.

“What did I tell you about following Roman around like a lapdog?”

He stepped around me, hitting Eduardo on the ear, then clamping a hand on it and pulling him forward.

“Ow, ow.” Eduardo sucked air through his teeth.

“He will be your downfall. How many times have I told you? If he asked you to jump into a flaming volcano, you would do so, hah?”

I looked at Aurora. Her two friends had also waited on the dock. They were starting to sniffle, their eyes red.

“Aurora, how could you leave us? I lied to your mother and told her you were in the party somewhere.” Felicita folded her arms.

I interrupted, “Do not worry, I will take the blame. Tell them I promised only to take you around the house, but that I changed courses in the middle, and there was no way to turn back.”

Aurora was appalled. “I will not let you take the blame.”

I did not have time to respond, for we were now standing at the door. I braced myself for a scolding. I could see my father sitting composed, the lines of his face deceptively smooth. My brother sat beside him solemnly. I narrowed my eyes at Roger’s betrayal. My mother sat beside Aurora’s mother, who did not seem concerned in the least.

I felt Aurora’s breath warm and soft beside my ear. “I told you my mother would not notice.”

Aling Lumina looked up at me, and her eyes measured Aurora with brittle kindness. “Aurora, you should not be going out alone with young boys unchaperoned.”

Aurora went straight to her mother, who glanced over at her, then resumed the conversation. “As I was saying, Lumina, you really should come to Manila with me. There is a social club there just built. And the American soldiers frequent it often.” She sighed dreamily.

I was the only one left standing before the doorway. I waited for my father to stand so we could hurry home and have the punishment done with. I wondered what rules he would conjure this time.

My father snorted at my expression. “What, are you expecting a punishment? What purpose would it serve? I am tired of worrying over you.”

I turned away from him to offer to walk Aurora home, but my father’s next words set me on a different course. “Why can you not be more like your brother, Roger? He causes me no grief. He brings home good grades. But you, you cause my hair to go white. Each time you do something, it is like shoveling more dirt over my grave. What is it you want from me?”

Aurora tried to intercede. “I asked him to take me out—”

“Stay with your mother, child,” my father interrupted, turning to her with a pitying smile. “Do not waste your time on Roman. He is like a magnet, attracted to misbehavior.”

I never received so much attention from my father as when he was angry with me. I was so furious at that moment; I thought I would light the floors on fire with the heat of my anger. I hated my father, hated him so much that I pounded my fist into my hand.

“Oh, Roman. We will have none of that here, ha?” my mother warned. “Be a good boy, wait in the car. We are expected at your
tita
Connie’s tomorrow. Rest yourself now so that you are refreshed, and she can see how handsome you have become.”

I looked at my mother in disbelief. “Don’t you care about anything but how we look?”

She sniffed and rolled her eyes at Aling Lumina, as if to say, “You see what I have to put up with?” I knew deep inside she was mortified and would not be able to live it down for the next five months, at least.

“I am not going to any party tomorrow, or the next day. I am sick of going to parties. I am sick of you showing us off, pretending you care, and then forgetting about us.” I turned on my heels and walked out the door.

“Hoy, hoy!”
my mother shouted in alarm. “Mauriano,” she said to my father.

“Let him go.” My father’s voice was filled with exasperation and finality.

I ran out into the night, the embarrassment of my tears goading me on. My legs moved and bounced off the ground like those belonging to a marionette. I ran to the top of a steep hill and looked out upon the village below.

In the distance I could see the phenomenon of the dancing fireballs on Lake Sumpa. They looked like small tennis balls from where I sat, and this was at two kilometers. We were forbidden to go there. It was said that at close range they were the size of human heads, and upon closer inspection the fireballs wore faces of the damned. These faces cried tears of fire, and they wandered, begging the Lord for forgiveness. They grazed just above the water, and if you called to them, they would come rolling toward you, pleading to you to pray for them. If you wanted to wish bad things upon someone, you could do it there, before them, and that wish would come true.

“I wish I were someone else’s son! I wish I had a different father!” I shouted to the lake below.

The moment I said this, I felt a shock run through my body. My eyes blurred, and once again I saw a vision. It was the same man, running from someone, from me. He tripped, he fell into the water. “Please, no,” he cried out, holding up an arm to protect himself.

I heard Mang Minno’s laughter. “No competition. There is no one to rival me.” A blinding white light, and then the image was gone, leaving me exhausted and perspiring on the hillside. I shuddered and stood up quickly on shaking legs.

O
UR HOUSE WAS
silent when I arrived; only the sliding of the long hand of our clock could be heard. I took off my shoes. When I walked past my parents’ room, I heard my father snoring. The light to my brother’s room was turned off as well, but the moonlight illuminated his bed. I could see the even rise and fall of his chest. As I walked by Grandfather’s open door, he called out to me.

“Roman, come here.” His voice was deep, compelling. I felt his strength reach out across the dark.

I walked into his room, holding my shoes. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed. I stood in the middle of his room, with the glow of the moon encompassing the two of us.

“Yes,
Lolo?”
I asked impatiently.

“Where have you been? You smell of fish. Your brother was worried about you.”

“Roger? The only reason he was worried was that I left with his favorite girl.”

My grandfather said nothing; he let me stew in my annoyance.

“I’m tired, I want to go to sleep now,” I said.

“Sometimes people, like your mother and father, become consumed by other things. They forget what is important.”

“I know, I know.” I brushed his words away.

“Yes, you know everything.” His voice softened. I guess he felt how futile it sounded, my parents caring anything for me. “Why don’t we go fishing this week? It has been a long time since I have done that. I used to be quite the fisherman at your age.” My grandfather chuckled.

“Sure,
Lolo,”
I said distractedly. “Good night.”

“Good night, Roman. Don’t forget to say your prayers.”

“I won’t,” I lied. I had long ago stopped saying them. They never seemed to be heard. I was angry at God for not giving me a real father.

I
DID NOT
sleep that night, and in the morning I passed my friends on the way to school and went straight to the forest. I felt a pull, deep in my chest, as if an invisible hook were tied to my soul, dragging it forward. I walked with my thoughts hovering around my head, random thoughts about my father, my family. The sun was already warm upon my face. Large red-and-gold butterflies fluttered before me, as big as my hand. From behind a tree, a red mouse deer peered at me with its large doe eyes. It raised its ears and flicked them nervously before hurrying across the carpet of pine needles and diving into a cluster of emerald-colored ferns.

Before I knew it, I had stepped into the shade of trees. The water rushed around my feet as if from a newly opened dam. I looked up to find Mang Minno eyeing me from a small clearing of trees. I remembered the visions, and my confidence wavered. I could see the sunlight just beyond my reach. He approached quickly, closing the gap between us.

“So, you are a wealthy young man after all. Or shall you tell me that you were merely there last night to chauffeur the rich children?”

I bowed my head. “I thought if I told the truth you would not want me as an apprentice.”

He wore an amused smile. “Never apologize for a lie. It helped you to meet me, did it not? Do not ever show that you have been found out. Keep a straight face, throw the other person off balance. Make them doubt what they know. You could have told me that you had rich friends. Lying can be very useful. It can win you a card game, elevate your standing, it can avoid hurt feelings, give you the advantage over an opponent. It is”—he paused—“an underused gift.
But certainly lying and anger are trivial matters here. What difference would they make to mere fish?” He laughed.

But they were not mere fish, I thought.

“Did Aurora like her
bangos?”

“She was very happy.”

“Those are her favorite.” He smiled, and for a moment the opaque fishlike quality of his eyes became light, very humanlike, very normal. But only for a second.

“I thought you would be angry at me for taking her out there.” I was talking nonsense, saying whatever was on my mind.

“Aurora is safe in my waters. But keep her to this area. Do not take her past the dark waters. The sun can sometimes be blinding.”

“I won’t.” I shook my head. “I meant to ask you, when I ate the fish last evening—” I stopped, thinking how to explain how my stomach had churned while the others had consumed it with no such concerns.

Mang Minno chuckled. “Did you think you could eat them, too?”

I stood dumbfounded at his words.

“Do not worry, they are not poisonous; anyone who eats them will be fine. It is only you. Masters do not eat their servants, do they?”

“Sir?” I asked, bewildered, but he was already walking ahead of me. “I had a vision. There was a man, running away from my sight. And laughter.”

“Shall we fish?” he asked. He wore a smile, but his eyes challenged me.

“Yes, I would like that very much.” I felt better immediately at the mention of fishing. We spent the entire day calling them. There were more exotic species, ones I had not seen before. There was one he called a stonefish, for its brow and fins were sharp edged like rocks. Tiger-striped puffer fish with their square heads gazed at me, ready for my instructions. Several poisonous sea snakes appeared, and I jumped back, disturbing the water. Mang Minno laughed and grabbed one of the snakes, and the slithering creature became instantly paralyzed and stiff as a stick. Mang Minno pulled it out of the water and broke it in half and then into quarters. He fed the pieces to his violet-finned tribunal. They slapped the water happily with their tails.

He taught me how to use my two hands to clap, and then he would whistle, and when I dipped a finger in the water, the fish would swim to us.

“All they need is a guide, you see? Come, I will show you a different way.” He waved me forward with his hand.