8 The Call (2/2)
”You lie!” I exclaim. ”You were high and drunk when you told Mateo everything!”
”That was the first time,” she says. ”I was conscious the second time. That was the time I told Mateo what you saw on the last night we visited Emma. I swear, I had not touched a drug or alcohol since that day I promised to remain sober. It is hard for me. Call me a fool or however you like, but it does not change you still have no respect for our friend. And, I suppose you are here to tell the world about her illness, aren't you? ”
”I had no choice!” I said in my defense.
”Right, and I suppose you had no choice but to eavesdrop on other people's conversation,” she says. ”You shameless wretched girl!”
”You have been getting yourself high, haven't you?” I say. ”Normally, a sober Eloisa would speak bible verses and goodness while you seem to be loco. So, what is it today? Cocaine? Heroin? Marijuana?”
”I do not need to be high to be furious with you,” she says. ”I am sober. Go ask a doctor. Let him examine me. I know that people think me a nun, but for what I saw from you, I don't think I can find the bible verse to help my anger.”
”Well, speak for yourself, Ms. Opulent,” I say spitefully. ”You wouldn't have the slightest idea about doing everything to succeed in life. You had your prospects all your life. You have a great inheritance and – ”
”Do you think it's that easy for us?” she says. ”You always think that life is easy for us! You think it's easy for me! I have prospects, yes, but I have to work my own bones to get somewhere. It was all well until my parents decided to get an annulment! They never even cared for me! Do you think I would inherit their fortune? No! When they decided to get an annulment a few years ago, they never even considered that I would be declared as an illegitimate daughter.
”I no longer have the rights to the fortune I was once the heir to it. No more. I am a bastard. And you think it is easy for me? Both of them are too prideful to discuss what to do with me. I mean, one of them could adopt me as their own daughter, but the other would have to renounce their parentage over me.
”Or, take a look at Mateo. He is a disgrace that is why his prospects and inheritance went swiftly away as he was about to inherit them. You may have forgotten about our sister, Emma. She's lying on a bed and apparently, her betrothed's father will sue her father for being unable to fulfill the contract!
”Do you think this is easy for us? No. You are the lucky one. You are not a bastard, a disgrace, or betrothed. You are free as a bird, can't you see? When you reach too high, you are bound to fall down. That is what I warn you. God made us all different. We all suffer different kinds of tests. Our situation is never the same to one another. You have no rights to judge. Remember that, dear sister.”
And, the nun is back. I know it was wrong from the very beginning, but I had no choice. I just can't make her see that the world runs on ambitions and greed. I have two sisters for nuns. Though, I come to realize that being a member of the elite is not all caviar and diamonds. I was wrong again. I never felt what they suffer. I suffered too, but it is all different for all of us.
I say no more. I only lead the way to Emma's room where we found her lying on her bed reading a book entitled ”The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. She is indeed the little bookworm. She always finds herself doing things that are always contrary. She is torn between chastity and lust, love and wealth, obedience and defiance, and faith and sin. I cannot understand her, truly. She chose a commoner over a man that would secure her wealth.
”Good afternoon, Emma,” I say after Eloisa and I entered the room.
”Great story,” she says simply.
”Excuse me?” I ask.
”You think I have not heard?” she says. ”Even the nurses are a bit of a gossip. My dear maid, Mary, is also one. The truth is, I read your paper and you went out to the world and declared my betrothal. I should have known that you would meet up with him and make a hash about my life.”
”I have asked for Mister de la Rama's permission to publish the story,” I say steadily.
”And you have not asked mine?” she says. ”Don't make me laugh, sister.”
”I apologize,” I say.
”Don't,” she says. ”I'm not mad. I am disappointed. You did not even say that I am ill and will soon die. You should have also said that since I am bound to this hospital, I cannot marry him and therefore, not fulfilling the said contract. It's enough for him to sue my father. Go ahead, publish that too.”
”Are you being sarcastic?” I ask.
”Alas, dear sister, you cannot even tell the difference between sarcasm and declaration,” she says.
”You have to rest,” Eloisa says to break the heated atmosphere.
”I've rested enough,” she says dismissively. ”It's not like I have been doing anything. I am bound to this bed until my breath takes me away!”
”Then you are happy now at the end of your days?” Eloisa says.
”No,” she says flatly. ”I can never be happy. There are too many secrets, Eloisa. There are enough to make Rose ensure her success.”
”I had to do what I must to succeed,” I say in my defense.
”And what of me?” she asks. ”I am nothing. I am no heiress and I am only living off people's charity.”
”Quit the drama,” I say. ”Sister, you are your father's only heir.”
”Am I?” she says. ”Am I my father's only heir? I have no prospects. Lord knows that. Now, I'm paying for the sins of my wanton mother.”
”Emma, don't – ”
”What?” she says. ”It's true. Do write that down, Rose. Lerine Concepcion, the current governor, is wanton and promiscuous. Turns out, she conceived me with another man. Liars. . . Such liars!”
”Do you desire to know the truth?” I ask. ”Don't you want, you know, to see your lover?”
”Oh, who told you about a lover?” she asks.
”Nobody,” I say as I protect her maid, Mary. ”I just thought that since you do not want to marry Mister de la Rama, surely you must have another person in mind.”
”No,” she says flatly. ”I have no one in mind. You should not have come here.