Isabel tried to stand up, but Mariella gently nudged her back down. After a few moments, the struggling was replaced by tears. Now it was Mariella’s turn to comfort Isabel. She held her in her arms, saying nothing, gently stroking Isabel’s hair until the sobs ran their course.
Isabel didn’t come to work that night. Instead she stayed home alone. Mariella had wanted to stay, but Isabel told her there were things she had to think about, and the only way to do that was alone. Reluctantly, her cousin had left, promising to return the next morning.
There was no getting around it-Mariella had been right. At least that’s how Isabel perceived it at the time. Isabel had become Larry’s Philippine girl. She couldn’t help wondering how many other women he had.
If she had not been in such a hyperemotional state, she would have seen the truth, that there was no one else but her. But Mariella had done such a thorough job on her mind that she thought she was thinking clearly. Even years later, as she recounted her portion of the tale to me, she couldn’t understand how she’d been so completely manipulated.
The way she saw it at the time was that she had only two choices: accept the situation for what it was and give in completely-become like Mariella, in other words-or break it off. As much as she still loved her cousin, she knew she couldn’t live Mariella’s life, never having hope, never expecting more.
By the time she fell asleep, her mind was made up. She would call Larry and tell him she couldn’t do this any longer. It was the right thing to do, she thought.
Only it wasn’t. Not even close.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“I’m calling to say goodbye,” Isabel said into her cell phone.
It was morning in Angeles, but, because of the international dateline, still evening the day before in California.
Larry had to have been caught completely off guard, not only by what she had said, but also because he was the one who usually called her.
“Hold on,” he said. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
She had to speak her words carefully so he wouldn’t hear the stutter in her voice as she fought for air. “I can’t be your girlfriend anymore.” She took a breath, then added, “I’m sorry.”
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. I don’t-” She stopped herself. “I don’t love you anymore,” she said, the water welling in her eyes belying her words.
“I know that’s not true,” he said, his voice calm. “Tell me what’s wrong and we can figure it out together, okay?”
“There’s nothing to figure out, nothing to do. It’s over,
“I don’t accept that.”
“I’ll move out of the apartment before the end of the month. I’ll try to get your money back.”
“Why would you move out?” he asked.
“I don’t feel right taking your money if we are not together.”
“You’d rather go back to living with a group of girls in crappy conditions?”
She hesitated before answering him, knowing what she said would upset him more. “I’m moving back in with my cousin.”
“Mariella?” Whatever trace of calm that had been in his voice was gone. “Dammit, Isabel. What’s she done to you?”
“Nothing. It’s not her fault. She’s my friend.”
“No, she’s
“Please, I don’t want to talk about this,” Isabel said. “I need to go.”
“Isabel, wait,” he said.
She resisted the urge to disconnect the call.
“I need you,” he said.
“No, you don’t.” This time she didn’t wait for him to say anything else before she hung up.
“Are you all right?” Mariella asked. She had been sitting on the couch watching Isabel pace while talking to Larry.
“No,” Isabel said. “I want to call him back, tell him I was wrong.”
Mariella got off the couch and quickly moved to her cousin’s side. “I know it’s hard,” she said, as she gently placed a hand on Isabel’s arm. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Isabel looked down at the phone. It would be so easy to just redial Larry’s number. Her thumb was subconsciously moving in the direction of the call button when suddenly her phone rang. Larry’s name was on the display.
“Is it him?” Mariella said.
Isabel nodded.
“Don’t answer it,” her cousin told her.
But Isabel accepted the call anyway and put the phone up to her ear.
“Isabel?” Larry said.
She said nothing.
“Isabel, are you there?”
Before she could answer him, Mariella grabbed the phone and pushed disconnect. Once she was sure he was no longer on the line, she turned the phone off.
“It’s better this way,” Mariella said. “If you want to end it, then end it. This way he’ll know it’s over.” Instead of giving the phone back to Isabel, she put it in her purse. “You don’t really need this right now. I’ll give it back to you in a few days, okay? Safer for you.”
“I didn’t even give him a chance,” Isabel said.
“Aren’t you listening to me? You cannot talk to him. You must let it go,
Isabel took a step toward Mariella, reaching for her cousin’s bag. Mariella moved it out of reach.
“Give it to me,” Isabel said, grabbing for it again, but missing.
“No.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You didn’t,” Mariella said.
“Give me my phone.”
She tried to push Mariella out of the way to get to the purse, but Mariella anticipated this and moved to the side, the bag in her hand behind her back. As Isabel regained her balance, Mariella reached out and slapped her cousin across the face. Isabel froze in surprise, her cheek stinging from the blow.
“Stop it,” Mariella said. “You did the right thing. Talking to him now won’t help anything.”
“But-” Isabel began.
“No,” Mariella cut her off. “It’s over. Better for you. You’ll see.”
Isabel slumped onto the couch, defeated.
That had to have been a moment of triumph for Mariella. In her mind, she must have thought she’d won. In a matter of minutes, her cousin had gone from being one of the lucky ones to just another bar girl. No chance she would overshadow Mariella now.
I don’t know what was going on with Larry back in San Francisco after he talked to Isabel, but I could make a pretty good guess. He must have tried calling her phone several times over the next couple of hours, only to be frustrated when she failed to answer.
He must have been going crazy. He loved Isabel as much as anyone could love another person. He had undoubtedly wanted to get his business squared away before asking her to marry him. For Larry it had probably
