by John Muir
CHAPTER 25
A BLONDE FILIPINA
APUAO GRANDE
A subdued silence descended on those incarcerated in the tennis court. Singly, in pairs or groups they found their own spaces to stand or sit.
Some looked at the high wire of the tennis court that had become their prison. Most, if not all of the guests had walked past this tennis court several times. Some had played on it. Now, all were looking at it as if it had suddenly appeared by magic and they were seeing it for the very first time.
Curiosity and a little apprehension as to the reason why they were caught up in this event were the questions deep in the minds of most. Some began to ask others why. For now, they found their questions mostly ignored by their co-detainees. At this stage most were too deeply involved with their own thoughts, unable, or unwilling to listen to the thoughts of others.
Some were still in states of shock from the violence of minutes ago. Minds were remembering the crumpled body of Podgy Hodge and the vegetable state of his murderer. Everyone presumed the Animal had received the 'coup-de-grace' from his former colleagues. He was obviously beyond first aid treatment. Hospitalisation was out of the question.
Although the tennis court was not designed with the intention of incarceration in mind, it certainly was as effective. The wire mesh sides were too high to easily climb. The only genuine entry or exit was the tube framed swing door at one end, now padlocked and chained. The few small gaps in the bottom of the netting, where it met the edge of the hard-court, were only a nuisance when a miss-hit a tennis ball flew through.
The four terrorists allocated guarding these fifty or so detainees could see every movement inside the wire. The lighting provided for night tennis now provided security lighting for the guards to keep an eye on the inmates.
The action of placing them here came so swiftly after Podgy Hodge's angry and futile act. With everyone still in shock immediately after his death, it was unlikely anyone would have considered resisting the shift. Even if it had been the intention to use the tennis court later, Podgy's actions had certainly sped up the timetable.
Perhaps the guerillas thought separating non-Filipinos from the Filipinos' would reduce the possibility of any further trouble. All the non-Filipino children were with this hotchpot of races inside the tennis court. The few European women had already taken most children under their protection.
T.A. watched the gathering settle down quickly, and spread around the edges of the court, using the netting for a type of flexible back support. Some sat in pairs or groups while others sat alone. Graham had already fallen asleep on the hard surface helped by the alcohol induced stupor. Pater was wandering slowly around the inside of the perimeter like the caged creature he was. His pacing kept the guards on edge. When he finally selected a suitable place to settle the guards relaxed their continuous watching. Pater settled near Doug Maddigan and his now sleeping little daughter.
Douglas Maddigan sat staring without seeing. It was like he was hypnotised. He did not seem conscious of his daughter on his lap. An unlikely picture after the long and loud tearful screams when she was first dragged from her mother. Screams had subsided into deep sobbing and then into that peaceful sleep as only children can do. Doug's eyes were unseeing and trance-like.
The gate opened. Ten guards, arms full of assorted bedding and blankets, threw the load inside the entry. Six others delivered cases of bottles of water, buckets and toilet paper. Without any sense of urgency the prisoners made their way to collect anything they thought might be useful. Gunther grabbed an extra pillow and blanket and brought them over to Doug. Pater too obtained an almost black blanket, which instead of wrapping around him rolled it up to sit on. He looked strange still wearing the sheet he had arrived in. Looking like a dirty Roman emperor who had fallen from grace.
The child in Maddigan's lap gave a muscle jerk and rolled her head from side to side. Maddigan woke from his trance and looked at the defenceless girl. Why had she come into all of this and complicated his life? This was his fifth visit to the Philippines. Each of the last five years he had taken his annual leave to spend three weeks in the Philippines with Alona. It was his third visit to Apuao Grande.
Doug's mind drifted to the first time five years ago when he met Alona. He was never quite sure whether it was arranged or not. Even if it was he was certainly happy about it at the time.
Like many San Franciscans he knew a few Filipinos living in the U.S.A. He was a quantity surveyor in a construction company. Being single, the company was easily able to send him out of town on assignments. The company employed two Filipina secretaries. To Doug, their mood always seemed cheery, happy, friendly and always quick with a smile and a laugh. That quaint seemingly Filipino national trait of covering the mouth with the open hand when they laughed still amused him. Although he thought he had now figured out why. It seemed to be most prevalent among Filipinos with bad teeth arrangement, and there were a lot of them. Despite that even those with beautiful teeth also did it, but not with same intensity.
Although he had often small-talked with the office Filipinos’ he never had serious discussions. It was over six years ago when he began talking with one secretary named Ligaya, Alona's older sister, about possibly flying to Hong Kong. From there he was telling her he would also visit Macau for his vacation. The only drawback in his possible destination was the absence of good beaches and places for snorkelling and scuba-diving. This was an open invitation to any Filipino to wax lyrical about the white sands, clear seas and excellent diving around the Philippines. Ligaya suggested he should try scuba-diving in the Philippines.
Doug knew Ligaya had started work as a junior secretary in the same company about six months after he had begun his appointment. They were of a similar age, early 30's. Ligaya was married to some semi-drunk about 20 years her senior. She had been married for about six years, the same amount of time she had been in the U.S.A. Her marriage had come about after she replied to one of the dozens of advertisements in the Personal Column of the newspaper.
The thought of a diving holiday in the Philippines became a search for more information after he read two favourable articles in two separate diving magazines strongly extolling the virtues of diving in the Philippines. After that he regularly questioned Ligaya about the Philippines.
Their conversations seemed to be coming from different directions. While he was after diving information, she would talk about her family in Cebu City on Cebu in the Visayas. She told Douglas to write to her younger sister Alona to find information about diving in the Philippines, as she knew nothing about it, Alona would find out for him. He resisted the temptation to start writing as he did not want to be put in the same mould as "The Pen Pal Desperados". Doug had been able to glean all the information he had wanted from his own readings.
More glowing articles and reports finalised his decision. His travel agent made the air travel arrangements and booked the first two nights accommodation in Manila. Ligaya seemed as ecstatic as if she was going herself. Both she and the other secretary Fe asked him to take things with him for their respective families. This too was a Filipino tradition.
His arrival date was set. By coincidence or arrangement, he never did find out which, Alona was going to be in Manila at the time of his arrival. She would meet him at his hotel and collect the small parcel Ligaya had sent. Fe's relations too would meet him. They lived in Pasay City, part of Metro Manila.
Although he travelled light on clothing, his B.C.D., regulator, fins, snorkel and mask took up a lot of space. Fe's package was small and took up little room. Ligaya was justifiably embarrassed when she gave him quite a large box with a carry handle. Douglas remembered feeling irked at the time but agreed anyway.
Arrival at the Benigno Aquino Airport in Manila at night was chaotic. After he had cleared Immigration, and collected his luggage, Customs was his first taste of the corruption. One of the Customs officers wanted him to pay duty on his old underwater camera, B.C.D. and regulator. He was begrudgingly about
to pay when one of the other passengers interceded on his behalf asking the Customs Officer loudly under which section of the act the duty was being levied. The officer asked him to lower his voice, quickly ticked the baggage with white chalk, and asked Doug to hurry through.
As he thanked the other passenger, the guy just nodded and said, "They're all bloody corrupt, he was trying to get money for himself."
After exiting the Customs area he was confronted by a huge sea of faces cordoned off at each end of the building. He was startled for a few minutes before he remembered his instructions to look for a placard advertising his hotel. On sighting it, he reported to the carrier and was swiftly escorted to his bus.
Departure was delayed a few minutes to wait for other possible passengers. Then the nearly empty bus departed for the hotel.
A sense of relief flowed over him when the bus arrived outside the hotel. Porters delivered the luggage into the Reception lounge. Although not in the mood, he had to complete all the hotel formalities before he was issued with the room key. In remote control, too tired through the sixteen-hour time difference and the eighteen-hour trip from home to Manila, he quickly showered and fell into bed.
It only seemed like minutes had elapsed, when he heard a distant buzz somewhere in the background. As his conscious mind woke he realised it was the telephone. He blinked in the bright light of day as he picked up the receiver. He had not even bothered to close the curtains in his tired rush to get to bed.
"Good Morning, Sir. This is reception here. I have some people at reception who said you are expecting them."
Maddigan wished his brain would function clearly, "Who is it?"
"They told me to say they have come to collect Fe's package sir."
"Oh, O.K., tell them I'll be down in a few minutes."
After he hung up he just wanted to crawl back into bed. A quick glance at his watch showed 11.30 a.m. local time. He had slept for about 12 hours.
The shower felt good. He did not give a damn how long they had to wait he was going to enjoy his shower.
Eventually feelings of guilt keeping people waiting made his enjoyment of the shower less than he had hoped. At least he felt refreshed and able to face the required obligatory pleasantries he would have to make.
Dressed, he collected the smaller package from his bag and made his way downstairs to the reception desk. Once there he asked one of the receptionists to identify the people asking for him. She pointed at a small group standing self-consciously near the doorway. Their nervous movements were as if they were feeling they did not belong in such surroundings.
He introduced himself. They seemed over-awed at his size in comparison to theirs. They also seemed desperate to prove their identification as they all showed voter cards, birth certificates and other forms of I.D.
"We just want you to know that you're giving the parcel to the right people."
Polite small talk followed after he gave them the package. He could see from their continual looks at the package, that they were keen to open it. Their politeness and decorum for such action prevented them tearing the paper off with the enthusiasm of children on Christmas morning. He glanced up at the door as a very attractive lady entered the lounge and made her way to the reception counter. He lost sight of her as another in the group asked yet another question about their sister Fe. Then one mentioned they had to return to work. Possibly using that as an excuse, they all said their farewells. Several left a telephone number and name for him to contact if he needed any help.
He was pleased that he had disposed of half of his obligations to his co-workers. He watched the last of Fe's relations make their way out of the front door and turned to make his way back to his room. Sleep would come again so easily.
"Sir," called out one of the ladies, "there is another guest to see you."
He looked to where she was politely pointing. On looking, he saw the beautiful lady who had come in the door a few minutes before. He looked at her for a few seconds but she gave no sign of recognition. He let his eyes look past her to another woman standing further away. The second woman gave him a small grin but made no other movement. Then he noticed the first lady begin walking the few steps between them until she stood right in front of him.
"Mr Maddigan?"
His heart skipped a few beats. The beautiful face and big brown eyes were looking directly up at him. He felt tongue-tied for the first time in a long time.
"Ah, ah, yes, I'm Doug Maddigan." He had almost forgotten his own name. Her eyes just seemed to drag him in and strip his mind of everything else at the same time.
"I'm Alona, Ligaya's sister."
She extended her hand to shake his. He automatically extended his and took the tiny hand in his. Then he realised that he was still holding her hand long after she had stopped shaking it. Embarrassed, he let it go.
"Sorry, I um, have a parcel for you."
"Thank you for bringing it. Ligaya said she was embarrassed to give you such a big box to bring."
Doug regained his composure. He wanted to talk to this one.
“It was absolutely no problem at all. Look, I haven't eaten yet, I'd really love it if you'd eat with me."
"Thank you, I have eaten. If you want company I'd love to hear about how Ligaya is doing. That is if you have time."
Doug felt he would give her all the time she wanted and knew that it would not be enough time for him.
That was how it started. From there he asked her to show him around Manila. When she said she did not know Manila, he asked if she would explore it with him.
He stayed four days in Manila instead of the original two that he had planned. Each of those four days in Manila he had spent with Alona. She had always insisted on returning to her cousin's house in the evening. She had not even allowed him to kiss her. Frustrated, he said his goodbyes and headed off to Puerto Galera for diving as he had originally intended.
After two days diving in Puerto Galera, and thinking so much about Alona, he returned to Manila and went straight to her cousin's house. When he found she was still there his heart soared. He knew that this woman made him feel something he had never felt before.
She too seemed pleased to see him. In secret they planned to tell the cousin that she was going to visit her old school friend for a week or two. Then they arranged their first trip to Apuao Grande.
It was here he found that he had fallen in love with her, and she seemingly with him. Despite their time together, his feelings and fear of commitment prevented him from making definite plans for a future with her. He decided that he would get to know her better by writing to her.
On his second visit a year later he knew how strongly he felt. Another holiday at Apuao Grande was taken as though to reinforce the discovering of each other at the same place on the previous visit. Soon after the second visit, she virtually stopped writing. He was confused. She had previously seemed to be in full agreement about joining him in the USA on a fiancee visa. Ligaya too suddenly started to avoid him, and Alona's letters to him were few and far between. When he did receive one, they seemed to be impersonal and very formal. Not the intimate type previously shared.
He wanted to telephone, but could not. Like the majority of families in the Philippines, especially outside of Manila, their household budget did not run to the expense of a telephone connection. He had to find out what was wrong, but how? It had been nearly a year since he had seen her and it felt like the worst year of his life.
He had found out Ligaya's home address through office records, and on a weekend drove over to make a surprise visit on her. The pretext was that he was "just passing." She had previously invited him to visit, though that was before this estrangement with Alona.
Ligaya was certainly very surprised to see him. Doug decided to pour out his heart to her. He told Ligaya how much he was missing Alona and how upset he was that she seemed to have become remote. After he had finished he realised that he had tears streaming from his eyes and felt thoroughly emba
rrassed.
"Dammit Ligaya, I love her. What have I done wrong? I want her with me."
Ligaya sat back deeply in her chair as if nestling in to prevent being torn out of it.
"Doug, I promised her that I would not tell you. I can see this is tearing at you as much as it is tearing at her."
"What's wrong?"
"She had a baby three months ago. She was too ashamed to tell you she was pregnant after your last visit. She did not want to burden you with her trouble."
Doug felt as if he had his stomach pulled out from below his ribcage.
"Oh my God! Why?"
"She had told you she was taking precautions."
"Oh my God."
"So you are the father of a little girl. She still hasn't picked a name yet."
"What can I do?"
"Nothing, maybe she should have told you. She didn't know what to do. She thought that the family could raise the baby. But she couldn't give the baby up. She wants to stay in the Philippines, at least for a few years where the family can help her."
The sudden snoring of a nearby co-detainee snapped Doug's mind back to his current predicament. He looked at this little cutie resting in his arms. There were never any doubts in his mind about paternity. It had however upset other plans he had thought about for him and Alona. He suddenly had instant family. That was not how he had seen his future. She was a beautiful child and had the same fair curly hair he had as a youngster. Her intelligence showed through in everything she did. Her verbal skills for one so young amazed everybody. Yet she spoke very little to Doug, almost being reluctant for him to pick her up. Doug secretly resented her rejection. He knew he just had to be ready when she finally accepted him. In the meantime he would bide his time. Then he would take advantage of the time when she did not have any option but to rely on him.
He looked around at those nearby and noticed Pater only a few feet away. He watched with interest at the way Pater was laying back. His posture did not seem natural with his arms behind him the way they were. Then he noticed that Pater was digging the ends of the wire mesh out from the ground with his fingers. Pater was making the hole under the wire larger by extending the base length. Any cursory inspection by a passing guard would not seem to show any difference to its previous condition.
