~Chapter Two~
~Juaquin~
~ 2011~
We adjusted to a life without dad and with my new brother Eugenio. Or Junior, as Raul called him. Eugenio Jr. looked more like mom, but still had me and dad's brown hair over her black hair.
After a few months I could tell Mom was antsy to get back to work at the bakery with her brothers. I offered to take care of Eugenio whenever I could so she could return to work.
When I wasn't in school, I took care of little Eugenio with some frequent help from Melissa and Arturo. One day Eugenio wouldn't stop crying and we couldn't get him to stop. It wasn't until Eugenio got into Arturo's arms that he fell fast asleep.
Arturo spent a lot of time with us after that, which Raul wasn't particularly happy about. The black haired boy taught me how to play the Damin Strategy game. I still didn't like it that much, but it was fun to play with him. He enjoyed having a new opponent.
The game's map mirrored our country of Rhivera, matching the landmarks pretty accurately. Mount Rhive was located to the east, the Jungles to the south, and those sand dunes dad and I always wanted to visit were up North in Norino. The bridges connecting the northern regions of the country to the south were omitted though. The game was supposed to be based off a war that happened sixty years ago. Arturo tried explaining the history of it all, but I couldn't follow him with how frantic he was.
In June of 2011, I wanted to see if I could get Eugenio to stand on his own. He hadn't started crawling yet, but when I was a baby I skipped right over crawling to walking. He was my brother so I figured he could too. I held him up next to a short table and slowly stopped supporting him to see if he'd stand on his own, but his legs kept giving out.
"His legs are skinny aren't they?" Arturo stated. I didn't realize it before but they were abnormally thin.
Nothing seemed to change as months passed. He didn't crawl or stand on his own. We assured ourselves that he was just a late bloomer. But as time passed we became less sure.
"He still isn't crawling?" Raul asked during a visit to our house.
"I'm sure he will soon." Mom deflected.
Raul was determined to see Eugenio crawl, but his legs wouldn't support themselves. He picked at his beard in deep thought. All of us were silent as we looked down at Eugenio on the floor, unable to move around.
Something was wrong with Eugenio. We didn't know what, and were scared to take Eugenio to a doctor. "If it's something that can't be fixed, Population Control will take him." Raul said, his face buried in his palms. Mom had this terrified look on her face.
"I thought Population Control didn't take kids." Mom tried to rationalize.
"If they're born with some sort of ailment they will." Yolanda, Melissa's mom responded solemnly. Yolanda had worked within the Population Control Council for a few years before she started working at a secretary position in the military under Raul. She had a firm understanding of who they would take and why.
It was once her job to sift through the records of the population and move adjust their position up or down on the PCC's list, passing it along to others for further evaluation. Eventually, an individual's files would reach the Emperor, and he would make the final decision on what should be done.
The Population Control Council had simple ways of gathering information on people to add to their records. Purchases at most businesses, employment at jobs, attendance at school were all recorded. These little things accumulated to portray the condition of the person at present day. The PCC’s records would show which days of school I missed, but not necessarily why I was absent or where I was instead.
Depending on the economy and resources the PCC sets a population limit and whenever it is passed, those deemed least useful to the country on the PCC's list would be eliminated. In cases like with my dad, they wouldn't wait for the population to drop before taking him.
"There is nothing wrong with him Raul!" Mom barked at Raul, clutching little Eugenio in her arms.
"He's a year-old Maria. You can't act like this isn't a problem anymore." Raul reasoned.
Mom held Eugenio tightly, "I'm not losing him! I can't!" She said with tears forming in her eyes.
Raul sighed, "Maria. I'm sorry. There's nothing we can-"
"Yes there is!" Mom interrupted him, "With your rank in the military, you could do something to save him, couldn't you?"
Raul was about to respond when he realized we were watching. He took my mom into another room to talk. They tried to be quiet, but we heard every word.
"Do you have any idea what would happen if we tried something like that and were caught? I would lose everything I've worked so hard to earn!" Raul said in a tone that was supposed to be hushed.
"So you admit you could save him if you wanted?" Mom said, reading between his words.
"He'd only be safe for as long as he was secret a Maria. We might be able to pass off that he died and have the PCC's records show that, but the moment someone finds out, then its over. They'll take him, and I'll lose all credibility I've earned so far. I'm not doing that Maria!"
"If Eugenio dies, I die." Mom said simply. I didn't realize it then, but she was threatening to kill herself.
"Maria... you can't be that selfish. Think about Juaquin!"
For a few minutes no words were spoken between the two of them. As far as we could tell.
Raul stepped out of the room and came over to the two of us. "Listen, I need help from both of you. You're going to have to tell a lie with us to help protect Eugenio."
Raul began to explain that in a few months, we were going to tell people that Eugenio died. The story would be that he became terribly ill and we didn't get him to a doctor in time. We would have to corroborate the lie, and tell all of our friends that was what happened. Eugenio would have to be hidden indoors to keep him secret, and none of our friends would be allowed to come by the house.
"You can't tell anyone understand? Not even that Montoya boy. If anyone finds out a lot of bad things will happen?" Raul said sternly, with a twinge of fear in his voice.
Melissa and I nodded, "Understood."
We immediately planned to tell Arturo.
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The next day, Melissa and I went to Arturo's house. Melissa had been to his house before, but I hadn't. It was a few kilometers away, so we had to take the tram line to get there like we would to go to school. There were tram lines and railroads all across Rhivera that allowed people to travel. Very few had vehicles of their own, usually only large businesses or government institutions possessed any. The tram carried us from our rural area into the city where Arturo lived.
We arrived at Arturo's house, the Montoya estate. There was a metal gate and red brick wall around its perimeter. Only after seeing us in a camera at the gate could Arturo let us in. There were ornate gardens and a three story manor. I knew Arturo's stepdad was rich, but not this rich. Looking at him you'd never guess, he always dressed so modestly.
Arturo let us inside. The walls appeared to be made of some ornate marble, all very beautiful. The house could easily fit both Melissa and my own family inside with room for more. But despite its size, it looked as if only Arturo occupied to manor.
Even Arturo's room was massive, with an over-sized bed and a door that led out to the manor's balcony. There were books lining his wall, many on the history of our country of Rhivera.
"They're going to fake his death?" Arturo clarified.
"If his condition doesn't clear up soon. Population Control will take him otherwise." Melissa explained, "Its a secret though."
"You know I won't tell anyone." Arturo promised. He was happy to do anything to defy the PCC.
A knock came at the door, followed soon by a woman wearing a maid's uniform. "Mr. Montoya, I've made you and your friends a meal."
"Thanks. You can head home now." Arturo hastily told her.
"Oh, okay. Thank you Mr. Montoya." She said in a submissive manner.
Arturo waited until she was out of earshot to speak, "My step-dad hired a maid after the PCC killed my mom. He thought it would help since he's always out doing business in Illesto. She's just annoying though. I can take care of myself."
"Why exactly did the PCC take your mom?" I asked. I had been wondering that for a while.
"They killed my mom because they thought she was holding me back." Arturo said, unafraid of saying kill instead of taken, "My mom couldn't hold a job for a long time. But she was the only one to take care of me when I was little, so they left her alone. As soon as I had a step-dad to look after me, I guess the government didn't see a reason to keep her around."
"Everything would be better if Population Control was gone." Melissa said surprisingly scornfully. I wanted to agree, but the thought of my dad still being bedridden bothered me. I couldn't imagine him being happy like that. Even as he died he was still supportive of the PCC.
"It looks like you're not going to be able to come over anymore because Eugenio is supposed to be a secret." I said. "They don't want anyone outside of our families to know he's alive."
"That’s okay. You can always come over here." Arturo reassured me.
Melissa smiled deviously, "When our parents aren't home we could sneak you into our place."
Arturo stood promptly, "Melissa, did you tell Juaquin about the tunnels?" Melissa shook her head. Arturo smirked and beckoned to me, "Let me show you something."
We followed him down a flight of stairs to the storage room in his basement. Arturo went to a wall covered with boards and we began to pull them away. A tunnel opening was revealed behind them.
"Even my stepdad doesn't know about this." Arturo grabbed a flashlight he set there prior and shone it into the path which extended beyond our sight. Wooden scaffolding supported the tunnel and its structure.
"How far does it go?" I asked.
"A few kilometers away there's an exit point, but it keeps going way past that." Arturo said, "I did some research, apparently there are tunnels like this all across Rhivera. There are so many that no one knows about all of them. I haven't figured out why they were made yet though. There's some old tale about an 'ultimate power' lying beneath the earth that our ancestors hunted for. Its just superstitious folklore though."324Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNmx5yNOxP
I wanted to explore the tunnel, but Arturo told me it would take hours before we came to a fork in the path. Soon Melissa and I headed home, prepared to tell the lie that Eugenio had died.
We waited to see if Eugenio's condition would clear up, but his legs remained frail. Finally, Raul and Yolanda decided it was time.
Raul and Yolanda saw to it that all records indicated that Eugenio Jr. died of an illness. Mom couldn't even tell her brothers that Eugenio was alive. Knowing them, they would spread the secret around until everyone knew.
So we carried on the lie. Everyone seemed to accept it, and we received many unwarranted condolences. But Eugenio was safe. 324Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgzyf1MzMg
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