Chapter Four: Part One

One Saturday afternoon, she planned to go to visit Agatha at the cemetery. Before she left, she asked her aunt asked her to bring freshly-baked empanadas to Aldo’s grandfather. After getting the brown bag, she also brought the script with her. The moment she reached his house, memories flashed back when her cousin used to bring her there. Aldo’s house used to be their barkada’s hang-out since they were kids. Whenever Leni felt out of place, she would roam around the garden and play with the butterflies. They became her imaginary friends.

The garden was still there, nothing has been changed.

She walked closely and she saw two butterflies chasing each other, until the other one eluded. Then, she pictured her life with what she saw earlier. Leni remembered the people who were once with her: Her father, who left them when she was seven. He promised that he would come back after two months but he didn’t. Nanay, her grandmother who took care of them. She died a year before Leni graduated from college. Red, her first boyfriend, dumped her on her birthday. They all left her with different reasons. Then, she realized that she should put back the broken pieces again. “There’s no other way but to move forward.” She told herself.

Leni knocked at the door and Aldo opened it. “Tuloy ka” He said.

“Tita Juana asked me to give these to your grandfather. By the way, I also brought the script with me. I shortened it already.” She said as she handed the brown bag and folder to him.

“Mukhang masarap ah. Sa bagay, magaling talagang mag-luto si Tita.”

“Aldo,sino ba yung dumating?” A voice from the room upstairs said.

“Si Lolo Celso yun, di na pala siya nakaka-tayo.” Then, the two went inside the room.

“Kumusta na po kayo?”

“Eto, medyo mahina na.Ano nga pala ulit pangalan mo hija?”

“Leni po, pinsan po ako ni Agatha. Di niyo na po siguro naaalala pero lagi po niya ako kasama dito noon.”

“Ay oo, naalala ko na. Ikaw yung palaging mag-isang naka-upo sa labas. Ang laki mo na ah. Nag-aaral ka pa ba?”

“Hindi po, kakatapos ko lang po ng college.”

“Mabuti naman kung ganun. Teka, hindi ka ba muna kakain ng merienda?”

“Hindi na po siguro, dadalawin ko pa po si Ate Agatha. Birthday po kasi niya ngayon.”

“Punta ka palagi dito ha. Kwentuhan tayo.”

“O sige po.Babalik na lang po ako sa ibang araw.”

After that conversation with the old man, Aldo accompanied her outside

“Aldo, ang galing naman ng lolo mo. Naalala pa niya ako.”

“Siyempre naman, palagi ka noon nandito eh. Actually, nung hindi ka na pumupunta, palagi ka niya hinahanap. Natutuwa kasi siya sa’yo.”

“May natutuwa pa pala sa akin nung bata ako. Akala ko, kay Ate Agatha lang. I don’t think that I enjoyed my childhood. Wala kasi akong kaibigan nung bata ako. Loner ako nun. Tapos, saling-kit pa ako sa inyo. Sa totoo lang, nung college lang ako nagkaroon ng mga totoong kaibigan. Teka, ang drama ko na. Anyway, if there’s anything that you want to change in the script, just let me know.”

“Sure, I will. Leni, naalala ko yun. Kami yung mga teenager nung panahon na yun, tapos ikaw yung bata kaya hindi ka maka-sabay sa amin. Pero, hindi ibig-sabihin nun na ayaw namin sa’yo. Ma-iba pala tayo, saan na nga pala ang punta mo ngayon?”

“I’m going to visit Ate Agatha and offer a mass for her.”

“You don’t have to, I saw your aunt earlier this morning. She told me that she already offered a mass for her. Bakit hindi ka kasama kanina?”

“Late kasi ako nagising. Napuyat ako kagabi, kausap ko yung friend ko sa cell phone.”

“Baka naman boyfriend mo? Lagi ka kasi may kausap sa phone”

“Uy, Hindi ah. We broke up, remember? He doesn’t have a reason to call me. Anyway, that was my best friend Adam. Lagi ko lang sila kinukulit. Ngayon lang kasi kami nagka-hiwalay. Noon, araw –araw ko sila kasama. Hindi pa kasi ako sanay na wala sila sa tabi ko. O paano, alis na ako.”

“Ah ok, baka pumunta ako doon mamamaya.”

As stepped outside, Leni recalled another memory from that house.

One of Agatha’s friends gave each one of them a triangle made out of art neon green and pink cartolina which they called as the “ticket to heaven”.

Leni was expecting to get one, but she wasn’t.

“Makulit ka kasi, kaya ka walang ticket sa heaven.” She told her.

To her disappointment, she went to the garden when Aldo’s grandfather approached her.

“Hija, what’s wrong?”

Lenis shook her head and said.

“They didn’t give me a ticket to heaven. Hindi na daw po ako pwede doon.”

“Don’t believe them. You don’t need a ticket to get there. Ang importante, mabuti kang tao. Halika, para hindi ka mainip, tuturuan kitang gumawa ng elesi. Pabayaan mo sila doon.”

“Yehey!” Leni said with excitement.

After she remembered that moment with Lolo Celso, she realized that she needs to spend time with him while she’s staying there. She considered him as the grandfather that she never had. Leni never got the chance to know her grandfather, because he died a month after she was born.