Chapter XVI: The Grandchildren
The year is calm but busy in Hermosa's outskirts. Elric, Mercy's eldest son, has been searching for the perfect piece of land to settle in. After months of inquiries, site visits, and a few frustrating meetings with talkative brokers who offer him lots shaped like awkward trapezoids, he finally finds it — a good-sized lot in Pantay Este, a semi-rural barangay where the breeze feels fresher and the noise of jeepneys is replaced by the occasional bark of a neighbor's dog.
Elric stands in the middle of the lot, hands on his hips, visualizing the future. His wife is already planning where the kitchen will be, where the vegetable garden will grow, and where the laundry will dry. Elric and his family's dream home starts construction on the lot. Before long, their plans bear even more fruit — four months after Meric gave birth to baby Mark, Elric's wife gives birth to their first child, a baby boy named Adrion. Mercy is overjoyed. "Another apo!" she announces proudly to the customers at RQ Store. Rico simply nods with a satisfied smile, already calculating in his head how many more grandchildren he might have to treat with ice cream in the years ahead.
Meanwhile, back in Caluipat, Pardas, Ben is packing for another long trip. The construction company in Baguio has called him back for more work, so he will be leaving Meric and baby Mark at home again.
The morning of his departure is filled with the usual routine: Ben folds shirts and pants into a bag that has definitely seen better days, Meric fusses over whether he has enough socks, and baby Mark sits in his baby chair with a toy, happily drooling.
"Don't worry, Ma. I'll call you," Ben says, adjusting the zipper on his bag.
"You better," Meric replies, half-teasing, half-serious. "Or I'll send Mark to fetch you."
Ben laughs, gives his wife a hug, and scoops up Mark for a goodbye kiss. The baby responds by grabbing his father's ear and refusing to let go until Meric pries his little fingers open.
With Ben gone, life falls into a familiar rhythm. Meric often takes baby Mark with her when she heads out for groceries. Her usual destination is the JTC Store, the local establishment known not just for its goods but also for the fact that the owner remembers everyone's birthday.
Back at Pantay Este, just a year later, Elric's wife gives birth to another baby boy. However, the baby boy only lived for one day, and just died the next day. Mercy, who just got the news, cries over her dead grandchild. "Poor Baby Zedric."
At the funeral of the baby, Elric and his wife lay Zedric into the same grave as Mary Jane, which infuriates Mercy because of the couple's lack of money to buy or construct another grave.
One bright morning, Meric decides to treat herself and Mark to something a little different — a calesa ride. She approaches a kutsero who is waiting near the brick fence of Plaza Jose, negotiates the fare, and hands him ₱30 for a trip around the city.
The calesa's wooden wheels clatter rhythmically against the pavement as the horse trots forward. Meric holds Mark in her arms, pointing out little things along the way — the Mcdonald's with the black and white sign and a tower, the obelisk and fountain in front of the city hall, the Sapateros (shoe-makers) and Tricycle drivers along Quezon Avenue who waves at her.
Halfway through the ride, Mark's eyes grow heavy. The motion of the calesa and the gentle breeze are too much for him to resist. By the time they pass along the cobblestoned streets of Calle Crisostomo, he is fast asleep, his head resting on Meric's arm. The kutsero notices and slows the pace just slightly, smiling to himself. "Baby's enjoying more than the mother," he jokes.
Sometimes, when Ben is home from Baguio, the family takes short trips together. One favorite spot is the Baluarte Zoo, right at the boundary between Pardas and Hermosa City, which is just a 100 meters from the Bensmert Store at Caluipat. Mark loves the animals — the lazy camels, the colorful parrots, the deer that always seem to be chewing something.
On top of the hilly zoo stands a Golden Tower, a local curiosity. At night, a tree on top of it glows with soft light, and through hidden speakers, a voice recites the Ten Commandments in a slow, almost solemn tone. Ben finds it amusing. Meric finds it oddly calming. Mark just stares, fascinated, his little mouth forming an "O" every time the voice speaks.
Two years pass, and Mark is growing fast — but Meric and Ben begin to notice something unusual. Whenever something drops to the floor with a loud thud, Mark shakes. Not just a startled flinch — but a noticeable, involuntary tremble.
At first, they think it's just him being sensitive. But the episodes keep happening. Even just some empty cardboard boxes than would hit the floor will make Mark shake.
One evening, while visiting the Golden Tower tree again, the deep recorded voice begins to speak — and Mark starts shaking. Another time, during a fireworks show at the Provincial Capitol, the loud bangs send him into trembling fits.
Meric grows more concerned. She takes him with her to the JTC Store, hoping to distract him with shopping. But even there, when a box falls from a shelf, the shaking starts again. A saleslady notices and asks softly, "Ma'am, is he okay?"
Meric explains the situation. The saleslady listens carefully, then says, "I know someone, ma'am. Maysa nga mangngagas. (A healer.) She lives in Brgy. Lubong, Tuanong. People say she can help."
The timing couldn't be worse — on the day they decide to go, a typhoon is blowing through the province. The wind rattles the windows, rain sweeps across the streets, and Meric hesitates.
But Mercy, always decisive when it comes to her grandchildren, insists.
"No weather can stop us. You must go today."
So they do. Rico readies his tricycle, its sidecar reinforced with a bit of plastic sheet to shield them from the rain, and a plastic door. Meric bundles Mark in a thick blanket, and together they set off.
They pass by the Tuanong Parish Church, a magnificent structure with twin octagonal belfries and massive buttresses. Inside is the silver-winged image of St. Vincent Ferrer, said to be miraculous. The façade of the church faces a smaller, older church — the original parish building. Meric notes the contrast, but they don't linger; the mission is urgent.
The tricycle rumbles down the barangay road until they reach a shrine with another image of St. Vincent. Beside it is a narrow road; they follow it, then turn right into a small eskinita (small passageway) barely wide enough for the tricycle.
Eventually, they stop in front of a modest bungalow house. An old man is sitting by the door, watching the rain. Rico calls out, asking if he knows a woman named "Nang Teresing." The old man nods and disappears inside. Moments later, an elderly woman emerges — Nana Teresing, the healer.
Meric wastes no time. She explains Mark's shaking, her voice tinged with both worry and hope. Nana Teresing listens patiently, then asks to hold the child. She carries him to a small table outside, sheltered by a thin roof, and begins her ritual.
Even in the rain, she calls Mark's name three times, each time dipping her fingers into a bowl of palm oil. Then she soaks a cotton ball with the oil, places it into a small rubber band, and tucks it inside Mark's clothes, against his chest.
Finally, she looks at Meric. "Pray as a family," she says firmly. "And if it happens again, come back."
Rico starts the tricycle again, and they all thank Nana Teresing before heading home. By the time they reach Caluipat, the rain has slowed — and something remarkable has happened. The shaking is gone. Gone completely.
Life slowly returns to normal. Rico, fond of cycling, sometimes hops on his BMX bike and takes Mark for short rides. The boy sits in front of him, tiny hands gripping the handlebars. Often, the rhythm of the ride lulls Mark to sleep, and when they return, Rico hands him back to Meric still dozing, his little head against his grandfather's shoulder.
Mark also spends plenty of time with his cousins Aldric and Adrion, Elric's boys. The three of them are a small whirlwind whenever they visit the RQ Store, climbing onto sacks of rice, playing hide-and-seek behind shelves, and asking their grandmother for biscuits.
Whenever Aldric and Adrion come to Caluipat, Meric greets them with the same question:
"What do you like, Bebe?"
It happens so often that the boys eventually start calling her Tita Bebe. The nickname sticks, and soon even Rico and Mercy are using it with a smile.
Life, for now, is peaceful — and the family enjoys these simple days.