Gloria Matures

Mir Mahboob Ali

It is a bitter winter. For the last few days, the sky is overcast and it is snowing heavily, intermittently. New York, always bustling with life, is lying like a vast dead body of unending whiteness so is Gloria still body lying on her bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, vacantly trying to see, something. She is not dead, only is numbed by sheer pain. Numbed by excruciating pain, her fair face looks frozen white, like the snow outside. She just heard the news … last night, and cried her heart out. Everybody is surprised at her reaction, particularly, her father. Gloria is surprised, because, she never realized before that she loves Margoub so dearly. Her father is taken aback by the intensity of pain Gloria displayed. Perhaps, he also looks guilty and remorseful. Gloria could not vouch.

Gloria Sanchez had been to Latin America at a very early age since she married a Latino before she was nineteen. She married, because, she was carrying and followed her husband to his country where any marriage, taking place outside the country, is not recognized. She, therefore, officially was not married. She became a mother before she turned nineteen. Her husband during the pregnancy started dating another girl behind her back. She was blissfully unaware of the affair. As soon as she delivered, the man began misbehaving with her. Beginning with misbehaviour it quickly degenerated into physical torture. When it became intolerable, she fled with the help of her brother-in law who was a policeman to the USA. She filed for a divorce and was a divorced lady before she was barely twenty. Her child remained back with her ex-husband’s family. The mother had lost all contact with her first born a male child.

Gloria not only lost her husband, she has earlier been thrown out by her family for marrying a foreigner and thus is out of touch with her own family. Therefore, coming back to America, she takes refuse with a distant aunt who shelters her risking the wrath of the family. Contrary to the life style of North and West European Americans, most Spanish and Italian Americans are still accustomed to live jointly in close-knit big families. Gloria being a Puerto Rican needed a home with lots of people to feel comfortable. Though her aunt, who shelters her, has a big family, Gloria feels the need of a man in her life and quickly falls in for Rosario, a Spanish American. Within a year, they find themselves married. When she marries for the second time, she is carrying her second child, a daughter. In ten years of marriage with Rosario, she gives birth to five daughters. With all these children, Rosario leaves her for another younger woman. She is left to fend for herself and the minor children at barely thirty years of age. Rosario is never heard of again, it is rumoured that he has died in a mysterious car accident within a short time of leaving Gloria.

In the Bronx, New York, where Gloria’s family settles in the mainland, a large ethnically Spanish community from Puerto Rico lives. This is a well knit community with strong familial bond. Keeping with their tradition fellow Puerto Ricans voluntarily help her make up with her parents and they now give her financial support whenever needed. Her father is a local Mafia boss. Nothing is beyond him starting from forging green cards and passports, to killing people. He once vowed to kill his daughter for disobeying his orders, instead, it is rumoured that he has ended up with killing his ex-son–in-law. But, even this, apparently butcher like, ferocious man has been mellowed by filial love and reaccepts his daughter who has suffered unspeakable mental and physical torture at a very tender age. It is the sufferings of the young daughter that make the mafia monster feel a kind of sympathy, he is unable to describe, for Gloria. He condones all her follies and invites her to live a luxurious life with him but Gloria, indomitably independent spirited, chooses to fight for herself. She even refuses her father’s helping hand but for the intervention of relatives, she agrees to accept occasional financial help from him, which makes the old man very happy. Peace prevails.

Gloria is trying to tie the bits and pieces of her life together and start a new life. Her father using his influence manages a community residential apartment allotted to Gloria, which Gloria accepts for the shake of her daughters. For these apartments, rents are deduced based on income of occupants. For the same space one pays more or less commensurate with income – a socialist practice in a staunchly capitalist country where apparently, nothing, even love and sympathy, comes without money! Thus ensured a roof over her head, she jumps into the fray of life reinvigorated. But she is overwhelmed by loneliness. A strong lady with a Latin appetite for male company, naturally, finds it difficult to live alone for long. And because of her daughters, she does not think it proper to live together with somebody and keep on changing partners whenever difficulty arises. This time, she consults her father, and decides to go for the man selling newspapers at the corner of the road that leads to her work place from her apartment. He is a Spanish looking man but she never has heard him speak a word of Spanish, and neither has he spoken very good English ever. She is a bit confused about his origin. But he is a strong young man seemingly good-natured too. Gloria gradually strikes a friendship with the man. Within months, they are married. He is an illegal alien from a poor country looking to settle in the United States of America. Thus, it is a God given opportunity for him to attain his goal. He was in Germany from where he came to USA looking for a good life. Thrown out of Germany, this time he is bent upon settling in the USA any way he could. Therefore, marrying a lady with six children does not matter to him as he is allured by the smell of the ‘green card’. He needs this passport to heaven, very badly. The apparently docile man has a hidden agenda of his own, and is blissfully unaware of his fate, if he goes for materialization.

Margoub, the groom has no idea of the time needed to get a ‘green card’ in a big town like New York where the immigration department is flooded with applications of all sorts. Three to four years is very normal for an application to see culmination. He, therefore, is entangled in a relationship of at least three years. Margoub, like many others enters into the marital relationship for the shake of the ‘green card’. In Margoub’s case, as is with many others, the marriage is not negotiated as a marriage for ‘green card’ paying the citizen for the service. In this case, the lady marries with the intention of staying with Margoub in a permanent relationship and for that she even converts to Islam, though she never changes her life style. The Qur’ān, pious Margoub who sees no sin in keeping his intentions to himself, gives Gloria to recite, is rescued from a heap of garbage by a friend who accidentally comes across the Qur’ān there, waiting to be thrown out. This is not a very religious Muslim man, who does not hesitate to gobble pork steak prepared by Gloria. But he is shocked at the treatment of the Qur’ān and retrieves it for himself. The pious Margoub is unmoved. He feels very holy within as he does his duty by providing a copy of the holy book to his wife, quite unconcerned at the Sacrilege.

Margoub marries Gloria and begins with zest living in a conjugal relationship he is not going to continue forever. But blissfully his conscience is clear like spotless white linen as he has married Gloria and even converted her to Islam. What can be much more legal and ethical! He therefore is in a legal relationship according to shariah and must be accumulating innumerable blessings of the Almighty that will favourably dispose him at the Day of Judgement. Incomprehensibly, insensitive to the fact that he is cheating the lady and has taken the help of falsehood- categorically denounced in Islam. On the contrary, sure that he is living a life of a saint he openly displays his scorn for people going to brothels. His friends are not lucky like him and religiously goes to brothels filled with Latin American blondes, at least, once a week. They simply love their golden hair. And they take utmost care to hide that from Margoub, as he is a pious soul.

It is not possible for Margoub to stop Gloria from giving birth to a healthy boy at the end of the third year of their marriage, living in a healthy and regular conjugal life. Gloria is happy; Margoub is worried, which Gloria mistakes as his passionate longing for sharing his happiness with parents and family back home. She, therefore, consents to his going to his country for a month after they have already appeared before the immigration and their case is Okayed. Gloria at the end of third month with Margoub still in Bangladesh, the country of his origin, is worried about his intentions. She begins to hear stories about Bangladeshis not returning to their American wives after getting the ‘green card’, and many other stories of betrayals of non-Americans seeking to settle in America. Perhaps, some are exaggeration of imaginative minds of friends coming to ameliorate her agonies, in fact, inflames her worries many, many times more. She begins contacting his friends and shouting threats to them if Margoub does not return within such and such time etc., etc. Hoping the message shall reach Margoub.

After about five years, Margoub comes to Bangladesh, and therefore, he has to do a hell of lot of catching up. And on top, he falls sick with diarrhoea, malaria and what not. These bouts of sickness delay him in Bangladesh and he naturally is forced to stay much beyond his allotted time. He is not in a position to desert Gloria for he is yet to get his card. But in spite of that Gloria hearing stories of non-Americans divorcing their American spouses just after receiving their cards remains highly agitated as long as Margoub does not come back. At the end of the third month when Margoub comes back, Gloria refuses to allow him back in her household. All his friends gather at Gloria’s apartment and persuade her to let Margoub in. She, perhaps, just has tried to convey the intensity of her anger to Margoub by refusing to allow him back, and once the purpose has been served she cools down. His friends, thus, find the persuading easier than they first thought.

Back at home, Margoub never tells his parents about his marriage in America and it is a closely guarded secret, kept within his close friend’s circle, because, he has plans to marry a Bengali girl of his parents’ choice, once getting the ‘green card’, divorcing many times married Gloria, like many others did with their American wives. In support of his case, he highlights the cultural differences that exist between the East and the West. According to Margoub, “In the east girls are much more caring and loving. They wait for their husbands, brothers and fathers at mealtime, serve them food, and drinks sitting beside cooked and prepared by them. Lovingly fanning them with hand fans where electricity is not available, even wiping perspiration with their saris, even if the man is not perspiring. It is so soothing and fulfilling that only those that have been lucky enough to experience such caring love shall only know the indescribable exhilarating influence. The concern that oozes out from their eyes and faces at small injuries like, a cut while saving, a sneeze or because of a mild cold, is far more intense than passionate kisses bestowed lavishly by Westerners.” He further ponders, “Kissing and hugging in public is considered an honest display of affection by the West. In the East, it is obscenity. In the West they think it is necessary to display love and affection by words and deeds, while, in the East, it is much more subtle.” And Margoub missed this almost mystic subtlety. He, thus, is dying for the subtle expressions of love and caring. Margoub is on a campaign to make people understand his point. He is very critical of the way Gloria watches films with her daughters full of erotic scenes, and says, “A Eastern woman would never do such shameless thing. She would rather scold her daughters for watching such movies than giving them company.” These he has not considered before, since, the marriage he entered into was not to be permanent.

Margoub could not gather courage to even utter the word ‘divorce’ forget divorcing, thinking of Gloria’s father and of Rosario’s fate. Finally, Margoub flees to California from New York. He hopes that the small time Mafia boss would not be able to trace him there. He is mistaken grossly. The network is far more widespread than Margoub could guess. He is traced to California and Gloria arrives to fetch him. She beseeches him to return to her for the shake of his son who is five by then. A handsome looking lad requests his father not to desert his mother. He comes back for the fear of his life. Gloria vows to do everything to keep him happy. This time Gloria becomes the very incarnation of Venus and showers love and affection on Margoub all the time. She kisses and hugs him at the slightest pretext hoping to tie Margoub irrevocably with love and affection, for she really begins to love him. With each passing day, her love started to grow more intense. The change in her attachment begins after Margoub’s flight to California. But, Margoub is tired of the robust show of love and affection; he is dying for the subtle soothing kind of eastern love. He runs away again. This time he keeps on moving from State to Sate, to avoid detection. After running for some years, he is almost at end of his patients and his aging body wants to settle down somewhere, permanently. He, thus, is planning to settle in one of the poorer and obscure States like South Dakota. But, before he could do so, he is found dead in a cheap motel with his Asian female partner. They are said to be dead from an overdose of Marijuana combined with alcohol. Gloria never believed the reason cited for Margoub’s death and she never wanted him dead.