Page 67 of The Fallacy of True Love
“Apparently. Damn it.” I glared at the email.
“That sucks.” After a second, she said, “You’re going, right?”
I heaved a sigh. “Desperate people do desperate things.”
“Hey, let’s not call you desperate. You’re practical. Doesn’t that sound better?”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I have to go back there.” The mere thought had my skin crawling.
“You survived it before, Cam,” Nikki said, her voice gentling. “You’ll survive it again. At least it’s just a week, right?”
“Five days.”
“You want me to try to go with you?”
Her offering to do so meant the world to me, but I couldn’t accept it. “You have Jo and the café to take care of. I can handle it.”
“Are you sure? I can ask my parents to come over. Or maybe Eric’s free…”
“No,” I insisted. “Don’t worry about me. You know I can take care of myself. Could you just check on Inang from time to time? I want to make sure she sticks to her doctor’s orders.” Although I’d convinced Inang of the importance of regularly drinking her meds, I wouldn’t put it past her to skip them, whether out of forgetfulness or the desire to cut down on expenses.
“Of course,” Nikki said. “When’s this camp going to be?”
“In two weeks.”
“I can?—”
“I’ve got it, Nikki. Stop stressing.”
Though I wished she didn’t worry about me, part of me loved that she did. It reminded me that she cared.
As I typed up my response to the email, I took comfort in the fact that I had her to come back to. Her, Jo, Eric, and Inang. That was so much more than I had when I first arrived in Juana.
Alonzo
As part-time jobs went, I’d lucked out with Kada Kape. The owner’s husband was a lawyer who’d studied at my school, so they understood our class schedules and gave us the flexibility to choose our shifts. Plus, it was about midway between the campus and my home and shared the same jeepney route, so the commute was simple.
Next week, business would pick up as the class load got heavier for most students, who comprised eighty-five percent of our customer base. In the meantime, I savored the relaxed pace and took the opportunity to catch up on my readings.
My coworker Fred asked me to handle cleaning duty on my own since he had a birthday party to attend. It meant I finished later than usual and had to hurry to catch up to my study session. We had a big recitation tomorrow, and I couldn’t afford to come unprepared.
As I waited for the jeepney, I checked my phone and found a missed call and a text from Nikki. Her message was short: Pls call me when you can. The absence of her trademark pleasantries concerned me, and the first thought I had was that there had been an emergency. Was it Cam? Or Jo?
My stomach churned as I waited for Nikki to pick up. When the line finally connected, I blurted out, “Is everything okay?”
“Hey, Lonzo. Yeah, everything’s good. I was just wondering…”
Her hesitation set off a different set of alarm bells in my head. Was she going to ask for money? Some favor related to Jason?
“The thing is,” she continued, “Cam’s going there.”
I frowned. “You mean to Manila?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought she hated it here.”
“Oh, she does, but she needs to go for her job application.”
