The Ark

Copyright © 2020 by VeryWellAged

What was and what will be...3

Author's note: These chapters are NOT stand-alones...The story starts here.

What was and what will be...4

That seems to have hit a nerve, if the looks on eight faces are any indicator. Bim looks nervous. Nelia looks determined. Cincer looks sad. Ann is clearly frustrated by something. Lorie, Reyna and her sister, Jessa, are clearly scared.

Jessa is frozen, as is Reyna, with eyes wide open.

Well, will someone tell me what’s going on?

Both Ann and Cincer start to talk at the same time. They both stop, and look at each other. There appears to be a quiet negotiation and then Cincer starts again. Jessa’s husband… he find a new girl and leave her. He living in Ormoc City. Jessa live here now. We decide this. She ask and we agree. This is best.

Did any of you think to ask me?

We think you busy there and we not want to make things more difficult for you.

I’m not buying that. Was it that you decided it needed to happen but if you told me, you were afraid I might not return?

Yes.

No! That loud and determined last exclamation has come from Ann, who appears to be fed up with something, and it seems like that is what it is, as she takes a deep breath and adds, If it just Jessa, they not worried. They sure you come back. But if they tell you about Jessa, then they tell you about Eva. It the other one, Eva, that they accept. You already say no to her. That why.

When did I do that?

When Reyna’s teacher ask you to help her?

Eva is that girl? And I point to the kid I had not recognized.

Yes.

You disagree with her being here?

No. It OK she here. I disagree we not tell you this.

Oh? … Cincer, care to explain again why you didn’t tell me?

Ann think, you will come back, but just tell us Eva must leave. You will say she can stay until you get back. Nothing more.

None of the rest of you agreed with Ann?

Ira, maybe you do what Ann say, OK you will say that now because you are back. If we tell you when you away, maybe Ann is right, but maybe she not.

Ha! That is Ann again. She really isn’t having any of this. I look at her. If she has something to say, let her say it.

Why they not know you love us? Why they not trust your heart? I know. Yes, I do. I know you love me. You not say, ‘Here is a poor but pretty Filipina I can fuck.’ No! You good to me. You are happy to see me do what I do each day. We talk and be happy. That a good heart. Why they not see this?

Nelia, when we had Reyna’s party, you spoke to Debbie. Is that when it was decided?

No. Debbie come to us after you leave and say, please allow the girl to stay here. You not here so it decided it OK until you come back. We not need to tell you, we think. But, Ira, we like Eva. We talk and want her to stay. That when we decide and Ann say we are wrong. … Ira, what you do now? You angry with us?

Am I angry? I sure am. I don’t think it’ll help to show it, but, yes, I’m pretty well ticked off. I had told them no. That should have been the end of it.

I can get how my being gone made it seem like it was justifiable, but that only allows for bonds to form, which makes it damned close to impossible to send the kid away now.

As to Ann’s logic and CiCi’s concern, it’s the difference being right, which Ann was, and being cautious, which CiCi was. Both of those positions are defensible. But the decision, to allow Eva to come in the first instance, is not defensible and you are all responsible for that. You should never have allowed it, as it makes sending her away now simply impossible without creating problems within this family. Every one of you has failed me in this. Eva can stay, but each of you has hurt yourself in my heart.

That last part, I really had not intended to say, until it just came out anyway. And now, as the reality of what I’ve said sinks in, there are looks of shock on faces.

Eva, maybe ten seconds later, runs out of the gate.

You might as well bring her back, as the damage is done whether she stays or goes, and her going will probably just make it worse for all of us now.

Bim and Cincer run out after the girl.

Jessa, I know Alvin was your partner but that you were not really married. Still, are you sure Alvin and you are done with each other? If it was just a fight, maybe you will get over it.

It over, truly, Sir Ira.

I’m sorry, Jessa. You loved him, right?

Maybe, it true. But no more.

When did this happen?

A week before Christmas.

I would ask her if she just needed a bed to sleep in and a roof over her head while she figured out what to do next, but the kiss and hug I got from her at the airport have far more meaning now. She wants in completely.

OK, so you want to join these other six gals and be one of my lovers? Do I understand correctly?

Yes, Po.

If you are serious, you can join me Saturday night. I’ll be with Reyna tonight and tomorrow night.

Alone?

Why not? Yes, Jessa, there will be many times when we are not alone, but we don’t have to start that way. Of course that is only if you want to really join. If you just need a place to stay for a bit before you find a new place or a new partner and then leave, you should stay out of my bed completely. Do you understand?

Oo, Po. I understand.

I think Reyna might have been happier right now if it were not for the Eva issue. Still, it’s just her I want in my bed tonight and that surprises her. I to be with you? I think you angry with us. Why you want me if you angry?

I’m angry at what you gals have done. You are still one of my loves. That cannot change

I not understand, Po.

I’m disappointed with each of you. There’s a difference. You are still my gals.

To which Ann explains, See? See what he do? Why you not know?

But I’m shaking my head. Ann, you were also wrong to allow Eva to even come in the first place, so don’t be so hard on them now.

OK, yes, but I not understand about what you call bonding. I not think anyone ever this way here.¹ Maybe it because you think like a foreigner. I learn this and not make the mistake again.

Oh, don’t give me that crap. Even for as little time as I was here, I see you treat non-family members as family. And when they are family they stay. Sure, I used a different word, but the concept is the same.

Reyna, Nelia and Lorie are all taking this in. No one is smiling. No one is coming to Ann’s defense, probably because as wrong as Ann was, they were even more wrong.

Bim and Cincer are not back yet and I don’t really feel like handing out any presents. So that isn’t going to happen, but I could actually stand a bit of food.

Lorie, what do we have to eat?

Both Nelia and Lorie jump up to get whatever they have fixed for me.

Jessa, what was the fight with Alvin about?

He start using shabu². That devil drug. I find it and throw it out. Not in my house! No! Then he hit me. I get a knife and go after him. I tell him to leave and not come back ever! I tell him I call the pulis³. Then he go.

Why do you want to be with me?

Ha! I crazy if I not want. This better. You like Reyna? Yes? Then you will like me. I am sure.

Platters of bihon, fried rice with shrimp, sweet macaroni salad, and puto⁴ are placed on the table. This is not designed to be a balanced meal, nor an inspired selection of compatible dishes. It’s a case of not being sure exactly what I might want to eat.

It just so happens that I’m a sucker when it comes to fried rice and this tastes great.

It’s getting late but Bin and Cincer have not returned. The person who does come to the gate is Reyna’s teacher, Debbie. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to seeing her.

I don’t think she is particularly happy to see me either. Why you mean to Eva? Why you mean to the others?

Just who the hell are you to come here, to my home, and ask any damned thing?

Eva say she won’t come back here. Why you do that?

Once again, you’re not welcome here. Go away.

Debbie isn’t leaving. Ann decides, since I’m not going to talk, she will. Miss Debbie, Ira not mean to her. He say she can stay. He get angry with us, not Eva.

That not what Eva say!

Miss Debbie, I not know what she say, but if she say different from what I say, she lies.

Debbie looks like she is about to start screaming at Ann but Reyna pops up with, Teacher! Ann tell you the truth. Ira angry at us for allowing her to stay here. He say she can stay now, no choice, but we wrong to allow it. He say to us, if he say no, then it no; why we say yes when he leave?

Debbie looks at me and is about to say something, but before she does, I say only, Leave.

I will, but, you mean it? She can stay?

That gal is just pissing me off and I think Ann can sense it because, Miss Debbie, take me to Eva.

Why you need to go? CiCi and Bim with her now.

Because Ira tells you to go and you don’t go. If Bim and CiCi there then you already know Ira say she can stay before you come and you are a maldita⁵. Bim and CiCi need to come back, with or without Eva. Take me there. Now.

But he say she should never have been allowed to come!

You think you can tell this man what he should do? If I him right now I say Eva not allowed back because of you! That what I do. He tell you to leave. Why you still here?

Ann has gone with Debbie. Maybe an hour later Ann, CiCi, Bim and Eva return. Not a word is spoken.

I haven’t handed out any presents and I’m not sure if I’ll do so any time in the future. It has been one hell of a homecoming. I’ve been away for almost eighty days. I was looking forward to a happy, loving return to my six gals. And now I’m dealing with this fucking mess.

Before I spend the rest of the evening with Reyna, I think it’s best I speak with Eva… that is if she even has any English. I’ve no idea what she heard or thought she heard.

I also have no idea where Eva is at the moment, but I see Ann.

Does Eva speak English?

Yes, Ira, it is required in school.

I know it’s required but that doesn’t tell me if I’ll actually be able to have a conversation with her.

She is smart. It OK.

And so I ask her to find the kid and bring her. Ann doesn’t argue. Ann may be fifteen, but she is a shrewd operator. It may be the reason she survived as well as she did prior to my arrival here in October. She knows when to negotiate and when to just do as asked.

As I wait for the kid, what no one here seems to grasp is that, other than Jessa, there’s no one in this house I’m less frustrated with than I am with Eva. The kid has done nothing wrong. At least, not that I’m aware of.

In she walks. Her head is down. I’m not sure bowed is a good description, as much as it’s looking at the floor and being afraid to look up. I’m not sure walk is right. Maybe shuffles is the better word. Her shoulders droop. She is trying to make herself as small as possible.

Please sit. I’m not angry with you.

And sit she does. I suspect if I had asked her to stand on her head, she would have done that as quickly.

Am I remembering correctly that your father was a fisher⁶ and he died at sea?

Yes, Po.

And your mother died when a tricycle she was in was hit by a van?

Yes, Po.

And your younger brother also died in that same tricycle accident?

Yes, Po.

And your lolos and lolas⁷ are all dead also?

Yes, Po.

You have no tita or titos⁸ with whom to live?

None, Po.

Is it true that you have been sleeping at the homes of batchmates⁹?

Yes, sometimes, Po. Sometimes I sleep at the school because there nowhere to go.

But there are orphanages, right?

I’m too old, Po. I sixteen next month. Too old for orphanage.

I thought you were Reyna’s age. You are a year older?

Debbie told us this girl was only fourteen. What the fuck is that about?

Yes, Po.

Do you want a safe roof and food, or are you actually asking to be my lover? I’ll allow you to stay here until you finish school without being my lover. If you will be sixteen that means you will graduate in a few months, right?

Po?

Eva, you say you are almost sixteen, so you will graduate in two more months¹⁰, right?

Yes, Po.

And after that you might find work as a helper¹¹ in a home, right?

If I want, yes, Po.

If you do that, you just need a roof at night and food until you graduate. I’ll ask again. Do you want a safe roof and food, or are you actually asking to be my lover?

I want to stay with you, Po.

Is she avoiding the answer or does she really not understand?

Eva, that didn’t answer my question. To stay with me, you need to be both my lover and a lover to the other gals here. I really don’t think most gals want that. Given that is what it means to stay with me, I need to know what you really want.

I know what it means, Po. I know about the sex. The others, they tell me. I want to stay with you.

Eva, please tell Ri than she should find out if you are really able to live here as my lover. Use those exact words. If she decides you are, we will be together sometime this weekend.

Thank you, Po. But she will say not needed. We already do that. It OK.

I’m not sure she should be thanking me.

Why did Debbie mislead me in what she originally wrote about the age of the kid? I’m sure she wrote that the girl was actually younger than Reyna. Did Debbie think I’m a pedophile and would be more likely to take the kid if younger?

I really don’t think Eva was lying just now. She was too damned scared to be lying and, in truth, looking at her now, she’s a bit more developed than is Reyna. But, in a way, I hope she is lying in at least one way. I hope Lorie reports to me tomorrow that she won’t do gals. If so, we house her for two months and out the door she goes. That would be the best of a bad situation.

When it comes to Jessa, I suspect she will be with us no matter what. Reyna is mine and so I can’t really kick out her sister without huge problems.

I don’t get it. Normally a guy might dream of a threesome, but his wife would likely cut off his nuts before it would ever happen. With these gals, they are adding to my bed, not subtracting from it. It makes no sense. I know I could have asked for a threesome tonight, but I just don’t want it.

I wish I could make sense of all that is happening, but I can’t.

And… explain this to me. I’m angry as all get out with Debbie, so why in God’s good name do I want to fuck her now?

I just want to bend her over and fuck her good and hard before tossing her out onto the street. Not that she seems interested in being fucked by me. My head is messed up pretty damned good.

It’s getting late and my body is feeling the strain of the screwed up day/night cycle from my move from GMT-8 to GMT+8.

I’m about to change my mind and give Reyna a rain delay until tomorrow, but she says if all I want to do is sleep, that’s OK, she will be with me tonight just the same.

I start thinking about Reyna and Jessa. They are pretty much the same body type. They’re the same height and, while I suspect Jessa carries a couple of extra pounds, the only major difference are their faces. Both are cute. It’s not a complaint. It’s just that looking at them, you know who is who. For two nights I’ll be with the younger before bedding the older.

But before bedding anyone, the one thing I really need at this point is a shower. Gal or no gal, it makes no difference; I need to take care of the basics.

As I shower, I’m reviewing the past few hours. I know Jessa wants to join with me. Even though I told her to come to my bed in two days, in all honesty, I’m still not sure I’m really OK with this. I don’t mind if, like I suggested to Eva, Jessa just hangs out here a bit before taking off. Just as I succeeded in ridding myself of a mother-daughter pairing with Lorie and Lillian, I really don’t want siblings. It’s just too weird.

No matter how much Reyna might want me to believe that she is OK with it, I’m just not buying it. She can’t be. Why would any sibling be OK with such an arrangement? Is it that Reyna is more concerned with Jessa’s safety than anything else? Is sharing me, possibly, in her mind, a small price to pay to secure Jessa’s safety, stability and close proximity?

As the shower water rains down my body, I’m searching for a way to stop this without causing a problem with the gals. I’m finding none.

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What was and what will be...5