Lesson 4: A kid should not be allowed to run wild in the Antipolo area, especially within the driveways of Assumption - Antipolo.

1987 - Year 4 in the life of Rchrd.

Back in the day, my mother and father worked for a school bus company that ferried children to different prominent schools in the Philippines. My father worked as a bus driver, and my mother worked as a bus mother. Her work entailed that she took care of the kids, especially the ones that hava a habit of standing up and running around the bus while it is moving.

At that age, 4 years old, I was still sorely attached to my mother so she would usually bring me to work. Otherwise, the entire neighborhood would be woken by my loud cry at 5:00 AM. Since the job was relatively easy - she just had to really work when the kids are there - it allowed her to bring me with her.

She was assigned to a bus that took kids to Assumption - Antipolo. While waiting for the kids' dismissal time, we would often sit on the grass and have a picnic. There were also cashew trees in the vicinity of the school so we would pick the fallen fruits and play with it. However, one day, I got the impression that it was fun to run on the asphalt driveway of a downhill road. She tried to run after me, but she was too late. "Blag!" I went down on my forehead and rolled a few feet more.

That fall was monumental because I got a bump on my forehead that really protrudes from it. Even now, when I look at myself in the mirror, I can still see that bump on the right side of my forehead.