A Poet's Tragic Love

CHAPTER 16

I arrived at our home as soon as my doctor said that I could be dismissed already from the hospital where I had stayed. The house was new to me since I could not remember that I had stayed in the infrastructure from I was a baby up to before I met the accident. The community was also new to me. For how many days, I was just at our home making myself feel better and used to the surroundings of our community. Sometimes my relatives visited me in our house. My mom was really taking good care of me while my dad was attending our mini department store that he had manage to establish after saving money from working abroad.

"Ma, what if I help Pa to run our business?" I asked my mom.

"Are you sure you are better enough to help your dad to handle our business?" Mom asked in return.

"Yes Ma, I can already run around our street all day long."

Mom laughed.

"Enough with your jokes, Anton, get prepared so that we can go together at our department store." Mom said

"Together? Are you coming with me?" I asked.

"Of course, I will approve of what you have proposed as soon as I can see with my very own eyes that you are good already to help your dad managed our business."

"Okay Ma."

I got dressed and approached my mom as soon as she stepped out of their bedroom.

"Ma, we will go to the store by my car." I said.

"What? Are you sure that you can drive already?" She asked.

"Yes Ma, since the day I was dismissed from the hospital, I was practicing to drive the car that you said mine almost every afternoon of every day."

"You're totally surprising me and making me nervous today Anton."

"Ma, just trust and believe in me." I said while grinning.

"Okay, guess there is nothing I could do to halt you from what you want."

We arrived at the department store via my car and we saw my dad inside attending a couple, obviously customers, paying for the items that they brought to the cashier. He smiled upon seeing us and we smiled at him too. When the customer left the store after paying, we approached my dad.

"Pa, He said he wants to help you manage this store." Mom said to my dad.

"Are you sure Anton that you could manage already to help me here?" Dad asked me.

I looked around inside the store for a bit before turning to my dad.

"Yes Pa, I think, no, I'm confident that I can manage to help you already." I replied.

"Okay then you can start already by arranging those items based on their categories." Dad said.

"Yes sir."

For how many days, I busied myself in helping my dad manage our department store. I cleaned the floors, swept the dust, arranged the items, wiped the windows, and much more. One day a boy entered our store and shook at the sight of me.

"Anton?" He said to me.

"Do I know you?" I replied.

"Are you serious? You don't remember me?" He asked while in the state of confusion

"Yes, sorry but I'm suffering from amnesia that's why I don't remember you even though we probably met before."

"Oh, I'm Neo; we became friends at a national poetry contest that was held years ago at Manila. We are both contestants by then, I won third place as you had won as champion."

"My parents said to me about the contest but they have never said anything about you."

"It's maybe because you weren't able to tell them anything about me. Well I'm here because I have business here to attend and I never thought that I'm going to find you here, is this yours?"

"No, it's my parents'. They said that I was working as a photographer at a government agency before my accident."

"Oh is that so? Are you still making poems?"

"Since my accident, I have not done a single poem."

"I hope you can get back your memories soon, and then you call me after so that we can exchange self-made poems."

He gave me a calling card.

"Don't forget okay?" Neo asked.

"Yes, I won't, I'll be sure to keep it." I replied

"Okay, got to go now, I'm running late, I'm just here to buy some drinks."

He grabbed somebottled juices, paid at the cashier and left as he waved his hand on me.