The Pull of Gravity

waning smile on her face.

“Would you like some more?” I asked.

“What?” She looked up, realized what she’d been doing and put the glass down. “No. No more.”

“Do you want to go to bed?” I asked.

“Do you?”

“No.”

We sat quietly for several minutes listening to the ocean, lost in our thoughts. At some point she reached over and put her hand over mine.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” she said.

I looked over, brow furrowed. “Who?”

“Cathy. She got out,” she said, then more distantly added, “She was lucky.”

I almost laughed in surprise. Though she was right-I was thinking about Cathy-my thoughts were no longer of what could have been, but merely of one friend worrying about another, and hoping she was happy.

“What were you thinking about?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. There was a pause, then, “Nothing at all.”

The silence returned, this time stretching out for almost five minutes. But we were getting closer to the end, closer to the things I’d come to find out. So finally I said, “Tell me about when you came back to Angeles.”

A single tear welled in the corner of her eye, but somehow she refused to let it fall.

“We came back two days after Christmas. I wanted to stay in Manila longer. I don’t know why, but Larry wanted to return to Angeles…”

They returned to the Las Palmas Hotel, and though they both would have liked to stay in Manila longer, I knew that Larry was watching his expenses. His business back home was growing, but he told me that cash flow was tight. Staying at the Las Palmas Hotel was a hell of a lot cheaper than staying at the Makati Shangri-La. In another six months, he had said, he’d be doing really well. And in another year, he figured he could afford a full month at the Shangri-La without even worrying about it.

I don’t know why he never told Isabel this. Pride, I guess, but she wouldn’t have cared. In fact, she probably would have been happy to help him save every penny.

It wasn’t long after their return that Mariella showed up again, this time “accidentally” running into them while they were having breakfast at The Pit Stop the morning after they got back.

“Hi,” she said, drawing the word out so it sounded like she was almost singing it. “Larry, so good to see you.”

She leaned down and gave Larry a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I wondered what happened to Isabel until someone told me you were back in town,” she said. “What a surprise.” She smiled at Isabel. “What a nice Christmas present for you, di ba?”

“Yes,” Isabel said, her own smile slightly strained.

“Where are you staying? The Las Palmas again?” Mariella asked.

“Yes,” Larry said.

“That’s great, that’s great.”

“We’re just about to have breakfast. Would you like to join us?” Larry asked.

Isabel cringed inwardly.

“Oh, I wish I could,” Mariella said, “but I am meeting some friends. We’re going to the mall in San Fernando. Have you been?”

“Once,” Larry said.

“Would you like to come with us?”

Larry smiled. “I think we’re just going to take it easy today.”

“No problem, no problem. You have a fun day, okay?” She leaned in and kissed the air a few inches above her cousin’s cheek. “Next time tell me when you’re going away. You had me scared.”

“I will.”

“Okay. I have to go,” Mariella said. “I’ll see you later.” When she was only a few feet away, she looked back. “It’s really good to see you again, Larry.”

Two nights later, Larry stopped by The Lounge alone.

“I was wondering when we could have that boys’ night out,” he said as we sat at the bar.

“Kind of tough for me to get away right now,” I said. “I’m down a papasan, so Doug and I are working every day.”

When he asked what happened, I looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, then told him the Tommy story.

After I finished, he said, “That sucks,” then took a sip of his beer.

“You don’t seem surprised,” I said.

“Were you?”

“Of course I was,” I said.

He nodded. He took another drink of his beer, then set it down on the counter and turned on his barstool so he was facing the dance stage. “Have you looked at this place lately?”

“I look at it every day.”

“On my last trip, The Lounge was the place to be. Every night was like a party. All the girls were having fun, they all felt cared for and watched over. By you. That was about the same time you bought a share of this place, right?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Cathy left you not long after that, didn’t she?”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

He chuckled as if I’d said something funny. “I know you’ve been thrown into the shit, but you’ve got to pull yourself out.”

“Maybe you need to mind your own business a little more,” I told him.

“Maybe,” he replied.

One of the dancers walked by and tried to catch Larry’s eye, going so far as to run her hand across Larry’s knee as she passed. He gave her a quick smile, but shook his head so she walked on.

“That wouldn’t have happened before,” Larry said.

“What?” I asked.

“Everyone here knows I’m Isabel’s boyfriend. In the past, that meant none of the girls tried to make a move on me. But the atmosphere’s changed. It’s like no one cares about anyone else here anymore. Every girl for herself.”

“That’s crap,” I said.

“No,” he said, “it’s not.” He looked me in the eyes. “You used to have control of this place. I used to watch you work. You were gentle, but firm. Now? It’s like you just don’t care. If I can see it, you know the girls can see it. They take their cues from you so now they don’t care, either.”

I pushed up off my stool, my eyes narrowing with anger. “You come here two or three times a year,” I said, keeping my voice low so no one else could hear what I was saying. “You barely spend any time in my bar at all, and yet you’re telling me I’ve lost control of my business? Who the hell are you to do that?”

“A friend,” he said calmly.

“Well, fuck you, friend.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Isabel told me our little discussion caused more friction when Larry got back to the hotel. She was on the bed, propped up against the headboard watching TV, when he returned.