The memory of him (Completed)

Chapter 2

Bumilis ang tibok ng puso ko ng makalapag ang eroplano. Kelan nga ba ako huling nandito? Halos 23 taon na ang nakalipas, dahil ng mamatay si Gonzalo ay pinatay ko narin ang lugar na ito sa isip ko.

"Mom, you okay?" Haplos sakin ng anak ko. Tumango lang ako at ngumiti.

Gabby, same as his dad was unpredictable. Madami siyang desisyon at bagay na hindi mo inaasahang gagawin niya. He has the intelligence of his dad kaya naman he easily managed the company that Gonzalo left to us. Matapos mamatay ni Gonzalo ay ako ang nagtook over, with the help of Rafa and ofcourse the guidance of Eduardo, Gonzalo's brother.

"Taren" sinalubong ako ng mahigpit na yakap ni Eduardo. May mga puti na itong buhok, mapapansin ding unti unti nang kinakain ng kulubot ang dati'y napakakinis niyang balat.

"He's your dad's brother. Your uncle" mahinahon kong sabi.

"Hi Gabriel, you look exactly just like your dad" bakas ang kasiyahan nito hindi lamang sa mga labi kundi pati sa mata. Isang nananabik na Eduardo ang nakita ko, siguro ay bumalik ang mga alaala ng kaniyang kapatid nang makita niy ang pamangkin. "Come, come your grandparents are excited to meet you" buong pagtatanong ang nakikita ko sa mga mukha ng anak ko. I never told him about them.

"Momma, how come i didnt know about my grandparents?" Tanong nito mula passenger seat ng makasakay kami sa sasakyan ni Eduardo.

"They never knew about you." Si Eduardo ang sumagot. "They only knew about you last month. Were here." Sabay park ng sasakyan ni Eduardo. "Since Gonzalo died mom and dad moved here because they never wanted to sold the house." Ngiti nito sakin.

"Gabby, this house was Taren's idea. The whole concept was her idea. It was brought to life by your dad and an architect friend of him." Sabi nito habang papasok kami sa bahay.

"Taren" maluha luhang sabi ni Tiya Silvia ng makita ako nito. Agad ko naman itong niyakap pati nati nadin si Tiyo Miguel.

"Where is he?" Tanong ni Tiyo Miguel sakin.

"Gabriel" tinawag ko ito mula saking likuran. "Meet your grandparents"

Nagyakapan ang mga ito at halos maiyak din ako sa scenariong nakikita ko. Inakbayan ako ni Eduardo para pakalmahin. Sumama na si Gabriel sa lolo't lola niya habang ako naman ay kay Eduardo. Walang pinagbago ang bahay ni Gonzalo, ganun padin. Kitang kita ko ang mga lupain ni Gonzalo. Ang matagal niyang pinangarap na makuha, makamit.

"Yes hello?" Sagot ko sa telepono. Kakalabas ko lang ng kitchen ng marinig ko ang telepono ko na magring.

"Taren i bought the land!!" Tuwang tuwang sabi ni Gonzalo sa kabilang linya.

"Well, that's great Gonzalo. That's anreally fantastic news" buong excitement kong sabi. Matagal na niyang pinakita sakin ang lupang sinasabi niya. It was a gigantic piece of land a couple of hours away from the city where he was living in Ecuador. Pinakita niya ito sakin nang magbakasyon ako dito. I never expected that it will only took him 6 months after showing me to purchase the land. It puzzled me before kung bakit gusto niyang magkabahay malayo sa syudad because Gonzalo was always a city person. He always feels safe in cities, once after we had our vacation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin halos halikan niya ang lupa ng Chicago ng makabalik kami. On the other part I am the more countryside girl.

"I never said I hated countryside you know, it's just that it's really peaceful in here" eksaktong mga katagang sinabi niya matapos ko siyang tanungin.

"You think he's ready?" Mahinanong tanong ni Eduardo sakin

"He's old enough, besides it's his right to know it" sagot ko dito

"But .." bumuntong hininga ito. "You know Gonzalo will never agree on this right?" Mataimtim nitong sabi habang nakatingin sa mga mata ko.

"Yes, but i have already decided" ngiti ko dito

Kinabukasan ay dinala ko si Gabby sa puntod ng kanyang ama. It was a heartbreaking scenario, nakatayo lang ako sa likod ni Gabby habang kinakausap niya ang kanyang Papa.

"Ma ..." nabaling muli ang atensyon ko saking anak matapos ako nitong tawagin.

"How did dad's career ended up in the US?" Tanong nito.

Huminga ako ng malalim, i was already composing answers in my head since the day we flew here. Lahat ng posibleng tanong niya, lahat ... i never told him how me and his dad met. Why i'm always in the US when he was a kid and why we resided in the Philippines. Lahat ng posibleng bakit, lahat ng sagot na dapat matagal ko ng binigay sa anak ko. Lahat yon bitbit ko papunta dito at lahat din ng iyon ay iiwan ko dito.

"You know, your dad always wanted to reside in the US, kasi malamig ... kasi maraming opportunities and cause he wanted to give opportunities for Latin American in the US to excel. Your dad always has his heart for other people, that's probably the thing we had in common.

You know when ... me and your dad met in Chicago worked together and move to New York he experienced a lot of uhmm discrimination. Your dad was not a good english speaker" unti unting bumabalik saking isip ang mga ala-ala na yon habang binibigkas ko ang kwento sa anak ko.

"Kaya ayun ... he enrolled in NYU and surprisingly your dad was really intelligent. Mas matalino pa sakin, it's just that he can't express his ideas well in english kaya hindi napapansin. When he got used of speaking english he told me na alot of people from latin america are actually intelligent hindi lang sila nabibigyan ng opportunity to excel because some of them are not really good english speaker. Kaya that day your dad pledge na one day when he has his own company he will hire not only Latin American people but also people with colors. Kaya our company was always had a diverse environment" Gonzalo was never a fan of racism, that probably was one of the things that drove him to strive more.

"You never told me any story about how he died Ma" nilingon ko ito bago sumagot

"Anak, he died of Leukemia i always told you about that right?" Pagtataka kong sagot

"Yes mom but yun lang. I wanted to know how, i mean pano niyo nalaman? How did it start?" When he started asking multiple question ng sunod sunod, it only means this will be a long and deep conversation. His ears are all on me already. I sat beside him on a bench just two steps aways from Gonzalo's grave, wala ng araw kaya hindi na masyadong mainit.

Muli ay bumuntong hininga ako bago sumagot "That was uhmm ... that was winter when he called me. Sabi niya he's going to have his vacation in here. Which was quite new cause your dad loves winter, he never leaves New York during winter. And uhm i was about to go to New York that time and he told me na ibobook niya ulit ako ng ticket from New york to Guayaquil. I thought it was uhm some kind of  a normal holiday turns out he was already diagnosed that time."

Napasinghap ako, unti unti ng lumalamig ang ihip ng hangin.

"Two months ... two months before nadiagnosed na sya. He went home to ask your Uncle Eduardo for a second opinion and it was also your uncle who told me that he was diagnosed."

"How did you managed to survive all of that Ma?" Hinawakan ako nito sa kamay

"I had to do ... because i promised your dad" pagkatapos ko itong sabihin ay nakita ko ng papalapit ang sasakyan ni Eduardo kung nasan kami. Senyales na ito na oras na para umuwi.