Villain!

by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.

Sept 24, 2010

Although several days had passed since Alberto started wandering in the different villages of the town, it never occurred to him to visit his wife whom he had left in a delicate condition.

He often thought of going up to the mountains and becoming a tramp in order to forget his marriage that was oppressing him. But he could not leave. It seemed that he was hatching new plans regarding Pilar.

He could not accept that their long engagement would end just like that. However, winning back her love seemed like an insurmountable problem.

Scheming ceaselessly in order to achieve an evil plan, he remembered Limbas, his friend, and felt convinced that it was he who could help him. Because of this, his confused mind found some quiet and he did not waste time so that the two of them could talk.

They were able to meet soon after and he told Limbas about his despicable plan. But although  Limbas had lived the life of a bandit for a long time, he was being guided by reason and he felt greatly indebted to Pilar and her mother’s kindness.

He reminded Alberto that there were a number of obstacles which ought to make him give up his evil scheme against Pilar, she whom Alberto had loved for a long time and should not cause any sorrow.

Limbas said that Alberto should also respect Pilar’s admirable womanhood which was her only consolation despite the bitter end of their long engagement. But these explanations of  Limbas were refuted by Alberto and they lost their tempers while arguing about what was right.

They almost came to blows just to prove who was the better man between the two of them.

“I won’t stop,” Alberto said stubbornly. “What I didn’t get while we were engaged, I’ll get by force today!”

“Over my dead body!” Limbas challenged Alberto.

“You’re no match to me,” said Alberto.

“We’ll see about that in due time.”

“Let’s wait and see.”

“It’s my solemn vow,” Limbas said firmly.

“You’re wasting your saliva which dries up as you speak.”

“Do what you want to do so you can prove your boast.”

“You’re a braggart.”

“I’m a braggart!…  Yes, I am, but I’m not ungrateful like you. Has Pilar’s kindness and her mother’s gone to waste? And you’ll violate her honor? What a despicable man you are! Villain!”

A high-pitched voice cut short the heated exchange between the two men.

Limbas glared at Alberto with burning eyes, as if to express the harsh words that he wanted to say. He immediately turned away, but Alberto who was furious said after him:

“The day of reckoning will come.”

“Anytime and any which way you want.”

Then Limbas rushed towards his daughter who was still screaming for him.

“What’s the matter?”

“Please hurry up! Pilar has fainted and she’s not moving!”

“Is she dead?”

“I don’t know. Please hurry up!…”

Limbas did not understand the rest of what his daughter said because she ran ahead of him. As Limbas rushed toward the house and as he got nearer, his ears were pierced by the unbroken weeping which came from it.

Limbas broke into a run and almost jumped up the stairs of the hut.

“What happened, Tia?” he blurted out.

“Oh!… My child, she’s dead!”
And she collapsed on the floor and wailed like a child.

“No, Tia; don’t worry,” Limbas consoled her, then held Pilar’s wrist.

“She’s alive! She’s still alive! Please calm down. She needs medicine. Ana! Get some sambong leaves, crush them right away and bring them here at once.”

The girl Ana, who was naturally alert and was sincerely concerned about the sick woman’s serious condition, was able to get the needed leaves in the wink of an eye. She crushed them, then ran to give them to her father.

Like a miracle, Pilar was revived by the juice of the sambong leaves which was forced into her mouth. It brought her back to life which could have been snuffed out, if not for the timely rescue.

They were able to talk with her, though she could hardly speak and was almost incoherent. Old Munda was overjoyed because of this and asked her daughter all sorts of  things as if she had returned from the dead.

“I feel as if my breath is passing through the eye of a needle,” Pilar moaned with extreme difficulty. “Please don’t  talk to me. I want to sleep.”

“Let her rest,” Limbas whispered. “She probably feels very weak.”

Pilar was soon fast asleep. Limbas took advantage of this to ask what had brought about the sudden illness which almost ended bitterly.

“All of a sudden, she came to me,” began the old woman, “and asked how I’m going to live when she’s dead. She spoke mournfully, and I wanted to lighten the moment, so I said with a laugh that I’d go with her to the grave.

“I tried my best to change the topic to cheer her up, but she kept going back to it. Then she said she had an important duty to fulfill toward your daughters, so she shouldn’t die just like that.

“Then Elisa came and Pilar embraced her and kissed her and said, ‘You and your sister shouldn’t go away. If you did, your Impo would be left all alone.’

“You know how talkative that daughter of yours is and, out of the blue, she said that if Alberto would stay here, she and her sister would leave. Oh, my God! That’s when her face turned pale and after a few moments, she fainted.

“She was still holding Elisa on her lap when she fell backwards. Thank God Ana was coming up the stairs and I asked her to hurry up and look for you. Thank goodness she found you at once.”

“This is nothing, Tia. By God’s grace, she’s safe now. Don’t worry; she’s just overcome by grief over what Alberto has done. She’ll get over it in due time.”

“When will she get over it? When she’s dead? Ah, the evil that men do! Why did Pilar ever meet that Alberto?”

“We can’t blame anyone for what has happened. They met each other when they were both free. We can never guess what will happen in the future. If there’s anyone who caused all of these, it’s Julia.

“She knew that Pilar and Alberto were already engaged. But why did she still flirt with Alberto?”

“My daughter must have been born with bad luck.”

“No, Tia Munda, a thousand times no. Pilar’s a good person and she’s a good daughter. If she dies because of her illness right now, she won’t leave you any heartache. You’ve been a good mother and she’s your reward. And you’re the pride of her honorable life.”

“What do you mean?” asked the old woman. “Do you think Pilar’s in great danger right now? Is she dying?”

Limbas was not able to answer this question. He wanted to tell the truth that he felt the sick one was gravely ill, but he was afraid that the bitter truth might kill the old woman first and so he kept quiet and stared at Pilar who was sound asleep.

“Why are you staring at her?” the mother asked. “Please tell me the truth. What have you noticed? Maybe we should wake her up so she can eat something. Should I wake her up?”

“No, Tia; let her rest. Don’t worry about her. You should rest, too. She’s luckier than us.”

Each word which Limbas uttered wounded the old woman’s heart and her optimism slowly ebbed away. Intuitively, she felt the truth which he was concealing from her and which neither of them wished to talk about openly.

After a while, Pilar opened her eyes and when she saw her mother by her side, she sighed then closed her eyes again.

“Don’t you want to eat?” asked the old woman who put her mouth near her daughter’s ear. But she shook her head. Looking very tired and weak, it seemed that she did not wish to move at all.

Her body lay helplessly flat on the floor and her feet were cold and numb. Her hands felt so heavy that she could barely lift them. It seemed that she wanted to surrender to this grave illness.

She looked like a corpse, but her youth gave her strength to fight death and made her blood flow through her veins against her wishes.

The old woman kept asking Limbas the same questions about her daughter as if she herself were in a delirium. Although she knew that he was lying to her, his lies kept her spirits up and kept her hope alive that her daughter would live.

And yet she could see for herself that her daughter was in an undeniably critical condition. If Limbas did not show any irritation at the old woman’s delirious questions, it was because of his great pity for her and for her daughter whose imminent death he could foresee.

Her condition appeared to be deteriorating and it seemed that she was in a hurry to go to the graveyard.

Before they knew it, the third night of her illness had come. Although she was almost skin and bones after her sudden loss of weight, she felt a little better and showed some hope of recovery.

Her mother was able to talk with her coherently, but the old woman was worried  because of her refusal to eat anything. She kept uttering words which sounded like last wishes and confirmed an imminent tragedy.

*    *    *

During the heated argument between Limbas and Alberto a few days earlier, we came to know about Alberto’s obscene plan. He had just arrived in the village not because he wanted to visit Julia, but because he wanted to consummate his loathsome plan.

It was an abominable scheme which was truly inconsistent with the honorable and sterling character of his that we had known in the past. But who can fathom the secret depths in his heart? Nobody! Perhaps, it is only now that his hidden savagery  is being revealed.

Because he had lived like a vagabond wandering from town to town since his wedding to Julia, he had no idea that Pilar had fallen ill on the day that he and Limbas had an angry argument. He left immediately then, still decided to carry out his dishonorable plan.

It was late in the evening. Taking advantage of the silence and thinking that Limbas was already asleep, he went up the stairs of the hut stealthily. He was obsessed and possessed by the crime that he was going to commit.

But as he stood by the door, he stopped abruptly as if he were overcome by a great fear. From where he was, he saw the flickering flame of a lamp inside the hut. Its occasional sparks of light showed him exactly where the persons who were fast asleep were lying down.

Everything was very quiet and it seemed that this silence was going to be Alberto’s accomplice in the despicable plan which he wanted to execute. However, while he was standing still and looking intently at everyone who was sound asleep, the sick woman opened her eyes.

When she realized that there was someone else in the hut, she immediately called her mother who was lying beside her. But because the old woman was exhausted from lack of sleep, she could not be awakened.

The sick one who was suffering from extreme difficulty of breathing did not have the strength to keep on calling and so she sighed and closed her eyes again. This was enough to make Alberto recognize Pilar’s serious condition and, incredibly, the evil plan which had brought him there vanished in the air.

“What mystery is this?” he said. “Pilar is sick. She can hardly breathe. Ah! I’m probably the cause of her illness. It’s all my fault and it’s the woman with a golden heart whom I cheated.

“And I came here with my miserable desire? My name and my person ought to be cursed! Oh, Pilar! Forgive the unfortunate man whom you have loved!”

He wanted to approach Pilar and to beg her forgiveness for the last time, but he was afraid that it might hasten her death.

“What should I do?” he said to himself again. “What will happen to me if Pilar dies and we’re not able to talk even for a second? Oh! I must die! I’ll pay with my life for the sufferings which she has endured because of me!”

Then he gazed at the bedridden Pilar. Because he could not see her well in the flickering flame, he took a matchbox from his pocket, lighted a matchstick, and looked intently at her with indescribable grief.

However, he could not stand the sight of her thin and pale face, her sunken eyes, and her translucent forehead which all made her look like a corpse.

As he was about to go down the stairs of the hut, he tripped and fell down on his knees on the floor.

“Who are you?” whispered Limbas roughly.

“It is I,” whispered Alberto who stood up slowly, then added softly:

“If you’re a man, don’t wake up anybody else. Kill me and nobody will seek justice on my behalf. But keep quiet and respect the miserable sick who’s asleep.”

“Who are you?”  Limbas asked again in a whisper.

“I’m Alberto. Keep quiet. I’m not going to fight you. Since Pilar is at the brink of death, I don’t want to live anymore.”

“And why are you here?”

“Remember my threat when we last talked.”

“Ah, villain!”

“No, my friend Limbas. It’s true that I came here with that desire on my mind, but my soul was mortified when I saw her in this critical condition. I’m full of remorse and I realize now more than ever her nobility of character and the darkness of my desire.

“Forgive me, Limbas. I know I have no right to live anymore. To tell you the truth, I was about to leave so nobody would be asked about my death. Forgive me for our quarrel. And if you should hear about my dead body, you can be certain my death was caused by the miserable end of my love.

“Pilar shall die, I can feel it. But believe me, I’ll look for her in the afterlife since I’m worthless in this life and cannot expect any happiness. You know yourself the great hardships which I endured for her and which she also endured for me.

“It’s not our fate to spend life together on earth. We’ll see each other again in the afterlife. Goodbye. This home weighs down my soul with despair.

“I want to die right now so I won’t see the death of the woman whom I chose among all women, my Pilar, my heaven, the woman with a heart of gold. But she was not destined for me. Farewell!”

And he went down the stairs in a hurry, then went to the fields to kill himself. Limbas, who was left in the hut, was stunned and did not know what to do in his big disbelief. Alberto had already gone a long way, but he was still dumbfounded and unable to fully comprehend what had happened.

However, he realized after a while that he should stop Alberto from executing his dreadful decision. Limbas plunged himself into the darkness to look for Alberto. But it was very dark and he could not find him right away. He found him, afterwards, soaked in his own blood.

Alberto was dead! And Limbas could only heave a sigh of farewell at his remains.

(2,710  words)