examines the card, we tell the story. “We were discovered by a Hollywood agent! So, Tom he will have to change his opinion about coffee shops. Because of Starbuck, you will now become rich.”
“Hey, you two, I’ve got some change.” She puts pennies, nickels, and a quarter on the table.
Williamo begins to tell how we are spending. I interrupt. “Go get the globe.” I would rather not dwell on candy.
“When I was little,” Claire says, “I saved pennies to buy pagan babies.”
“Maybe we were your pagans.”
“You’re Catholic, Lole. That’s the opposite of pagan.” The phone rings. “Esperanza,” Claire whispers. “More love trouble probably.”
I am the one they call for romance advice! And I do not even believe in it. My weekend employer, Jeff, he told me, the ones who make the dreams cannot live in them. We know, Lola, just how flimsy dreams are .
But Esperanza she is sobbing. “He will spend his birthday with his ex-wife.” She is sorry, though, what she said to him. She did not mean it. She will deliver to him roses from the garden of Beth Martin and she wants me to compose the note, in English.
“Go ahead,” I dictate. “Spend the birthday with her. Just save the rest of your life for me.” I should be on the payroll of Hallmark too. Bong Bong, he has drawn over one hundred holiday cards. The Christmas in the Philippines series.
“All better?” Claire asks when I hang up.
“Never all better. Not until you are old like me. My son is the only one my children who gave me problems for romance and that is because I spoiled him. He wanted to study philosophy. For what you will do that? I asked. Then, taking his courses, he would tell his sisters the philosophies of love; I cannot remember them all anymore, the friendship kind, all different kinds. I told him, You do not need to pay a class. You see any American movie to learn that.
“He said, Mom, whether you know it or not, there are bigger kinds of love.
“Maybe so, I said, but forget those. They are only for the top one or two percent. And you are not good-looking enough. You have inherited my nose. For a while, he was spending for nothing—bowling parties, ballroom dancing. I told him, This better be courtship, because you are allowed only once. But he married an Ilocano, very good cook, and he is now working computers.”
“What’s your son’s name?” Claire asks.
“Dante,” Williamo says, from under the table.
I want to tell Claire my offer. Just so she will see me as a one-hundred-ten-dollar-a-day nanny. But instead I say, “Jeff bought Helen a new car. Station wagon Volvo. Silver. So you should be hinting to your husband.”
She laughs. “You know I’m the one who does the money here.”
That is true. Every week, she counts out my cash. “You are the family CEO.”
Then the doorbell rings. It is Lil, the one Claire calls long-distance, visiting from far away. I take my plate to eat while I bath Williamo. After I tuck him, I return to the kitchen. Will the noises of cleaning bother their talk? But I want to be done, so I start the pans from the stove. I sweep around their feet. The friend Lil, she is beautiful but wearing a strange skirt and ugly sandals.
“I know, I know,” my employer says. “I’ve got it on my list.”
Maybe it is something she wants me to do. I see her list on yellow lined paper on the counter. Number 1 says, TONIGHT! PAUL!
“What I can’t figure out is the dread.”
They talk while I am wiping down the counters.
“There’s that radio song, All you gotta do is say yes.”
“‘Yes I said yes I said yes.’” Claire’s hands keep busy with invisible things, over the now clean table.
My hands, they are busy with the sponge.
“Remember John Adams? I probably should have slept with him.”
It takes me a moment to really know what they are talking. But my employer, she is not this kind of person. She is showing off, maybe, for her friend.
“Well, you could’ve. He was
“Hey, you two, I’ve got some change.” She puts pennies, nickels, and a quarter on the table.
Williamo begins to tell how we are spending. I interrupt. “Go get the globe.” I would rather not dwell on candy.
“When I was little,” Claire says, “I saved pennies to buy pagan babies.”
“Maybe we were your pagans.”
“You’re Catholic, Lole. That’s the opposite of pagan.” The phone rings. “Esperanza,” Claire whispers. “More love trouble probably.”
I am the one they call for romance advice! And I do not even believe in it. My weekend employer, Jeff, he told me, the ones who make the dreams cannot live in them. We know, Lola, just how flimsy dreams are .
But Esperanza she is sobbing. “He will spend his birthday with his ex-wife.” She is sorry, though, what she said to him. She did not mean it. She will deliver to him roses from the garden of Beth Martin and she wants me to compose the note, in English.
“Go ahead,” I dictate. “Spend the birthday with her. Just save the rest of your life for me.” I should be on the payroll of Hallmark too. Bong Bong, he has drawn over one hundred holiday cards. The Christmas in the Philippines series.
“All better?” Claire asks when I hang up.
“Never all better. Not until you are old like me. My son is the only one my children who gave me problems for romance and that is because I spoiled him. He wanted to study philosophy. For what you will do that? I asked. Then, taking his courses, he would tell his sisters the philosophies of love; I cannot remember them all anymore, the friendship kind, all different kinds. I told him, You do not need to pay a class. You see any American movie to learn that.
“He said, Mom, whether you know it or not, there are bigger kinds of love.
“Maybe so, I said, but forget those. They are only for the top one or two percent. And you are not good-looking enough. You have inherited my nose. For a while, he was spending for nothing—bowling parties, ballroom dancing. I told him, This better be courtship, because you are allowed only once. But he married an Ilocano, very good cook, and he is now working computers.”
“What’s your son’s name?” Claire asks.
“Dante,” Williamo says, from under the table.
I want to tell Claire my offer. Just so she will see me as a one-hundred-ten-dollar-a-day nanny. But instead I say, “Jeff bought Helen a new car. Station wagon Volvo. Silver. So you should be hinting to your husband.”
She laughs. “You know I’m the one who does the money here.”
That is true. Every week, she counts out my cash. “You are the family CEO.”
Then the doorbell rings. It is Lil, the one Claire calls long-distance, visiting from far away. I take my plate to eat while I bath Williamo. After I tuck him, I return to the kitchen. Will the noises of cleaning bother their talk? But I want to be done, so I start the pans from the stove. I sweep around their feet. The friend Lil, she is beautiful but wearing a strange skirt and ugly sandals.
“I know, I know,” my employer says. “I’ve got it on my list.”
Maybe it is something she wants me to do. I see her list on yellow lined paper on the counter. Number 1 says, TONIGHT! PAUL!
“What I can’t figure out is the dread.”
They talk while I am wiping down the counters.
“There’s that radio song, All you gotta do is say yes.”
“‘Yes I said yes I said yes.’” Claire’s hands keep busy with invisible things, over the now clean table.
My hands, they are busy with the sponge.
“Remember John Adams? I probably should have slept with him.”
It takes me a moment to really know what they are talking. But my employer, she is not this kind of person. She is showing off, maybe, for her friend.
“Well, you could’ve. He was
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