The Longest Ride

Recently, I read a quote by a famous author V.E. Schwab: “Choose the weeds instead of the road. Go astray. Get lost on purpose, just you can find a new way home.” I know it doesn’t exactly relate to the story I will share today but I don’t know, it just reminds me of it, so let me start.

In 2008 back when I was still 9 years old, my mother and I used to go to Talibon to pay for our barangay’s electricity bill (she was the acting treasurer). And because there was a mall nearby, she would also grab the chance to buy our groceries.

 

Even at a very young age, I was aware of the fact that my family didn’t have tons of money just like everyone else in my area. So, I was never the kind of child who would point at something and throw tantrums if my parents would not buy it. And at that specific time, I was just helping my mother look for everything she wanted to buy. Later, when it was our turn in the cash register, while looking at the total price to pay she suddenly asked the cashier “Ma’am, pwede ibalik lang ni nakong uban, dile naman gud maigo akong kwarta, pamlite nalang jud ni.” Fortunately, the cashier didn’t get angry and let us return the products, and I’ll never forget those: 2 bars of Speed Blue, ½ dozen Wings powder, and one kilogram of brown sugar. As I mentioned earlier, money was so tight back then but I couldn’t help myself and felt embarrassed.

 

As my mother and I were walking outside the mall, I was silent. I was so sad and hungry. It was almost noon but I never tried asking my mother for food because I knew we only had enough for the bus fare. After 20 minutes or so of waiting for ‘Sulay’, we finally sat and started our journey towards home or so we thought.

 I don’t know what was my mother’s problem at that time but it was obvious her mind was all over the place. 15 minutes on our ride home, she just realized we got on the wrong bus. We were traveling in the opposite direction. There was a little commotion because the bus conductor was confused about how could we not have realized it immediately. My mother apologized and pleaded not to let us pay for the fare because obviously, we didn’t have enough money.  The embarrassment that I felt at that time was immeasurable. People were gawking at us, I could feel their pity to my core. I was so sure they were thinking my mother was stupid and we were very poor. Finally, after a minute of negotiation, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere.

 

The sun was hot on my face, there were a lot of rice fields and two people at the side of the road. I had no idea where were we. I’ve never been in that place. I couldn’t understand what the strangers were talking about with my mother because at that point I could only focus on the tears welling up in my eyes. I was hungry. I was embarrassed. We didn’t have money and we were lost. My dumbass young self thought we were never coming back to our house. I would never see my sisters and brother again and my father would spend his whole life looking for us. As my tears were starting to spill thinking about all the possibilities, there was a small but colorful jeepney that stopped in front of us. My mother explained our situation and they were kind enough to let us hitchhiked.

 

As I sat in the jeep and saw the people inside, my heart stopped. The pity that I felt for myself earlier, multiplied. All the men inside the jeepney were wearing polo shirts with a tie. They looked smart and classy. At that time I was so sure they were all lawyers (but now I know better that they were members of the LDS church-they were Mormons). And as my mother recounted what happened to us I couldn’t help it, I broke down. I burst into tears. I cried my heart out without reservations. I don’t know what my mother felt at that moment but all the lawyers were asking if I was okay and if I needed water or whatnot. Then in the middle of my fit, my mother tapped my hair and said “Hilom na. Ayaw na’g hilak. Unsa man, gigutom ka? Hapit naman ta muabot.” Maybe she was thinking that would make me stop crying but it didn’t. I cried the whole 15-minute ride back to Talibon terminal.

Finally, when we were on the bus which was really bound to our hometown, my mother befriended the passenger sitting next to us. She told the woman our long unfortunate day. Maybe to comfort my still crying face, the woman gave me a slice of watermelon her daughter was eating.

I ate the watermelon, stopped crying, and stayed silent for the rest of our real ride home.

And to tie this story up let me change the quote by V.E Schwab a little bit, “ My mother chose the roads instead of the weeds but we still got astray. We got lost not on purpose, and we still found our way home.”