A piece of the past...
The impact of her father's right-hand strike caused her to crash against the close wooden door. And before she could recover, the same hand grabbed her face to force her to look at his raging eyes.
"Where have you been?" he shouted at her face.
"School," she murmured with shaking voice.
He threw her face back against the door. She could hear her sister crying inside their room.
"School!" her father mocked. "You don't get fed wasting your time in that goddamned school of yours! What did I tell you?" He kicked her leg as he spoke. "What did I tell you, huh? You're just wasting your time in that hellhole!"
"Stop it, the two of you," her mother's voice said from the kitchen. "I can't take any more of this stupid shouting!"
"Shut up!" her father roared.
"Don't you tell me to shut up, you good-for-nothing bastard!"
Her father completely forgot about her as he whirled around to face her mother. Their shouting would continue for another hour or so.
Dannie stood up and stumbled to where her sister was crying.
"Stop crying. It's okay," she consoled her sister in bed. "This always happens, right? You know it is just a passing moment," she added.
"Your cheek is bleeding," her sister said in between sobs.
Dannie touched her cheek and wiped away the blood. "It's nothing. It doesn't hurt. Have you eaten yet? Tell me about your day, come on. Did you finish that drawing?"
As she listened to her sister's words, she couldn't help but wonder...how long would they be able endure this hell?
PRESENT DAY
"Troy..." Dannie baby started. She was nearly in tears. It seemed to me that she wanted to walk up to him and comfort him. But what was stopping her? Come on, Dannie...just freaking do it!
"No," he said, stepping away from her. He placed his hands inside his front pockets and took a deep breath as he looked up. "Let me say what I want to say right now because I don't know when I'll ever get the courage to do so again."
Dannie was standing there, stiff as a statue. A tear fell from her eye without grazing her cheek. And Troy's eyes were also brimming with tears. What the hell...I don't think I can take this, I said to Tata. "Troy," Dannie baby tried again, her voice broken. Oh baby, I feel your pain.
"No, let me finish, Danica." Troy said in a rush as he took another step away from her. His eyes met hers once again and she could feel his desperation through his gaze. "I love you like crazy I don't know what to do. A year was not enough to control myself from being such an idiot around you. You know me, right? You know who I was since we met. You know every little dirty secret I keep. I've been such an ass for years and now..." He gave off a snort as if he was laughing at himself. If it was a year ago, I would be laughing right now at his state. I would have been thinking he deserved this after breaking a lot of hearts. But at this moment, as I looked at his desperate state, I was hurting with him. "And now I got my prize," Troy continued. "You are my karma." Shit just got real. I don't like this at all. Why does this have to happen to these two? "And it's a really bad one that I could barely stay sane. How can I? I am fighting a—sorry for the word—goddamned Man I don't have any chances of defeating. He is the all-powerful one no man can contend and I feel guilty with the thought that I don't want you to go back to that convent!"
"Troy—"
"But I can't do that." He shook his head. "I can't do that because I respect your choice to serve Him. How can I keep anyone from God, right? If He is just some random man on the street, I could easily find a way to make you mine. But He's not. He's someone I can never beat. I don't understand why you have to serve Him this way. I don't know why you can't do that the way you had been doing so before you decided to become a nun. Am I selfish to think that way? Should I go to hell because I want you so bad I think I should at least try to fight for you? Tell me, Danica, what should I do?"
I was lost for words. I knew where Troy was coming from. And man, he had the right to think and feel that way, human as he was.
The tear that escaped his eye did it for Dannie. She walked up to him and wound her arms around his waist.
His arms wound around hers tightly, desperately and I stood there watching the two of them clinging to each other and I wanted to stop the time. They could stay like that for years and I would not give a damn because they both deserved it.
"I don't know what to do, Danica," he rasped against her hair.
"I wish I could take them away," she whispered. "I wish I could take away the pain."
He did not answer and they stayed like that for a long time, silently crying.
It was Troy who loosened his embrace and stepped back. "I have to let you go before I make a fool of myself again," I heard him say under his breath. "And you have no right to take away whatever pain I feel," he said louder for her to hear. When their eyes met, his gaze was almost angry. "I know you are hurting as well. I know you're feeling more pain than I do. But I can't comfort you like I want to because I am not allowed to. I know you won't allow me to. And that it makes me crazy thinking how you can even manage the pain alone."
Dannie blinked and wiped away the tears on her cheeks and forced a smile on her lips. "I am okay, Troy."
No, you're not! You're going through something! I am not stupid not to know, Dannie baby. And Troy knows that too. You are definitely going through something!
He took a long time just staring at her face, his expression solemn. "Are you sure?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you even sure you entered the convent because you really want to? Because you believe that you've been called? Or are there other reasons?" Right on the spot, Troy my boy!
My little congratulatory state suddenly dispersed when I saw the flicker of anger in Dannie's eyes. She tried her best to control it and keep it at bay but I still saw it. I knew what she was thinking: Troy had every right to think that way. "I already made my choice a year ago. Nothing or no one pushed me to make my decision."
His jaw clenched. "I just can't help but think you entered the convent to escape."
"Don't, Troy," she said strongly. "Don't go there. I don't want to fight. You're drunk and you need to go home. I'll call Lee or Miguel. Someone has to drive you back home."
"I can manage," he abruptly said, whirling around to walk back to Tata who had been silent the whole time. "I've said what I have to say, anyway."
"Troy!" Dannie called after him but he continued to walk away.
"I am fine, Danica! Don't worry! I'll see you around!" he answered, his voice almost back to his usual Troy Brady one.
I hate drama. I just hate it! Tata, you take him home safely! I don't want a wedding and a funeral to happen all at the same time, understand?!
Dannie stepped aside as Tata and Troy passed by and she leaned against my hood. She started crying again and I so wanted to develop freaking metal arms to hug her tight and comfort her. If anyone would think about her situation, they would say it was simple. She obviously had feelings for Troy so she just had to leave the convent and be with him. But she was Dannie baby. She had been through a lot and she was also a woman with a lot of layers.
She was like a roll of tissue paper; really soft on the outside but hard inside. The pain and suffering she had been through hardened her in some ways and I was one of the few who knew about this side in her. It was not easy for her to give herself to just anyone. She could give away all the softness and tenderness away and I was certain she believed no one would want the part of her that had hardened throughout the years. But she didn't know there were people around her who could accept everything about her. I knew I could, as well as Georgie and Jackie. But could Troy do the same? Would he be able to accept her when he found out everything about her he didn't know about?
I understood Dannie baby. But not everybody could. If only they knew.
*****
The party was a success. Everybody was happy. Except Dannie baby, of course. But she had put up such an act that not even Georgie or Jackie hinted something happened in the middle of the party. We all went home intoxicated in different levels. I was intoxicated with Dannie baby's pain and she with her troubles. Georgie and Jackie were intoxicated with alcohol, of course.
The day after was quite hectic because everybody was trying to be cool about each other's party, especially the bride and the groom. Not one of them asked what happened during each other's party though I knew each of them was dying to know every detail.
"It's a good thing you guys enjoyed your party," said Jackie.
"Yes, we did," Jordan answered.
"And you girls had fun, right?" asked Dean.
"Of course. We had a blast," Georgie answered.
I almost feared a bomb was about to explode by the end of the day, but thankfully no such thing happened.
Dannie solved the problem. The guys approached her and asked what happened and she told them the truth. The girls sang their hearts out and partied all night, no nasty thing happened. The guys believed her, of course. Who wouldn't, right? And she asked Jordan and Dean about their party as well and they said it was exclusively an all-men party. No strippers as what they insisted. Jackie and Georgie then asked Dannie about the party and she told them what the guys told her. The bomb was diffused just in time.
As for Troy, we never saw him again for the next two days because everything seemed to be back to normal. Jackie and Georgie went back to work. Jordan and Dean would drop by and eat dinner with my three boys and make more plans for the wedding.
Then it Christmas break came for Jackie and Dean. The offices of Collins Corporation had finally closed down to give way to the holidays. Jordan and George still worked, but not as much.
There were still no signs of Troy and everybody except Dannie and I wondered what he had been up to.
The day of Christmas Eve came and Dannie was driving me back to the church. She had refused her friends' offer to stay with them, saying she had made plans with the sisters and the children. I was parked at my usual spot and the children played around me, pretending to be in a war zone and I was their barricade. I would have enjoyed it if they did not lamely throw stones intended for their enemies which landed against my precious hood.
There was a mass and a lot of people came to meet the coming of Christ. I chatted with other vehicles who were excited about their owners' plans for Christmas Eve. I didn't have anything to share. Poor me, right?
But I was glad to be with Dannie baby. A party for the children followed right after the mass and I was left alone for a moment. I heard squeals of joy as the children unwrapped their presents. A few moments later, they were back to where I was, playing with their new toys.
It was a good way to spend my Christmas. I wondered for a moment how my other boys were celebrating theirs.
Dannie joined the sisters and the kids in prayer and everything was at peace again.
Until I saw Tata coming toward me.
Why are you here? I asked her.
She said I knew why she was there.
Well, yeah, I did. I just knew Troy would not be able to stay away from Dannie baby that long.
He jumped off Tata and checked himself through her side mirror.
Don't even bother, my boy. Though your shirt and pants look cool, you still look like hell.
He straightened and took a deep breath.
The air is not dosed with COURAGE, my boy so just go and get her.
He must have heard me because he turned around and walked to the building where Dannie baby was.
Somebody's kidnapping somebody at church. So original, Troy my boy!
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