Brothers (Third Chapter)

Third Chapter

"If you sow a thought, you will reap an action; if you sow an action, you will reap a habit; if you sow a habit, you will reap a character; if you sow a character, you will reap a destiny"

Aristotle

The father listened attentively to Bautista's account, moved but not surprised. He knew almost everything.

Braulio believed he was acting with certainty, but he was mistaken: he did not have control over everything and everyone on the estate. The estate workers (peons, overseers, maids, cooks, gardeners, guards, etc.) obeyed and respected the unacknowledged son (who was efficient and effective in management and had a real gift for command), but they did not forget that the owner and true boss was his father. They never stopped telling him what was happening on the estate.

In other circumstances, what they told him or commented on usually served to ratify Braulio's actions. But this time, it only served to know what had really happened, the anomaly that had occurred in his absence.

The father knew that his precautions regarding his sons were real.

He was moved, it's true, by Bautista's account, but he reproached him for his lack of resistance, his docility, his lack of character. He seemed to be a weakling, weak and without convictions. The only thing that redeemed him was having told him everything that had happened, even exposing himself to knowing his original downfall.

"It seems to me that you should question everything you did. You are a morally questionable being, who yields too easily to your desires and is not capable of resisting. Sooner or later, each one must take responsibility for their actions. Do you realize that you had sex with your brother? And that you desired it and then gave in to a vile blackmail? I regret to say that everything that happened to you was due to his wickedness, cowardice, and lack of character."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Bautista dared to say.

"That's not enough now. It doesn't make sense that you regret it today. As for me, I don't know what the future holds, but I exclude you from any participation in my business. Finish your studies soon and see what you can undertake."

Bautista left morally defeated and physically tired from the conversation and locked himself in his room.

The father was left alone, thinking about what to do.

Blas and Braulio did not appear in his study. Everything was tense and electrifying. Everyone was waiting for something to happen.

At 8:00 PM, the father called them to dinner. Curiously, both brothers were in the dining room and waited for the father, who entered punctually, greeted them, and sat down. They dined in silence, without looking at each other, under the father's scrutinizing gaze.

When dinner was over, the father said:

"Look at me, both of you." When he got their attention, he continued, "I found out what happened, and you both ar...