Short Summary: The Life Of Jocelyn Peralta's Marriage

On the morning of 30 November 1996, Jocelyn Peralta was to be wed. Going to be married at only eighteen years old, especially to a groom who is fourteen years her senior, made many eyebrows raise. Who would want to be married at only eighteen? Peralta would. Marriage was supposed to be for love, and Peralta did love her husband-to-be. But more than for love, it was also for hope. This man embodied a promise, her promise that there was something better for her. To her, that marriage was her way out—her escape from the life she desperately wanted to leave. Peralta grew up in a shantytown, where the streets were always damp and littered with garbage and animal dung that stray cats and dogs leave. Her family lived in a two-story stone building—a …show more content…
But they also quarrel about something else. Her father would always accuse her mother of having an affair with other men, getting jealous over something as small as a handshake. Their quarrels were not just raised voices, but they also hurt each other physically. Her mother was not a weak woman who would allow a man to beat her; she fought “like a man” and also punched and kicked back. They threw plates and knives at each other. Once, in an attempt to hurt her husband’s feelings, Peralta’s mother blurted out that two of their children were not his. Peralta describes these incidences as “traumatic” and “painful.” Peralta also received emotional abuse from relatives and other people. She was constantly compared to her sister. Once when she was with her mother, a neighbor remarked that she was a pretty child. Her mother scoffed and said that her other daughter was prettier. Every day when Peralta came home from school, her drunk relatives who were living with them would ridicule and laugh at her; they called her ‘ugly’ and ‘stupid.’ These experiences made her lose her self-confidence; she became reserved and …show more content…
She will treat them all the same and would give them all the love, care, and attention that she craved for. Everything that her parents failed to give her, she will give them. Realizing that she cannot always rely on her parents for material provision, Peralta thought of ways to earn money. First, she sold plastic bags in Muñoz Market; she called the shoppers’ attention, screaming on top of her lungs while trudging, her ankles deep in mud. She figured out that she was not earning enough, so she found more ways. She bought toys, accessories, and other items from Divisoria and sold them in front of her mother’s tailoring shop. There was a lady in front of Peralta’s school who runs a pabunot, a game in which the player draws a letter from a bowl then the player will get the prize that matches the letter that he or she got. Adept in forgery, Peralta tricked the lady into giving her the 500 peso jackpot prize. She used the 500 pesos as a starting capital for her own pabunot and other businesses. Her money grew until she could buy her own clothes and eat at fast-food