Brothers (Chapter Four)

Fourth Chapter

The father believed he knew his sons, but recent events made him rethink everything.

Braulio was the son of an affair with a servant from this very estate when he was barely 18 years old. His parents opposed any recognition. In fact, he did not see the mother again until many years later and found her ugly, ordinary and worn down, nothing like the voluptuous and exciting woman with whom he ended up making love in a barn. What he did remember about that woman was her resentful character, her grim look, her vulgar expression and her coarse, climbing behavior. Now, in Braulio, he saw that same portrait. The only thing he valued in his unacknowledged son was his capacity for work. He was an absolute worker: from 6 in the morning until 10 at night his only concern was the estate.

This estate was very dear to the father: it was an old family inheritance, of several generations, which had been abandoned and finally lost by his parent. One of the first ideas that motivated the father in his business life was to recover this estate, and he had done so, and that is why it was so important to him to maintain it and make it grow. In the last two years, neighboring properties had been acquired that increased the area by 30%, apart from barns, stables and a dairy having been recovered, as well as the forests and pastures. Braulio had done a great job and he could not lose him.

Now he had him as a laborer, repairing a distant ditch, living in a literal shack. That could not continue.

That morning four days had already passed since the last “conversation” with his son Braulio and the father rode on horseback to the sector of the estate where he assumed he should be working on the ditch. There he saw him, bare-chested, with a shovel, clearing weeds and mud from a kind of watering trough, which was nothing but a part of the canal that articulated the irrigation ditch system. He reminded him too much of his mother with that evasive and resentful look and he even understood him, but he felt neither affection nor respect. He only knew that he had to reach an agreement with him.

As soon as he saw him, it was Braulio who greeted him:

- Good morning, Sir - he said with an extremely submissive look.

He returned the greeting dryly and distantly, but noticed in him a very different behavior than other times. He did not want to get excited thinking that he had learned the lesson, he could well be pretending. In that too he reminded him of his mother: always manipulating.

- How is the work going? When will you finish?

- Fine, Sir, in a week it should be finished.

- All right, hurry up, I need you to carry out other services for me.

- Whatever you command, Sir.

- You will be administrator of the estate again when you finish.

Braulio changed expression, a shine appeared in his eyes and he even seemed to smile.

- You will be a...