May in the Valley of the Rainbow by Yoichi Funado

Author:Yoichi Funado [Funado, Yoichi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vertical Inc.
Published: 2006-04-29T17:00:00+00:00

Pedro Vigay, chief of the Barili Police, made no immediate answer. He kept his hand on the holstered gun at his belt. All of us who had been listening to Balbas’s acceptance speech were now watching Vigay’s face. Until the past year, the police chief of Barili had never once been to Garsoponga. Now he’d come twice in four days. What could have brought him this time? Stroking his well-groomed mustache with his right hand, Vigay mounted the podium.

“We’ve just received some information from Dumaguete City in Negros. A young woman’s body has washed up in their harbor. She had a bag around her shoulder that contained her identification. She was Tonia Guerino of Garsoponga.”

Nobody said anything. Everyone knew how she’d returned to Garsoponga and slipped off the next day without a trace. None of us knew how to respond to the news of her death.

“She was on a boat from Cebu City to Osamis on Mindanao Island. The ticket was still in her bag. Many of the other passengers on the boat were witnesses. They saw a young woman in a bright red dress fling herself into the ocean between Mindanao and the Siquior Islands. The body washed up with the tide in Dumaguete Harbor and is now in the hands of the Dumaguete police. Will whoever’s responsible for her please come forward?”

I looked around for Tonia’s parents but saw neither Antonio nor Amy. They’d both voted but apparently hadn’t come back to see the election results. Although it was still early, they both liked to drink and could already be knocking back some rum.

As I brought my eyes back to Vigay, I saw Meg. She was shivering and looked ready to collapse. Ramon stood next to her. The strong afternoon sun shone full on his face, showing it to be drained of blood.

“Who here is responsible for Tonia Guerino?”

“That would be Antonio Guerino, Chief Vigay, sir,” Balbas spoke up. I kept watching Meg.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t think he’s here.”

“Where does he live?”

“At the far end of Garsoponga.”

“Is it possible to drive there?”

“No, there’s no road.”

Vigay clucked in annoyance. Meg stopped shivering, suddenly squared her shoulders, and brushed her hair back with her right hand. Tonia’s green ring sparkled on her finger. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it was what Meg had chosen to remember Tonia by. She had given the other rings and the watch to Tonia’s parents.

“Ramon Sumulong will take responsibility for Tonia, sir. They were engaged,” Meg said.

“And who are you?”

“Meg Sumulong, Ramon’s younger sister.”

“If he’s the responsible party, he’ll have to go claim her body.”

“Fine. We’re ready to go,” Meg replied, and turned to Ramon. “Isn’t that so, Ramon? We can’t leave Tonia there to rot.”

Speechless, Ramon nodded.

I remembered what Grandpa had told me, that Tonia was planning to go someplace nobody knew her to die there. But it hadn’t worked, because her body had washed up at Dumaguete. Tonia always had bad luck—even after death. My throat tightened so much I could hardly breathe.

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