Chapter65 Epilogue April 1988
“Hey, hey!” Lisa said to Tim from the passenger seat of his cab, half laughing. “Would you keep your damned eyes forward? And slow down! You drive very recklessly, indeed. You didn’t realize you almost hit a tricycle on the road shoulder, did you?”
“Don’t worry, 'mama', because I’m no longer a bellboy at that hotel but a very experienced pro taxi driver now.”
“If you say so, Tim, then, keep this in your memory: I’m not a mama any longer: I retired from the karaoke business last year. Besides, how can I see you’re very experienced in driving cars?” Lisa turned her eyes toward me sitting in the rear seat of the cab with Yuuzou Tomita-san and his wife Kazuko-san. “Trina, you should’ve cancelled your leasing contract with Tim and hired a better cab driver, before such a special day like today. ..So that Kazuko-san could comfortably enjoy this beautiful, rustic scenery here, especially since this is her first out-of-Manila outing.”
“Mama!” Tim pretended to be unhappy with her remarks. “Can’t you trust me, the number one cab driver in Manila?”
“You’re no number one driver in Manila, Tim.” Lisa slapped him on the shoulder. “So, drive very carefully, anyway. All right?”
“All right.” Tim kept chuckling.
Tomita-san was busy interpreting for his wife the conversation between Lisa and Tim in English.
Kazuko-san’s face, too, was filled with a broad smile.
Lisa told Kazuko-san. “Tim no unten dame desho (Tim drives very poorly, doesn’t he)?”
Kazuko-san shook her head. “Totemo ojouzu desuyo (I think he drives very well).”
“Uh-oh.” Lisa shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly, and told Tomita-san. “Don’t interpret that Japanese words for Tim, Tomita-san, to keep him from getting cocky and driving too carelessly.”
“All right, Lisa.” Tomita-san smiled widely.
Thank goodness, everybody looked very happy. ..As happy as I just was.
-----
“By the way, Tomita-san,” when all the laughter came to a pause, Lisa said, “before we get at Trina’s house, let me express once again my deep thanks to you. If you hadn’t supported her in such a thoughtful way at that time, I believe, Trina wouldn’t have had a happy day like this, indeed. Thanks to your great effort to persuade her old boyfriend, or rather his mother actually, into paying Trina a kind of alimony including the expense of bringing up Yuki, she has become a woman who is able to own as many as five taxis for lease. And, I’m sure, she is very happy today, inviting all of us like this to her brand new house she has bought. Thank you very much, Tomita-san.”
“Well, I’m not sure if I did enough for her.” Tomita-san was as humble as he had been.
Tim said loud over his shoulders. “Mr. Tomita, you may have lost one of your old friends then. But, today, about four years later, you’ve got a lot of good friends here, in the Philippines. ..Right?”
“Yes, Tim.” Tomita-san replied with another wide smile. “And these new friends of mine are really good people. Both I and Kazuko are very happy to attend today’s open house with you all, being invited by Trina. However, Tim, and Lisa, to be truthful to you, I wasn’t too good a mediator in the beginning, for he and I were very long time friends. Indeed, if I hadn’t been advised by Kazuko that strongly to do something for Trina... If Kazuko hadn’t told me that clearly what would be the right thing for me to do then, I wouldn’t have been able to persuade him to do anything.”
Lisa was interpreting Tomita-san’s story spoken in English for Kazuko-san.
Tomita-San went on. “Well, I and Kazuko knew very well that what Trina truly wanted him to do for Yuki-chan wasn’t to pay Trina alimony or anything like that, but...”
Lisa responded. “Tomita-san, that money must’ve worked much better for Yuki than her father who feels he was forced to be her father, as a matter of fact. ..Why don’t we take it that way, Tomita-san?”
“All right, Lisa.” Tomita-san replied.
-----
“Oh, look, Tomita-san!” Lisa was pointing her finger beyond the rice paddies at the left side of the road. “That’s the house Trina’s going to show you today.”
“That house with white walls?”
“Yes, ..whose roof is brown-tiled.”
“What a beautiful house!” Tomita-san murmured, and smiled at his wife whose eyes were already twinkling delightfully.
“Wow, Trina.” Lisa said. “Look at that! Yuki looks to be waiting for us, already on the roadside. Hey, Theresa came out, too. Oh, so beautifully dressed up, both of them. ..Watching them from behind are your parents and my husband, Ricardo. ..In front of the entrance door are Kristina and her husband Roberto talking with Manuel. Ah, Joseph is already there. ..Look, his actress wife, Aida, is with him. ..Breathtaking, isn’t it, Trina? All of your old friends... Yes, all of your old friends are there for you.”
Lisa turned her face to me. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Yes.” I muttered.
Gazing at my eyes, Lisa slowly extended her hand over the back rest toward me. I took her hand. ..Two of us were aware very well who and who in fact were missing there.
“Look,” Tim raised his voice, “apparently, Yuki found us. Oh, ..began waving her hand toward us, now together with Theresa!"
