Sixteen

"NO, Tommy. That couldn't be right," she said.
She was finally able to confront him that night after dinner and their mother was back to bed very early. Her chirpiness got her tired earlier than usual so she wasn't even able to do her nightly Bible reading routine.
She pulled Tommy out of the house and asked him outside to make sure none of their voices didn't reach their mother, in case she wasn't deeply asleep yet.
"How did you find out? They promised me they wouldn't let you know anything at the bar."
"They didn't. They only told me where you went but, I told you, I was making a scene so they'd tell me something. I didn't think it was him. I thought it was one of his friend's friends."
"Then how—"
"I went back very early in the morning before you got up," he confessed, It was still dark, and I... the door was unlocked. I had to find out who did that to my sister. I need to know... if he even recognized you and treat you like—"
"Tommy!"
He was looking down at his feet and his shoulders were squared and angry.
He was rigid all over. His jaw was clenched, and her heart melted for him.
"He didn't know," she told him gently. "He didn't know me. I didn't think he even recognized me. It was really very dark that night."
"Ate, then why is there money? I made sure to ask anyone I could ask. Noone received cash."
"I swear he didn't recognize me. Tommy, he doesn't even know me. I don't think he's actually even seen me before. I mean, who am I even for him to notice me? Every time I see him, I was always with a group of people and that's very rare. There's nothing in the years that passed that had me near the Quirozes' house whenever he visits." She used the word visit instead of home because the hacienda was really more like the Señor's home than the Señorito Enrique's.
For most of his years growing up, he had stayed in Manila or in the U.S., studying in business schools. But his father had always stayed here.
He wouldn't leave or go anywhere except for business matters.
Anything else that needed to be taken care of that could take him away for a long time, Señorito Enrique did it himself.
"Then why is it that we are the only ones given cash? We're not particularly special. There are other widows here like Mama. I even asked Aling Pilar, and she said she only received groceries and the sacks of rice."
She didn't want to believe he was right. No. she didn't want Señorito Enrique to know her.
There must be some other reason.
"He was very drunk that night. He—"
"Did he look at your face?"
"I didn't think—"
"Did he?"
"He..." She bit her lower lip for a moment.
"He did," Tommy said in a certain, almost desperate voice. "Even if he's drunk, he wouldn't forget your face if he'd seen you. Ate, no one could forget your face. You're one of the most beautiful women here in the hacienda or anywhere else. Ayy!"
She stared at her young brother, who was barely a man, hunkered down and beating ineffectually the sides of his head with his fists that were starting to show signs of strength and manhood.
She could tell it didn't hurt, but he was very emotional and distressed.
She didn't know if she was going to hit him with more force or laugh.
In the end, she just sighed.
He saw that. Her brother's eyes hardened when she mentioned that Señorito Enrique was drunk that night.
*My little protector...*
She reached out and pressed his thin shoulders, and she pulled him to her so she could hug him much like her mother had hugged her that afternoon.
They had enough food in the kitchen for her to cook better meals for her brother. She was going to make him healthier. He'd become so thin since their mother's last hospital episode.
Tommy didn't really like hospitals. It reminded him too much of their father, too.
"Tommy, there is one thing I am certain of—the Quirozes are decent men. Even if he had recognized me, he will not bring shame to our door. He might have learned about me from somewhere if your suspicions are true, and he knew I didn't... I really didn't do that. He must have found out what happened. I didn't think he would have been part of it if he knew the truth."
A moment passed before he heard him whisper.
"It still hurts, Ate. I still feel hurt knowing what happened to you."
She hugged her brother tightly.
He was too young to go through something like this.
"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't also his fault. I made the decision to accept it, and I was paid to be in his bed that night. You're not in trouble and Mama looked like she is getting better. I got what I wanted, Tommy. And I promise you, he wasn't harsh or cruel. Okay? He wasn't. It was... I didn't feel like I'd been... forced. Honestly. It didn't feel like that."
His shoulders started to shake, and hers did, too.
And in the next moment, she was cradling him like a little boy as they both cried and tried hard not to make any sound.
The moment passed and they still hugged each other for a long time.
And then, she held his shoulders firmly, and she pushed him gently from her so she could see his face.
"Let's promise each other that from now on, we will only look at the good things that happened since then, okay? We can't be dwelling in the past, Tommy. We can't. Otherwise, it will affect our future and what we hope to do here. And eventually, Mama will notice that there's something wrong and we can't have that."
Tommy was still sniffling a little.
"Tommy! Let me carry it. I'll carry it. I should be carrying it. How do you think it makes me feel seeing you this way?"
He abruptly looked up at her, and she pressed his warm cheek.
"It breaks my heart. I am older, I did that to protect you, and it was my responsibility to do that. It still is my responsibility. Don't try to steal it away from me. Don't let me lose even that now."
His thin arms went around her, and he hugged her and buried his face in her chest.
"Tommy, promise me, okay? Promise me you will let me do my job. Okay?" she begged him as she combed her fingers through his hair.
In her chest, he nodded.
"Let me hear you say it."
"Yes," he mumbled.
"Tommy..."
He pulled his head back a little bit and repeated it. "Yes!"
"Yes, Ate," she corrected and caught his smile before he buried his face in her chest again. "I love you so much, Tommy. Ate will do what she can for you, okay?" she whispered to him before she hugged him tighter to her again.
He only tightened his hold on her.
They barely heard the distant neighing of a horse, so engrossed they were in that moment with each other.
When they moved to finally enter the house, Arianna frowned a little and turned her face towards the fields.
But she didn't see anything.
"What is it, Ate?"
"I thought I heard something, but it's nothing," she told him.
And they went inside so they could get ready to sleep.