Lorna was shocked from what she heard at the other end of the line. Her face became pale and exclaimed, "My God!"
Lorna then looked at Luisa and said, "Your mother!"
"My mother?" Luisa was surprised.
"She's in our house. She wanted to talk to you!" Lorna said and handed the telephone to Luisa. Luisa took the telephone and greeted her mother. While Carla and Thelma askingly looked Lorna, but Lorna said no words.
"Hello, Inay?" the mother of Luisa did not answer. Luisa just heard her mother crying. "Why are you crying? Something wrong?"
"Luisa, something happened to your father!" Norma, the mother of Luisa told to her daughter that something happened to her husband Tomas, the father of Luisa.
"What happened to him, nothing serious I guess?" Luisa became worried.
"He had an accident! And...and, Luisa your father died!" Norma at the other end of the line wept painfully as she told her daughter that Tomas had an accident. While on the street, collecting empty bottles, Tomas was hit by a big truck and was instantly dead. Luisa was shocked. She hardly could not believe what she heard. Luisa's hand trembled and tears began rolling on her cheeks.
Carla and Thelma again looked at Lorna, Lorna heaved a sigh and said to the two girls. "Luisa's father died!"
"Luisa, I am lost. You are not here, and your father now was gone. I don't know what to do." Norma continued weeping.
"Inay, please composed yourself. I cannot come home because I must finish my contract. I will send money to you." Luisa said to her mother as she tried her best in controlling her emotions. "I guess we cannot talk long, calling long distance is expensive. I will send money as soon as possible and I will write a letter. Inay, please be strong and do my greetings to the children. Bye!"
And when Luisa put down the telephone on its cradle, she suddenly screamed. The three, Carla, Thelma and Lorna came to her, hugged her, and tried to comfort her. Luisa wept very painfully. Her father died and will be buried, and she could not come home. Her screamed was so loud that Gunther heard it and from the basement he again returned upstairs .
"What happened? Who screamed?" Gunther asked.
"Gunther, sad news. Luisa's father died!" Lorna answered Gunther.
"Sorry, Gunther! Luisa did not scream to disturb you." it was Carla who apologized to Gunther.
"Don't apologize! I understand! Luisa, my condolences!"
For a while, as the three girls tried to comfort Luisa who just continued weeping, Gunther understood he could do nothing, so he came back to the basement to his studio.
"Luisa, you have to accept it. Every one of us have our time and it is your father's time to go, you can't do nothing about it." Carla said to Luisa.
"Carla, so sudden! I am sad that my father died. I am sad I cannot come to his funeral! I am sad I must cut short talking to my mother on the telephone because I am thinking about the costs! I am sad because I promised my mother, I will send money while I have no money to send to her! Oh, God, why did you let this happened? Why?" Luisa just cannot stop weeping. The happy go lucky Luisa was really grieving.
The three girls also felt the pain Luisa projected and they too have their tears.
"You can send money to your mother. You have to send money to her, she needed it." Carla said at the same time wiped with her hands the tears in her eyes.
"I still have the envelope Paula gave to me." Thelma said. "I will give to you the 100 Swiss Franc!"
"Me too, I will also give my 100 Swiss Franc to you!" Carla too will give her 100 Swiss Franc to Luisa.
"You can have my one-month salary and the 100 Swiss Franc. I will give you my envelop!" Lorna will give to Luisa all the contents of the envelope she received from Paula. Lorna thought, she had Gunther who will support her, she was now stable, she can afford to give to Luisa all the money she had.
Yes indeed. The girls who have nothing, of which they also needed the money for themselves and for their families, yet easily gave their money to Luisa to help her, a gesture of generosity and empathy that touched Luisa's heart and it made her to wept more.
"Luisa, please!"
"I am touched! I did not expect your empathy and generosity! Thank you very much!"
"Luisa, we are sisters, remember? We promised that we will look to each other. Had you already forgotten our motto? Here we are sisters! What may come it's up to God!" Lorna replied to what Luisa said.
With her money and the money from the girls, Luisa could send money to her mother. She quickly wrote a letter to her mother explaining about of her not coming home for the funeral. She must fulfill the three years contract and that it is also a question of money, she also promised her mother that she will support her.
Lorna went to Gunther who was busy in his studio in the basement and talked with him about Luisa sending of money. The girls do not know where to go to send the money and where to post the letter that Luisa wrote to her mother. But Gunther cannot leave his work he was busy doing and promised he will do it the next morning, so Thelma, Carla and Lorna have taken the chance to also wrote a letter to their family.
That evening, at the dining table the atmosphere was not the same as it if not somber. Luisa excused herself from the table, but Gunther protested.
"Come on, Luisa. You must eat! Your father was gone, okay, but it's not the end of the world!"
Luisa did not answered Gunther but stayed sitting, she did not leave the table. The other girls also spoke no words. They were silent as they were eating their dinner when the telephone rang. Gunther stood up to answer it. Gunther was speaking German and the girls could not understand. They only words they understood was the address of Gunther.
When Gunther was backed to the table, he looked at the girls and then said to them. "It was the person who will pick you up!"
The girls looked at Gunther waiting for more information.
"About two hours he will be here!" Gunther continued and then heaved a sigh. "So, I guess you all must be prepared to travel!"
"Now?" Carla asked.
"Yes, and I can't do nothing about. You girls have to travel this night."
"Did the person said where we are going?" Thelma asked.
"I think he mentioned Belgium." Gunther answered Thelma.
Luisa and Lorna said no words, but Lorna gave Gunther a question look.
"Not you, Lorna. You will stay here with me. I will talk with this man that I am going to marry you." Gunther said to Lorna and upon hearing Gunther's words, in Lorna's face can be seen the relieved, now, Lorna was assured that indeed she will be Gunther's wife.
The three girls were indeed in a hurry. They prepared themselves again for the big adventure travel to uncertainty, but now, from the six in a group only them three were left . Luisa who had not yet digested the shock about the death of her father also packed her things silently. The other girls saw her always wiping with her hands the tears from her eyes.
Knocking on the door, it was Lorna. Lorna came in the room and sat on the bed.
"Finished packing?" she asked the three girls. The three just nodded for an answer.
"I am sad!" Lorna continued talking. "I will miss you all!"
"We will miss you too, Lorna but me, I am happy for you. You will settle down and you do not have to worry about what will happen to you. Gunther as I see, is a good man and he loved you." Carla answered Lorna.
"You are lucky. Be a good wife for Gunther!" Thelma said to Lorna.
"I will try my best to be a good wife!" answered Lorna who looked at Luisa who was very silent. "Luisa, are you okay now?"
Luisa did not answered Lorna, tears fall on her cheek. Lorna came to Luisa and hugged her. "Be strong, your mother and brothers and sister needed you"
"Lorna, I am very sorry, please forgive me!" tearfully Luisa said to Lorna.
"Sorry for what? Forgive you for what?" Lorna was surprised that Luisa was asking her forgiveness.
"For always teasing you, I am only joking you know!" Luisa answered.
"You silly woman!" and Lorna laughed. She wanted to ease the heavy emotion that Luisa projected. "I know you are just joking!"
"Thank you, thank you very much."
Then Carla and Thelma handed to Lorna the letters they wrote to their respective family. Luisa too, she also handed to Lorna the letter she wrote to her mother and the money to be sent to her mother.
"Please, Lorna, kindly send this money to my mother as soon as possible!" Luisa asked Lorna to send the money immediately to her mother.
"Don't worry. Tomorrow morning I will let Gunther do the sending of the money and the letters." Lorna said.
"Please, once for a while you can call me." and Lorna gave each to the girls the telephone number of Gunther she wrote on a piece of paper.
"You and Gunther are planning to go to the Philippines and marry there?" Carla asked Lorna.
"My visa is the same with all of you, and Gunther already arranged that we will be married tomorrow, just a civil marriage." Lorna answered Carla.
"And you kept it from us!" Carla was surprised and so Thelma and Luisa.
"Because I am not sure if Gunther will really marry me and besides, I wanted to surprise you all. Pity you all have to leave tonight; you cannot attend my wedding tomorrow!" Lorna explained to the girls. The girls were indeed surprised that Lorna and Gunther will be getting married tomorrow, but they were happy for Lorna. ****to be continued****Remedios Dorio