Chapter 26
"Kumusta ang biyahe mo?" tanong ni Dave.
"Okay lang." sagot ko at binigay sa kanya ang bag ko.
Our vacation is almost over. I spent the whole summer at our house reading books and recovering myself. Masuwerte ako at naitawid ko ang third year ng LegMa.
"Tara na. Sinabi ko kay Papa na susunduin kita kaya pinadala niya sa'kin ang isa sa mga sasakyan niya." sabi pa niya.
"Why do you kept on rejecting Tito if he wanted to give you a car? Papa mo naman 'yon, hindi naman siguro masamang tumanggap ng regalo." I said.
"Wala lang." he said.
Nakarating na kami sa sasakyan at nilagay niya ang bag ko sa backseat at pinagbuksan ako ng pintuan. I hop into the front seat and he drove later on.
"Wala ka na bang dadaanan? Are we heading straight to your unit?" be asked.
"No. Keep on driving" I said.
"To where?"
"Kahit saan. I'll pay for the gas." I said.
"No need. Let's have a joyride then." he said.
We talked about a lot of stuffs as he's maneuvering the car. We talked about how we spent our summer and our plans for this upcoming fourth year of our study.
"I spent the first month with Mama and Papa Lito at the province and after that I spent the rest of the vacation with Papa, Tita, and the rest of the fam." he said.
"As what you've said, I focused on myself. Ang hirap pala. Ang hirap lalo na't sarili ko lang ang mayro'n ako." sabi ko naman.
"Okay ka na ba ngayon?"
"I can't say that but, I can say that I'm much better than those days." I said referring to the days where I lost myself.
"That's nice to hear. I want you to know that he's doing the same."
Why does he need to brought him up? Anyway, I'm glad that he's career is doing great. He did took a month off after I ended everything. It was a risky thing that he did minding that his movie blew up. Naintindihan naman siya ng mga fans niya.
"Mabuti naman." sabi ko.
"Seeing the both of you, natatakot akong magmahal." Dave said.
"You need to take risks, Dave. It's all about trial and error."
"Alam ko. It's scary because you already invested a lot for it, yet, the chance of losing everything is just around."
"And it's up to you on how you're going to handle it. During my healing process, napagtanto kong may kontrol ka sa sarili mong tadhana. In my case, I wasn't able to control it the right way."
"Love sure is complicated but, people are still willing to take risks even for the slightest chance that it might be the right one." Dave said.
I agree with that. Sa sitwasyon ko, hindi nanalo ang pusta ko.
"Dave." I called him.
"Oh?"
"It's been in my head all of the time. May gusto sana akong itanong sa'yo."
"And that is?" he asked.
"Do you have an idea about what happened in the past? Our families? M-Mazro said he'd explain it to me someday but... you know."
I looked at him. Nakatingin lang siya sa daan. I badly want to know about what happened. Everybody seems to have an idea about it.
"Gusto mo ba talagang malaman?" tanong niya.
I nodded.
"Did you made me drive for so long just for this? We can just talk about it over cups of coffees or whatsoever."
"S-Sorry." I awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of my head.
I saw him took a deep breath.
"Your Mama and my Papa were lovers. Simula high school pa lang hanggang sa magtapos sila ng pag-aaral. They were hiding their relationship since Papa's parents don't like your mother."
I kept on listening to him even though I can't absorb the stuffs he just said.
"Nabalitaan ng mga magulang ni Papa ang tungkol sa kanila ng Mama mo. Papa's parents forced them to separate but, both of them decided to stay."
So they fought for love, huh?
"Dahil hindi nga gusto ng mga magulang ni Papa, gumawa ang mga ito ng paraan. Since 'yong nanay ni Papa ang mayor no'n, pinakalat niya na nagnakaw ang Mama mo sa bahay nila."
I got shocked but, I didn't interfere what he's saying and remained still.
"Papa's parents knew that they can't separate them by just telling them to do so, so they made a way to make your mother leave the municipality."
"Naaresto ba si Mama no'n?" I asked.
"Hindi. In exchange of her freedom, she was said to leave the municipality." Dave answered.
"People there hates me because they thought my mother was a thief?"
"Parang gano'n na nga. I knew the story all along that's why I never treated you the same way as they did. 'Yong mga panahong 'yon, sobrang kalat 'yong balita pati na sa ibang munisipalidad." sabi pa ni Dave.
"How did you know that this was what happened?" I asked.
"That's when my Mama became a part of the frame."
"And?" I asked.
"Hindi masaya si Papa sa fixed marriage nila ni Tita Amaida after a year no'ng pinaghiwalay sila ng Mama mo. Nagbakasyon siya sa isa sa resort do'n sa'tin kung saan nagtatrabaho si Mama. Nagkakilala silang dalawa at naikuwento ni Papa ang lahat kay Mama. Kay Mama ko nalaman lahat." he answered.
"What happened after that?" tanong ko.
"Galit na naman daw ang mga magulang ni Papa dahil may anak siya sa iba. They did their best to conceal me. Sinusuportahan daw ako ni Papa no'n pa man at hindi ko nga alam."
"Did Mazro knew about this?"
"Oo. Si Mizee matagal na niyang alam, si Mazro naman, tinanong niya raw si Papa no'ng nanliligaw siya sa'yo. Nabanggit nga ni Mazro sa'kin na nagsisisi siya sa mga maling akala niya sa pamilya mo no'n. He thought what your family did was stealing from our family." Dave answered.
What happened in the past sure is complicated.
Ang pinagdaanan ni Mama sa pag-ibig ay wala lang kompara sa akin. Sobrang tindi ng pinagdaanan niya and I wonder how she healed from it. I can't imagine her feelings. She wasn't just separated from her lover but she was humiliated.
If I learned a thing from my mother's past, that would be, life will let you feel pain before letting you feel happiness because, happiness isn't something you know how it feels without knowing how pain feels.
^_^
