A lot of things can go wrong when a couple first meets.
But neither David nor Sheila expected the tragic death of Sheila’s mother, just hours after she met David.
Obviously, this has altered the course of their 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days journey.
On Season 6, Episode 11, the still-grieving Sheila looks to the future. She wants better for herself and her son.
David wants that, too. And he offers to help. But fixing up Sheila’s entire house may be beyond his budget.
David and Sheila
In the wake of Sheila’s mother’s tragic death in the family home, David is doing whatever he can. Sheila is staying with him in the hotel instead of staying in the deadly house where she was living. David is working to be emotionally supportive. He has never seen Sheila this distressed. That makes sense; her mother’s funeral was only a few days earlier.
It’s an awkward situation
But that doesn’t mean that Sheila is ONLY moping. Like any of us who have lost a loved one, she is oscillating between everyday life and the harsh realization of what happened. She takes time to compliment David’s looks after he trims his beard, for example. Aimee, the translator, joins them as they eat. Their communication is easier with her present.
Sheila can express her sorrow
She is not only grieving her mother’s loss. Sheila is also worried about the future of herself and her loved ones. The house is physically unsafe. It lacks plumbing. And it lacks a roof. Then there are the unsecured boards and the stairs that seemingly caused her mother’s fatal fall. The trauma of that is sticking with her. We can only imagine the horror of finding her mother like that.
There is a practical concern
Sheila wants to meet with a contractor. David wants to help her, which is the only way that she can even consider fixing up the house. Sheila previously was able to work, but has been unable to find work since the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of how people live and work. They’re going to meet with a man named Jupiter and get an estimate … but she doesn’t really know what kind of budget she’s working with.
David makes about $800 a week
Even if that’s his take-home rather than his initial income, that’s a middle class income from two jobs. Arguably a lower middle class income. He is not rich, and likely has to struggle just to save money in our nightmarish economy. But Sheila remarks that $800 a week would get someone a condo in the Philippines. Or, at least, where she lives. Communicating that $800 isn’t that much when a medium-sized grocery trip would knock out 20% of that can be difficult.
But the house is in desperate need of repair
It was, even before it showed itself to be a literal death trap. Homes need things like roofs and walls and solid floors and safe stairs. The contractor comments that Sheila is very lucky to have a friend like David who is willing to help.
The estimate comes to just under $1,800
That is more than David makes in two weeks. However, considering that we’re talking about repairing almost an entire house, including adding a roof, it could be a mere 1% of what the price would be in the US to get the same amount of work done. (An American contractor might not work on a house like this, for fear of getting into trouble for an inspector. We’ve all seen enough home renovation shows to know that there are some things that people MUST fix in order for other work to pass inspection)
“We need to discuss it”
David would love to just snap his fingers and fix Sheila’s house. But he has just taken time off of both of his jobs AND is on this expensive trip. This isn’t something that’s in his budget. Maybe he can make something work, but he and Sheila obviously need to talk first.
Later …
Can we just say that Sheila and Aimee seem to have a great rapport in some of these confessional scenes? They’ve moved well past Sheila’s initial reaction of insecurity and jealousy when Aimee first showed up. Anyway, they both seem amused as David insists that he wasn’t staring at any of the lovely ladies at the bar where they met up. He was just looking around the room, David claims. It’s so cute.
“I can’t pay for all of it”
David explains to Sheila that he works too jobs in order to make ends meet, so he’s not rich. He unfortunately cannot cover all of what she needs to do, but he does want to help. He can’t drop a couple thousand dollars to fix up the house all at once (keep in mind that he has a lower-middle class income and has flown to the Philippines for this trip, spending money and missing work), but wants to help little by little.
“If he can’t afford the expenses, that’s okay”
Sheila really wants to emphasize that she’s not after his money and feels deeply embarrassed and awkward asking for his help. She does want better for herself and for her son, Jhonreil. Sheila feels concerned about his future, especially after watching her own mother die in extreme poverty.