Game of Wit and Chance_Beginnings Read online

  After a joke about a rat and a mouse fell flat, the three sat in awkward silence until Marge's mother brought orange juice for all three of them. "Sophia, would you go to the movies with me this afternoon?" Gilberto blurted out, just as Marge put the glass to her lips. Marge’s mouth dropped open to likely say "What??", but before anything came out of her mouth, Sophia said "Yes, of course, we'd love to!"

  As Marge’s mouth dropped open farther for possibly a second "What??" Her mother chimed in with "Sophia, maybe Marge should stay here and help me around the restaurant…"

  "No, Mrs. Anderson, I meant Marge as well, of course." Gilberto was astute enough to realize that dating Sophia with Marge around would be hard enough without Marge being out to get him. "We can all three go to the afternoon matinee at the Winsor." It was a theater just a few blocks away and had an afternoon double feature, including comics and newsreel, for a quarter.

  Mrs. Anderson looked at him with a renewed respect before politely saying, "That would be fine, Gil. Let me get some cookies for the three of you to take along."

  Escape 1945

  Taken directly from Wikipedia, The Philippines, American Period:

  In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status with Manuel Quezon as president. He designated a national language and introduced women's suffrage and land reform. Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese Empire invaded and the Second Philippine Republic of José P. Laurel was established as a Japanese collaborator state. Many atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war such as the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre that culminated during the Battle of Manila. In 1944, Quezon died in exile in the United States and Sergio Osmeña succeeded him. Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated over a million Filipinos had died.

  Decision Time 1945

  When the war was finally over, Gilberto thought he would feel overjoyed…or better, at least, but his home country had been devastated. In 1945 the population of the Philippines was about 18.5 million people. Over the course of WWII about five percent of the country’s population had been wiped out. Family members had lost their lives and sometimes even the jokester in him struggled. He'd just experienced his nineteenth birthday and he felt bewildered and preoccupied. He felt he had to return to his home.

  On a Saturday in September he made his decision. He arrived at Dodge's Diner earlier than usual. Sophia and Marge probably wouldn't show up for an hour so he sat in their normal booth and ordered a cup of coffee. Everything about being in the U.S. had begun to bother him over the past week. Even in the diner, the worn out plastic covering of the booth, which he never really noticed before, poked his back through his tee shirt today. The dampness, and the smell of bleach, left by the waitress’ rag as she half-heartedly swiped the last customer's left-over breakfast crumbs from in front of him, even the lumps of chewing gum under the table that he often forced Marge to touch seemed gross today instead of funny.

  When the hinges on the front screen door screeched stubbornly open and the spring return closed the door with a slam announcing her entrance, Gilberto got up, grabbed both of Sophia's hands in his and launched into what he'd been planning to do for the past week.

  "Sophia, I'm so glad to see you!" He said.

  "What are you doing and why are you being weird? You see me here every Saturday," Sophia answered.

  Gilberto laughed and lead her over to the booth while Marge went to the back to check in with her mom. Sophia always knew how to make him laugh and how to make him reshuffle his thoughts.

  When she'd slid into the other side of the booth, expertly avoiding the center support pole that knocked her knees whenever she ignored it, she glared at him and indicated he should relax.

  "Sorry, Sophia, I can't settle today. I've made a huge decision and I want to tell you about it." He was practically bouncing on the seat and today it wasn't from six cups of strong diner coffee.

  He decided to blurt it out…well he didn't exactly decide, it's what he always did. "I want to move back to the Philippines!"

  He could see her deflate across the table from him. She slid down the back of the booth.

  "No, no! I mean I want to move back to the Philippines, but I want you to come with me!" The next line surprised even him…it was unplanned, even though always on his mind. "I want you to marry me and come with me."

  Of course Marge stepped up to the table, sipping on a cola, just as the words came out of his mouth.

  Marge choked and spewed the table and her friends with cola. "WHAT?!" She looked down at the table and her blouse. "Sorry…but again, WHAT?!" She then calmly went and picked the counter cloth out of the bleach bucket, wrung it out and wiped off the table, careful to use only paper napkins on her blouse.

  She slid in next to Sophia and banged her knee…hard…against the center support. She squinted her face up, "…oof…ouch…dang it…" and finally continued with the original line of questioning, "…now…WHAT?!"

  Both Sophia and Gilberto were looking at her. Gilberto could hardly keep his laughter concealed. Sophia, as usual, had her emotions under lock and key.

  "What ‘what’ Margie? I think you heard everything there was to hear, right?" Sophia said.

  Gilberto saw the color come to Sophia's cheeks now.

  Sophia said, "I need a glass of water," shoved Marge back out of the booth, banging her own knee this time, got up and stepped behind the counter.

  Gilberto saw Marge's mother step to the kitchen doorway, but she’d turned and went back inside when she saw the drama happening in her daughter’s booth.

  When Sophia came back, Gilberto and Marge turned to her and asked, in unison, "Well?"

  Turning on Marge, Sophia said, "First, 'best friend', don't 'what' me in the middle of the diner like I'm some ten year old. In answer to your question, this funny boy sitting across from you just told me he's moving back to the Philippines and wants to marry me." Gilberto thought if he could see the back of Sophia's neck, he'd see her hair up like a dog ready to fight. He knew Sophia didn’t like being backed into a corner, even if the corner was a compliment and sort of romantic.

  "Second, 'Romeo', you couldn't find a better time to spring that news on me? It had to be here and now?" Her voice hissed through clenched teeth by this time. Turning around, she stormed out of the diner.

  Resolve Evaporates 1945

  Sophia didn’t go far and hoped that one or both of her friends followed her.

  When Gilberto sat down beside her she collapsed into him. Her shoulders sagged, neither body nor head heeding her call to keep the orderly boxes in which she organized her life closed. Resolve evaporated from her as spilled coffee on the breakfast griddle, bubbling angrily, but actually clearing her mind. She saw the tears running down Gilberto's cheeks and it caused her own waterworks to explode. She immediately knew she would leave.

  "Oh Gil, how come you've never mentioned any of this before? How can you just come and blurt it all out?" Sophia said.

  It was the first time she’d let Gilberto see her cry.

  For a few moments he was quiet. Sophia let herself be held and felt Gilberto’s strength soften the shudders of her body and his fingers brush the hair from her face.

  "Actually, I've thought about leaving so often, but not knowing what would happen to you stopped me every time," replied Gilberto.

  Laying back in the grass, he pulled her with him and she used his arm as a pillow. She was still leaking sadness, but beginning to feel better than she had in a while.

  Gilberto continued, saying, "I've missed my family since we moved here. I guess it's been good for Mom and Pop, at least they say its better. They've got more money. But I miss my grans and gramps and cousins. And I feel bad all the time that I wasn't there doing what I could during this whole mess.”

  Sophia felt his body heave a sigh and after a moment he said, “So many friends have died, I suppose more than I even know."

/>   He wiped a tear that escaped and trickled down his face.

  Then he said. "I want to be there now, I want to be part of rebuilding what we had and improving life, and I want to do it with the woman I love at my side."

  Sophia had never been a follower. She thought about what he'd said and how, for him, this would be going home. He would reconnect with people he knew and loved and places where he’d grown up.

  "It isn't the same anymore, Gil. People have died. As you said, probably more than you know. Bombs, prisons, the death march…it's all been horrific. Are you sure you want to go back?" she answered.

  To her, it would not be going home. But it would be getting away from two people she didn't want to turn into and finally seeing more of the world. Two things she desperately wanted.

  "I know it isn't the same, Sophia. It's what I want though. And I want you there with me," Gilberto told her.

  He rolled over on top of her and looked into her damp, blue eyes to ask her once again what he'd fumbled with in the diner.

  "Sophia, will you marry me?"

  "Yes, of course I will. Now get off me," she answered.

  Laughing, he kissed her tear dampened cheeks before pressing his lips against hers to see just how long he could avoid getting up.

  Married 1945

  "I now pronounce you Man and Wife."

  Gilberto's parents weren't surprised by his desire to return to his homeland. They didn't like it and tried to talk him out of it, but in the end, helped him purchase his tickets.

  They even thought that his marrying Sophia might somehow either extinguish his desire to go back to the Philippines or cause him to return to the United States sooner.

  They certainly thought he would return eventually…when he came to his senses.

  Entering Manila Bay 1945

  The ship departed Portland bound for the Hawaiian Islands, where they changed boats and continued to the Philippines. It took two very long stretches of sailing to get to Manila and the tickets they had weren't first class. However, the sun was free when it was shining, and they had a lot of time to get to know each other better.

  The day finally came when they would make port in Manila and Sophia found her young husband secluded on the deck, steeped in sadness. She could see tears running down his face as he watched the horizon in the distance.

  "Why are you crying, Gil?" She asked.

  He continued to watch for a few minutes, but answered her shortly, "Because it's been so long since I've been home. I’m afraid of how much has changed."

  They watched as the hint of horizon turned from a pencil thin roughness into a landscape of mountains and trees. They were both enchanted as they passed through the mouth of the bay and then started to see glimpses of the capital city.

  In a short time the details of the city started to rise on the horizon. Then docks and people came into their view. The first glimpses of her new home kept Sophia glued to her vantage point.

  On the way in, they could see the ruined buildings, the trash, and the wreckage.

  "Tell me what it used to be like, Gil," Sophia asked.

  "Manila Bay has always protected a great port, Sophia,” he answered.

  “Little Corregidor Island acted as an outpost and first line of defense,” Gilberto continued. “Now look what’s left of that island. It looks like it's been blown to smithereens!"

  There was a mess of structures on the island, as well as in the harbor. The barricades, made of earth, sandbags and concrete, were the first details in sight.

  Behind the barricades, the guns drew their attention. And then there were piles everywhere, as well as more than a few sunken ships.

  Some of the wrecks were surrounded by activity, others waited, left to let the waves wash against them, as well as up and over them, for a time.

  There were also huge barracks, many with holes blown in them or entire corners and walls missing. When Sophia looked at the damage she realized how protected they'd been during it all.

  They had not been stuck between warring factions, being maimed, used and ruined for strategic maneuvers.

  Gilberto said, “The Philippines has been caught in the middle again.”

  At the dock, Gilberto was hoping to see someone he knew. He'd written several people about their return, as well as which ship they would arrive on. Even so, he guessed it was pretty unlikely that anyone would meet their boat.

  They traveled light for good reason. It did help them get off the ship and be set free in Manila in only a couple of hours. For some, it would take all day. It was just after noon by the time they had their bags and were struggling up the dock to see about transportation.

  It was crazy to be back in Manila. It was the largest city in the Philippines, which at this moment didn't seem like the best way to introduce Sophia. Looking at her, he was captivated again.

  She stood out among the crowd with her light brown hair, blue eyes and seemingly white skin. She was not especially tall where she came from, but in the Philippines she was taller than most of the women and many of the men.

  "Why are the people smiling at me, Gilberto?" She asked.

  "I think it's because you look like an American to them, Sophia. They just spent years fighting and being fought over, with Americans at their side, and they won…even though it's a bit hard to tell that right here and now." Gilberto replied.

  Their transportation took them off the docks and into the old city, where if possible, it actually looked worse. Garbage had collected everywhere, there were more ruins and many more people that looked like they needed three square meals, a shower and a bed.

  Manila Life 1949

  When they first arrived, Gilberto and Sophia lived in a house with his extended family. Gilberto almost immediately joined the Philippines Navy and was helping with cleanup efforts. Sophia found that even though she was not a scholar, there were many opportunities for someone who could teach and tutor English. It suited her well because the hours were flexible and the variety of jobs took her all around the big city, giving her lots of chances to build her courage and explore her newly chosen country.

  It also didn’t take the two of them long to start their family. A year after they were married their first born son arrived and they named him Steven Sorenson Ramos. The only things that made Gilberto and Sophia happier than traveling was making and having babies. They kept at it, one per year, adding Boris and Katie.

  After a particularly enjoyable trip to the seashore of San Antonio, in Zambales province, they were back in the shared Ramos household. When dinner was over and the three children were sleeping in their room, Sophia pulled Gilberto away. She pushed him playfully out the front door. Even the street, oddly enough, was more private than anywhere in the house they shared.

  “Did you enjoy Zambales, Sophia?” Gilberto asked, while holding her to his chest and looking into her eyes.

  “I did, Gil, but we need to make a change.” Sophia could be very serious and direct when she had a mission in mind, which she did now.

  “We’ve out grown this shared space, Gil. We need a house of our own,” Sophia said.

  Gilberto tried to wriggle out of the embrace, but Sophia wasn’t having any avoidance tactics this night. She held him even tighter.

  “This is what it feels like to be in this house when you’re gone, Gil. I’ve had enough, I need my own space,” she said.

  Giving in to the squeeze, Gil replied. “I think it feels terrific. I have no idea what you’re complaining about.”

  Sophia giggled. “You’re concentrating too high, Gil.” She pushed her stomach out farther, hoping to make Gilberto at least a little uncomfortable since he’d just eaten dinner. “How does that feel?” She asked.

  Smiling, Gilberto answered. “Well it is a bit hot and I am a bit full, but it feels great, like it always does next to you.” Wriggling into her just a little bit, he foolishly continued, “Did you have seconds tonight, Sophia?”

  Sophia reached over and bit the lobe of hi
s ear and then answered. “I did, Gil. But I’m eating for two…again.”

  That was enough to convince Gilberto. The next time he was home for an extended period he and Sophia found a tiny, but cute house. It was safe, reasonably close to family, and best of all, had three little bedrooms.

  It took nearly all of their savings, but they were in it before their fourth child, Julia, came noisily into the world. Right from the beginning it was clear Julia’s lungs were fully developed and she knew how to use them to get what she needed.

  Unfortunately, what she and the rest of the Ramos family needed most would be soon taken from her.

  Sophia had produced four healthy children, all at home and all with the help of other family members who were educated in child birth through experience. Their collective experience was significant, but unfortunately neither complete nor medically sound.

  Sophia started hemorrhaging shortly after the birth and she didn’t stop until she was very weak. When her flow finally seemed to become controlled, there was no one with enough medical knowledge to cause them to suspect she was becoming septic. No one knew that rest would do her no good now. It took only a matter of hours before her system was overwhelmed.

  She entered port with a strong tide that first day she sailed into Manila. It was a quiet tide that carried her away from Julia and her family and brought her to the door of her final adventure.

  Memories of Zambales 1950

  After Sophia died Gilberto found that his spirit was troubled. He was alone again, without the person that calmed and strengthened him. The house was no longer a home for him or for his young motherless children.