Anthology | Capture the Flag 03: The Boodle Fight
LORELEI
Pasado alas-diyes na kami nakarating sa aming destinasyon. Pumasok ang bus sa mapunong daan na nagmukhang papasok sa isang gubat. Sa sobrang tayog ng mga puno at lapad ng mga dahon, halos naharangan na ang pagpasok ng sinag ng araw. It also felt like we were moving uphill, waking Jamie who had no idea what dimension we were in.
After ten minutes of traveling through that dimly lit road, the bus finally reached the end of the trail. Muli na namang sumalubong sa amin ang nakasisilaw na liwanag. Sa 'di kalayuan, natanaw na namin ang isang malaking wooden cabin. Huminto ang bus sa tapat nito at isa-isa kaming pinababa ng sasakyan.
"We're here at last," Loki spoke as if he almost died of boredom. Wala siyang ginawa ka buong trip kundi tumutok sa bintana at tingnan ang dinaraanan namin. Isinalag niya ang kanyang kamay mula sa liwanag. "I thought the bus was gonna take us to a kidnapper's hideout."
The long stretch of forest. The uphill climb. The fresh air that filled our lungs. Masasabi kong malayo kami sa siyudad.
"This looks like a private property." Alistair's eyes traveled from one spot to another. I also did the same. "No one's here except us."
All I could see was the vast green scenery around us. Tila nasa ibang mundo na kami. Parang anumang sandali mula ngayon, may susulpot na mga diwata upang batiin kami.
"Ang ganda sigurong mag-camping dito, 'no?" Palinga-linga si Jamie sa aming paligid. Napaturo ang kanyang daliri sa langit. "Imagine putting up a tent here tapos mag-stargazing tayong apat. What a good way to enjoy the evening!"
"That's gonna be nice." I nodded. Na-imagine ko tuloy na may nakatayo ngang tent sa spot na itinuro niya. Tapos nakahiga kaming apat sa may damuhan habang nakatingala sa kalangitan. But the image instantly vanished. "But we didn't come here to look at the stars."
"I have a feeling that they'd ask us to camp here," Alistair muttered, his eyes still looking around the area. "Gaya ng sinabi ni Jamie, mukha ngang camping site ang lugar na 'to. I can see a river over there."
"You're right." Maggie appeared behind us, startling me and Jamie. Parang kabute siya na sumulpot. "This is a camping site owned privately by the Emerson family."
Her fellow execom officers carried the storage boxes out of the bus compartment and brought them to the wooden cabin. One of them has a recognizable face and bangs that covered one of his eyes. May nakaipit din na lollipop stick sa pagitan ng kanyang mga ngipin. That's Rye Rubio, right?
"Emerson family?" I tore my gaze from Rye and returned it to Maggie. "Isn't that—"
"The family of our student council president, Emeraude Emerson," she answered, tossing a glance at the young woman talking to Luthor a few meters away from us. Her permed hair reached a few inches past her shoulders. I heard that her family's quite well off, but I was not aware that they own a camping site.
That reminds me, may nagtangkang kidnapin siya for ransom sa gymnasium namin noon. Everyone inside was held hostage, including me. We also solved a mystery that surrounded her relatives in their subdivision. Mukhang supernatural case sa una, but it turned out to be a plot by a clever man.
"You mean my brother's puppet?" Loki asked with a mocking tone. I know he'd say that.
"Say whatever you want about her," Maggie replied. "But Em's a good student council president. Hindi siya puppet ng kung sinuman. May sarili siyang pag-iisip. May sarili siyang disposisyon."
"Good?" Loki laughed it off. "Isn't renting her family's camping site to the student council considered a conflict of interest? How much are we paying for the rent? By we, I'm referring to the entire student body who will shoulder the cost for unnecessary expenses such as this team building."
"Wala ni isang kusing na ginastos ang student government para dito. We only had to buy the materials needed for the team building activities. Kung tutuusin, nakatipid pa nga tayo. If you don't believe it, you can check our liquidation reports next week."
Parang nasupalpal si Loki sa sagot ni Maggie. He was not able to think of any witty reply.
"I bet this isn't the first time that they rented this place for free to the student council?" Alistair asked.
Tumango si Maggie bago napahawak sa bridge ng kanyang salamin. "Nakailang team building na ba kami rito? Pang-anim na yata 'to. The Emerson family is too generous. Minsan nagpadala pa sila ng food at drinks para sa participants. We didn't ask them for anything, but they still gave us what they could."
"Sana may pa-pizza sila mamaya para sa atin," bulong ni Jamie na napahawak sa kanyang tiyan. Her stomach growled. "Hayan tuloy, nagutom na ako."
"May ipine-prepare nang breakfast para sa inyo," sabi ni Maggie. "For now, let's gather in front of the cabin. Mag-start na ang welcoming ceremony."
Nang makababa na ng bus ang lahat ng participants, sabay-sabay kaming naglakad patungo sa cabin na ilang metro ang layo mula sa kinatatayuan namin. The student council and the execom officers stood on the porch while the rest of us lined up on the pavement.
"Is everyone gathered here?"
From the cabin door, lumabas ang isa pang pamilyar na mukha. He wore the same black uniform as the organizers. May suot siyang salamin na nagliwanag nang tamaan ng sinag ng araw sa labas. He stood at the center of the porch.
"Professor Morayta?" I muttered. Nagkatingin kami ni Alistair na mukhang nasorpresa ring makita siya rito.
Professor Jim Morayta is our Math instructor, and he lives up to his reputation. He could answer any mathematical operations or find the square root of a number within a split second. I'm not exaggerating. Gano'n talaga siya kagaling pagdating sa mga numero.
Minsan na siyang pumunta noon sa clubroom para humingi ng tulong sa amin. His number one candidate for an inter-school Math competition went missing on the day of the screening. Remember the alleged paranormal incident in the abandoned building that was referred to us by Rosetta? It turned out that the so-called ghost was his missing student trapped in a locker.
I wasn't expecting Professor Morayta to be here. Pero naalala ko, kailangan pala ng supervision ng isang faculty member ang ganitong out-of-school activities. Hindi pwedeng kami-kami lang ang nandito. He's also the adviser of the execom kaya siguro siya ang napiling sumama sa amin.
"Welcome to the team building session for the non-mandated organizations!" Professor Morayta smiled at us, clapping his hands once. "Before we start, we'd like to thank our student council president, Emeraude, for allowing us to use their family's private property for our two-day event."
Emeraude beamed and bowed in response. May iilang execom member na pumalakpak para sa kanya.
"Compared to our previous team building sessions, gusto naming maiba ngayong school year," Professor Morayta went on. "We want you to be one with nature kaya naisip naming dito isagawa ang activities natin. You may have noticed that this place is perfect for camping. It is. But more on that later. Sa ngayon, gusto muna namin kayong i-welcome. Alam naming nakagugutom ang biyahe kaya naman..."
He signaled to the execom members behind him. Inilabas nila ang isang mahabang mesa na yari sa bamboo. Nilapatan ang surface ng malalaking dahon ng saging na binasa muna at pinunasan. Mukhang alam ko na kung ano ang breakfast namin.
"We will be having the traditional Filipino boodle fight!"
Sunod na inilabas ng mga execom member ang ilang kaldero ng kanin at malalaking bowl na may lamang ulam. They scooped some rice and placed them on the leaves. They also laid out the food around the rice—eggs, sausages, dried anchovies, fried chicken, pork chop, slices of papaya and mango, tomato slices, and many more.
Dala na rin siguro ng gutom kaya natakam ako sa nakita ko. May ilan na rin sa mga kasama namin ang tila naglalaway na. Si Jamie nga, gusto na agad kumuha ng sausage kahit wala pang go signal. Kinailangan ko pa siyang bawalan at sabihan na magtiis muna nang ilang segundo.
We washed our hands in the nearby outdoor comfort rooms. Pagbalik namin, we stood around the long bamboo table. Magkakatabi pa rin kaming apat. When I looked to my left, I noticed Loki trying to hide his disgust at the food before us.
"Hindi mo pa ba nasusubukang makipag-boodle fight?" tanong ko.
"Sharing the table is okay, but sharing food with what? Around thirty people?" Loki wrinkled his nose. "If one of us here has a contagious illness, we'd all be sharing that disease."
"As long as you don't eat someone's fingers, you'll be fine," I quipped. Naiintindihan ko naman ang health concern niya. Kahit ako, medyo may pagdadalawang-isip na sumali sa ganito. "Huwag ka nang mag-inarte riyan. If this boodle fight were a contest, we'd lose because of you. Kaya ba 'yon ng konsensya mo?"
"By the way, this isn't a boodle fight. More like a boodle dine." Loki repeatedly waved his hand to call the organizer's attention. "May I have spoon and fork?"
Muntik na akong mapa-facepalm sa tanong niya.
"No, we'd be eating the food in the traditional Filipino way," Professor Morayta replied. "If this is your first time joining a boodle fight, mae-enjoy mo 'to."
"This might be the first and last time I'd eat this way if one of us here is sick," Loki mumbled. I nudged him with my elbow. Mabuti't mahina ang kanyang boses kaya walang ibang nakarinig ng kanyang reklamo.
"Hindi ka ba marunong magkamay, Loki dear?" tanong ni Jamie. "Susubuan na lang kita. Gusto mo?"
"I haven't decided to cut off my hands, so I'm still good," Loki answered.
"Wala ka namang dapat ikahiya kung hindi ka marunong magkamay," hirit ni Alistair. "Mas sanay kang gumamit ng kutsara at tinidor. We understand that."
"My preference to dine using proper utensils does not mean I suck at eating with my bare hands," Loki replied in his defense. "I only have legitimate health concerns over sharing the same table and the same food with many people."
"Then show us that you know how," Alistair challenged him.
"Fine!"
Initially, I was confused about why Alistair was taunting Loki. But the reason became apparent to me a moment later. Nang kuwestiyonin niya ang kakayahan ni Loki na kumain gamit ang mga kamay nang walang kutsara't tinidor, our club president was lured into doing what he did not want to do. As someone who always wants to prove others wrong, Loki could not resist the temptation.
The moment Professor Morayta gave us the signal, we dipped our hands into the rice and pulled out a fistful. Bago ko isubo ang kanin na may kasamang karne ng manok, pinanood ko muna ang struggle ni Loki na maipasok sa kanyang bibig ang kanin na nasa kamay niya. He was having a hard time, but he tried not to make it too obvious. Pinigilan ko ang aking tawa habang nakangiti si Alistair habang kumakain. Si Jamie naman, to the rescue agad. Sinubukan niyang subuan si Loki na parang bata, but the latter refused.
After half an hour, naubos na ang mga pagkain sa mesa. Dala na rin siguro ng gutom kaya nasimot ang kanin at ang mga ulam. Loki proved Alistair wrong. Alistair got Loki to do what he wanted. We all had our fill. It's a win-win situation for everyone.
We washed the grease off our hands and prepared for the formal start of the team building session.
q.e.d.
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