Driving dilemma

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

LET me tell you a story of love. Anna (not her real name), managed one of the biggest recruitment agencies in the country during her time. She belonged to a prominent family in northern Philippines and was engaged to a member of the graduating class of the Philippine Military Academy. When her parents learned about the engagement of their daughter to an ordinary soldier, they tried to break off the relationship, and succeeded in marrying her off with a scion of another prominent family, a kind loving man whom she did not love, but learned to care for. They had three children, aged four, six and eight, and had a quiet life until her husband was diagnosed with a debilitating sickness, leaving Anna with multiple responsibilities of running a business, caregiving and parenting. In all these tasks, she was quietly assisted by the family driver, Ramon (not his real name). Ramon is of Filipino-Portuguese descent, good-looking and fair-skinned, and most important, he loved the children like his own.

Everyday, Ramon would bring the children to school and fetch them after, while Anna concentrated on the business and her husband. After two years, the husband died. Anna was devastated and sulked for some time, having realized that she indeed loved Francisco (not his real name), who was her mentor in so many of her diverse interests. For the first time, she thanked her parents for their choice, especially her mother, who planned and arranged the marriage.

In the meantime, the children have become attached to Ramon. When Anna arrives from the office with Ramon, the children would run to him, before they would kiss her. At dinner, they would ask if Ramon can join them on the table, which she declined, not only out of respect for the late husband, but also because she was taught by her parents that housemaids and drivers eat among themselves, separately. That was how propriety rolled out in her household.

Anna was young and pretty, and a year after the husband died, some of his best friends, belonging to the same social class, proposed to her. She developed a liking for one of them, but each time he visited, the children would all go up to their rooms, and the eldest would always fart as he passed before the man.

One day, Ramon just left without a word, worse, without a trace. His bags, all his belongings were nowhere to be found, his room was clean and empty. Not a word, not even to the housemaid he was seen joking with. She looked around if something else was missing, and after a thorough inspection of the vicinity, she found to her surprise, that everything was where they were supposed to be.

All the children were asking about Ramon. The eldest, Chito (not his real name), was suddenly quiet and monosyllabic. He now played basketball alone. He watched football games alone. He was alone and lonely. The children asked each other if they have somehow offended him, and implored Anna to find him. In the meantime, Anna hired a replacement driver, someone very good at driving, but the children always found him wanting, in comparison to Ramon. Soon, she started realizing the vacuum left by Ramon.

One day, Anna received a call from a colleague in a recruitment firm, “Your driver Ramon is here, applying as a driver to Saudi Arabia.” On impulse, Anna drove immediately to the place and found Ramon walking out of the building.

“I will match whatever offer she gives you, just come back!”

Surprised to hear her voice, Ramon turned around, and with all the courage he could muster, she looked deeply into her eyes.

“You are truly dense, I have never met a woman so dense. I left because I desired to climb a mountain with inappropriate shoes, and I was slipping fast into a precipice, facing a tragic death.”

Stunned, Anna looked at this man, and saw the pain in his eyes, and beyond it. She saw, in his piercing eyes, a reflection of her vulgarity, and her own emptiness.

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