Yari slowly rose from her bed and sulkily walked out of her room. Completely ignoring Ya and Adio, she sat down in the corner of the room and hid her face in her knees. She couldn’t help but wonder why Alvita was so angry with her. The morning was hot which caused Yari to sweat, making her more miserable than before. The two men paused their conversation and stared at Yari.
Adio whispered, “See? My dream wasn’t wrong after all.” This caused Ya to shoot him a look and whisper back in a lower tone. “It is your dream that had caused this, Adio.” Adio only frowned and shook his head. Yari didn’t seem like she would move anytime soon, so the brothers headed out of the room to have a proper talk.
That dream Adio had spoken of ‘warned’ him of a conflict between the girls. “Mm...those guards shouldn’t have let her run off.” Adio said, mumbling. Though he never stated what the girls fought about in his dream, Ya still seemed nervous about it.
“I need you to prevent this from getting worse.” Adio seemed nervous after hearing that and slowly started to rub the scars on his neck. “Don’t even think about making me speak to that child. I do not wish to see Tiburon.” Ya gave him a weary smile and nodded. Adio was about to enter the room again when Ya grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. “Just talk to him…I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” Adio removed Ya’s hand from him and entered the room.
Yari had moved from her spot and was next to the small frog statue that was left on the floor from last night. She was playing with the sculpture and seemed in a better mood than before. Adio smiled at her childish mood swing and sat down next to her. “My what do we have here?” Adio said in a playful tone. Yari looked over at Adio with a big smile and showed him the frog. Adio nodded and took the toy from Yari. While analyzing the wooden sculpture, Adio began praising Yari for her talent. “It’s amazing! You’re already so good at this age, just imagine how you’ll be when you’re older!” This made Yari’s eyes shine with delight and quickly get up to go find her knife to carve more wood.
Once Yari’s back was turned, Adio’s smile instantly dropped as he started to inspect the frog statue closer. Right on the back of the frog sculpture was a tiny wave symbol that Yari had roughly added. Just like his!! Seeing this made Adio drop the frog sculpture and rub his scars again.
Oh Niola, why must you torment me? Not only have you chosen those women, but you also brought that child! Adio held his head and laid on the floor holding back tears. The relationship Adio had with Tiburon was a strong bond that not many people could get between. When they were younger, Adio continuously saved and healed Tiburon throughout battles. He had even chosen to stay at sea with Tiburon for months and tell him of their future. Despite this, Tiburon married three women from the Bagua tribe and even isolated himself from the village. After this, Adio avoided all contact until he had a specific dream eight years ago.
Yari plopped down next to her uncle’s head and poked him. “Is Uncle sleepy?” She safely placed the knife away and lied down next to him. Adio removed his hands from his face and smiled after hearing Yari’s soft voice. “Yari…did you fight with Alvita?” He didn’t wait for a response and instantly spoke again, “It’s okay when friends fight. It was your first time properly socializing with children your age so Yari, don’t be so down about this.” He turned his head to look at Yari who was already staring at him. She smiled at Adio and sat up to begin carving. “Did Papa tell you to come talk to me? I don’t feel bad anymore so tell him to stop worrying!” She grabbed her knife and wood and slowly started chipping off pieces. “I’m a big girl now so I should be able to take care of myself!” Hearing this made Adio relax as he slowly closed his eyes.
“Mm…you’re right…”
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Alvita was in a disarray of moods, she still couldn’t believe that Yari hadn’t even known of her existence! Not only that but she was even comparing her voice to a frog and touching her without permission or any warning!
Disgusting. Alvita thought about telling her father about the experience but only focused on deboning the fish her second mother, Weju, had given her. The house was loud as usual, filled with the crying Bian, Aba’s singing, and mama Cajaya loudly playing with Kabun and Biti. This was never a disturbance to anyone in the house and some members like Abatian, even found it comforting. Once Alvita finished deboning the fish, she called out for the twins. “Biti!! Kabun!! Come eat your fish before I eat it for you!” The twins instantly stopped the game they were playing with their mother and ran over to Alvita.
“Mommy I want fish too!!” Said Bian through sobs. Weju shook her head and wiped his tears. “Stop your crying…mommy just gave you cassava and yet you want more?” Weju was busy breastfeeding Abatian and didn’t have enough time to get him more food, so Alvita got up to hand Bian some cassava bread. “Thank you, Vi…” he sniffled and began silently eating, finally making the house have less noise. “Thank you so much Alvita…” Weju sighed and rubbed the baby’s head, “Can you go and get Aba? I’m sure he’s here somewhere…I can certainly hear him.” Alvita nodded and started looking around the house for the source of the singing.
Now that the house was calmer, Alvita got lost in her thoughts again. I wonder if her father will send people looking for me again… The sound of that shaman’s laugh made her shudder. I hope not…he’s so strange! Alvita hadn’t noticed the singing stopped until a hand was placed on her shoulder. She let out a scream and instantly slapped away the hand on her.
“Oww…” Alvita froze and turned to see Aba rubbing his hand pouting. “Why’d you sneak up on me?!” Aba ignored her and sat down taking a fish out of his bag and scaling it. Alvita rolled her eyes and crouched down, “Your mother told you to come and eat.” Aba stayed silent and flipped the fish over to scale the other side. Alvita sighed and stood up to leave the room until Aba spoke, “Papa is mad at you.” After saying this, he slit open the belly of the fish and began taking out the organs. Alvita turned to stare at Aba waiting for him to add on, but he only continued to butcher the fish. She left and quickly headed over to Weju who was now burping Abatian.
“Where’s Aba?” Weju said after the baby let out a tiny burp. Alvita sat down and placed her head on Weju’s shoulder, “he didn’t say anything. He just started preparing more fish.” Weju smiled and rubbed Alvita’s hand, “I’ll go get him later…he’s been in a mood lately so just be patient with him alright?” Alvita didn’t respond and stared at the entrance to the house.
Please don’t come home today… Alvita already knew why her father was upset and dreaded the thought of the lecture he would give her. Don’t disrespect the caique, be nice to little Yari, and the forest is dangerous were all the things that Tiburon had always scolded her about. I wouldn’t have been in the forest if you didn’t force me to go. And why should I be nice to someone who didn’t even know of my existence despite us clearly meeting before? Alvita closed her eyes and was about to go to sleep until she heard Halhira’s voice. “Alvita Niola!!” Alvita jolted from hearing her and quickly got up to greet her.
“Welcome back, Mama…” Alvita said while fiddling with her hands. Halhira unfurrowed her brows and hugged Alvita tightly. “You’re a stupid girl.” Halhira stopped her hug and sighed, “your father will be coming in soon, go in your room before he yells at you in front of everyone…” Alvita nodded and slowly walked into her room. Alvita sighed and fell onto her bed face first.
If Mama is nervous then that means I’m really in trouble this time. Right when she thought this, Tiburon walked in. She flipped over and stared at the ceiling. Tiburon walked over and peeked his head into her line of sight, “Get up so we can speak properly.” Tiburon’s voice and face were calm, almost like he didn’t care about the situation at all. Alvita sat up and looked down at her hands. Tiburon sat on the bed and hugged her. “I am so sorry.” The random affection made Alvita widen her eyes. What?? She didn’t say anything so Tiburon released his hug. “You’re old enough to understand this…and it wouldn’t be right to keep it a secret.” Alvita slowly looked over with her brows furrowed waiting for her to add on. “The Bagua tribe has waged war on the Ni tribe again…to keep the peace, I’ve decided to marry you off to Yari.” He only took a short pause and began speaking again, “I know what you’re thinking, ‘Why doesn’t the Bagua tribe’s chief marry their child off to Yari?’ But the current chief has no children yet. We can’t wait for them to have one so…” Tiburon slowly trailed off once he noticed Alvita’s expression. She was crying, and it wasn’t just a few tears, she was crying a flood. Tiburon frowned and hugged her again, “We should’ve properly done this. I shouldn’t have listened to Ya’s idea…my poor girl…” Alvita’s silent crying slowly developed into sobs and gradually turned into wails. She was unable to say how she felt because of how clogged her throat felt. No matter how loud she yelled, she couldn’t get her true feelings out.
Nothing goes right for me!! …everything is horrible! All Tiburon did was rub her back and allow her to cry. The comfort only made her feel worse. Why did she have to be married off? Why not Biti? The sudden questions turned her tears of confusion and sorrow into anger. “Why me?” She said through gritted teeth. “Marry that brat off to someone else! Why would you choose me of all people?! Why me?!” Tiburon sighed and continued to rub her back, completely ignoring her question. Alvita finally went silent, but something kept repeating in her mind.
I hate Yari Ama. I hate Yari Ama to the point that it makes my blood boil and my mouth sour. I despise Yari Ama. I loathe her!!!
