Marco, twenty-nine years old, had sweat on his forehead as he gripped the steering wheel of his borrowed old car.

Although it had only been a few months since he passed his driving test, he bravely drove the dark, paved roads from the province to the city.

The future of his family depended on this journey.

He dreamed of growing his newly established business—selling special puto. He carefully calculated every gram of sugar and flour in his mind, making sure it was within the correct calorie count because his good wife, Lianne, was strict about her health.

The surroundings were quiet and only the soft music from the radio made noise inside the car.

In the back seat, blue boxes, his son Dylan’s favorite color, were neatly stacked. Next to them were large sacks of white powder that he would use for a big order tomorrow morning.

This was for the baptism of the mayor’s daughter, so he couldn’t go wrong.

He thought of the smiles on his other children, Nathan and Mikaela, when he returned home with a delicious pasalubong and a large profit from his hard-earned product.

But the quiet journey was suddenly cut short when he saw the flashing red and blue lights ahead.

A large checkpoint of armed policemen blocked the road.

Marco’s heart suddenly beat faster. Even though he knew his license and registration were complete, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. He was familiar with the stories in the news about innocent drivers suddenly getting caught up in illegal activities.

He rolled down the window when a tall, serious officer approached him with a large flashlight.

It illuminated his face and immediately spread the light throughout the vehicle.

The light stopped on the sacks of white powder stacked in the back.

“Sir, please turn off the engine and get out slowly,” the police officer ordered authoritatively, as his three other colleagues slowly approached with their weapons at the ready.

Marco’s knees trembled as he stepped onto the paved road.

“Sir, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just delivering orders,” he tried to steady his voice even though he was almost in tears from the intense fear and nervousness.

“What’s in those sacks? Why is there so much white powder?” the captain asked as he stared at the blue containers.

“Those are the ingredients, Sir. Flour, sugar, and baking powder for my puto business,” Marco explained with pleading eyes.

The officers didn’t believe him.

With the amount of contraband they had seized hidden in fake food containers, this excuse was no stranger to them.

They ordered Marco to open the back of the vehicle and take out one of the sacks.

Page: SAY – Story Around You | Original story

As Marco shook his head, his family came to mind.

What would happen to Lianne and the children if he were to be imprisoned without any fault?

What would happen to their dreams?

His tears welled up when the policeman took out a small knife to cut the plastic inside and take a sample of the white powder.

The captain took a little powder, looked at it carefully, and smelled it.

The policemen looked at each other.

There was something different about the smell. It wasn’t like the usual chemicals they found on the road. It was fragrant, a mixture of milk and pandan that quickly spread in the cool morning air.

Out of curiosity, and to be sure, the captain called in their K-9 unit.

A large dog was quickly brought to the sack.

Instead of barking fiercely as a sign of illegal drugs, the dog happily wagged its tail and tried to lick the spilled powder on the road.

The captain frowned.

He took a little and tasted it with the tip of his finger.

His eyes widened.

Sweet, delicious, and left a very pleasant taste on the tongue.

It felt like he was back in his youth when his late mother still cooked snacks every afternoon after school.

“Sir… I told you, that’s a premix of the special puto I sell,” Marco said softly, still bowed.

The entire checkpoint fell silent.

The captain returned his knife and scratched his head while looking at the poor driver.

The intense tension was replaced by a startling silence, until the captain suddenly laughed out loud.

The other policemen also joined in the laughter when they realized their big mistake.

“Excuse me, boss. It’s just work,” the captain said with a smile as he helped Marco organize the sacks.

“But your mixture is so delicious. Just the smell makes me hungry. Do you have anything cooked in those blue boxes? I wish I could buy some for the troops so we can eat on duty.”

Marco could hardly believe the rapid change in the situation.

From being a suspect in a terrible crime, the entire police force became his instant customer.

He quickly opened one of the blue boxes and took out freshly baked puto topped with a large slice of cheese and a salty egg.

The scary checkpoint turned into a small feast.

Marco finished two boxes of puto and made a lot of money before he even reached his real destination.

He arrived safely at his client’s place the next morning.

When he got home, Lianne and her children Nathan, Dylan, and Mikaela hugged him tightly.

Little did they know that their simple business, the pillar of their home, had almost ended in tragedy, but had ended in a delicious success that he would never forget for the rest of his life.