The Young and the Beautiful

Chapter 15

As always I got drunk immediately. I lost consciousness and fell asleep on the couch. The next morning, I heard morning birds chirping and the sunlight hurts my eyes. My mother was knocking on my door. We forgot to lock it so she was deeply in shock when she saw the room. I glanced around and saw the room was a mess as if there was a tornado that hit it. Enrique passed out on the bed, and the rest of the boys in bizarre sleeping positions. My head hurts so much and lied down again.

"Dios mio! Santisima! Que paso! Hijos! Hijos!" I heard my máma said when she saw us all drunk and passed out.

"Pancho! Pancho! Why did you drink a lot! It's your wedding day this afternoon!" She said. Tapping my cheeks.

"Rosa! Rosa! Please prepare coffee and lots of  juice for the boys!" I heard her loud voice commanding Rosa. The rest of us were still sleeping.

She shouted again when she saw Andres sleeping on the window grilles where they usually place potted plants.

"Andres mi hijo! Why are you sleeping there!" She said as she approached Andres.

"Carlos! Carlos! Look what your sons did last night! They all got drunk!" I heard her call on pápa. Just some seconds later I saw him by the door in dismay.

"Que pasó, aquí! Dios mio! Pancho! What happened to you! You're all drunk! Que Lastima!" Pápa said.

The boys woke up when they heard pápa talking as if he was a military commander. Still sleepy and hungover from yesterday's drinks we all went to the dining room and ate breakfast. Rosa cooked my favorite garlic sausage with garlic rice and spiced vinegar. I drank the coffee and started to feel better. Andres and I were laughing in front of Enrique when he remembered that he threw up by the window and made a mess on the lilies.

"What? We all had a good time don't we?" He said.

"I honestly cannot remember what happened last night Enrique." Andres said.

"All I remember was that there were some girls who went to our room and drank with us. Enrique made a friend in one of them last night." I said in a lowered voice so that máma won't hear it.

A girl wearing last night's dress passed by us and greeted us. It turned out that Enrique was with her yesterday and did the deed in the bathroom.

"Que horror! No venguenza!" Máma said before she fainted when she saw a young woman exiting the boys' room.

Pápa talked to all of us after máma regained her consciousness in her bed. I saw her later praying the rosary in front of the house's altar and made us all join her pray and repent for our sins.

Our parents and the other older people were praying the rosary in a very loud voice.

"Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén." They all said in unison. They were all praying and looking at us making sure that we pray with them.

The boys and I laughed every time my máma looked at me with her eyes wide as if it said that "Pancho hijo! Listen and pray properly! Or I will disinherit you!"

Later after the prayer, máma made Andres and I kneel on the floor, and she later got a broomstick and struck our butts as if we were still a bunch of kids. Andres and I looked at each other and kept on holding our laughter while she scolded us in straight Spanish.

"Tú nińos, no tienes verguenza! Que Lastima! Actuas como niños. Tú eres adultos ahora. Ay de mi!"

or "You boys have no shame! What a pity! You both act like boys. Both of you are adults now." She said, along with some other words on how we boys don't have shame for acting like that in my fiancé's guest house. Well she has a point. We were just having fun and it just got a little out of control. All because of Enrique's drinks.

She talked to Enrique and said that his máma and abuela will know what he did. As if he would listen to her. When we got back to our room, we were all laughing and Andres made an impression on how pápa was falling asleep during the prayer and how máma had a script when she scolds us. We started to suit up and prepare just an hour or two before the wedding started. I never felt doubts or cold feet when I was preparing myself that day. In fact I was excited and felt butterflies in my stomach.

There were less than fifty people in in our wedding. I wore my black tux and my onyx cufflinks. Andres and Enrique were my groomsmen and stood by my side as Camila walks down the aisle. Enrique still looked drunk with his bloodshot eyes. As I expected, he wore the suit he got from Nueva York as he called it and looked much better than I did. They opened the church doors and the pianist started to play some music. Camila entered the church with her parents by her side.

She was wearing a dress that her mother wore which was altered a bit. Her lace veil was her grandmother's and was used by her older sisters too. She was holding a bouquet of white flowers. That June afternoon was perfect. As the weather in the country started to cool down.

I remembered how simple and beautiful she looked that day. She resembled the lady she looked like when I first met her when she posed to be my wife on the mission assigned to me. She wore pearl jewelry, red lipstick, and her curled hair was tied up.

Our families, and some friends were there to witness our wedding. Most were shocked for having a very small and private one, some friends of our parents even expressed dismay for not being invited. This is our wedding so I think that the two of us can do whatever we want. Our families realized that it was much better and cheaper to plan it this way. We felt sincere wishes and love that day as we were only surrounded by our closest family and friends.

We had a usual banquet that we always had before the war, with a live string band and a pianist playing music in the background. The Rodriguez' knows how to throw it like us the only difference is that there were only fifty people.

"Pancho, I heard that you received a medal on a very special operation where you helped the army." Camila's Pápa, Eduardo said. He was aware of my special assignment. Camila may have told him.

"Yes I did, Pápa. I surveyed the damages during the Battle of Manila." I replied.

"A friend of mine is looking for young people to work on our overseas offices. Maybe your education in Madrid is what they need there. Just say the word and I can talk to him right away. You and Camila can go there soon." He said, then drank wine from his glass.

I paused for a while, and thanked him for the opportunity. Then I was thinking on how this opportunity can be good for us and our future family. I looked at my Pápa, he seems like he wanted me to get the job.

My Pápa and Pápa Eduardo became friends instantly and looks like they're planning on a business venture soon. They were suggesting to develop some parts of the city as vacation houses because our place was not too far away from Manila.

The wedding banquet made me feel that somehow everything is back to normal now. Everyone was talking about business, their hobbies, and even gossip. It made me feel like there was no war that happened. We ended the evening with our first dance as a couple. Our wedding has been so intimate and private, no media coverage, no people who I don't know that I need to socialize and say thanks to. We were only surrounded by the people who mattered to us the most. Camila's cousin played the piano as we danced together as Señor and Señora Rodriguez de Fábregas.