Monday, December 12, 2016

Solitude Incarnate

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Elisa* is a member of a popular clan in our place. That fact, in addition to her being the topnotcher in her class made her extremely arrogant. When she went to college, among those very few who did, her arrogance became even more defined. She took up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and, after her graduation, was able to work in a company in Makati. I was in high school at the time and for me it was simply.. IMPRESSIVE.

Her parents, more arrogant than she was, looked down on people and began to talk more sarcastically than they used to. It was as if having a piece of agricultural land, a small 'sari-sari' store and a Makati girl for a daughter made them lord over people. Some of us talked among ourselves, some cursed them behind their backs and even some anticipated that the time will come to these people to learn a lesson in humility.

Time elapsed and soon, we, younger people got older and got married. Elisa, however, remained single. Some said she was too picky, while meaner people said nobody wanted her, lol! I vouched for the former.

About 8 years ago, I heard that she was finally getting married. The lucky guy was  a member of an even more popular clan. He was born in our place but studied and lived somewhere else. We personally knew him and for us it was a perfect match. Though I wasn't there, I knew the wedding was a HIT. My relatives kept talking about it for weeks.
After a few months, however, the groom bid his bride goodbye to visit some relatives. He never came back. Elisa followed his husband and learned the truth. Her husband was married to someone else. She didn't see them though, as the family moved out a week earlier. Furious beyond belief, Elisa hired a lawyer intending to file a case of bigamy. She went to the local civil registry to get a copy of their marriage contract as evidence that will incriminate her husband. There was NONE. Their marriage was a big, expensive hoax.

Elisa left our place for a while and stayed in Manila longer than she used to do. I didn't know what happened to the case. I didn't ask. For me, everything was impossibly outlandish. Was everything planned to put Elisa and her family to shame? Or did the groom really love her but simply happened to be married to someone else?
Whatever it was, I'm just thankful that my life is less complicated than hers.

*not real name



No comments:

Post a Comment