CHAPTER 5

Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies

ONE of the most unforgotten memories of my childhood here in Pinecrest is having a solid squad that I swear, never in my life, can’t trade for another group. It all started in a simple crazy Christmas party in our hometown. We are all striving to win from Trip to Jerusalem. We almost bumped and hurt each other. But taking it into a friendship rather than dragging it into fights was the best thing we did in our entire life.

That’s when the day, Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies squad was born. Good thing we are all in the same school so we got to vibe with each other every single day of our high school lives. Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies was an inspired squad name from urban dictionary which meant best, funniest, stupidest group of girls you will ever meet. Well, we are the only girls from the squad and they’re calling us dumb and stupid bitches with sarcasm. But somehow, we broke the norm since we have five boys in the group. We created another trend. Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies now is for five boys and five girls of the season. The idea behind it is that the rubber duck is a symbol of happiness and childhood memories, giving comfort to different people regardless of their age and nationality.

Raihana, as the main leader of the squad. A happy-go-lucky rich kid girl with a signature cuss named ‘Fudge’ as her parents don’t want to hear bad words from her so she invented another word that could freely express her cussing mannerism. Via Condes, the soda addict of the squad, Cherus Ann, a book nerd and Maybelle Eri whom I find intimidating years ago belong to us including me. I don’t know if they can still remember me but I can still mesmerize the moments I had with them.

The boys consist of five members too. The very special child Ryan Bonagua who accidentally broke our window glass in the kitchen yesterday with his fucking ball. Ang pinakadugyot na taong nakilala ko. Marc Ryan Aragona, the kengkoy of the group. I swear you would die laughing with his corny jokes and reactions. I am still familiar with Ken Rapana who I believed he took education course years ago and now a successful young teacher here in Pinecrest. He’s good in playing guitar and singing. Jericho Gamboa too was totally a blast for me since high school because he was the one who fixed my hair style during lunch break. How I missed his braided style applying on my hair back then. By the way, he has now his own parlor down in the town proper of Pinecrest. I can’t believe he really pursued his passion. I can’t help but to feel proud of him. And the last but the not the least, it’s Maui De La Cruz. Wala na akong balita kung anong tinahak niyang direksyon mula nang umalis ako sa grupo at iwanan sila. Ang natatandaan ko lang, may crush ako noon sa kanya pero hindi niya ako gusto dahil lagi akong sinasabotahe ni Bonagua sa kanya. Ang nangyari, si Via ang nagustuhan niya. Sobrang broken ko noon. Nakakahiyang pangyayari.

“Touch down!” anunsyo ni  Raihana at itinigil ang kotse niya sa tapat ng isang napakalawak na covered court. Luma ang court at may lumot-lumot na rin na parang hindi na nagagamit. Parang abandonado na. Ang creepy tuloy.

“What are we doing here?” kunot-noo kong tanong nang makababa kami. Kinuhanan ko ng picture ang covered court na puro alikabok, lumot at basura na ang paligid. Parang hindi na nalilinisan ng janitor na namamahala rito dati.

“Attending a party for you!” masaya niyang sagot. Napangiwi ako.

“Are you sure na dito?” tanong ko pa. Ini-lock muna niya ang kotse bago ako hinatak papasok ng court. Halos madulas pa ako dahil sa lumot. Peste.

“Teka, saan ba?”

“Shhh!” Agad niya akong hinila sa isang makipot na pintuan at nagulat ako nang mapagtantong may hagdan pala pababa. Medyo may karupukan na ang hagdan dahil kahoy lang ito kaya mahigpit akong napakapit sa konkretong kisame bilang pangsuporta.

“Be careful,” paalala ni Rai.

Napaubo ako dahil sa alikabok na nagliparan nang makababa kami. Tiningnan niya ako na parang may ginawa akong masama.

“What?” Iginala ko ang paningin.

“You don’t remember this place anymore, do you?” May lungkot sa boses niya.

“Of course I do.” I smiled when I saw photo clips hanging on the wall. They’re so old but I can still recognize them. It’s the Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies squad.

“This is our former hideout,” sagot ko at muling napangiti nang maaalala kung paano kami magtago rito tuwing hinahabol ng mga tanod dahil sa curfew. We almost called this place as Rubber Duckies sewer. Lumitaw ang ngisi sa labi ni Rai at pumalakpak.

Kasabay noon ang sigawan mula sa likuran niya. Ang pagsabog ng confetti poppers sa paligid ko. Halos maiyak ako sa tuwa nang makita sina Ken, Ryan, Makoy, Via, Maui, Echo, at Maybelle habang nakasuot ng party hat at may mga hawak na balloons. May hawak pa silang tarpaulin na nakasulat ang pangalan ko bilang pag-welcome. Panay naman ang sigaw ni Raihana na tuwang-tuwa.

“Welcome back, Maria Aviva Trinity De Vera! Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies missed you so much!” sabay-sabay nilang sigaw. Halos takpan ko na ang tenga ko. Ayokong marinig ang buong pangalan ko pero dahil na-miss ko silang lahat, pagbibigyan ko muna.

“I missed you all. Gimme a hug.”

“Aww, group hug!” Sa isang iglap ay sinugod nila ako ng mahigpit na yakap na halos mabali na ang mga buto ko at hindi makahinga. Nagtawanan na lamang kami.

“Mavi, sobrang na-miss ka naming gaga ka! Ang laki mo nang dugyot ka! Parang dati lang ako pa nag-aayos ng buhok mo. Ngayon, sosyal na! Naka-dye na, omo!” parang naiiyak na sambit ni Jericho kaya natawa ako.

“Oo nga, no? Parang dati lang hindi  pa ‘yan naliligo lagi kaya laging pinagti-tripan ni Bonagua. Kaso pareho silang yagit,” sambit ni Ken. Sa isang iglap ay napuno na muli ng tawanan ang paligid dahil sa amin. Iginala ko ang paningin sa bawat isa. Masaya akong makita muli sila rito. Same squad, same hideout but different lives now.

Napawi ang ngiti ko nang mapansin na parang may kakaiba. Parang may kulang. Binilang ko sila. May nawawala.

“By the way, where is Cherus? Is she not going here?” I asked them that made their smile fade out. Natahimik sila bigla kaya bigla akong kinabahan.

“G-Guys?”

“She’s not going anymore,” Rai answered in a low tone of voice full of fear, doubt and hesitation.