After
Alex Tizon’s article "My Family’s Slave" as regards Eudocia Tomas
Pulido
(The Atlantic, June 2017)
Alternative Endings for Ms. Eudocia Pulido
Underneath
his barrage of words
we
yearn to hear you
All I
can offer your ghost is this...
1.
After
a few years in the States, Eudocia escaped her captivity with the Tizon family,
finding refuge at the local Catholic church. She sued the Tizons for kidnapping
and back wages, ruining them financially. She became a feminist icon and
returned home to the PI triumphant and rich. Eudocia transformed into a famous
movie star, known for her tough-as-nails character roles, further cementing her
rags-to-riches fame. She eventually married and had two children of her own,
and at 78 died in her sleep, mourned by her loving husband and children, seven
grandkids and adoring fans.
2.
Eudocia
bided her time, knowing somehow she would recognize the right moment. On a
clear, cold, moonless October night in 1962, she killed her kidnappers,
stabbing each in the neck with a bolo knife. She left a note that said “sorry
not sorry, bitches.” She was never heard from nor seen again. There is still a
warrant out for her arrest.
3.
In
1973 the Tizon family was visited nightly by a ghostly apparition for a week.
An old woman’s gaunt and pained face appeared to every family member, begging
for help. No one could sleep and the children were terrified. The parents
called in the local priest who was unable to help, even with an exorcism. They
finally begged for the help of a local psychic, one Madame Rita, who insisted
she could speak to the spirits. Friday night they sat around the dining table
as if they were playing cards. A candle was lit next to a glass of water and
the light turned down. The kids giggled nervously as Madame Rita summoned the
unhappy spirit. A door slammed somewhere in the house and the candle blew out.
Someone screamed and Madame Rita shushed them.
“Speak,
I say. Tell this family why you haunt them so!”
“They
stole my daughter and I want her back!” the thin crackly voice wailed,
accusingly. Alex heard his parents gasp in fear.
“Eudocia
must come home! She must return now!”
That’s
how we learned her real name. Lola Eudocia was packed up the next day, a
one-way ticket in her hand. We learned her mother died ten days later. We never
saw Lola again.
Eudocia Dreams
1.
Eudocia
dreams of her secret lover arriving
to
spirit her far away from here.
Or, of a
tidy house, just hers,
where
she watches telenovelas whenever she wants.
She
dreams of warm sand between her
toes,
her dear mother’s hand in hers.
Of when
she belonged to herself alone.
2.
In
Tarlac
her
plastic measuring cup
muffin
tins and steamer await,
bereft.
But she
never comes.
Auntie
Cosiang bakes her puto in heaven.
Dr. Melinda Luisa de Jesús is Chair and Associate Professor of
Diversity Studies at California College of the Arts. She writes and teaches
about Asian American cultural production, girl culture, monsters, and
race/ethnicity in the United States.
She is
also a poet, and has published five chapbooks Locofo Chaps/Moria Poetry in
2017: Humpty Drumpfty and Other Poems, Petty Poetry for Scrotus’
Girls, Defying Trumplandia, Adios, Trumplandia!, and James
Brown’s Wig and Other Poems. Her poems have appeared in Machine Dreams
Zine, Rat’s Ass Review, Konch Magazine, and Rabbit and
Rose. More about her poetry is available here: http://peminist.com/poetry/
She is a
mezzo-soprano, a mom, an Aquarian, and admits an obsession with Hello Kitty.
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