"Can we talk about something else?" Obviously Tim wanted to change the subject; but this time it was Rosa who wanted to prove her point of not getting married by the remark she made:
"It happens all the time; broken families, children or parents that leave each other, and so on and so for. I've never seen my father. I even don't know who he is."
"Why is that? What happened?" Diana's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know. My mother never explained it to me. She always said we were better off without him."
"You never told me that!" Tim looked astounded.
Rosa looked at him with aversion:
"I'm sure you haven't told me everything about yourself either. There are things in people's life that one keeps it privet, or you may want to say secret. Everybody has a secret either they admit it or not." She gave her answer reluctantly.
"Maybe you need to put pressure on your mother for the truth about your father." Diana's voice trembled with emotion. How strange the world was in the case of the three girls that now she knew, Helena, her husband's sister, her Vickie, and now Rosa.
"I don't see my mother a lot. She still lives in Philadelphia."
"Are you from there, too?" There was a twitch in Jacob's eyes.
"Yes, I was born there, too. All I know is that they were never married."
Something flashed in Jacob's mind, but he stayed silent. Diana, as studious as she had always been, noticed something unpleasant in her husband. She related it to all the young women who who were followed some boyfriends, or were murdered, or in case of Rosa who had never seen he father.
"Are you okay, sweet heart?'
"I am not drunk." He gasped for breath. He was not drunk, yet he was not okay.
"Let's go to the yard. The weather in nice. We all need some air."Diana felt tormented and oppresses. The room was filled with smoke of their smoking and the smell of alcohol. She got up and opened the window to go outside. Rosa and Thui followed her. Shortly after Tim joined them.
The whistling of a train was heard. That sound tortured Diana. They sat on the garden chair. Diana was no longer a loving hostess, but she was a haunted women.
"Jacob has told me that you have a daughter." Tim knew that he was talking about a very difficult issue with her. He hoped he could take it back.
Diana sank into her thoughts. She was pale and gloomy.
"I don't want to talk about Vickie." She babbled.
"She left three years ago and never returned." Thui said wrathfully.
Diana was outraged. She was in the verge of asking Thui to leave her house; nonetheless, she controlled her self. Instead she got up and began walking in the yard. The others continued talking. She was sure that Thui was telling Tim and Rosa about Vickie; but at this point she had so much pain that she really did not care what that vicious woman from where ever she was, that perhaps it was a lie like everything else, was telling others about her Vickie. It was pathetic and indecent to see this woman talk about her life.
Thui, who had prostituted her way to come to America, first began working for Ed as a housekeeper, then started sleeping with him, and finally they married. Who was she to judge her life or her daughter's life? Diana, this calm woman who entered the happiness of her life with dignity, now was in such a state of mind that death would have been precious to her.
The night was gentle; the full moon shone. Everywhere Diana Looked, the great sky was stretched quietly, and little dots of stars glowed coquettishly. She realized again, yet seemed like the first time, how much she loved this nature, this cruel, yet constraining nothingness.
"Come on and join us." It was Jacob, her one true love, who was calling her, always attentive, always watchful of her feelings!
Now everyone was in the yard. Diana walked to the crowd. Jacob had turned off the outside lights and put couple of candles on the garden table on the patio.
"Can I pick some pears from your tree, Jacob? They look wonderful." Tim asked.
"Of course, be my guest. You know I planted that tree myself the first year we bought this house."
Tim picked six pears from the tree. Diana brought a basket from inside and washed them with the garden hose.
"Let me get some plates and knives." She said.
"That is not necessary. Let's not ruin the nature's beauty with knife."
Diana sat between Jacob and Rosa. She poured more wine for herself and started a cigarette.
"You're going to have one of your headaches tomorrow, my love. Maybe it is time to stop drinking."
It was apparent how much Jacob loved and respected his wife.
Diana looked at him from the corner of her eyes, picked her glasses, and drank the wine on one breath. Jacob knew that she had to be angry at Thui. He, himself, knew how Thui was jealous to Diana and how improper she was. But his relationship was with Ed not Thui. To have Ed, he had to have Thui.
"I get headache with or without wine."
Jacob did not respond. It was clear to everyone that Diana was upset and no matter how hard she tried, she could not hide it. He knew of Thui's remark about their Daughter anytime they got together, as though she deliberately wanted to hurt Diana; nevertheless, he loved Diana so much that even her sudden mood swing inspired him. This was the feeling that at the beginning of their marriage had demonstrated as torture and madness, but now after twenty six years, he was always animated by by her when she was in a bad mood. He used to deny with laughter and irony that Diana had always motivated him when she was in a bad mood; nobody believed him, but those days were gone now. He was true to himself ever since and people believe him. Every book he had written was dedicated to Diana. One time Thui asked him:
"Don'y you have any one else to dedicate your book to?"
His answer was not shocking:
"Always Diana; without her, I am nothing."
To Be Continued
"Are you okay sweet heart? Do you want me to make some coffee?"
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