ASYMPTOTES

Chapter 4

3 Years Ago

Over the next two years, life happened. He was finally starting to get noticed within showbiz circles. Projects trickled in and along with it were late nights and lack of sleep. But he is not about to complain one bit.

He was on his way home late one night from an out of town guesting at a mall in Bulacan. His trusted PA, Mama Ten, was at the backseat burning with fever.

"Ma naman kasi. Sabi ko naman sa'yo ako na lang pupunta ng Bulacan, ayaw mo naman making sa'kin. Yan tuloy," he gently admonished his PA whom he treated like family.

"Kasi nak, alam ko naman na gagabihin ka. Ayokong umuwi ka mag-isa lalo na't ang layo ng Bulacan sa Laguna," came the reply.

Richard could do nothing else but sigh.

"Kamusta pakiramdam mo? Pupunta na ba tayo sa ospital?" He could not keep the worry out of his voice.

Mama Ten simply laughed it off, "Ay ang OA. Lagnat lang, ospital agad? Pahinga lang 'to. Magmaneho ka na diyan."

Richard knew traffic could get pretty heavy if he took the main road so he used a side road not many people knew about. This would significantly cut his travel time by at least 30 minutes. The lighting, though, was very poor. The presence of large trees on both sides of the road made it darker.

As expected, the route he chose to take was made for easy driving. He was driving at a comfortable speed of 70 Kph when he suddenly heard a thud, thud, thud sound-he immediately knew he had a flat tire.

"Tangina," he cursed aloud, "galing tumayming eh."

"Nak, gusto mo ng tulong?," he heard Mama Ten ask from the backseat.

"Steady ka lang diyan, Ma. Kaya ko na 'to. Kunin ko lang yung jack at wrench sa likod. May spare tire naman tayo. Sandali lang 'to."

He went out of the car and noticed that they were in a dark part of the road. With very little car traffic, the place looks almost deserted.

Seeing he had no other choice, Richard opened the car trunk and took out what he needed. As he was closing the door, it started to drizzle. By the time he rolled the spare tire over to start the tire-changing process, the drizzle had turned into a full blown rain.

Richard was unfazed. He loved the rain. He just do not need the hassle right now seeing that Mama Ten is sick.

"Ma," he started to talk to his mom, his voice drowned out by the sound of the pouring rain, "hayaan mo, balang araw makakabili din ako ng matinong sasakyan."

He knelt down and went to work.

After a while, an SUV stopped beside his car. The driver rolled the window down and a lady's voice called out in the darkness, "Kuya, okay ka lang diyan? Kailangan mo ng tulong?"

He turned his head sideways. The drops of rain falling on his face prevented him from seeing the other driver's face. He just raised a hand in reply and said, "Okay lang ako, salamat!"

With a honk of the car horn, the other car drove away.

It took him 14 minutes to change the flat tire, but he knows that he could not use the spare tire all the way to Laguna. He put all the stuff inside the trunk and turned the car's ignition on.

He started to drive. After about a kilometer, he turned to enter a 24-hour Shell gasoline station to have his car tire fixed.