(Sent on July 3rd, Wednesday, 10:43 pm, Llanishen Street)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
I am writing to tell you that I have successfully submitted a draft and Monica was quite pleased with it. Now I'm writing my next chapters, so I could set it aside for a few weeks in August before I edit it. At least, that's what Monica and Nick advised me to do because it is hard to be objective about one's drafts when one sees it too often.
I also have some wonderful news. Remember that paper that I mentioned I was going to send to an international new media conference later this year? It has been accepted for presentation!
Imagine: my first international conference. What's more, I won a graduate student travel award that will help fund my trip, so I don't have to worry a thing about funds.
I really have to prepare for it. There is so much to do, and it's wonderful! The JobShop has been giving me a lot of jobs lately too. Sadly, I had to refuse a lot of them so I could write. Working is great, but my dissertation and my conference presentations take precedence. At least all of this is enough to keep me busy and not think too much about certain things.
Julia came with me to church last Sunday, and the message spoke to both of us. She has been crying a lot these days, and seeing a therapist. I think this is good for her.
The text was taken from Hosea 1-3. The story is about Hosea, a faithful husband, and his unfaithful wife, Gomer. Though Hosea loves her, Gomer chose to prostitute herself and seek love in other men. Pastor Hughes talked about how this masochistic love story parallels Israel's relationship with God during Hosea's time, and alternatively, how we as ordinary people sometimes look for love in the wrong places, never realizing that God is waiting for us all along. Eventually, Gomer sinks to her lowest when she becomes a slave, but Hosea buys her back and chooses to take her back as his wife. That is true love, and one that God also shows us when he sent His son to pay the price for us.
By the end of the sermon, Julia was crying. I guess at the end of the day, no matter how much we try to find love, nothing can be as powerful as the love that God demonstrates. At least, that was how Steph clarified it to me as we walked back home.
I wonder how that relates to me and my perpetual singleness. Sometimes I wonder if God does want me to be single forever, and if that is so, will I just be content in His love?
But this is not about me. At least Julia looks okay now. That's what matters.
Yours,
Judy
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 9:22 am, Salcedo Village)
To: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
From: victoria.barnes@international-ed.com.ph
Dear Ms. Abad,
Mr. Dela Vega is concerned that you accepting the award may affect the chances of other students traveling. Rest assured that he will be able to provide the travel funds necessary, and he advises you to give up the travel award.
Furthermore, he is also concerned that working with Dr. Callahan might affect your studies, and wishes that you refuse any further contracts that she may give.
Sincerely,
Victoria Barnes
Associate
International Education Philippines
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 7:03 am, Howell Hall)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
I understand your concern about the travel funds. I know that in other universities, travel funds are allocated to students, and given the recent university cuts, I could understand what you might be thinking. In my case, this is an award given by the International New Media Studies Association to papers they find that are outstanding, so I will not be taking anything from other students.
What I don't understand though is your concern about my work with Monica, especially given that my grades have actually gone up last semester. In fact, I think I am learning a lot more by working with Monica because I am doing real research, whereas in class we only discuss how to do research. It is really a lot different in practice. So in my case, I am merely extending the classroom to the media lab.
Not every student at my level gets to do this kind of research with a well-known academic. I do not want to disappoint Monica who has so much faith in me. I do not want to give this up. Please don't ask me again.
This is my chance.
Judy
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 3:01 pm, Salcedo Village)
To: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
From: victoria.barnes@international-ed.com.ph
Dear Ms. Abad,
Mr. Dela Vega is still insistent about you turning down the scholarship and Dr. Callahan.
Sincerely,
Victoria Barnes
Associate
International Education Philippines
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 8:28 am, Howell Hall)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
Must we do this to poor Victoria? You can make a fuss if you want to but I refuse to give up the things that I have earned.
Can't you just be happy that I am moving up in academia?
Judy
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 3:44 pm, Salcedo Village)
To: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
From: victoria.barnes@international-ed.com.ph
Dear Ms. Abad,
I am afraid Mr. Dela Vega is still insistent.
Sincerely,
Victoria Barnes
Associate
International Education Philippines
(Sent on July 4th, Thursday, 9:06 am, Howell Hall)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
You are simply impossible! I will not be treated like an item you own.
If you say one thing more, I will close my account here, and use any more of my allowance money no matter what you send. I will be always grateful, but please as clichéd as they may sound, let me spread my wings.
Yours affectionately,
Judy
PS. Happy Independence Day! Do you know that the Philippines got its freedom from the US today?
(Sent on July 9th, Tuesday, 2:16 pm, Llanishen Street)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
Strokes of genius can sometimes be very spontaneous.
Julia and I just did a quick run to Tescos yesterday, when we happened upon Lea and started chatting. We learned that Lea has to extend another year because the people reading her thesis chapters are taking too long, and of course extending means having to find a way to get funds, as she is getting less and less funding nowadays. I guess that is the reality that Phd students usually face during the later stages of their dissertation, and it is doubly hard for international students.
"If I don't find anything soon," I may have to resume my work back home.
Julia was really deep in thought during our walk, and she shut herself in her room almost as soon as we got home, only getting out at dinnertime to get a quick bite.
The sun had barely risen when I heard loud successive knocks on my door. "Get up!" she called, "After we finish breakfast, we are going to Lea's."
Thankfully, I managed to keep breakfast long, just so we won't disturb Lea. Apparently, Julia had been emailing and calling people all night, and by some miracle, she found a number of sponsors back home who were interested in Lea's project with enough money to last Lea for almost two years.
That news woke me up more than any cup of coffee. After that, we spent almost the entire morning in Lea's house, who could hardly believe her good fortune.
On our walk back home again, she discussed in detail something that she wants to do for her final project: that is reviving a funding and support network that her mother once started. Apparently, they used to own an educational consultancy that advices Filipino scholars and aspiring scholars for free and connects them to people who could fund their research projects. This time, she wants to take it online, and create and media platform for it like Kickstarter for academics.
Usually, I am the nerd who talks a lot, but today our roles were reversed, and I think I like it.
Yours,
Judy
PS. How many students are in your experimental scholarship program? Would you consider partnering with Julia?
(Sent on July 12th, Friday, 9:21 pm, Dog Kennel Hill)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
Julia and I have been very busy lately, but we're in London for a gathering of Filipino students at the Embassy.
Do you know where the Filipino Embassy is, by the way?
It's in a white Georgian building in a small street near the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. One might miss it without the Filipino flag, but it is there. It is, of course, a haven for all of us.
The entire Caermor crew minus Sally (she's still somewhere in the Mediterranean I believe) boarded an early coach this morning to catch the meeting. We arrived just before it started, but we were surprised to find that there were already lots of people that we barely we able to fit the huge conference room that we were given. Jimmie was there too. Many scholars were London-based, but there were so many who came from all over: some were from Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Warwick, Aberdeen, Manchester and some other areas that I cannot remember.
The purpose of the meeting was to assemble all of us to form an association. Goodness knows how much we need it considering how divided we are mostly because of geography. I realize how lucky I am that I got to know Sally and everyone, and that there are more than ten of us in our group. There were some students who came all alone because they've never met any other Filipino in their university. Unity is always vital to all of us, because we Filipinos are stronger together.
Johnny was elected president. The other officers are mostly London and Oxford-based. We agreed to form a mailing list and a Facebook group, and Julia volunteered to create them. In fact, she is working on them now as I write.
After the meeting, various people arrived to bring us all food. There was a surfeit of pancit, menudo, lumpia, bibingka and all other dishes that we all missed waiting for us at the ground floor. Of course, food is a social lubricant for Filipinos. While eating, we all got to talk to other wonderful Filipino students, whose names I can't all remember but I remember what they are researching on. I'll probably recall their names once they friend me on Facebook, or when I see them in the group.
Julia too was busy at work chatting up with scholars about their work, and about possible sources of funding. I never knew how good a networker Julia is until this afternoon. She surprises me sometimes.
Some of the other scholars that we met invited Julia and me for dinner at a pub, but we had to refuse because we promised to have dinner at Tita Edna's. Tita Edna intently listened to all of our stories at dinner. Before she retired to her room to put Michael to sleep, she squeezed both of us in a very tight hug. "I am so proud of my girls!" she said.
"I love you too, Tita," replied Julia. She dropped the "yaya" now, and that means something.
Change can sometimes start small, but they can form ripples that can affect the rest of the world. I am not sure how these will all count, but I do hope that in the little things we do we can make a difference.
Yours,
Judy
(Sent on July 13th, Saturday, 8:36 pm, Dog Kennel Hill)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
I will try to finish this letter without smiling and giggling too much.
Jude Law spoke to me today.
Yup. That Jude Law.
Jimmie and George managed to get three tickets to a performance of Henry V on ebay, and they offered me the third ticket.
We arrived at the theatre about an hour before the performance. The cafes around were a bit on the expensive side (for us at least) so we decided to eat our snacks outside by the backstage door.
Soon, we spotted the man himself rushing to the backstage door with a group of fans behind him. A couple of girls blocked his way and he was forced to sign autographs. He was already running late. Soon, the crowd gathered around him so he begrudgingly signed more autographs to get them out of his way. I squeezed my way to him with my camera. When I finally got to him, I said, "Sir, would it be possible to get a picture with you?"
Then he turned and smiled at me. He looked at me intensely with those dreamy blue eyes. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he said, "I'm sorry, dearie. I really can't stop for more than five seconds."
Time seemed to stop.
He smiled and spoke to me.
His way was suddenly clear and he took the opportunity to dash into the door.
Just like that, he was gone, and I stood there grinning like an idiot. I didn't notice the crowd dispersing or heard whatever Jimmie and George were saying to me. I felt like I had already gone to heaven.
Even during the performance, I can't help but smile about it. Of course, he is as brilliant onstage as everyone has been claiming. Despite his receding hairline, his performance was very dynamic. The way he interprets the titular character as a war criminal reminds me so much of a John Sutherland essay. Branagh will always be my favorite, but I will never forget Jude Law's King Henry. And of course it helps that he is playing one of my old literary crushes. But then again, I may need to rethink if he is crush material given this particular portrayal.
Even now, I could feel his hand on my shirt. When I narrated everything to Julia when I got back, she was so jealous.
Darn. I don't think I'll be able to wash this shirt now. Jude Law's molecules might still be here.
Must write fan fiction later. In that version, we are definitely going to get married.
Yours in celebrity heaven,
Judy
(Sent on July 17th, Wednesday, 10:45 pm, Llanishen Street)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
Julia's ex turned up yesterday.
I was just teaching Julia how to make adobo when our doorbell rang. When I opened our front door, I was surprised to find a handsome chiseled man in his late twenties, whose face look like he could have been the model for Michaelangelo's David. He nervously asked, "Is Julia home?"
Before I managed to utter a reply, Julia herself came to the door. I quickly returned to the kitchen, covered all our ingredients, put them in our part of the fridge, and retreated to my room to give them some privacy in the living room.
I half-expected to hear some screaming, but thankfully all remained quiet.
After about an hour and a half, I heard the front door close again. I rushed back to the living room and then the kitchen to find Julia taking out our ingredients again.
I slowly inched my hand towards her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she answered plainly.
"Really?"
She turned her dark eyes towards mine, and I knew she was telling the truth. "Really."
The chicken adobo that she managed to make was more or less edible, even I didn't manage to stop her from pouring too much soy sauce.
She'll learn.
As we were eating, she explained what happened with the videos. Apparently, the other girl was got jealous, and she was the one who stole their private photos, and sold it to some interested party. At least, Julia was right in that he wasn't the one who circulated those. I'll give her that. But what's more surprising was that he wanted her back, and that she said "no."
Thank God! If I was the person in that room, I would say more things than just "no" to that bastard.
"Does that mean that you are over him?" I asked.
"No," she answered. "But I know now that there is someone better out there for me. I don't have to look for love: it will just come at the right time."
Sometimes, she can't help but just surprise me. She is smarter than I am in many ways, and maybe even her brother who I just can't figure out.
Jervie is currently pressing charges, but Julia seems a bit reluctant to do so. "I've forgiven him she said, "I'm not the only one who was crazy because of love."
Still, therapy and her sessions with the girls at the Bible study are still helping. She's been going there for weeks now, while I have been continually finding reasons to not go. There are just some things that I would rather not to think about.
Yours,
Judy
(Sent on July 23th, Tuesday, 2:03 am, Llanishen Street)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
He called just this afternoon. He didn't have to say who he was, because I knew his voice even with just a single "hello."
My reply came like a faint whisper. "Hello." For a minute I just sat there, listening to his silence—it was silence but at least he was there. "I'll go get Julia."
He laughed, "You do notice that I'm not calling her number."
"You are calling mine."
"Yeah." There was a pause. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." If he only knew how much.
Before we knew it, we started chatting up and laughing like we used to. That is, until I asked about how he resolved that issue with Julia.
"You know Father's contact?" he answered. "He made it go away."
"In exchange for what?"
"You know what."
His words sent shockwaves to my body, that I just couldn't respond. The only thing I could hear on the other line was his breathing.
"Please say something..."
"I'm sorry."
A sigh. "I'm sorry too. I want you to know..."
"You don't have to tell me anything."
"We live in the real world. The real world has no place for idealists. Not anymore."
"Goodbye Jervie."
"Wait, Judy. You don't understand—" I hung up before he finished his last sentence. I just couldn't bear to hear anything anymore. After that, I just couldn't stop crying.
When Julia got home, I told her everything. She broke down and cried. "This is all because of me. I'm sorry, I am so sorry...."
Wonderful. Julia is blaming herself now. Yes, she was the bait, but she was not as blameworthy as the people who did this. And now I can't write or sleep either.
Maybe I was too harsh, but I can't help but be disappointed. I am such a fool for believing in him, but the saddest part of it is, I still do believe in him.
At least I still have you, Zorro. Because of you, I can still believe that there are still good people in this world. Laws and ideals exist to keep us sane, even if they sometimes don't make sense. I do not want to lose my ideals.
Yours,
Judy
(Sent on July 26th, Friday, 8:04 am, Llanishen Street)
To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph
From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
Dear Zorro,
By some miracle, I managed to send Monica my last chapter yesterday.
I'm joining the Single Ladies' weeklong retreat at Yorkshire, and our hired coach leaves in an hour.
Julia's not coming because her dear brother will be visiting next week, and I am leaving so I could avoid him.
Yours,
Judy
(Sent on July 27th, Saturday, 9:17 pm, Merville Homes)
To: jerusha.abad@gmail.com
From: victoria.barnes@international-ed.com.ph
Dear Judy,
Mr. Dela Vega called me to advise you to stay in Caermor. If this is not too late, please do not board the coach as per his instructions.
Regards,
Victoria Barnes
Associate
International Education Philippines