Chapter 1
June 17, 1991
Naval Base, Subic Bay, Olongapo, Zambales, Philippines
RINO SQUATTED on the ash-covered dock, watching the line of people waiting their turn to board ship. Evacuations had begun the day before when Navy higher-ups finally admitted that leaving the area was the only sensible thing to do. Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption two days ago, compounded by the devastating torrential rain unleashed by Typhoon Yunya over northern Luzon, had buried most of the area in a foot of sandy rain-soaked ash. Lack of drinking water and electricity had decided the fate of thousands of Navy and Air Force dependents, and the decision to leave was a welcome relief.
A total of seventeen ships, including the aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Midway, were lined up to carry all twenty thousand dependents over the next few days. They would be taken to Mactan Air Base and then airlifted to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. Rino wondered what would happen to him and his mother, Tessa, now that their home lay in ruins and most of the “visitors” who’d supplied them with goods from the naval exchange were about to disappear from their lives.
When the earth had begun rumbling two nights ago, no one knew what was happening, least of all a six-year-old boy. The inconspicuous volcano causing the commotion was twenty miles away from Subic Bay and had been dormant for years. Rino hadn’t known it existed, and no one had ever told him what devastation could be wrought by an ultra-Plinian eruption. Lashing rain, thunder, and lightning had added to the confusion that night, and he had scurried under his mother’s mosquito net and into her waiting arms as they lay huddled in terror, waiting for morning to come. It had taken thirty-six hours for the sun to finally peek through the thick fog of sulfuric acid haze, revealing death and destruction for miles. Homes had collapsed under the weight of the volcano’s detritus, and many of their friends had died as a result. Rino and Tessa had been among the lucky survivors, but it appeared their luck was about to nosedive as their chief source of income was moving out of the area.
“What’s going to happen to us?” Rino asked Tessa that morning when all she could produce for breakfast was stale pandesal, the Filipino version of a morning roll, and one sliver of dried fish. They had half a jug of water between them, and after the meal was over that, too, was empty.
“I don’t know,” she answered, “but I’ll think of something.”
The United States Navy had been Tessa’s patron since she had given up her virginity at the young age of fifteen. Getting pregnant at twenty was a karmic blip she hadn’t counted on, but the idea of an abortion never crossed her mind. She was deeply religious, despite her profession, and knew it was a sin to take a life. She had the baby and took pride in the highly prized Caucasian features and light coloring of her newborn, proof positive that he’d been a by-product of the US military.
Even though everyone who lived and worked in the area knew her story, no one could produce the paperwork entitling her and Rino to board one of the ships to escape the devastated region. Tessa could argue that Rino was the son of an admiral, but she couldn’t prove it. The boy was just another illegitimate child, one of thousands who was a genetic leftover of military personnel throughout the area.
The one thing Rino had in his favor was his uncommon beauty. Ironically, those same features set him apart from the other street urchins roaming the streets of Olongapo City. He was too pretty to blend in, and eking out a living as a pickpocket or beggar was impossible with such a memorable face. People routinely stopped the youngster to admire his expressive eyes, comparing him to the angelic faces on the imitation Italian statuary adorning the neighborhood Catholic Church. More often than not, children of mixed race were attractive, and the combination of Filipino and Caucasian genes almost always turned out a good-looking child, but even among the lookers, Rino stood apart.
Possibly because Tessa herself was devastatingly lovely. She was the quintessential Filipina, a Malay/Indo-Polynesian mix with a sprinkling of Spanish from some ancestor who’d planted a seed way back in the days of Magellan. Her smooth skin was the color of toasted coconut, and her wide-set innocent eyes could tempt a hardened soldier without much effort. When Tessa smiled, hearts melted and brains went AWOL. In addition to her beauty and proven track record between the sheets, Tessa was street-smart and cunningly resourceful.
With her twenty-sixth birthday fast approaching and her lack of basic education, Tessa’s days as a successful prostitute were numbered and the only thing she had to parlay was Rino. She had seen the way Jim Duran, one of her current regulars, looked at her son. The lustful need in his eyes as he stared at the young boy made her sick to her stomach. She could picture his perversion streaming through his mind even as he mounted her. Child exploitation and pornography were rampant in her world, and she’d vowed to keep Rino safe from the predators, having been a victim herself. She had silently threatened to gut any man who dared make a move on her boy, but for the moment, this sick need of Jim’s would be exploited to get them to safety.
Scrounging through her small pile of clothing, she managed to outfit Rino in a pair of faded shorts and a flimsy T-shirt. Shoes were ignored for now, as he’d outgrown his last pair, but his cheap rubber flip-flops would protect his feet from the debris that had accumulated in the streets since the eruption.
Taking him by the hand, she left her crumbling house for what she hoped would be the last time and headed toward the pier. It was in a state of chaos, not surprisingly, and the throngs of people helped to camouflage her from inquisitive eyes. She squeezed past an official-looking military sentry who recognized her, having graced her bed at one time, and he let her through without the necessary passes. She found a spot in the shade of a tall wooden bodega and plonked Rino down.
“Don’t move from here until I get back,” she said sternly.
“Where are you going, Mama?”
“To find someone who can help us.”
“I’m thirsty,” Rino whined. “And hungry.”
“I’ll bring you back something soon.”
“Promise?”
“Yes. Now be a good boy and stay put, okay? I don’t want you wandering off and getting lost.”
“Who’s going to watch me?” Rino asked. “I’m scared.”
Tessa squatted beside the boy, who was already sitting cross-legged on the concrete. “Your guardian angel will keep watch over you while I’m away.”
“Does he know I’m here?”
“He’s never far from your side.”
“Even if we go on a boat?”
“Angels can fly, baby.”
“Over water?”
“Yes.” Tessa dug around in her purse and found a piece of candy she’d thrown in a few days ago. She tried to always carry treats for Rino, who had a sweet tooth. It was one of the few things she could do to indulge him without impacting their meager budget. His eyes bugged out when he saw the familiar blue and white wrapper of the White Rabbit toffee, and he snatched it from his mother’s hand.
“Thank you,” he said, tearing off the paper and popping it in his mouth.
Tessa smiled. “You’ll be okay, right? Watch the big boats, and don’t walk away with anyone, whether you know them or not.”
He nodded.
An hour passed, then two, and before he knew it, the sun was setting. The child began to panic when he realized it would be dark soon and his mother hadn’t returned. He started to cry, then remembered his guardian angel and he began to pray instead. Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
He repeated this a few times and felt a calm come over him. In truth, Rino was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. His eyelids drooped, and he managed to fall asleep sitting up, not waking until Tessa shook him and scooped him up into her arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, kissing him over and over. “We’re going to be okay.”
Rino looked beyond Tessa and saw the man standing behind her. He’d seen him before and always shied away from his glassy stare. He reminded Rino of the dead fish his mother would bring home from the market. There didn’t seem to be any life behind his large blue eyes, and although he smiled at Rino, they didn’t crinkle up like other people’s. They were cold and scary looking. The one time Rino caught a spark of interest from him was when he’d run into Tessa’s room one morning without any clothes. He didn’t know anyone had slept over and couldn’t find anything clean to wear. That’s when the man looked at him so intensely Rino ran out of the room instead of hanging around for Tessa to wake up.
“We’re going on the big boat tonight,” Tessa said.
“We are?”
“Yes, Uncle Jim is taking us to Texas where he lives.”
“All of us?”
“The three of us,” Tessa explained.
“And my angel?”
“Of course, baby. He’s coming too.”
Rino laid his head on his mother’s shoulder and fell back asleep. Later, he awoke in a tiny room with one bed, and he was lying between his mother and the man. Rino had never been on a boat before and wasn’t used to the slow rocking, but he decided he liked it. It was soothing, and he felt his eyes closing again. The next time he woke up, Jim was standing by the door with a tray of food. Rino sat up, eager to see what he had brought. He could smell eggs and see a small mound of rice on the plate, and his mouth began to water.
“I’m hungry, Mama,” Rino said, getting on Tessa’s lap.
“Of course you are, boy,” Jim said in a loud voice. It made Rino flinch. He was used to Tessa’s soft-spoken tone. “That’s why I brought you some breakfast. I got you rice and eggs, like your mama ordered, and a few of pieces of Spam. You like that, don’t you? All the flips on base kill for this greasy stuff.”
Rino nodded and crawled forward, sniffing at the food hungrily. “Can I have some?”
“Come on. Get off your mother’s lap and sit down like a big boy,” Jim admonished. “It’s time to grow up, Rino. You’re going to be in America soon and go to school and play ball; be like all the other boys. They don’t cling to their mothers like monkeys in a tree.”
“I’m not a monkey,” Rino said defiantly.
Jim laughed, and his voice reverberated in the small room. Rino wanted to tell him to shut up but didn’t dare because he might take the food away, or worse, make him and his mother get off the boat.
“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?”
“What’s that?” Rino asked, picking up a spoon.
“You’ve got some spunk in you,” Jim said. “You’re not some pantywaist momma’s boy like a lot of the other kids I’ve seen around here.”
Rino shook his head rapidly, then shoveled a heaping spoonful of rice and egg into his mouth. Jim kept on talking about the great life they were going to have once they got to their final destination, but Rino only caught every other word. Although most Filipinos working on and around the base were fluent in English, Rino hadn’t even started school yet, and Jim’s Texas twang made it harder to decipher words he was still learning.
It would be several months before he got used to the big guy’s manner of speech, and by then Rino was starting to talk like him. When Rino was old enough to understand, Tessa explained that she’d promised Jim Duran heaven on earth if he would take her and Rino to America. He had pulled rank and, calling in a few favors, succeeded in getting the paperless duo on board the ship with hundreds of legitimate dependents. They’d married as soon as they got through the necessary red tape, and her role as Jim Duran’s wife meant a lifetime of catering to his every need in and out of bed. It wasn’t a hardship considering what she’d done for a living, and she counted herself fortunate compared to the hundreds of women of the same ilk who’d ended up traveling to Manila to try to continue making a living in the world’s oldest profession. At least she only had one client and her place of business would be her new home, a modest two-bedroom bungalow on the Duran Ranch outside of Houston, Texas.
Compared to her contemporaries, Tessa had hit the jackpot, although she did experience a twinge of guilt whenever she’d catch Jim staring at Rino like he was a delectable meal. She vowed to remain vigilant, though, and did everything in her power to keep Jim sexually satisfied. To her way of thinking, a sated man would be able to control his baser needs, and that included molesting her child. Tessa hoped her instincts about Jim’s darker side were wrong, and she used her vast arsenal of carnal knowledge to make sure her husband was thoroughly content so he wouldn’t be tempted. However, in the deepest recesses of her heart, Tessa felt it was only a matter of time before he made a move. Rino grew more handsome each day. The early onset of puberty seemed to ratchet up Jim’s interest, and as the young boy developed into an attractive preteen, she caught Jim sniffing around him like a dog in heat.
Fortunately Rino was at school most of the day, and when he got home, Tessa would stand vigil, guarding him with the ferocious dedication of a Rottweiler. Still, she knew that an obsession wasn’t easily forgotten. It might be put on hold, but it would rear its ugly head one day, and when that happened, it would be the last thing Jim Duran would ever do. He would die by her hand, and no jury on earth would convict her after she explained why she’d cut off his balls and stuffed them down his throat.