Empire Streets Chapter II: Marian

 The rural feel enveloped this hot Saturday morning. In  Imus, Cavite, just south of the Urban Jungle that is Manila, Marian Garcia was tending to her flowers just outside her house. As she watered the plants beside her olive-green home, the birds chirped a happy tune as they rested on the sturdy tree branches. It was such a peaceful ambiance... contradicting the loud pop music someone was playing inside her house.

She rolled her eyes and sighed as someone inside cranked the volume up. It was enough to overshadow the birds' sweet melodies. Marian stood up and entered her home from the back.

Inside her living room, a young man was finishing his ice-cold lemonade as he head-banged to the early hits of Michael Jackson. The young man wore a sharp corporate attire.

“Lucas, please...” Marian pleaded. “Don't ruin such a beautiful Saturday.”

Lucas, seemingly shocked by her words, raised his eyebrow and gave her a look of disdain.

“Are you telling me you don't like Michael Jackson?” he asked.

“No, I'm telling you I don't like loud music in general.”

Marian's house wasn't too special. Just a one-floored building built for the life of a young and single woman like her. It has a small kitchen out back that is directly connected to the living room. It has a small bedroom for one and a garden to support her hobby of growing beautiful flowers.

“Fine, fine...” Lucas sighed as he got up from the couch to turn down the volume from an old stereo. “So, what's for lunch? I gotta get back to city hall in an hour or so.”

“I'm not cooking for you!”

“Come on, babe. It'll only take a second,” Lucas crept towards Marian as she turned her back to open the windows. “Kailan ko ba maririnig ang matamis mong oo?” he whispered to her ear (Meaning something like “When can I hear your sweet yes?”). She was shocked when he wrapped his arms around her waist. His breath that smelled of cigar as she felt it down her neck. Immediately, she tried to break free. She turned around only to see a smug smile etched on Lucas' lips.

At times, Marian wonders why she needed to put up with him. He was an asshole, isang gago, a jerk. Lucas was just another rich boy she had the dis-pleasure of dealing with. A mayor's boy who's not afraid of stepping on toes. It was just her luck that the next conquest he wanted was her.

“Don't ever do that again.” Marian said, distraught.

“Oh come on, don't tell me you don't like that.” he grinned.

“I don't!”

“Whatever, I've broken down chicks who has twice the resolve than you,” Lucas took a stick of cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He blew smoke inside the living room even though Marian had told her not to smoke inside a million times. “I've been at it at you for, like, two freakin' years! It has never taken me this long. But I like it. I like a girl who plays hard to get. It just makes me want them more. And I'm gonna have you, eventually.”

Marian feared him. She was smart enough to know that breaking his cold, black heart is dangerous for her own health. How she wished that Lucas was just a nightmare that would go away. No such luck.

All of a sudden, the buzzing sound of the doorbell echoed within the walls of her home. Somehow, that relieved Marian.

Lucas stormed off the from door and answered the gate. He heard the sound of an engine being killed before he reached his destination. He opened the portion of the gate where only people could fit, the man on the other side was none other than Matthew.

“Uh, Excuse me,” with such a polite tone and sincere smile, Matt asked the stranger in front of him. “Is Marian Garcia home?”

“Who wants to know?” said Lucas, annoyance was clear on his face.

“Just an old friend.”

Lucas paused, as if contemplating on his next answer. His brow crunched and lips pouting, as if there was a bad smell on the air. “Sorry, she's busy.”

Lucas tried to slam the gate-door. But before he closed the gap, Frank stopped the gate with his body.

“Excuse me?!” more and more, Lucas was fuming. He was never really accustomed to people disagreeing with him, or opposing his ideas, all because of his father's position. He was used to playing the prince-- where everything goes his way and everybody stays quiet.

“Move dip-shit, my buddy here needs to talk to Marian.” Frank's arrogance crippled Lucas. He stood there, confused as The man in a tropical shirt waltzed towards the house. Matt followed as Lucas stared him down. Matt just smiled and shook his head-- something that irritated Lucas even more.

Inside, Marian was waiting for news. She wondered what was happening outside. It made her jump when she heard three loud knocks on her front door.

She crept slowly, afraid of who it might be. So she asked.

“Who's there?”

“Hey Marian, it's Frank, could you let us in?”

A wave of relief crashed down on her as she opened the door to find Frank greeting her with open arms. A tender embrace followed.

“I'm so happy to see you, kapatid!” She said as her embrace tightened.

“Why? Lucas giving you a hard time? Again?”

“Yeah. He just doesn't know when to quit!” She finally let go of her old friend. “By the way, you said 'we' before I opened the door. Who're you with?”

Frank smiled at her. “An old friend.”

As Frank stepped aside, Matt was waiting behind him to make his appearance. He stood there, his hand inside his pocket, the other waving at her. On his face was an awkward smile she found irresistible. Her eyes widened and her mouth wide agape. Matt took in his old sweetheart's still-stunning beauty. Her white sun-dress, her short hair with brown highlights, her pink lips... everything. This little reunion was five years in the making and both of them couldn't even utter a word.

“M-Matty?” she stuttered. Her eyes started to get teary.

“Hey, Yan,” he just smiled at her. “Long time.”

She ran. Blindly, as tears began to cover her brown eyes. She looked like a little girl running to the arms of her strong father. Her only comfort was found in his embrace. He held her tight, in his five years of absence, the least he could do was to not let go. As Marian found peace wrapped in Matt's arms, she whispered, loud enough for him to hear. “You have no idea.”

But this little reunion was cut short. From behind Matt, somebody yelled, somebody furious.

“Hey, asshole!”

As Matt turned his head, he was greeted by a fist to the jaw. Both the power and element of surprise made him lose his balance and fall on the tiled floor. Marian couldn't help but give out a little shriek but Frank, on the other hand, was just watching on the side-lines. He saw Lucas approach Matthew but didn't utter a word.

“Nobody touches my girl!” Lucas yelled and spitted on Matthew who was still down but already getting up. As Marian tried to move in to check on Matt, Lucas caught her arm and pushed her away, making her fall down the floor. “Stay outta this, bitch!” Lucas turned to Matt, who was now up and brushing off his pants.” “Don't you know who I am?! You've got a lot of nerve touching my Marian!” Lucas then turns to Frank, who just smiled at him. “You're next!”

“Don't you know who I am...” Matt repeated under his breath then laughed. “Sorry, but there's just a lot of people I don't know.”

“I'm Lucas Domingo! Son of the Mayor of this fuckin' province, Erico John Domingo. You don't mess with me.

“Wait a sec,” Matt turned to Frank, “Erico is a mayor now?”

“Yep,” Frank nodded. “With a little help, of course.”

“Yeah, from the biggest and baddest syndicate in the country, the Santino Family!” with a smug face, Lucas added. “No one dares to touch me!”

Marian got up and saw the look in Matthew's eyes. She didn't like it. Lucas may be blind to the killing intent of his enemy but Marian isn't. She knows Matt too well. Lucas may be a douche, but being in Matt's list was way too much a punishment for the spoiled Lucas.

“Matt... don't.. please.” Softly, Marian pleaded.

“Don't worry, sweetheart. I won't hurt him... much.” Matt then turned to Frank. “Get her inside, brother, I don't want her to see me teach this bastard a lesson.”

“You're going to teach ME a lesson? The guy who just knocked you down with one punch? That's rich!” Lucas started laughing.

The innocent Matthew had left and gone. In his place, a confident young man, arms crossed on his chest, stood. Matt grinned at his opponent. Frank had gone and got Marian inside, to which she looks out her opened window by secret. Frank went back to watch what seemed to be a scene way better than any movie he watched.

“Look, I'm a gentleman, I won't land the first punch,” Matt stated. “But know this, try to hit me again, I won't pull any punches.”

Lucas walked arrogantly towards Matt until we was within reach. His head tilted back, showing his wrinkled chin as he started laughing. “You're going home in a wooden box, bro.”

Lucas drew a quick sucker-punch from the right... Matt had seen through the ruse. A flurry of punches were thrown and all of then were easily avoided. As Lucas was about to throw a mean left hook, Matt caught his wrist and twisted it. In a single, seemingly-effortless maneuver, Matt broke his enemy's wrist. Lucas screamed of pain. Matt then started on his offense, a single punch to below the left shoulder and Lucas was now dazed of pain. For the finisher, Matt threw an elbow to Lucas' back, dislocating an entire shoulder. Lucas' legs gave in and he fell down the grass. Matt squatted in front of him, grabbed him demeaningly by the strands of his hair and talked to him.

“You're not that strong, it appears.”

Lucas just laughed, even though his face was strained by the pain. “You're a dead man, dude. Once my father finds out about what you did to me, you're dead. The Santino family will gut you down and I'll be watching it first-hand. You just made your worst enemy.”

“The Santino family, hm?” Matt repeated. He then paused for a moment, his free hand tapping his chin. He turned to Frank. “Hey Frank, can I borrow your phone?”

“What for?”

“I gotta call somebody.”

Frank threw his cell phone and Matt caught it with one hand. He pressed a few buttons and dialed a number. He then turned to Lucas “Let's put it on speaker, shall we?”

“Who're you calling? The cops? Like that'll help!” Lucas laughed.

As soon as the voice from the other side picked up and spoke, Lucas' eyes widened with shock and fear.

“What do you want, Frank? I told you not to call me in this number! I'm at a meeting.” A voice, behind the static, was recognizable. It was an old man who spoke, un-wanting and in a hurry.

“I'm sorry to bother you mayor, but we seem to have a problem,” Matt spoke.

“Who the hell is this?”

“You don't remember me? I have to say that breaks my heart, sir.” Matt paused. “Seven years ago, The Santino Family gift, remember?”

“Oh god...” The voice said, distraught and afraid to have offended his caller. “Let me just get outta hear and we can talk privately. Give me a few seconds.”

As the sounds of scuffling echoed from the other line, Lucas began to wonder what kind of man was in front of him. He knew his father as a tough man, someone to look up to, someone who won't take crap from anybody. Then this guy comes along, called up the mayor and got him running like some little errand-boy.

“Okay, I'm out,” Mayor Erico said, sounding tired like he ran. “So, uh, what seems to be the problem, Matt?”

“Listen, I just came home. Don't tell my father yet, I want it to be a surprise. Anyway, I came home to check on an old friend. Then some I saw some gago here disrespecting said friend. I went in to intervene and the fucker punched me square in the jaw. So I broke his wrist and dislocated his shoulder.”

“That's a nice story and all, but what does that have to do with me?”

“He kept telling me he was your son, and he's got the Santino Family in his pocket. Is that true? You can now carry the Santino name like coins and dimes inside your pocket, mayor?”

“No! No, No! He couldn't have said that, he-”

“So you're telling me my own ears lied to me, mister Mayor?”

“No, Matt! I just, uh... Let me talk to my son, please...”

“Here you go,” Matt placed the phone near Lucas' face so he could speak clearly. Erico didn't know it was on speaker.

“Dad...?” Lucas, his voice strained and dry, tried to utter his words.

“Jesus fuckin' Christ, Lucas! What the hell were you thinking? Don't you know who that guy is?! That's fuckin Matthew Santino!”

Lucas' eyes widened, fear took over. He looked at the eyes of the man squatting in front of him. His past arrogance was gone, he feared for his life. His father still talked on the other side of the phone but he was no longer listening. Lucas remember the tales of his father, a few years ago when a mob war erupted between the Santino family and Gutierrez family. A soldier from the Santino family took them all on. One by one, the Gutierrez family officials showed up dead. One soldier thinned the ranks of his enemy as his allies began to abandon him fearing for their own lives. When they were weak, the Santinos struck like lightning, spearheaded by the same soldier, until the enemy was completely annihilated. It wasn't even a war, but a bloody genocide. That mob war displayed the power of the Santino empire. After that, no one else tried to challenge their rule. The man who made it all possible, the man behind this legend, was called Matthew Santino.

Matt ended the call even though Erico was in mid-speech. He smiled at Lucas. “Now you know who I am. But I still don't give a damn about who you are.”

Matt released his grip on Lucas' hair and started walking away. Lucas, lost and completely humiliated, couldn't accept defeat. With his good arm, he tried to find his gun stashed on his back under his belt. All he wanted was this guy's smug face to be erased, he couldn't care if a bullet is what does it.

“Looking for this?” Matt turned around and waved a Gloc that was in his hand. “I wasn't born yesterday, I've ruined a lot of lives, I know what you're thinking.” Matt sighed, still, a smile was present on his lips. “But if you want it so bad... Think fast!”

Matt threw the Gloc with force. The pistol spun in the air as it headed straight for Lucas who was barely able to react. In the end, the butt of the gun hit Lucas' forehead with force enough to knock him out. Matt turned to Marian, who was watching them the whole time.

“So... dinner?”

TO BE CONTINUED