A piece of the past...

Her friends, Jackie and George, came by the hospital one Saturday with Troy, Lee and Miguel in tow, and most of them tried to cheer her up, most especially Troy who had been trying too hard, making Jackie and George roll their eyes. But Tessa seemed to enjoy Troy's exaggerated storytelling so everyone gave him the floor. In return, Tessa told Troy of her new friends, some British missionaries who had been visiting the hospital.

Jackie and George were concerned how Dannie was doing but they couldn't openly talk to her since her mother decided to lurk around. The way Jackie and George looked and talked to her, she was somehow grateful that the woman was there because she was not ready to tell her friends what had really been happening.

"Hey, you okay?" Troy asked when Tessa finally gave in and slept. Her medications had started to work and somehow, after everything that had happened to her, Dannie started to feel a little hope.

She looked up and saw Troy looking at her with worry. "Yeah," she answered, nodding her head.

"Just don't stress yourself too much," he said, rumbling her hair before stepping away with a soft chuckle.

Jackie pushed a white envelop in her hands before they left and gave Dannie a hard stare even before she could refuse. Dannie just smiled at her friends with grateful eyes.

Her mother saw the exchange and immediately grabbed the envelop from her hand and counted the cash inside. The lady shook her head in disappointment. "I thought your friends are rich? This is not even enough for your sister's medications. If you did not do what you did last time," she said, throwing Dannie a look of ire, "we won't even be here worrying about money."

Dannie did not answer. She just stood up and walked away before she could say anything that would only cause her mother to freak out.

PRESENT DAY

"Can't we just spend the night here and rest for a while?" Troy asked when they finally reached Bacolod.

Dannie turned her head and opened her mouth, about to protest, but she saw the tired look on his face. Slowly, her body responded to what she was thinking and she suddenly felt tired as well.

She returned her gaze on the road and sighed. "Okay. Let's just go back to the apartment."

"Thank you," he said with relief.

"But you better be ready to face George and Jackie. They were really pissed the last time I talked to them."

"I can face anything but more driving right now."

"Let's rest for now and then we're going out to get Toto the very next morning."

He did not answer. She waited.

"Troy. We're going out to find Toto tomorrow morning." It was an order.

"Okay," he answered faintly.

*****

Troy did not go to bed easily. George and Jackie made sure that he got the message. Jordan and Dean were there as well, both looking pissed. The war was still going on, obviously, but Dannie was too tired to even bother to try to talk to them.

Troy deserved some talking anyway, since he was obviously aware of the plan but did not do anything to stop it. Jordan and Dean were aware of what they had done but they were also both too proud to admit that what they did was wrong. Jam was nowhere to be seen and Dannie was willing to bet that he was away for the very same reasons she was thinking of.

Jackie wouldn't stop nagging the boys until George stood up and joined in.

She announced that she would not be there at the wedding if Toto wouldn't be there. Jackie seconded, making Dean cry out in disbelief. Jordan started talking about how George was being stubborn. The talk about stealing someone else's property started until the topic went as far as going to the police station to file a complaint against the guys.

Dannie and Troy were the only ones who kept their silence, both too tired and hungry. Dannie fixed Troy and herself a simple dinner since their friends did not bother to have some after the mysterious case of Toto happened.

They even got to finish their dinner while the two couples continued with their bantering.

At one point, Jordan cried, "Well, then, if you can find Toto, you can use him for the wedding!"

"Is that a challenge?" Jackie and George shouted together.

"Yes!" Dean answered, his voice equally pissed.

It was only when George walked off to her bedroom and shut the door and Jordan followed her and went out later after getting kicked out that Jackie did the same. Dean, on the other hand, gave her space and did not follow. Dannie left the dishes for Troy to clean and went to her room, saying, "You better sleep early, Troy, because I am not having any more of these fights tomorrow because I don't see the point in all this."

Once inside her room, she fell on her bed and listened to the noise the guys were making outside. She wasn't sure if any of them were going home that night, but she was hoping they'd stay. She was getting used to their presence and having not one of them sleeping in the living room wasn't normal anymore.

She heard Troy tell the guys to calm down and that they had to do something to make up with Jackie and George tomorrow.

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place, you now," Troy also added with a yawn. "If there is anything you cannot touch where the boys are concerned, it's Toto. Wrong move, guys. Wrong move." Dean and Jordan did not say anything.

Dannie closed her eyes then.

*****

I started to feel the impending doom as night eventually came and I was engulfed in darkness among the trees and the grass not far away from the empty farm house. The last time I was here, there was a party. Now, there was no one but the caretaker who had already gone to sleep.

When are the boys coming to get me? I wondered.

Would they even bother to get me?

The fear came at that point.

Yeah, what if they decided they could wait and that the guys were right? I would just be the laughingstock of the other cars and their owners during the wedding anyway. I am an old, beaten yellow Beetle Volkswagen and...and I'd have no permanent owner once the wedding was over.

Who would take me? Would I be among those cars that rotted the rest of their years in garages while the people who once loved them continued on with their lives—building more relationships and having their own families? Would I have to witness a lot of changes in the lives of my boys without being part of it? Would I be willing to stand by and watch as they got new cars?

I hated the thought but I knew it was possible.

The years I had spent with the boys seemed like a distant memory now. I should have known from the start that it would lead to this—that they would eventually have to separate and live their lives with others. They would eventually leave a lot of things behind that they once owed together and that included me.

Unless, by some miracle, someone would be willing to take me and care for me.

Oh my gas, I am starting to sound like a whining bitch right now.

I hated the feeling, but I couldn't keep myself from worrying about myself as well. As much as I cared about my boys, I also cared about my own future, you know. I wanted to know for certain whether or now I'd be staying with one of them or not.

Why do I get the feeling that they are starting to forget me?

I wished one of my friends were there with me to give comfort. It would have been great. Vicky would be very sympathetic. She'd say a lot of good and positive things and I was missing her right now because of that.

But I was alone. And it was a different kind of alone.

*****

When Dannie came out of her room the very next morning, Troy was still sleeping. Jordan and Dean were nowhere in sight. She assumed the two had already left for home to prepare for their work. She wasn't very concerned about the couples because she knew how the fights would end up anyway. What she was concerned of was Toto. Yeah, sure, Toto was just a car, but he was a very sensitive part. And like her friends, she wanted him to be the bridal car. Toto deserved it. He had gained it!

She marched toward Troy's sleeping form on the carpet floor of their living room and nudged his back with her toes. "Hey, Troy, wake up."

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"We have to go now."

He did not answer. Instead, he scooted away from her and kept on sleeping.

"Troy."

"What?"

"We got to get Toto."

"Later," he answered.

Dannie decided she'd give him more time and went to make breakfast. George was the first to get out of her bedroom, her eyebrows still knitted together in a frown. She did not answer Dannie's good morning greeting and went on to make her coffee.

Jackie came out next, her eyes swollen.

The three of them sat around the table in silence. They also ate their breakfast in the same volume until Dannie could no longer take it.

"I'll go get Toto later," she announced. "Since we all know where he is, I'll get him. You guys have work and I have a lot of time."

"That would be awesome," Jackie said, trying to sound cheerful. "But I don't want to see Dean right now. How could they think of that of Toto?" her eyes started to water once more.

George did not give any comment but muttered something like, "I'll show Jordan what Toto can do, that bastard."

*****

When George and Jackie left, Dannie fussed over Troy who still seemed to be in no mood to leave the apartment. He was always like that after a project, she thought. In the past, though she didn't have any idea of what went on in a photo shoot, she was always aware of what Troy was like after each of them. He'd always find a way to have a long rest as if he had gone to battle for months.

"Troy, we have to leave early," she said for the nth time but he just kept on eating his breakfast in a lazy fashion. "Fine. If you're not going to take me, I'll find a way to take myself."

He must not have heard her because he did not give any intense reaction other than stare at her with a lazy, lost look in his eyes.

Dannie got up from her seat and left Troy eating in the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Jam."

"Jam?"

"Yes. Since he's the one responsible for taking Toto to your farm, I'll ask him to take me there himself."

Suddenly, Troy was on his feet and the next thing Dannie knew, he was blocking her path to the front door. "You're going to ask him to drive you to our farm?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded and looked at him innocently like it was the most natural thing to do.

"On his motorbike?" His brows were furrowed.

"Well, if there is no other mode of transportation..." she trailed off, walking around him to open the door.

"Okay, okay, I'll take you there."

"You're probably tired. I'll just ask Jam. He owes it to us."

"No, no, you're not asking that guy to drive you to our farm on his freaking motorbike. I'll just finish my breakfast and we'll take Tata."

Dannie eyed him with doubt. "Are you sure? If you're tired, I can just..."

"No. Jam's probably busy. And you know that guy is as reckless as George. Who knows what's going to happen if you ride on his motorbike. And plus, it might rain. I think the weather's not going to be good."

"The sky is clear outside."

"You never know. Just get ready and we'll go right away."

Dannie gave in with a hidden smile and went to change.

*****

"Let's just stop by my house. I need a quick change," Troy said half an hour later.

They entered Sta. Clara subdivision where he lived alone.

"Can you drop my by the chapel?" she asked.

He did not question her request and dropped her off the chapel saying he'd be quick and get back to her soon.

Dannie had always liked the chapel in Troy's subdivision. It was a round chapel—small, intimate and cozy inside. But other than the chapel itself, she had fallen in love with the swamp the subdivision maintaining for as long as she could remember. There was a gazebo nearby and benches for people to relax in during any period of the day.

Today, the place was empty.

Dannie went inside the chapel to pray and walked to walk around the swap as she waited for Troy. The place was quiet, the sun gentle against her skin as heat was screened by the large Nara trees around the place. The constant sound of the frogs from the swamp kept her company and she amused herself looking at some of them swimming in a carefree manner. They didn't have to worry about any danger. They knew they were home, in a place intended for them to live without threats.

She realized it was what she wanted to achieve.

She wanted to have a swamp of her own. The wonder of natural things growing around it despite being surrounded with things made by men and their own desires for comfort awakened a very unique feeling inside her. The swamp's presence outside the chapel and in an expensive residential area gave an impression that it was out of place but not really at the same time. If you looked at it as a whole, with all the big houses and the chapel nearby, the swamp seemed out of place—the grasses were chaotic, the frogs too carefree, the noises too random—in such a well-maintained place. But as an individual, it was a sanctuary all on its own. It was amazing how it was even alive to this day.

It's because it's allowed to be here. Its difference has always been embraced.

Dannie longed for that. She longed to feel the belongingness despite having a different nature. Or maybe it had always been that way for her and she just never realized it until now. She had people around her—her friends—who had allowed her to grow the way she wanted without prejudice. No one had ever restricted her from anything. Everyone had always respected her difference. Her past didn't matter to them. And maybe it shouldn't matter to her either.

She walked away from the swamp with regret when she saw Tata approaching. She would have loved to stay a bit longer and just be at peace with herself, to ponder more on what she had just realized.

But she had Toto to go to and he needed some rescuing.

*****

I was about to go crazy. Literally.

No one seemed to mind that a yellow Beetle Volkswagen was looking out of place. The caretaker obviously knew why I was there because he didn't even bat an eye when he saw me. Nor did he approach me to see if I was intact.

I was about to wallow in self-pity all over again when I heard a very familiar sound approaching.

TATA!

Yep, it's my friend, Tata coming to rescue me!

The dramatic mood I was in suddenly flew with the wind as I excitedly watched Troy maneuver my friend near me.

Dannie baby was the first to climb down and she immediately came to me with relief on her face.

But wait. She was walking toward me with a different aura around her.

It was like watching a perfume commercial on TV. The sun shining over her and her hair flying everywhere with the wind—AND that smile!

Hey, lady, who the hell are you? I asked.

She was freaking smiling like she had been...well, relieved from all weight of the world over her shoulders.

I shifted my gaze to Troy who was smiling all the same as he watched Dannie walk toward me, his gaze with a mixture of wonder and curiosity as well.

What have you done to her?

Dannie baby seemed oblivious though because she just kept on smiling.

I was willing to bet all the copper parts of my body that something had changed. SOMETHING definitely did because the person coming toward me was not the Dannie with the shitty past, but the Dannie with so much hope.

Okay, then, I guess I am very excited to know what's going to happen next.