Slave Of Destiny (17 page)

“Please, make love
to me now” she whispered.

“I need to put on a
condom” he whispered.

“It’s ok, because I
am taking the pill” she added, encouraging him to lie on top of her.

She quickly reached
down and wrapped her hand around his penis. Michael held his breath as he
anticipated penetrating her body. She held his penis and moved it back and
forth along her slit as she teased herself with it. Her breathing started to
change as she guided him into her. Michael felt wonderful as he slowly slid
into something hot, tight, and silky. She sighed as it slid in, but then she
groaned when she felt his tip hit her cervix, but relaxed as he slipped in a
little further. Michael sucked and nibbled on a nipple, before she pulled her
breast out of his mouth and she encouraged him to kiss her. They were moving
together in a steady rhythm and Michael felt like he was in heaven. Their
tongues twirled and she sucked his into her mouth again. She stopped kissing
and started making louder “Oh oh oh ooo” as Michael continued moving inside
her. Suddenly, her upper body shook as she climaxed a second time. He could
feel his own climax building up as his back arched and he filled her with his
sperm. She groaned loudly as she felt the warmth flowing inside her and she
moved her hips erratically as she had another orgasm.

Michael collapsed
on top of her as he felt his penis slowly becoming flaccid. She pushed him off and
snuggled into the crook of his arm. Several minutes later he glanced over at
Sally, but her eyes were closed and her breathing was regular, so he assumed
that she had fallen asleep. Michael studied her face as she slept, then he
shifted his eyes to her magnificent breasts which made his penis stir. She woke
up because she must have felt it rub against her thigh and she looked down at
it and then looked back up with a grin. She rolled onto her back and said “I’m
ready if you are.”

“I love you Sally”
he said and bent down to kiss her.

“I love you too”
she purred.

They made love to
her again, before they had a shower together and went out for a very late
dinner.

The very next
afternoon after work, Sally moved in with Michael. She had a few belongings,
but even less in the way of good clothes.

“Marry me and come
back to Australia with me” he asked her after another long session of
lovemaking.

“What about my
studies?” she asked haughtily.

“You can study in
Australia if you like” he said happily.

“I want you to meet
my family before you marry me. Can we go to the Philippines first?” she whispered.

“I’ll do anything
for you, darling” he mentioned as he kissed her again. “My visa runs out in
three weeks, but I’m sure I can apply for one for the Philippines.”

“My father can help
us with the documents at the Australian Embassy in the Philippines. He has
already helped my sister marry an Australian” she added.

“How long did the
process take?” he asked.

“About three weeks,
once we’re married” she admitted.

“The Philippines it
is. How about you quit your job and help me arrange the visa and the airplane
flights. The sooner we leave the sooner we can get married” Michael said
happily.

The next morning
she quit her job and Michael slipped the store owner money for the
inconvenience. The two of them then went to the university and explained the
situation. The next stop was the Foreign Consulate Office in Denpasar where her
Uncle worked. He was only too happy to arrange the visa for him, so that his
niece wouldn’t come back to his crowded unit. The next stop was a travel agent.
Michael booked the flights for two people from Bali to Manila so that they could
leave in a week’s time. Then he booked another flight for two people from
Manila to Brisbane for six weeks after that. Michael could worry about the
connecting flight to Townsville later.

Later that night in
bed Michael found he couldn’t sleep. Sally had been asleep for over 30 minutes,
but sleep still eluded him so he tried to remember what he knew about the
Philippines. Most Australians know very little about the archipelago nation.
Michael knew it was a protectorate of the United States for nearly 50 years
after the conclusion of the Spanish-American War and there were air force and
naval bases there. More importantly, the little bit he had read about the
Philippines paints a picture of this country that has a deeply engrained
religious culture and its population are stereotypes that are prevalent in US
citizens. He also knew that most Filipinos who come to Australia are nurses,
medical technicians, or young Filipina brides. When Michael thought of the
Philippines, he could picture large extended families that live happily
together in small places. He also thought of large families that remain not
only physically close, but emotionally close as well. Because it was January
1979, President Marcos' hold on power had deteriorated and he had declared
Martial Law. The alleged attempt to end the life of Minister of Defense,
several months earlier, gave Marcos a window of opportunity to declare Martial
Law. Marcos announced the emergency rule the day after the shooting incident.
Michael also knew the insurgency in the south was caused by the clash between
Muslims and Christians, which Marcos considered a threat to national security.
Michael smiled at the thought of the girly bars,
but he also thought of heat, humidity and rain, just before he fell asleep.

The two of them
went shopping the next day for some decent clothes for Sally. They knew they
had a limited baggage allowance, but a few more sets of evening and formal
attire for both of them wouldn’t go astray.

* * *

Michael and Sally
passed through Manila International Airport security just on 9pm and had their
passports stamped, before they collected their bags.

The sea of people
and the noise that was outside the doors of the airport overwhelmed Michael, but
Sally held his hand tightly and guided him over to where her father was
standing.

“Too many people
and too noisy here to talk, we go now” he ordered, leading the way.

The three of them
pushed their way through the crowd with the majority urging foreigners to ask
them to help them or calling out to loved ones.

“My father used the
money we sent to him to hire a Jeepney” she shouted above the din. It looked
like all her family turned up to welcome him into the family; Michael didn’t
know how wrong he was. There were five people in the back of the fairly modern
van. As they climbed in the back, her father and mother jumped in the front two
seats.

“This is my father,
Honesto, my mother Corazon, My brother Juni, My other brother Boy, My sister
Rosito, my brother Lauro and my other sister Tak-tak” Sally said slowly, before
she added. “My other sisters Aimee and Denden are waiting for us.”

“Your other
sisters?” he mumbled, surprised at the size of her family.

“Oh Yes and my
sister Madonna is already living in Australia; Townsville in fact” she said.

“You never
mentioned that your sister lives in Townsville” he said.

“Sorry, I thought I
already mentioned it” she said apologetically.

It just that struck
Michael that Philippine names for both girls and boys tend to be what we in
Australia would regard as overbearingly childish for anyone over about
five. Where Michael came from, a boy with a nickname like Boy or Juni
would be beaten severely at school by pre-adolescent bullies. So would girls with
names like Tak-Tak and Den-Den. Here, however, no one bats an eyelid.

The journey through
Manila, out onto the freeway and then into the province of Pampanga took
several hours, but finally the van arrived in Angeles City; home of the American
Military Clark Airbase. The van stopped outside a house in Gomez Street and it
seemed as if all the residents of the street came out to welcome the foreigner.
Finally there were hugs and handshakes all around and a beer was thrust in
Michael’s hand.

“I need to use the
bathroom” he whispered in Sally’s ear, when he finally found her again.

With his duties out
of the way, someone thrust another beer in Michael’s hand; a San Miguel. He
actually jumped the gun by having a San Miguel with lunch during his flight from
Bali to the Philippines and he loved the taste. To put it simply, the Philippines
offers good beer cheap. This island nation has a rich and very diverse cultural
heritage and, for these people, warm hospitality and lasting friendships are a
way of life.

* * *

The next morning the
smell of fried garlic, fried fish, and fried daing wafted from the neighbor's
kitchen and it made Michael hungry. The two of them had stayed with her married
second eldest sister’s in her one bedroom flat and they had given them the use
of the bedroom. Sally disappeared for 10 minutes and came back with three bags
of fully prepared rice noodles; their breakfast. Just up the laneway there was
a food vendor who sold the delicious food attached to those wonderful smells.
Den-den’s husband Catig had already left for work as a bartender at one of the
bars on Field’s Avenue, so the three of us sat down and ate breakfast together.
Later that morning Sally and Michael left for the local markets.

Jeepneys,
tricycles, motorcycles and the impatient, restless sounds of traffic buzzed
around them during the one pesos jeepney trip. Michael watched boys walking
with an arm over their buddies' shoulders and girls walking hand-in-hand. Some
pedestrians pressed brightly colored bandanas tightly over their noses and
mouths, because of the diesel exhaust fumes. The two of them went to the ‘dry’
markets and the warm smiles, courtesy, cheerful bantering, and “Hey, Joe!”
echoed as Michael walked through them and exuberant children were everywhere.
Here vendors sold dessert with strange colors and exotic flavors like ube
(purple yam), cheese, and macapuno (young coconut). Bright colourful dresses
filled some stalls, bags of every shape and size in others, while nick-nacks,
souvenirs and cheap jewelry were everywhere.

The ‘wet’ markets
were several blocks away so they caught a tricycle ride to them. These markets
were full of fresh pork, chicken, and fish and the vegetable stalls were
brimming with vegetables, mangos, pineapples, and other tropical fruits. Sally
explained to him the names of the fruits he’d never seen, but he soon forgot
them because of an overloaded brain. The fish, prawns and crabs were still
alive in their small ponds. Roosters crowed, ducks quacked and pigs grunted all
around them.

“We’re eating at my
parent’s house tonight” she mentioned as she passed him the bags to carry. “We
buy fresh food every day.”

The two of them
returned to her parent’s house where she advised Michael “I have to prepare the
food for tonight. Juni will take you to our grandfather’s house.”

Michael followed
Juni, whose real name was Honesto Junior, down the street and around the
corner. Half way along the next block he bought three cold beers and they
continued on until the next alleyway.

“How much are the
beers?” Michael asked.

“Red Horse is two
pesos, fifty centavos” he replied. “San Miguel is cheaper.”

Michael did a quick
calculation and worked out that he could buy nearly five of these beers for an
Australian dollar; beers in Australia were about a dollar each. The two of them
disappeared down the passageway between the houses, until they came across a
small courtyard. Here a tall old thin man was tending to some roosters,
tethered by their leg with strings to stakes.

Juni introduced him,
but explained “He doesn’t speak or understand English.”

It didn’t matter,
because drinking beer together is the universal language. Juni explained to me
that these were fighting cocks; a national past time in the Philippines.

“Is it true about
the girls in the bars?” Michael asked him, attentively.

“You like to go
there? There are about a hundred bars and they’re full of the best looking
girls” he admitted. “We’ll go there in a few days.”

* * *

The one thing that
really opened Michael’s eyes was the sheer number of companies employing armed
security guards; not guards with tiny little pistols, but these had rifles or
pump-action shotguns. The next morning Honesto, Michael and Sally went to book
bus tickets to Manila on the ‘Rabbit’, the armed security guard smiled at them,
greeted them warmly and opened the door to the office. Then her father took
them sightseeing to Mount Arayat. It is an extinct
volcano
, rising to a
height of 3,366 feet. Being only ten miles to the east of Angeles City, Mount
Arayat is considered a mystical place and the legendary home of the fairy known
as Mariang Sinukuan. Sally and Michael were getting married tomorrow, but today
the family was having a picnic. Most of the family piled into the old family jeepney
along with steaming pots of food and rice. Additional items were tied to the
roof racks and then they were on their way. No one was going to climb to the
top, just part of the way to look at some famous statues; he assumed.

As the jeepney
approached the base of the mountain her father detoured down a dirt road and
drove along it for about a mile.

“NPA” he hissed.
“Quiet everyone.”

Through the open
window Michael saw several men carrying rifles standing on the road and in their
way. One man walked over peered in the back door, before walking around to the
driver’s door. He talked quietly with Honesto for a minute, but Michael
couldn’t understand anything except one word – Americana.

“Hindi,
Australiana” he replied.

“Americana” he
shouted, pointing to Michael.

“Hindi,
Australiana” he replied again.

The NPA soldier
walked to where Michael was sitting and ordered “Passport Signor.”

He handed him his
dark-blue passport through the open window without saying a word. The worried
look her father sent him told him to keep quiet and do what they say. The
soldier took it, opened it up looked at Michael’s photo then glanced at him.

“You Australian?”
he asked.

“Yes” Michael said
softly, nodding his head.

The soldier walked
away with Michael’s passport and over to the other five armed men. He could see
through the open window that all six men were examining his credentials. The
first man returned and handed it back to Michael. “It is ok.”

The soldier
returned to argue with Sally’s father, who turned around and said something to
Sally. She passed her father some money, which in turn passed it to the NPA
officer.

“Sigi” he said and
walked away.

The small group
disappeared as quickly as they arrived and Michael breathed a sigh of relief.

“What was that all
about?” Michael asked.

“A donation to the
NPA” he said, as they continued on our way.