Chapter 7

Until now, Muriel had what amounted to a big sister who was not sexually active and certainly not sexually active in the home. Muriel had not been there the day I met Ninay and that had never been discussed with her. Each evening at the dinner table sat her mother, my wife, Krissell, also an adult and clearly my mistress, Ann, also an adult and also a mistress and then the two of them, Ninay and Muriel. The three older ones had been my sexual partners from our time in the Philippines. There had been no additions once we got to the States. Muriel was accustomed to those matters, she just accepted as life, my connections to her mother, Krissell and Ann. She has never seen me when I wasn't with them. She has never seen anyone added.

Now she has. As Ninay is added, her place in the conversations and in the functioning of the family has changed. She doesn't want to spend time away from the family as she had before. Now she is inward looking, more considerate of the feelings of others at the table and more careful in teasing and speech in general.

And now Muriel sees a seventeen year old who is going to school in the US, who has US friends and who actually seems to be happy in my bed. Plus Ninay is getting more attention from me and more respect from the other females.

For this twelve year old whose own emotions are a virtual roller coaster minute to minute and whose body is developing seemingly as fast, it is a very confusing message. Muriel is the only female in the house I am not fucking and all of a sudden, that fact comes crashing down on Muriel. She is pissed off, confused, envious, repulsed and attracted all at the same time.

There are moments of intense teasing and there are moments when I am the smelliest dog in the pound. She alternates hanging on me for dear life to wanting nothing to do with me. I have not laid a hand on Muriel in any but the most appropriate ways. I do not ask Muriel for anything inappropriate. Quite the contrary, my requests are always sotto voce and mild and totally within the bounds of normal parenting. I learned years ago that the quieter I am the more effective I am. So there is never, no matter the behavior, never a raised voice or threat from me. I never 'ground' Muriel, never spank her, never do anything other than to let her know that some behaviors are not acceptable, or that actions have consequences and here are the current consequences to her behaviors. Ganda is fully in support of my parenting and she backs me up completely. In some ways Ganda is far harder on Muriel than I am on the child...

As she approaches her thirteenth birthday the flirting behavior gets more intense. The need for my approval gets stronger. Her need for physical contact grows. I keep it in the safe zone, but she is wanting core physical contact. She is competing with four women, all of whom have access to my bed and use that access. And at the same time all the hormones that create sexual need are coursing through her little body. We are not intentionally setting Muriel up, but it is a setup.

Still I am the adult and nothing is going to happen because I am not going to let it happen. I give Muriel as much appropriate contact as I can. I try to spend more time with her and try to be interested in the things that matter to her in her world, but she is not welcome into my world and that is where she wants to be. When I ask her what is going on in hers, she becomes visibly upset.

On other matters, I am in heaven. I have four beautiful women at my table who all are happy to be mine. If I go out, I often have at least two of them on my arms. It might raise eyebrows but it also is my life as I want to live it. Work continues to be good and the income is fine.

That is where we are and how things are, when Ganda, Muriel and I take a trip back to Mindanao that summer. The idea was we will have a lazy month and a half, Ganda visiting friends and family, Muriel reconnecting with her best friend, and cousin, Venus. I will scout out some land Ganda might purchase – as I am not allowed to purchase land there. We are thinking about a retirement/vacation home there.