Kiss Shot

Untitled Part 2

So I wait with Kuya Stephen and the rest of the billiard hall regulars. Most are people I only know by face - some, like Kuya Seto, are people my Kuya Stephen have been playing with for years. He was nowhere near Kuya Roger's league, but he still liked to play.

"No noise," has always been Kuya Stephen's primary rule. So I sit quietly on a monobloc chair at one of the small, sparse tables, zip up my lips and hold up my hand: a promise.

While everyone's waiting for the "rich kid" to show up, I grab the chance to talk to Kuya Seto. As everyone probably knows, I'm shy and not very good at talking to boys, especially - but Kuya Seto and Kuya Stephen are an exception. They've known me since I was little and I've known them since they were wearing short pants to school.

"Who is this 'rich kid'?" I ask him. "What does he even look like?"

Kuya Seto shrugs. "Rich?" He ventures, before he takes a swig of beer. "Regular rich, I guess. Nice clothes... clean hair... face like it'll melt if it isn't put in the freezer for one day."

"What?" I laugh.

Kuya Seto grumbles, "I dunno, Nikki, they all look the same to me!"

"He's a kid, right? Everybody calls him a 'kid.' How old is he, do you think?"

He shrugs. "About your age... maybe older..."

A man of few words, this Kuya Seto. He's from this neighborhood too. Like us, he didn't grow up in the most privileged environment... but unlike us, he had to quit school a lot earlier because his parents couldn't afford to keep him there.

You can probably understand why he dislikes rich people, and doesn't like them muscling in on the games he earns money from.

Well, to be fair, I don't believe Kuya Seto really hates rich people... they just aren't part of his world.

Although by all rights, I shouldn't be part of his world either.

My parents wouldn't like it if they knew that Kuya Stephen still let me come along to watch his games, sometimes. Since Kuya Roger's passing, my parents have developed an aversion to billiards. Just hearing about Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco Bustamante making waves in the international arena makes their eyes glaze over.

Really glazed over. Like they're tired of wanting to say something.

Whenever I try talking about billiards, my parents would say "Stop that nonsense and focus on your studies" in a sharp voice. The tone of their voices are even so similar, it's scary.

What they want to say is clear:

I should study so I can get out of the world where my brother died.

My parents may have come to hate billiards... but I haven't.

I guess a lot of it is because Kuya Stephen still hasn't, either.

I still don't want to call Kuya Stephen a "hustler"... even if that's technically what he is. Somebody who comes in just to play for money, then leaves. For me, that just doesn't capture what the sport is to him.

To Kuya Stephen, billiards is a gentleman's game. Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but if you knew him as well as I do, it would make sense to you, too. For him, it's played as much for the reputation as it is for the money.

Players betray their personalities when at the table, he likes to say. Above everything else, it's an educational sport.

Sure he loses a lot, but he learns a lot, too!

For example: guys (for it has almost exclusively been guys; there are some girl money players outside of town, but Kuya Stephen didn't make an effort to seek them out) who puff themselves up, drawing up to full height, at the start of the game are real windbags. They're usually loud without having a lot of playing skill. And guys who sit hunched up a bit, whether leaning forward or back, are what he calls "book players" - people who study up on the game, watching endless videos and reading tons of books. People you shouldn't underestimate.