At the Stone House
Nine Years previously…..
The asotea was crowded by wealthy families, noblemen and the curate himself, Fray Luciano, who all came to acquaint themselves with Teo,
"The lad who is studying farmacia in a university in Manila"
as how they all referred of Teo that night.
Teo and Isko tried to isolate themselves from the crowd but the guests always find ways to greet the young man.
"This is your night, Mateo. Why settle in the corner with a farm boy,?" Fray Luciano greeted as he sipped from his cup of wine, "You should get used to hosting these feasts for you will soon host some too"
The friar raised his hand and gestured to the crowd to refrain from what they were doing at that moment. He then raised his cup as he made an announcement;
"I knew all along, Mateo will grow up to be such a gentlemen. It has always been proven that the only way to mold a clay is to subject it to the heat of fire", he continued with a huge smile while he proposed a toast. On his right hand, a glass full of rice wine, on his left he holds a tobacco,
"There is pride in his accomplishment in a short span of time. He breezed through his two years of studying farmacia. His remaining four years would be the real test of perseverance though for he will be away from home, far from the familiar faces that are here. Nothing is guaranteed to be easy, but he can take this night, this feast that the good Captain prepared for him. Engrave it in his memory so when the times get tough and the fire he will be subjected to becomes fiercer, he can vividly look back to this night and know that we have always been proud of him. And he will turn out alive, still breathing; and a perfectly molded clay! "
The asotea was engulfed by the noise of applauses and cheers of the crowd as they joined the friar in his toast all proudly looking at Teo; while the Captain stood in the crowd cheering the proudest.
Fray Luciano raised his hand again and interrupted the cheering crowd when he made another announcement;
"And oh!," he pauses, "It is with sympathy that I wish I could say the same for Isko" Fray Luciano continued now frowning at the sight of Francisco.
The young man, after being looked down by the friar, could only look down further on his self. He could feel as if the marble flooring of Don Lorenzo's stone house was about to pull him down, eat him whole and alive.
"This clay right here," Fray Luciano continued holding Isko's shoulder, "This clay here has turned into a hardened mud!" the friar paused as he sipped another pangasi from his glass, "And no matter how hot the fire we subject him into, he will only turn into a coal. Nothing much, just a burned coal," the friar paused and looked back down at Isko, "A dirt! Just like the soil and roots he has been plowing." then the friar burst into laughter
The other guests followed and the asotea was filled with mockeries concealed as harmless cackles from the crowd. These cheers caused Isko to drown further in embarrassment. His fists are closed tightly, rage started to embrace him. Just when he was about to burst to outrage, only then Teo held him by the shoulder to calm him down.