Truly Yours

Chapter 5

“My knees were trembling. I even started to think she was right. I wasn’t a squatter like she accused me of –but was I thinking about what was best for Jameson –would he be happy marrying below his station and going down in the world. Would he always feel embarrassed introducing me to his high class circle of friends as if I weresome floozy, he had picked up one night in a bar in Ermita? But apart from these considerations, his mother, Imelda Ferreira, had actually threatened both me and Jameson. It was as if she had k******e intentions and would destroy part of herself and her family just to prevent our love and union. She’s a very wealthy woman and has the power to turn her threats into reality. I had to admit she held all the strong cards.”

“I even tried to break up with Jameson, because I partly believed what his mother, Imelda, had said –that I would be ‘dragging him down’ –perhaps not to live with the squatters in Tondo –but to a respectable and hard-working milieu amongst ordinary Filipinos. But when he discovered that his mother was behind the whole ‘break-up’ thing, he refused to relinquish his love for me.”

“ ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Do you think I’m so weak that I can’t do anything about it?!’he said in a rare fit of anger.”

“ ‘I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do,’ I said, bursting into tears.”

“That day, he confronted his mother. I tried to stop him, but he was adamant. Everything ended upside down for us. Especially when he commanded that we run away together and get married in secret, with no care about the practical plans forthe future.”

“I gave myself wholly to him, and believed our love was so strong. He was my sun, I wanted to follow him everywhere.”