A New Love

Film 3 | Jane Kolakowski | Pencil

Untitled by Ainara Prada Caro

I chased him round and round until he fell headfirst into the fountain, then I picked him up by his shirt and looked him in the eye. “How do you know?” I asked him, “Where did you see that?” I demanded, louder this time. Once he recovered from choking with the water, he burst into laughter, and I let go of his shirt, dropping him to the stone ground. He got back up unaffected and said tauntingly, “A letter came in the mail…” then he dashed away. I chased after him but stopped when I saw my mother and my sister, giggling in the kitchen, a torn envelope on the floor.

“What are you doing reading my letters again?” I demanded, lunging for the paper in their hands. I grabbed the edge of the letter, but I tripped on a toy that was on the floor, and ripped it in half as I fell backwards. My mom and sister hurried and left before I could get back up. I grabbed the ripped up pieces of the letter and ran upstairs to my room.

I used some tape to put it back together, and then I laid back on my bed to read it. The letter said:

Dear Margot,

I miss you tremendously. I am learning very important things here in the university, and I have discovered that I love the United States. I can’t wait to get back to Popayán to see you. You would love it here too. My English has gotten so much better, and I can finally talk to people here. I have made several friends, and even a few other Colombians! I want to know how you are doing, and I think of you everyday. 

Yours,

Felipe

 I cringed at the letter. I felt guilty, and I knew I couldn’t stall much longer. The truth was I did not like my boyfriend anymore. And worse, I had another boyfriend now. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but in a way I hadn’t either. Felipe and I had dated since I was fifteen years old. He left Colombia in 1956 to go study in the United States for two years. He couldn’t still expect me to wait for him, right?  

For a while I mourned his absence, and we wrote each other letters constantly. As time passed, our correspondence became less frequent, and to be completely honest, I stopped liking him. I forgot a lot about him, and moved on. I didn’t feel the need to tell him.

Eventually, I met Julio through some friends. We would all go to the country club together at night, and that is where we learned how to dance. Girls and boys traded partners, and everyone danced with everyone, it was some of the most fun I had. And one day, before we danced, I was introduced to Julio. We immediately connected, and we danced together a lot that night.

He asked me out a few days later, and after two weeks of going out we became official.

I hadn’t thought about telling Felipe, and then I realized that in two weeks, it would mark two years since he had been gone, meaning he would be back soon. I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind.

It wasn’t until two weeks later that I realized just how quickly he would be back.

I was sitting by the fountain that adorned the center of the patio that was in the middle of my house, doing my makeup as I always did. My little sister Lydia and her friends were crowding around me trying to learn how to apply the right blush on the right spots, and the perfect shade of lipstick. I was getting ready for a date with Julio, when Felipe walked in through the front door. We always left it open because back then, we knew everybody, and no one was a threat.

He said: “Did you miss me?” And I turned around, not shocked to find him standing there. I ran to greet him, and gave him a big hug. Lydia and her friends immediately ran after me and snitched about my new boyfriend. “Girls! Leave!” I said mortified. They giggled and ran away. 

As I was left with Felipe, I was surprised he didn’t seem more thrown off by the news. “So I’ve heard. My brother told me when I arrived. And when do I get to meet this new boyfriend? I want to know why you fell for him” He half teased. I smiled, hoping he too had put our romantic past behind us, and hoping there wasn’t a hint of bitterness behind his joke. “His name is Julio, I don’t know when he will be around for you to meet.” Felipe’s face betrayed him showing some hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He quietly asked. “I…” Just then, my mother came out to the patio, followed by my father, and my seven siblings. My mother ran to hug Felipe. My parents had always loved him. I simply didn’t anymore, but I hoped we could remain friends.

As I didn’t get a chance to catch up alone with Felipe, the rest of his time at my house, we were polite, but very awkward. For a few days, I didn’t hear about him. My friends in town all told me he was very sad, and that he missed me very much. I did not want to see him. 

He came by my house a few times, asked if I wanted to hang out. I always made up some excuse as to why I was busy.

My mother hated Julio. She had adored Felipe, and asked me why I wouldn’t go back to him. She started to send my little brother Carlitos, to spy on me whenever I went out, to see if I met up with him. Carlitos was the biggest trouble maker. He spat at people walking down the street from the balcony in his room, he released stink bombs in the middle of crowds, and he was always pulling pranks. This is how he got to be so sneaky, and why I didn’t see him when he watched me meet Julio at the corner when I was going to work. 

One day, Julio’s parents invited me to their 25 year wedding anniversary party. I knew my mother wouldn’t want me to go, so I went with my friend’s mom instead. There, I ran into Felipe. We lived in a small city, so it was not strange to run into people at events and such. I could feel his bitter gaze on me as I walzed in with Julio. I knew I hadn’t tried to make amends, but how could he expect to leave for two years and come back to the same girlfriend waiting for him? He would have to move on.

I ignored him throughout the evening, and went home at a reasonable hour, my parents didn’t suspect a thing. It wasn’t until two days later that Felipe came by my house, and I saw him again. My mother, as always invited him inside and served him some Lulo juice. I politely sat down as she ordered me to. We made some small talk, and then he smirked ever so slightly at me before saying: “Your dress at Julio’s parent’s party was beautiful, Margot.” Just out of spite! I couldn’t believe him. My mother couldn’t believe me. “How dare you disobey me?” She grabbed my ponytail and jerked it to the side, and told Felipe to leave. At least I was grateful for that part.

My mother had a terrible temper. She yelled at me for what seemed like forever. Going on and on about me hanging out with the wrong crowd, just because she had wanted me to end up with Felipe. I was fifteen when we dated, couldn’t she get over it? After that she grounded me, and she forbid Julio from coming into my house, so anytime we spoke, it was him shouting up to my balcony from the street. Maybe Felipe had gotten his little bit of revenge, but either way I had won.