2. Theodore Luis

Theodore Luis de Vega was the only son of Sally and Jose Manuel. As a child, he had all the wealth and fortune of being the sole heir of their properties. But he was feeling unhappy, for behind the shining and magnetizing prosperity of their clan, lurks a secret of abuse and maltreatment.

His father was the former town mayor, and her mother died upon giving birth to him. Theo was born prematurely. He had developed an antisocial personality for being locked up in their mansion. He wasn't permitted to go outside because of his delicate condition. So he spent all of his time growing up roaming around their enormous and luxurious mansion.

"Manang Luz, can I have a stroll outside please? I'll not reach far off the lawn."

"Okay, young master," Manang Luz smiled a dearly smile of old people, "would you be on your wheelchair, or--?"

"I'll be on my feet, Manang Luz."

The boy beamed a rather determined and flamboyant smile. This was for the reason that Theodore's legs couldn't support him so he spent till age 4 dependent on his wheelchair for his locomotion before he learned to walk. He also couldn't speak a word till age 3. So he was taught sign language at such an early age so the boy wouldn't think that he ain't any different nor he is raised inadequately.

The boy was believed to have an abnormal growth because his mother, Sally de Vega, was beaten nearly to death by his own father the night before he was born. This truth was hidden from the media and especially from the townspeople.

That night, Sally was in the call for help as she reached out for the door, out from the master's bedroom. She had fresh and dark bruises evident from her body. Her eyes were bloodshot red and the corners had purple marks as a result of the contusions. There was also a big cut on her left eyebrow where blood continuously drips. 

"Help! Help me! Manang Luz!" 

Sally cried out for the help of whomever name of their helper comes first in her mind. Manang Miranda emerged from the dining and was startled to see Sally in that vulnerable state. She hurriedly came towards the Lady who is very faint and nearly insensible. 

"Manang... I'll not be able to survive, but at least my son will. Help me, save him." 

It was at that instant that Manang Miranda noticed so much blood on the Lady's thigh. She panicked and cried for help from her fellow maids. The other maids came to assist and felt horrible for their Lady's condition. They called for an ambulance as well as the police. 

Sally de Vega was already unconscious when she was rushed by ambulance to the nearest hospital. The police came, and the one who talked with the police is Manang Miranda. She cried while stating the incident. The fellow maids were also crying, burdened by the house's situation. 

"The abuse wasn't new. Ma'am Sally told us to be quiet, and conceal the truth for the family's reputation. But we can't keep it a secret forever. We can't risk an innocent life be victimized yet again." 

Jose Manuel fled the house hours before Sally asked for help. He was wearing a white shirt that had prints of blood on it. Those bloodstains were from his own and Sally mixed with his relentless knocks and blows. He escaped after knowing that he had gone overboard beating his wife. Realization struck him hard.

It was because of the drugs. His perpetual drug is the ever known and worshipped cocaine and occasionally meth, short for Methamphetamine. But he ceased his growing addiction when he met Sally. It wasn't easy, since the drugs create another dimension for him away from his hell of a life and apart from the agony brought by his own parents. The drugs were his only resort to feel better about living just another day, despite his desire to put an end to his life. So the drugs made him feel like he is living the moment of today yet minus with a greater possibility of dying tomorrow. But all of that changed, a major turn of better events occurred, when the lonely Jose Manuel met Sally de Vega.

Sally touched the lonely man's heart, and Jose Manuel felt romance for the first time in his life. Of all the woman he had slept with, Sally was different. She was sophisticated, very intellectual, and she had a love for poetry, which Jose Manuel fell for. 

Their relationship was subtle until the first phase of their marriage. But when Jose Manuel won for the position and was hence elected as the town mayor, his addiction crept its sharp fangs to him again. He couldn't handle the stress of the position. In the first place, he never wanted the position. He was forced by Jose Manuel Sr., his father, to run to continue his legacy.

Jose Manuel was raised perfectly. Every mistake equates to punishment. Every wrong action counts for abuse. His father would beat him whenever he wanted to, and his mother would just watch.

Slowly, his resentment for his father and mother turned into hatred.

He was forced to set rules for himself to avoid being beaten and punished. He cared for keen attention to detail for very small concerns. He became very compulsive. On top of that, he built a tough and thick-walled industry for himself. 

Young Jose Manuel has undergone this kind of self metamorphosis to please his parents and yet again to avoid such negative reinforcements such as being punished.

But he was not well aware that he had done such a malignant act for himself. Too much of the industry for such a young boy may lead him to have a narrow virtuosity at a later time. And that, he proved to be accurate. For months of committing himself back to using cocaine and meth, he started loosing the screws in his head and thus slowly losing her sanity and sensibility.

"Manuel, mahal ko, what seems to be the problem?" 

Jose Manuel turned to his wife with bloodshot eyes and shook his head as a remark. Sally let out a deep and burdensome sigh. 

"Jose Manuel de Vega, look at me." 

Upon hearing that phrase, Jose Manuel was paralyzed, with eyes wide open and fear painted all over his face. He turned in his wife's direction, and he could see her talking. Yet he couldn't hear anything.

Everything went inaudible and only a stinging frequency prevailed in his ears. Jose Manuel looked at the slowed movement of Sally's mouth talking to him, moving in all corners, closing, and opening. He felt disturbed.

That line, that familiar and traumatic line. 

"Jose Manuel, why won't you look at me?" 

The young boy received a sadistic and caustic slap.

"There is no room for mistakes in this house! Carve that in your barren brain, Jose! I did not name you after me for being such a weakling and worthless imbecile!"

Young Jose Manuel curled himself on the floor while weeping. He hugged himself holding tightly onto his knees.

"Manuelito, get yourself up. Next time, study well the alphabets so you'll not confuse yourself with p and b and q and p. Go now before your father hits you again."

Jose Manuel stared at his mother, and suddenly a feeling of abhorrence and repugnance enveloped him towards his parents.

That very familiar line is the opening line before he gets hit or slapped or whipped.

Jose Manuel was brought back to a lot of his traumatizing memories he long suppressed in his unconscious mind.

And what he couldn't believe was that his own wife was the one to deliver that opening statement. Sally was the one to trigger the animal side of him.

It is true that a conniving man hides and hibernates inside every man. And only a woman shall provoke that long and subdued sleep, hence making her the very first victim.

Sally couldn't help but become furious. Her husband wasn't treating her right for the past couple of weeks since he was elected. He was acting like a different person.

Sally was now crying in silence. Until Jose Manuel turned to her and with a look of foreign violence on his face. In an instant, he slapped Sally. She held her face, which was all painted with shock and horror. 

"Jose Manuel how can you do this--" 

There was another slap. And another one. Sally was thrown on the floor. 

"Why are you hurting me?" 

Sally cried, somewhat pled. 

"Why not? As a child, I was prone to be beaten until I was left unconscious if I ask too many questions."

Jose Manuel devilishly chuckled. 

"I'm your wife Manuel, for Christ's sake I'm your wife!" 

Jose Manuel grabbed Sally's chin roughly. Sally was now bellowing in between her tears. 

"I said why not?! Didn't you hear it? After all, you are just my wife, my life support. There's nothing to brag for having that title of being a wife." 

Misogyny was very apparent in his words. That might be because his late mother, Donya Minerva, was his model for his generalized hatred for women. Every time his father would start beating him, Donya Minerva would just watch mercilessly. The woman was very submissive to his husband, Jose Manuel Sr., even to a point of entrusting his unico hijo be devoured by violence and brutality.

So for Jose Manuel, Sally was a woman, regardless of her being his wife, Sally deserved not to be treated well because she is, after all, a woman.

Jose Manuel turned his gaze away, and let out rapid and heavy sighs. 

"You shouldn't have provoked me mahal ko, this is all your fault. You've woken up my demon." 

Slowly, he raised his lips into a devilish smile and laughed in front of Sally. His eyes were smoking red and his teeth were grinding, like the irritation of a bull in a bullfight.

It was all new to him. And he liked it. Having the satisfaction of being able to beat someone. He felt the dominance of his father, and he liked it.  

There was a knock on his bedroom.

"Manuelito, it's me, Lucia. Would you let me in?" 

He went to his sister's house to hide. He knew it wasn't a good option because the police will eventually locate him easily. But he chose to stay here, at least he is near to a family whom he considered true to him. Lucia was his haven in times of vulnerability. Their relationship wasn't just limited to being siblings, rather there was an unwonted intimacy. She was a motherly figure to him... ain't she?

Jose Manuel emerged from the door. There were traces of bloodstains on his white shirt and cuts on his fists. His eyes were teary and fear was all over his face. 

"Manuelito, there are police outside. They're looking for you. You are convicted of murder Manuelito. What is it that I do not know?" 

Jose Manuel let out his tears, out of fright, out of conscience. 

"Ate, I had beaten Sally to death. I had developed it as some sort of satisfaction for me. I felt like Papa, you know when he used to beat me every time I displeased him... Ate...the drugs, I thought they would be of help, just to somehow ease the situation light... But I have made myself deranged. I was very desperate because I can't handle the position of being the town mayor. I never wanted it in the first place, and Sally died because of me... Our son might have died too..."

Lucia covered his mouth while listening. She was all in tears. She couldn't help but pity her younger brother. He wasn't raised well, he was mentally tortured. He was also the victim before he made a victim of his wife. 

"Poor Manuelito..."

She embraced the man.

"I feel sorry for you Manuelito if only I could do something. But I cannot keep you hidden." 

Jose Manuel kissed his Lucia on the forehead.

"It's okay, I will do the right thing. I will surrender myself."

Lucia could only sob while watching his brother getting handcuffed and dragged inside the police mobile. 

... 

Theodore Luis grew in the hands and nurture of Nana Lucia. He knew that his father was in jail for beating his mother to death. But he didn't grow any resentment for his father, because he was raised by Nana Lucia believing that he is a living miracle. He survived death at such an early conception. And, he is to survive every hardship that will come. 

At age 15, Theodore Luis was in a car crash. There was so little of a chance for him to survive. But he did, at least he did. 

"Happy birthday Theo. Happy 17th birthday."

Nana Lucia cried while kissing Theo's forehead. He then sat on her chair beside the bed where Theo lies in a coma.

For two years, he'd kept up surviving, at least, yet unconscious.