"No, I want to know the rest of the story." Rosa broke her long silence.
Diana got up and poured more wine for herself and her guests. It was obvious that she was drunk but not to the point to lose her faculties. She had never done this. Staggering, she returned to her seat but before getting there, she hit her foot on the leg of the coffee table.
"Oh, d..."
"Are you okay?" Jacob asked.
Diana stayed silent, but it was Rosa, who would not let it go.
"Did you ever think to contact my mother?" Her tone of voice was extremely sad.
"Of course, I did. I tried, but I couldn't find her anywhere. A few joint friends we had, didn't know anything about her whereabouts. I finally gave up."
"You gave up because you had another daughter!"
"This is not fair. I gave up because I couldn't do anything. She had disappeared with you in thin air. My experience has always been that life is what matters. I knew that Ellen would be a good mother even though she was wild in her young age. She desperately wanted to have a child. She went through a meditated plan to set me up; but she didn't respect men, She thought she could be both mother and father for you; and I see that she has done a good job raising you. Oh, God... I don't know what to believe now."
"How can you be experienced, as you claim, and only see the surface? How do you know that she's done a good job raising me?" Rosa was barely able to speak.
"You're right. I just see the surface; I just see you, my little Rosalina, beautiful, grown up, working on your PhD." Jacob covered his face again and began crying.
Rosa cried silently. Everyone else was engrossed all with attention.
"How do I know what you're telling me is the truth? Your story doesn't match my mother's."
"What did you mother tell you about me?"
"Not much; but from what I've gathered, you refused to marry her after she became pregnant with me. That is why she turned her back to men. She's been very bitter. She hates men."
"She was always like that. How can I prove to you that I am telling you the truth?"
"You lied once, so you can lie twice." Diana's voice was coming from the bottom of her drunkenness.
"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you." Jacob retorted.
"I want to call my mother now and clear this. I can't stand it anymore." Rosa talked hysterically. Tim grabbed Rosa's hand, who was getting up to go to the phone.
"No, It's too late, One o'clock here, two o'clock where your mother is. We all had too much to drink. You can still do it in the morning."
"No, I want to call her now."
"Don't stop her, Tim. Let her call. I think the truth worth waking up a person at this time." Jacob got up from his chair. "Life matters, life alone. What kind of life three of us will have if we don't clear this matter now. Maybe, just maybe these two women can find in themselves to forgive me after the phone call. I want us to discover life tonight, the eternal process of it, not the discovery itself. I must add, and this is for you Diana, that in every serious thought of human, there is always something hidden which is not possible to share it with others. I'm sure you have some hidden thoughts, secrets, somewhere among the layers of your brain that you never shared them with others even me. Am I right or not?"
Diana shivered.
"Watching all of you around me, the ugliness of what I, myself, am so ashamed of aggrandizes tremendously. Let's clear this matter. Rosa, go ahead, call your mother. You can use the bedroom phone if you want privacy."
Rosa walked to bedroom. Diana got up and followed her. While disappearing in the hallway, she said:
"I have nothing against Rosa. In fact, I like her; but I am part of this and must listen to her conversation with her mother."
They vanished like the sun would fade in dusk. The others heard the bang of closing the bedroom door. Then it was silent.
~~
To Be Continued
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