Toto and the Boys II: George

Chapter 30

“Why? Because I threatened to leave you and take all my money with me? Is that why?” her mother was saying to her father.

George’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe her mother had threatened her father with the same idea she suggested months ago.

“No! What are you talking about? Look, let’s go back inside and discuss this calmly.”

“I want to go home now, Antonio,” her mother insisted.

George didn’t know what to do. She was hiding behind an SUV and she was not sure for how long it would stay there. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Jordan was now talking with his parents across the street. Should she do the same? Should she step in and tell her folks, “Hey, no need to fight. Jordan and I are in love. No worries. A wedding might eventually happen.”

George was about to step out from her hiding place and announce that there was nothing to fight over and that no one was leaving anyone.

“Please stop crying,” her father’s gentle voice followed as he stepped closer to his wife. It was the first time she heard him talk to his wife that way.

“Our daughter might be right. You care about nothing but your business and your money!” Mariana Lacson said in between sobs. George grimaced. She gave her mother that idea and now she regretted it.

“That’s not true. I don’t care about your money. I don’t care if you take your share and I very much don’t care what you do with it. Just…” he seemed to struggle with the words as his wife continued to cry and George almost saw herself in him when she was having her talk with Jordan last night. “Just don’t leave me.” This time, her mother let her husband embrace her. “You know I can’t imagine myself alone without you.” There was fear in her father’s voice, something she had never heard before—something she had never witnessed before and even imagined she would.

She did not bother to step in and decided to give them more time alone.

Everything she had believed about her parent’s relationship was suddenly shattered in that short period of time. She had never seen them show love or affection toward each other in the years she had been with them. Of if they did, she was blinded by her own judgment and resentment toward her father. Were they always like that? Was she the only one who never saw it?

She entered the restaurant without being seen and asked if there was any reservation for a Lacson or Ledesma family. There was.

“There were already four people who arrived but they seemed to have left. They should be back soon,” said the man who guided her to the table.

She nodded and looked out of the glass wall that faced the street outside. She could see Jordan across the street, talking with his parents and she almost smiled, wondering how much control he must have at the moment to look that patient.

She straightened in her chair when she saw her mother walking toward her, her eyes red but dry. And she was smiling.

“Hey,” she greeted the woman. “You cried, didn’t you?”

Her mother received her kiss and they both sat down. “We had a fight. You won’t believe how it started. Your tita and I suggested that we just let you and Jordan decide on your own but your fathers were adamant that they hear what you two have to say first. I thought it was ridiculous because they would only contradict everything you might say tonight. And the disagreement started and before we knew it, your tita and I walked out the restaurant.

She feigned ignorance and asked, “So what happened next?”

Slowly, her mother smiled at her. “Of course, your father finally agreed not to push through with the wedding.” Her mother leaned closer and whispered, “It took a little bit of acting on my part.”