30 Years of Solitude

 Twenty- seven years from now, when Vincent will be confined in the hospital because of heart attack, he will remember that day when he and his siblings went to a modern furniture house to window shop items for their dream house.  They thought of maybe buying the window this week, the door next week, the posts next month, the roof two months later– then they can assemble it by themselves when all parts are in.  Hope and Mona argued what color their dining table will be.  Vincent said it will be glass so they can not decide on the color anyway.
 Today, he lies on his mat, forcing his self to move to prepare for work.  He has everyday duty in a nearby fastfood chain.  The compensation is just enough to pay for the rental of his house, where his four other siblings live.  Their parents died long time ago; since then, life for Vincent seems to be rolling down, the same way the car that killed their parents are in rolled down the hills.
 The empty glass shattered on the floor when he slipped, not noticing the warning about the wet floor.  His manager immediately reprimanded him salary deduction but his anger was alleviated when he saw Marsha smile at him.  She knew he did not see the “Wet Floor” warning because he was looking at her.
 Marsha and Vincent have been teased of being in a relationship ever since Marsha started as cashier three months ago.  They go home together since the villages they live are on the same way.
 Theresa found out his older brother is dating Marsha, so she told him to remember to put his mind over his heart.  Vincent agreed.  One month later, when Marsha asked Vincent if they are a couple, he said that it can not be and he still has plans.  He was relieved that Marsha said she understood; but she was not able to sleep that night, her mother trying to get to her room after hearing her sobbing.
 It took five supervisors more, three of which are more tenured agents than him, for Vincent to become one.  When Theresa marched the ampitheater, in that black toga, Vincent can not keep his tears.  Theresa found a job as bank teller.  She and Vincent managed to acquire a business space near a university.  They started a computer shop business, starting with just four computers, then became sixteen.  The business supported the studies of Mona and Hope until college, fortunately, since the branch Vincent was working on had to shut down due to a new government policy that affected the company.
 Vincent tried looking for a job afterwards but his undergraduate status hindered him from finding a good one that he ended as a waiter again in another fastfood chain.  He believed an opening will eventually open and he’ll pursue that.  The computer shop is still providing them income anyway.
 One summer, Hope revealed to Vincent that Theresa is pregnant.  Angry, Vincent had to order Theresa to stay in the houses, but Theresa was so in love to the guy that she eloped.  Theresa was not seen again until fifteen years later, Mona found Theresa in a squatter’s area in Mandaluyong with five children; the husband having no job.  Mona had to bring them in her condominium for a year until Theresa started a small business with the money Hope gave.
 When Theresa was gone, Vincent was so afraid that when Hope told him she was pregnant two years after, he had to secretly let Hope drink a medicine to abort the baby.  The guy promised to take care of the responsibilily but abandoned Hope when the he found out the baby was dead.
 Mona decided to stop studying after finishing two years in college when their only aunt offered her a job in the mall as a clerk.  She was able to assist her two older siblings to have Hope graduate as an engineer.  Hope struggled to find a stable job since the need for them is depreciating, with the emergence of technology.  Meanwhile, the computer shop had to be closed after other shops started opening around the school as well; the shop was bringing liability now. 
 Vincent had to man the restaurant on his own one day when everyone else was stuck somewhere.  A man entered the restaurant and ordered tea.  When the man did not like what the tea tasted, he complained a lot that he spilled the tea on the table and had to wait for Vincent to fix it.  Vincent previously identified the man as an old classmate from high school; the classmate that used to be an average student copying Vincent’s homework.  It seems that his parents’ money brought him a long way; longer than his brain could bring him.
 Mona returned to studying, not because they are actually feeling a little better, now that Vincent, Hope, and herself are working, all of which supporting their youngest brother, Jonathan, but because she saw graduation pictures of her old classmates online.
 Mona and Hope eventually married to good husbands, started living good, but leaving Vincent supporting the graduating Jonathan.  When Jonathan graduated, he worked as a marketing officer of a prestigious company that he became famous a few years after Vincent’s death when he created a promotion for the company that earned it millions.
 When Theresa got reunited with the other siblings, Vincent was already old and had developed heart problems.  She was teary- eyed when she apologized to Vincent, who forgave her, knowing that his ailment will kill him soon and he has no time for other heartaches.
 Before Jonathan set off to another country to live there, he paid a visit to Vincent’s mausoleum, his son left a bouquet of tulips on the name plate.
 

~ by dondon18 on June 29, 2007.