Chapter 8- Depth
Today, wearing dark green trousers and a cream-colored shirt, Micah put on dress shoes and a bit of cologne to join his little sister in the sitting room for tea.
He arrived before she did, rising as she entered the sitting area.
He pulled out a chair for her to sit in, and she crossed her tiny legs, ensuring she pulled down the hem of the colorful sundress over her knee.
“Micah,” she said, “thank you for joining me.”
“As always, a delight,” he said, watching her manage the teapot with grace as she poured cups of lavender, mint tea for them both.
The variety of her menus for the fancy tea parties always surprised him; they included finger sandwiches, scones filled with whatever berries were in season in the garden, and a citrus-flavored tea biscuit.
The conversations, usually light, centered on an issue on her mind, and Micah took the time to answer her questions as best he could.
“Micah,” she said, picking up a cookie to nibble.
He noticed she wore nail polish to match the lace-trimmed pink socks inside of the white Mary Jane shoes.
The sundress, with capped sleeves, bore bright yellow and pink flowers, and she wore the necklace he'd given her as a birthday gift.
Catarina always made a point to wear or sport an item he'd given her whenever they had tea.
“Yes, Catarina?”
“I don't understand this whole brother thing,” she said, sighing. “Yunior is my brother, and he has children. His children call me Tia Cat. I am their aunt, but I am only a year or so older than Manny. What is this aunt thing and the brother thing?”
“We are your brothers,” Micah said.
“Yes, but make it make sense,” she told him.
“As your brother, I am your first friend and protector, and if anything should happen to Papa, it will be our responsibility to look out for you and take care of you,” Micah said.
“Like when Mami and Papa were gone, and the storm came? I was so scared, and I screamed when the loud thunder boomed,” she said. “You came running to my room and stayed all night and slept in the chair by my bed so I would not be scared. Is that what you mean?”
“Of course, and to make sure no harm comes to you,” he countered.
“Oh, like when my pony got spooked and took off. I didn't even know you were close by,” Catarina said. “You rode up and grabbed me off the horse and put me on yours. I felt so safe in your arms. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, it is what I mean,” he replied, sipping his tea.
“Micah?”
“Yes, Catarina?”
“Mami said, inside of your head, your brain is different,” Catarina said. “Do you feel love?”
“True, it is wired differently, and I see the world differently, but Papa taught me how to use it because I am really smart,” Micah replied. “I don't want to believe that because I'm a little different that it is a bad thing. I am simply different.”
“But do you feel love?”
“I feel love.”
“Do you love me?”
“With everything in me,” Micah replied.
“Good, because I love you too,” she said, looking at her tiny wrist and her watch. She sighed as if she were bored with the world. “Tea will be short today. I have to change and meet Isabella in the garden to pick tomatoes. I don't know why that girl loves to play in the dirt.”
“The dirt of Las Tierras is what sustains us and our way of life,” Micah said. “My children and your children will be the caretakers of this land and all the villages. You will need to get your hands dirty and learn the soil so you can take care of our people.”
Catarina arched her brow. Her café au lait skin always seemed to glow.
Expressive brown eyes rested under naturally shaped eyebrows, and she had the Delgado nose.
A heart-shaped face accented her natural beauty, and a full mouth, inherited from Ryanne, completed the look of a potential heartbreaker.
“My brother's children will take care of the land and dig in the dirt,” Catarina said. “I shall sip tea and watch your children pick tomatoes from the garden to make spaghetti.”
Her little mouth showed a smile, and she cocked her head at him.
“No, you will learn, as we all have, what it takes to maintain this life,” Micah said.
“I'm six,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
She stood, and he did as well. Catarina offered him her hand, which he bowed over and planted a delicate kiss.
She offered a mock curtsey as if she were out of patience with him and needed to finish her crewel project for the main dining hall.
“Thank you for joining me for tea. It was delightful. Please enjoy your afternoon.”
“I shall see you at supper,” Micah said.
“Until then,” she told him, crooking her finger for him to bend down.
She provided a kiss to his cheek and departed, her back straight, the determination in her steps evident as she made way to the staircase to change clothes to pick tomatoes with Isabella.
At times he wondered how two women, or two girls, could be so different, but then he thought of himself and his own brothers. This led to what happened next.
****
MICAH CLEARED THE TEA, wrapping the leftover tea sandwiches in cellophane and placing them in the cooler.
The pot of tea was half full, and only a few cookies had been eaten.
He placed the cookies and scones under the glass cloche and made his way to his father's office.
A light tap at the door, and Eduardo looked up.
“Papa, do you have a moment to speak with me?” Micah asked.
Angel, also in the office, sat at Tonda's old desk. He worked on a watercolor of animals on the farm. While he was no Charlie French, Angel's art had promise. Micah asked, “Angel, may we have the room?”
“What am I going to do with a room?” Angel said.
“Angel, I wish to speak in private with Papa,” Micah clarified.
“Why didn't you say so!”
“I have,” Micah said softly. “I saved you some tea biscuits and tea sandwiches if you want a snack. They are in the kitchen along with half a pot of tea.”
“Yay,” Angel said, standing up. He walked past Micah, raising his hand for a high five. “Hey, Micah. When you are done, will you play with me?”
“Of course, what would you like to play—checkers, or go for a swim or an afternoon ride?”
Angel stopped, turning to face his brother. “Is Alita busy? Maybe we can go on an adventure, and you can teach me about the plants here at Las Tierras,” Angel said.
“Perhaps,” Micah said. “Let's play it by ear.”
“Yay! I love adventures.”
Micah closed the door after Angel left the room. In front of his father's desk, he pointed at the seat, asking permission to sit in the presence of the Czar, but today, he wanted to speak with his father.
Eduardo asked, “What does he mean by adventures with you and Alita?”
“Perona de la Mar is often filled with guests and staff, and it is very busy,” Micah said. “It can be overwhelming not only to him, but also me. Abuelo isn't always patient with Angel, so Alita and I take him out on adventures on horseback or hikes.”
“I didn't know that,” Eduardo said.
“Angel also trains with Alita and me in sparing and martial arts. He is a psychopath in the making and pretty deadly with those knives,” Micah said flatly.
“One of the groomsmen, newly hired, made fun of him out of spite. Angel nicked his hand with one of his knives and smiled at him. I think the guy lost his arm.”
“Is that what you wanted to speak with me about?”
“No, I wanted to know how a man learns to please a woman with his mouth,” Micah said, his dark eyes boring into Eduardo.
His father put his pen down and ran his hand through his thick, black hair, which was growing grayer with each encounter with his two younger sons. He leaned forward on the centuries old desk, handcrafted by his grandfather, and interlaced his fingers.
“That is not where I thought this conversation was headed,” Eduardo said, scowling.
“Papa, how does a man even discover he enjoys such an act? Does he look at his woman and suddenly decide, hey, I wonder how that tastes! Is it an acquired taste for human lubricants?” Micah asked with a straight face.
“Oh, you are not making the funny,” Eduardo said. “May I ask why you are...wait, your paramours didn't teach you these skills?”
“Papa! I was not putting my mouth on those women. I never even kissed them,” he said.
Eduardo rubbed his temples, trying to stave off the oncoming headache.
He needed to ask questions he didn't want to ask and prayed that Isabella or Catarina would call for him to talk about sundresses or new cap guns.
He cleared his throat, “Mijo, did the women perform oral acts of pleasure on you?”
“One tried, but I didn't like it,” Micah said to Eduardo’s shocked face. “I mean, yes, it felt pleasurable, but she was on her knees, looking up at me. I watched myself disappear into her mouth and honestly, it felt like she was eating me. I found it to be very disconcerting.”
Eduardo covered his mouth to keep from laughing.
“She suggested we turn off the lights, but then the room was too dark, and she plunged her finger into my bung hole. Her finger was wet. It wasn’t wet when the lights were on, but then it was.
Why was it wet, I didn’t know? The idea of her pulling that finger out of my bum, then putting it in her mouth to wet it, then sticking it back in there.
..it was too much,” Micah said. “I screamed, just a little, which brought Alita running.
She held a knife to the woman's throat while the ladies' finger was shoved up my butt, and my member deflated. I fired her. Why she thought sticking her wet finger in my bung hole was a turn-on...honestly, I don’t know. I was in my well of dark emotions for a while for the breach of trust. It was a long six months.”
Eduardo burst into laughter. He prayed aloud to Mary the Mother of Jesus why his life had come to this moment. Collecting himself, he forged forward. “To get us back on track in this conversation, is there any reason why at this point, you wish to learn this skill?”
“My bride shall be inexperienced.” Micah said.
“It will be my responsibility to prepare her for a night of intimacy so she is not lying there like a dead fish, scared of what shall happen between us.
I don't want to fumble around as if I am unskilled in such matters. Is there way to learn such an expertise without ingesting the excretions of a woman I barely know?”
Eduardo leaned back in the seat. He thought of his eldest Yunior, learning the skill by molesting fruit. On one hand, he was proud of his son for coming to him to seek his council, on the other hand, he'd paid women hefty fees to teach his son the ways of passion. He thought for a moment.
“Go to the kitchen and bring back a papaya, a knife to cut it, and napkins. You will also need a bowl for the seeds.”
Micah did as he asked, returning with the fruit. Eduardo asked him to lock and bolt the door. He watched his father slice the fruit in half, scoop out the seeds, and notch the top of the fruit.
“This will serve as a training module,” Eduardo said.
“Simple enough, your mouth provides moisture.
Your bride's first time will require more lubrication not only from your mouth, but if you gently flick here, it will relax the muscles. Inserting a finger here, pressing down, while gently circling here with your tongue can make the muscles contract.”
“I know how to make the muscles contract, Papa,” Micah said, looking at his father as if was the dumbest thing in the world.
“The goal, mijo, is to make the muscles contract from internal stimulation initially and external stimulation subsequently,” Eduardo said, arching an eyebrow.
“Oh really?” Micah said, leaning forward.
“Really. A skilled lover masters these techniques,” Eduardo said, pushing his fruit aside. “You must then decide, if you are a fine diner who will feast simply, working up and down the buffet table, or if you are a messy eater and shall bury your face.”
Micah understood the explanation. He didn’t think that burying his face in a woman’s sweaty nether region was sexy, but a man had to learn such things to move on to what was next. He also wanted to move the conversation to what came next.
“Papa, of all your children, does it embarrass you that I am the weirdest?” Micah asked, flicking a seed into the bowl.
“I am not embarrassed by you at all, Micah,” Eduardo said. “Of all my sons, you, I am the proudest.”
“Me?”
“Sí, you, because you are the most caring,” Eduardo said.
“You take the time, no matter how busy you are, to take afternoon tea with your little sister. You taught Isabella to swim in less that fifteen minutes when she would barely get in the water with me, and Angel, you take on adventures. Of you, I am the proudest.”
“Thank you, Papa,” he said. “I have decided to attend Uni in Bogotá, so I can be closer to home. Alita and I have an appointment tomorrow with a real estate agent to look at flats.”
“She will be attending classes as well?”
“Sí, she received a partial scholarship for her studies.”
“In what, if I might ask?” Eduardo said.
“Some bullshit,” Micah said chuckling. “Digital storytelling, I think she said.”
“Do you not know because you're not interested?”
“No, it is some bullshit,” Micah said. “You can give Isabella a tablet and she can create a digital story and now Alita will spend four years playing on a tablet to learn a skill set she will probably use maybe a few times to aid in our research, which is why I call it bullshit.”
“Are you paying the balance of her education?”
“She can pay it herself out of her salary.
I can't pay her salary, plus room and board, and her tuition,” Micah said.
“Room and board were covered by Abuelo in Argentina since we lived at the house. We will be living on our own. And I will need to pay the utilities and buy food. She can pay her own tuition.”
“Angel will not be returning to Argentina, so there are funds available for her to use,” Eduardo told him.
“And she can pay her own way if she is going to major in something that is of no use to you after filming the results of the bugs dying from the oils one time. Yes, it will be of little use to Las Tierras, or the cartel,” Micah said, rising. “Good talk.”
He cleared up the fruit. Reaching the door, he asked, “Papa, you said you're proud of me, but do you love me?”
“With all that I am, all that I see, and all I know to be true in my heart,” Eduardo said. “Do you love me, or do you feel love?”
“I feel everything,” Micah said pausing. “Do you remember the feeling of getting the call and learning Yunior had been shot? That is me, every day, in an unfamiliar circumstance. I feel everything at level ten. At times it is tiring, but we persist.”
“We persist, and yes, I do love you.”
“Papa, thank you for seeing me,” Micah said, leaving his office. One way or another, whatever Micah decided, Eduardo would support him.