Chapter 11

Michael Amoroso keeps rolling on his bed. They had been in the Atlantic Ocean a week ago and the aftermath of huge waves and roaring current still plods on his being. However, tonight is different. He is not only tossed by gigantic waves of the Mediterranean Sea, but also stirred by enormous swirling of inner feelings. The thought of passing through Suez Canal soon gives him a moment of relief, the sea will be calm and friendly by then. However, he is certain that only the waters will be settled, his inner self continues to flutter in mixed directions until the moment it finally finds its home. The journey to his home is long and ambiguous. Michael needs to be still and gathers all his might to remain on track.

Sleep is hard to achieve, and he begins to wander in lost sanity. While gazing at his cabin’s ceiling, Michael carefully examines himself and feels which internal organ is flopping, which part of his body is aching.

The ocean has been his home, and the ship became his playground for more than a decade. He has been to Asia, North and South America, Europe, and Australia and witnessed countless time laps in Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. And never in those voyages had Michael felt the longing for home, but this contract is different, he begins to feel that hours become months, and days turn into years. Everything around becomes suffocating, and Michael needs to go back to his old self and takes control before it would be too late.

Still awake few hours before his duty, Michael finds himself contacting Nazi Mumbaran, his sleeping pill. He is thankful that on the first ring, she picks up his call. The lady has been generous all through the years and never in his longing she refuses and say no. Nazi indeed, is an important possession he need not give up. She must be taken care of. Michael Amoroso leans sideward to pick the pink and red stripe bag below his side table and brings it closer to the camera. Nazi Mumbaran’s eyes grow wider as she sees the tote bag and the wallet inside.

It is a satisfying 15-minute call with Nazi, and Michael falls asleep worn out, oblivious of the dilemma bothering him for months.

The captain summons him on his office at the middle of the barbeque party on that Sunday evening. The moment he enters the room, Johan Kowalski, a 54 year-old Polish captain congratulates him and finally hands in his flight details. In five days, they will be in Fujairah where the provisions will be loaded, and next stop is Cape Town where the crew change will happen. He and the other five crew will be travelling by boat bound to the airport, then to Dubai, and finally to Manila. Upon reading the flight details, Michael Amoroso leaves the office with so much delight.

Every last Sunday of the month, the ship holds a party. It is the company’s way of throwing a bash for the crew since working in the ship is not an easy job. When Michael rejoins the others, the first officer immediately noticed the papers on his hand.

“Congrats, bro!” he taps Michael’s shoulders and offers a cheers.

Michael’s smile becomes a moon crater. He calls the attention of his second engineer, three ordinary seamen, and his oiler friend to also proceed to the captain’s office. Soon, loud masculine voices echo in triumph. For a seafarer, there is nothing so sweet like the moment of ending a contract.

The travel to Cape Town airport is tiring. It is a five hour travel by ferry, and the waves toss them in sideward motion. While watching the breakers glint under the sun, Michael couldn’t contain himself from smiling. Home is waving in a day.

In Isla Carillo, the unknown caller keeps popping in Mikaella Lee’s mind and is tempted to dial the number when she goes to the main land but at the end loses the courage. Instead, after the Sunday mass at St. Joseph Cathedral, she grabs the chance of dialing the number of Vince Madrigal. It has been two months since their last conversation and somehow she worries about him. She knows he is waiting for her call, and she is deeply sorry for her failure. His cellphone rings several times but he is not picking the call. She dials again, and on the third time, she decides to reach him in his office at Toledo Group of Companies. The receptionist transfers her call to the local number and after two rings, a female voice answers on the other line.

“Honey,” the female voice fades and few moments later, Mikaella Lee hears the familiar voice that captivated her on a club orientation during her sophomore years.

“Hello!” Vince repeatedly says, but tongue-tied, there is no single word coming out in Ellah’s mouth, on her ears ricochets the female voice that says, “honey” a while ago.

Puzzled and dejected, she drops the call and walks slowly away to no exact direction. Her mind wanders in many possibilities, and her heart begins to bleed.

Her feet take her to the corner of Camansilis Street, where rows of sidewalk vendors display their merchandize. A young boy of about nine years hands her a plastic bag full of freshly picked black berries and says, “Dyes na lang te” (Ten pesos only, sis). Mikaella Lee slips her right hand on her pocket and gives fifty pesos to the young boy. She is about to take the berries when the cover of Yes Magazine displayed at the corner stand catches her attention. Her eyes widen in disbelief, but her mind dictates her cold hands to pick the Magazine. The cover story says, “Brilliant arki meets sassy girl: The Vince and Chloe story.”

She loses nerve to scan the inside, and instead return the magazine to the stand and turns away. Her feet hurries to the mini port. She wants to go back immediately to Isla Carillo.

Mikaella Lee spends the whole afternoon inside her cottage. Since January upon Ellah’s request, Elisa stays 24/7 at the resort with her younger sister who attends to her one year old daughter during the day. After the close encounter with Donato on New Year’s Eve, she decided to file a domestic violence case against him.

Elisa worries about Ellah and at 3pm, she knocks on her door. She is lying on her stomach pretending asleep, so Elisa closes the door and leaves. At 6pm, Elisa enters with a bowl of chicken stew. After eating almost half, she orders to take her meal outside.

Half of her conscience bothers her. She hasn’t been a perfect nor good girlfriend. In fact, she never allowed Vince’s advances and maintained her limits. And besides, it is she who leaves and finds another man first. The thought of her intimate moments with Mark causes her sanity to stumble few bounces below the normal, but the thought of his brother’s fierce kisses buries herself twenty fathoms deep.

The next day, Mikaella Lee’s baffled conscience keeps her fret on the peak. But what troubles her more is the unfamiliar physical connection she has with Michael. Even a single thought of him causes high voltages of electricity on the tiniest fiber of her nerves, and this is something she couldn’t afford to understand.