PINATUBO Ch.9--The Leiutenant

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NINE

The Lieutenant

          LT and I left early in the morning to avoid the traffic. We discussed the leads as extensively as I was allowed to know, I suspected. He showed me a thick file with photographs of the vehicles in various garages. A couple of them were even being driven around town. They did look similar to Papa’s vehicle design, but none of them seemed to squeeze my heart with recognition. I tried to elicit more information from the LT about my father’s case, but as in the past, he apologized for being unable to talk about the ongoing investigation with me.

          Uncle Rico and Auntie Ana were very happy to see the LT and me. “He’s so handsome, and such a gentleman,” whispered my auntie in privacy. We were preparing a meal in the kitchen while Uncle Rico and LT were chatting in the living room. “We’re very impressed with him, and we think he likes you. I noticed the way he looked at you.”

          “I like him too. Everyone in my family likes him.” I tried to play the innocent girl, ignoring her insinuation of something romantic going on between the LT and me. But again, I was happy to hear that she noticed something that might hint a special feeling from the LT toward me.


          “That’s not what I meant. Oh, you’re not that young not to understand.” She laughed, and I shared her contagious laughter. With that, Auntie gave me a wink, and I reciprocated with a nudge to her side. “But wait a minute,” she said with a frown that marred the softness of her forehead. At 45, she maintained a flawless skin on her soft features. “Don’t you and Dado sort of have something going on?”

          I smiled wide. “Since we were born, I think.”

          In a pondering attitude, she gave me a look of reprimand. “Ah . . . you’re too young to be playing this game.”

          “What game is that, Auntie?” I said playfully.

          Her reply would astound me. “Your Papa’s game.” She sounded very serious. “Listen to me, girl. Don’t follow in your father’s footsteps. It’s dangerous.”

          Auntie’s words pierced right through the core of my heart. Before I could say anything, Uncle Rico appeared at the kitchen door and asked how we were doing with the food preparation.

          I was bothered by Auntie Ana’s meaningful remark, which affected my demeanor at the dinner table. Everyone asked if I was feeling all right. “I’m just tired,” I said. “It was such a long drive.”

          “Then you should go to bed early,” Auntie Ana suggested. “You have quite a mission to accomplish tomorrow.”

          “She’s such a brave girl to do this,” said the LT. “What she is doing is critical to the investigation. I can’t thank her enough.”

          “She’s always been a brave and strong girl,” Uncle Rico said. “She has her father’s diamond-sharp mind, strength, and iron will. Nothing was impossible for them. Yes, she’s her father’s daughter in every way.”

          Auntie Ana stared at me meaningfully with those dark eyes that bore something cynical. My favorite aunt was slowly stepping down the ladder of my favorites list as she continued to behave strangely toward me.

          “I wish I could have known him when he was alive,” LT said. “He must have been quite a man.”

          “But let’s not forget her mother—my sister,” Auntie Ana chimed in. “Mary definitely got her looks and her beautiful complexion. She may not look it now, but my sister’s skin was like Mary’s skin now . . . soft, silky and very light.” My skin crawled when Auntie gently ran her fingers on my forearm.

          I couldn’t wait to leave in the morning. I was completely ready by the time Auntie Ana knocked on my door to wake me up. “Listen, Mary,” she began with the familiar softness in her voice that I had come to love about her. “I apologize if I acted strangely toward you last night. It must have been noticeable because your uncle mentioned something about it. I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. It’s just that I care about you a lot. You’re like the daughter I never had. I just want you to be careful, okay?”

          Breathing in and slowly nodding, I gave Auntie Ana an unusually small hug. “It’s all right, Auntie. I understand. Don’t worry about it.”

          I could not wait to get out of there. Since my father died, rumors of his infidelity had been proliferating, but I did not expect anyone, especially my favorite aunt to imply that I might follow in my father’s footsteps with my own tales of exploits. My God, I had never even been kissed, and I was already sixteen.

          “You’re suspiciously quiet,” LT said. “We’d been driving for an hour, and you’ve hardly said anything.”

          I turned my head toward the daunting figure next to me in the car. He had rolled up the sleeves of his civilian shirt, which exposed the powerful arms and hands clutching the wheel. He did not wear his military uniform to avoid any unwanted attraction. I could not help noticing the inviting lips and strong chin. A strange feeling surged through me.

          Nothing could have prepared me for what would happen next. He pulled the car over and turned the engine off. By this time I started shaking all over, and my heart was beating wildly.

          He put the palm of his hand on my forehead with a look of concern. “You feel warm. Are you feeling feverish?” He grabbed my hands, sending bolts of electricity erupting through me. “Your hands are clammy. Do you feel sick? Should I take you to a doctor?”

          I shook my head vigorously; overwhelmed by a wave of sensation I had never felt before. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest. “I am fine,” I managed to say through the huge lump in my throat. “Let’s proceed. We don’t want to lose time.”

          LT stared at me for a long moment as if caressing me through those incredibly sensual black eyes. His hands were still on mine, which continued to burn fire through my whole being. He relinquished my hands and he powered on the engine once again. I wanted those hands permanently holding mine. Dado and I had held hands many times, but none had given me the intense heat that the LT’s touch had flared up in me. I was confused, afraid, and excited at the same time. It was the weirdest feeling.

          As if a bucket of freezing water dropped on me, I thought of Auntie Ana and her meaty message: “Don’t follow your father’s footsteps.”

          Is this what Auntie Ana was talking about? I asked myself, as if I didn’t know what she meant. I already had a boyfriend—someone everybody in the community thought I would eventually marry. The popular joke was that my father and Dado’s father had arranged the marriage between Dado and me as soon as we were born. I felt a pang of guilt.

          What was I really doing with the LT? What did I think I would get out of this adventure? Did I really think I was going to help solve my father’s murder? How about the LT? Was he seriously thinking that I could be instrumental in cracking the case? I was at this point convinced that he liked me in a romantic sort of way; was this whole thing just a ploy to get me to travel with him? If so, what did he think could happen between us?

          Admittedly we had a moment there, and I was half excited and half afraid, but totally pragmatic to let anything happen between us. He was 28, I was 16. Not a good thing.

          Following the leads about a few vehicles did not produce any concrete evidence that any one of them was my father’s vehicle. Except one . . . maybe. It was in a garage along with other jeepneys that the owner of the place said he had bought from a small dealer; yet, he could not produce any proof of the acquisition. He told us that in his line of business, everything was handled in cash, and no questions asked. As LT was talking to the man, I was inspecting the vehicle. It was the same length, width, height, design and mechanical structure. It could have been it.

          When I touched the driver’s seat and the wheel, my heart jumped. It was as if I felt my father’s presence. LT noticed and commented on my reaction and promised me later that he would further investigate the origin of the vehicle. It wasn’t going to be easy because we noticed that the serial number had already been scraped off or chemically dissolved.

          LT asked me to go back in the car while he talked to the owner. Through the rearview mirror, I could see the LT and the man arguing with each other. The man went back inside his house and came back with a thick folder. LT reviewed the file and pulled out some of the papers and shoved them inside his shirt. The man appeared furious but seemed outwitted by the LT.

          There was an unmistakable look of satisfaction on LT’s face as he rejoined me in the car. He turned the ignition on without saying a word and drove off, but all the while, his lips were curled in a smile of pleasure.

          “I assume something good came out of this trip?” I said as soon as we got on the main road. Somehow I felt a twinge of sadness that the day was coming to an end.

          “Indeed. Indeed.” He turned the radio on and Aerosmith came out of the speakers screaming. LT started drumming the wheel with his fingers. At that particular moment, he looked ten years younger to me.

          “I didn’t figure you out as a hard rock fan,” I said, enjoying the pleasure of his sudden youthful presence.

          He quickly threw me a glance. “Ah, there’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

          “For instance?”

          “Well, for one thing, I’m a great dancer. And I don’t mean ball room dancing either.

          "Cool."

          "And I once played with a rock band.”

          "Let me guess. . . “A drummer?”

          “How did you know?”

          I smiled. “Just a guess. Any other interesting tidbit about you that I would enjoy knowing?”

          “Sure. Let’s discuss them over cocktail and terrific dinner. I know a restaurant you’d love not far from here. It has a view of the ocean.”

          “I’m only sixteen. I can’t drink.”

          “Ah, yes. Sorry. Sometimes I forget you’re still a teenager.”

          The way he said that made me feel like a young girl who hasn’t yet had her first period.

          “Are we celebrating what we accomplished today?”

          “Of course, we are.”

          “Are you going to let me in on it?”

          Instantaneously, his expression changed from playful to something serious. He turned the radio off, and he slowed down, looking all around him. He coasted down a small hill then pulled over to the side. Here we go again, I thought nervously. He got out of the car and walked around to my side. He opened the door, took my hand and helped me out.

          For a few moments, we simply stood there quietly and watched the glorious orb slowly plummet behind the mountains. I wondered if he could hear the drumbeats inside my chest.

          “Mary,” he said softly as he faced me. “As far as the Army is concerned, this trip today never happened. This was never authorized by my officers. Therefore, I cannot share with you any information about what I discovered today. I am sorry. I’m sure you must be disappointed.”

          I looked away and returned my gaze toward the golden sun that was making its final descent, leaving in its track ribbons of orange, yellow, white, violet, crimson and ultramarine. I didn’t know what to think. I had been possessed for so long about my father’s murder and who killed him and why, but now that we might have gotten some substantive information for the first time that could lead us to the killers, he told me I didn’t have the right to know because officially, today never happened.

          “Mary . . .”

          He put his hands on my shoulders and turned them gently toward him. I looked down to hide the emotion in my eyes. He lifted my chin with his forefinger and our eyes locked. I took a deep breath to quell the churning feeling in my stomach. Then tears sprang to my eyes.

          “Oh, Mary, I’m so sorry.” His arms were now around me as I sobbed in his chest.

          “This day never happened?” I said, fearing that I was sounding like a whining little girl.

          He loosened his embrace of me, pulled out a hankie from his pants’ pocket and wiped my tears as delicately as he would handle a precious jewel. “Only about the investigation, Mary. Everything else has been very real. This is real . . . you and me together like this . . . holding each other. This is very real, this connection between us.”

          My gaze shifted to those lush lips, sending erotic thoughts through me. I watched them slowly come down to my level, and before I could react, he had grabbed me by the waist and pulled me tightly against him. His lips were surprisingly soft and oh so wet. I was stunned. I had never been kissed on the mouth before. His mouth seemed hungry as he devoured mine. I surprised myself when I started to relax, coiled my arms around his neck, and reciprocated to his kisses. I had always wondered what French kissing was like, and now I knew. It didn’t nauseate me as I had thought it would back in my younger days when my girlfriends and I would talk about it. This felt natural, and I even enjoyed it as his tongue slithered inside my mouth.

          My first kiss! It was delicious beyond my imagination.

          But then it was over . . . as suddenly as it swept me off my feet and carried me to the seventh heaven of bliss.

          “I’m so sorry,” LT said guiltily. He released me as though I were Eve in the Garden of Eden who’d just tempted him with the apple of sin.

          “What’s the matter? What did I do wrong? Did I kiss that badly?”

          “You kissed unbelievably well, Mary. It’s just that . . . I took advantage of you. You’re only sixteen. We could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

          “First of all, you didn’t take advantage of me. Second, who would tell? Not I.” I sounded almost pleading. How pathetic.

          He lovingly took my face between his hands and kissed me on the forehead. “Sweet, beautiful, irresistible Mary. I adore you so. Please believe me . . . this is much more difficult for me than it is for you.”

          Then it suddenly dawned on me. He could be married. I was afraid to ask because he might say yes. But I felt I had to, so I did.

          “Are you married?” I held my breath.

          He gave a throaty laugh before answering then he put one arm around my shoulders and walked me to the car. “No, my darling, I am not. Never had a wife and never had a child.”

          I didn’t feel like talking during the drive back home so we listened to the radio instead. Both of us didn’t feel like eating anything either so we didn’t have dinner at the restaurant he had mentioned earlier. I fell asleep and awoke hours later with my head on his right shoulder. Quickly I straightened up and felt the corners of my mouth for any sign of drooling. Fortunately, there wasn’t.

          “Feeling rested?” he asked while doing some stretching exercises on his right arm.

          “Is your arm all right?”

          “Just a little tingly, but it’s fine.”

          “Sorry--”

          “No need. I enjoyed it. It was really quite nice. You looked so peaceful and delightful. You sleep like a baby . . . Baby.”

         He'd never called me by my nickname before, although he seemed always tickled every time he heard my family call me Baby.His playfulness with my name broke the awkward silence between us. I started to feel better again. Soon we were having a great time talking about anything and everything.

          “You know, you are a lot more mature and intelligent than I had previously thought.”

          “And you are a lot more youthful and fun that I ever thought possible.”

          With that we laughed heartily. All of a sudden, I didn’t want to get home anymore. I wanted the trip to go on and on, never reaching the end.

          But everything must come to an end. And it came way too soon for me.

          It was about nine o’clock at night. The house was well lighted, and from the car I could see figures moving about inside. I was sure Mama, Johnny, Lisa and Malia were still awake and waiting for my arrival, anxious for any news. They would be so disappointed to hear that “nothing really happened.”

          LT delivered me to my family. Surprisingly, everyone was still awake and very excited to see me back. Normally LT would hang around and visit with the family, but not this time. The long and tiring trip was a good enough excuse.

          I walked LT to his car. I could feel my sisters’ eyes follow us from the window, which prevented me from attempting to show any intimacy to LT. We stopped by the driver’s side where people inside the house couldn’t see us from the shoulders down.

          “I will never forget this day,” I said, emotions getting the best of me. “Oh, God. I can’t cry. I have to go back inside the house. They’d be suspicious--”

          “There’s no reason to cry, Baby. It’s been a fantastic day. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”

          “I will never see you again, will I?”

          He seemed to struggle with his answer. "Maybe in a couple of years when you’re old enough for me. Although I’m pretty sure that by that time, you’ll have forgotten about me.”

          “No way.”

          LT briefly scanned the surroundings with his eyes then took my hand and squeezed it. “I would very much like to hug you and kiss you, but I have a strong feeling that some of your neighbors are waiting for exactly that to happen so they can gossip about it tomorrow.”

          “I’m going to miss you, LT.”

          “And I’m going to miss you much more, Baby.” One last squeeze then his hand slipped slowly away from my grip.

          I mouthed the words I love you as I waved goodbye to him and watched him drive away.

          That night, I wrote these words on my journal:

          All in one day, I helped discover clues to my father’s murder. I experienced my first romantic kiss. I fell in love. He broke my heart. We said good-bye. Will I see him again?

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