Felicine
The sun light coming from the window woke me up. I saw Tita lying down on the couch, still sleeping soundly.
I rubbed my eyes with my hands and fixed my hair. I stood up and went to the bathroom located inside of the private room I am in to brush my teeth.
After brushing, I went back but didn't lied down, instead, I boiled some water and prepared a coffee for breakfast. Kumuha ako ng tinapay na dala ni Tita kagabi at pinalamanan ito ng peanut butter.
My gaze went to the wall clock. Its short hand was pointing at the 6 and the long hands was pointing at the 7. Its 6:35 am in the morning.
While spreading the peanut butter on the sandwich, my eyes caught Tita, sitting down on the couch.
"Good morning Tita!" Masigla kong bati sa kanya. "Kain ka po."
"Good morning Felicine. Salamat!" She said cheerfully. Pumunta naman siya sa direksiyon ko at kinuha ang isang cup na may tinimplang kape at isang peanut butter sandwich.
Sinabayan ko si Tita sa pagkain ng almusal. Nagkukuwento-kuwento rin siya ng kung ano-ano at matamang nakikinig naman ako sa mga ito.
Hindi nagtagal ay nagpaalam siya na babalik na siya sa apartment upang maligo at bantayan ang ibang tenants. Nagpaalam muna siya sa akin bago lumabas ng pinto.
Pagkaalis ni Tita ay bumalik ako sa higaan at kinuha ang aking cellphone. I opened it and tapped the facebook app. I scrolled and scrolled through my news feed just to entertain myself from the boredom.
"Ang boring!" I said to myself. Bakit pa kasi 3 days akong magsstay dito? Ang boring tuloy.
Napatingin ako sa orasan at nakitang 9:15 am na. Bigla namang bumukas ang pinto at nakita kong pumasok sina Cali at Eudayme.
Cali was wearing his gray shorts with a plain white t-shirt as his top. His hands were on his pocket shorts and the bruise on his right lip can be seen, he didn't bother to cover it up with something.
Eudayme was wearing red shorts and a blue t-shirt with pink stripes as his top and carrying a black sling bag and a plastic full of fruits.
"Good morning Felicine!" Eudayme greeted, wearing a wide smile.
"Good morning." I greeted back. Cali sat on the couch while Eudayme headed towards the table to which the basket of fruits that was bought by the inspector yesterday was located. Inalis niya sa plastic ang mga prutas na dala niya at inilagay ito sa basket. Kumuha naman siya ng isang apple.
"You feeling better?" Asked Eudayme, he sat on the couch beside Cali.
"Yup!" I answered with energy. "By the way, what's inside of that bag?" I asked him and pointed at the black bag near him.
Kinuha naman niya iyon at binuksan. "Its a chess board." Sabi niya at inilabas ang board pati na rin ang mga chess pieces.
"Because of that board, we did not arrived in here at exactly 9:00 am." We heard Cali said. Nakita kong napakamot sa ulo si Eudayme.
"Sorry na." Eudayme apologized, turning to him.
"What happened?" I asked. Hoping that they will answer it this time without them insulting each other first. They both turned to me.
"We were supposed to meet at 8:00 am in the mall but he did not showed his face to me. I decided to go to his apartment. I arrived and I ended up seeing his room in such a mess, some of his clothes were on the floor, some are flying-"
"Do not continue, please?" Eudayme requested.
But the former didn't listened. "-I saw him throwing all his clothes, I asked him 'what are you doing?' then he replied 'finding something special to me.' I-"
"Stop Cali!" Eudayme ordered. But Cali ignored it.
"-I asked him what is it then he told me that its precious to him and that he forgot to where did he put it that's why his room was a mess. His eyes were teary while finding it. Of course, being me, I did not help him. It took him more or less 20 minutes to locate wherever it is. He almost jumped and-"
Naputol ang sinasabi ni Cali nang isubo ni Eudayme ang mansanas na kanyang kinakain sa bibig ni Cali. Cali gave him his deadly glare to Eudayme.
He took a bite at the apple before removing it and giving it back to Eudayme.
"I told you to st-" Said Eudayme.
"-he almost cried. Oh! I forgot to tell you that the board was located in the drawer to where his underwe-"
Muli na namang isinubo ni Eudayme and apple sa bibig ni Cali. Hindi ko napigilan ang aking tawa dahil sa ginagawa ng dalawa. Are these two really rivals? They don't look like to me.
"Enough!" Eudayme slightly raised his voice while looking at Cali's eyes intently.
"Fine." Cali surrendered. "Anyway, he brought that board in here because he thought that you are bored and wanted some entertainment."
Eudayme nodded, smiling widely and turning his head to me. I smiled in return that made his cheeks blushed a little.
"Yup! So, which side do you like to play?" He asked me while preparing the chess board.
"I choose white. Though I don't know exactly how to play chess." I said.
"Don't worry, Cali can help you with it. It will be a 2 vs. 1, don't worry about me, I'm a pro player in chess." He said proudly while putting his right hand in his chest.
I saw Cali rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Nang matapos ng iset-up ni Eudayme ang mga chess pieces ay pumunta naman ako sa pwesto nila.
Sa couch inilapag ni Eudayme ang chess board kaya naman ay sa couch din ako naupo. Sa kabilang side naman ng couch si Eudayme umupo at si Cali sa sahig.
Nagtalo muna ang dalawa bago umupo si Cali sa sahig. Bakit daw kasi siya pa ang uupo sa sahig eh pwede naman daw si Eudayme na lang.
In the end, I was the one who stopped the two from arguing about who will sit on the floor. Cali, having no choice sat on the floor, I saw Eudayme that time, stucked out his tongue, and uttered the word 'bleh!' to Cali, to which the latter rolled his eyes.
"Are you ready?" Eudayme asked me and I nodded in return.
This is kind exciting! I have never played chess before but I saw some of my schoolmates played it in my former school in Manila. Its really hard to be imprisoned at your own house and you have no one to play with, except yourself.
"White will be the first one to move, I suggest to move first the horse to C3." Cali whispered to me. I followed what he said and moved the horse from B1 to C3. Though I haven't played yet a chess before, I already know the layout and the functions of each pieces.
"Nice move!" Eudayme said and he moved his pawn from A7 to A6.
My turn and I moved my pawn G2to G3. Cali is just observing each pieces, both mine and Eudayme's intently. Eudayme moved his horse from G8 to H6.
It took me 10 seconds to move my piece. I moved the pawn from A2 to A3. I saw Eudayme smiled at me and he moved his horse from H6 to F5. I can see that he's concentrating and thinking carefully.
"Move your pawn from G3 to G4." Cali said to which I immediately followed. By the time I placed my pawn, I saw Eudayme smirked and looked at Cali.
He moved his horse back to where it was placed before, H6. "That was a close one!" he said, looking at me saying that its my turn.
Before moving any piece, I observed the positions of every chess piece standing on the board. I am planning to move the horse, when I saw that its a safe box, I decided to go for it. I moved my horse from C3 to E4.
My opponent looked at me and smiled before lifting his right arm and picking up his horse, moving it to G4 from H6, to where my pawn is located. He took down my pawn!
"I honestly didn't saw that coming." I said while shaking my head.
"Its okay Felicine." Eudayme said to me, smiling. Cali, on the other hand, is still observing the pieces.
"Now, your turn, Felicine." my opponent reminded me. I decided to move my pawn from E2 to E3.
I saw Eudayme smirk again and moved his horse from G4 to E5. I can see from his face that he has a fabricated plan to make himself win this game but I can't see through his plan.
My turn. I lifted my right arm and was about to put my pawn from C2 to C3 when Cali held my hand and pulled me close to him.
"Let me do the deciding to where are you going to put your pieces. Just follow what I'll say." he whispered to me and he let go of my hand. I nodded to him in return.
"Horse from E4 to G3." Cali said and I moved the said piece to the said box.
"My turn!" declared Eudayme and moved his pawn from G7 to G6.
"Bishop from F1 to E2." ordered the one beside me.
My opponent moved his horse from B8 to C6 and looked at the serious Cali.
"Pawn from C2 to C3." I followed my companion's instruction and looked at his serious face, he's taking this game seriously.
Eudayme moved his pawn from G6 to G5, and I moved my bishop from E2 to H5, as Cali instructed. Both my companion and my opponent has turned their faces to the serious mode. They are keeping their eyes on the board and every pieces. I bet their minds are busy calculating and predicting for the next moves.
Eudayme, as his next move, moved his horse from E5 to F3. "Check!" he said with a wide smile, he looked at the other chess pieces and then his smile faded away. I saw Cali smirked.
"Bishop from H5 back to F3, take away his Horse, Felicine!" my companion said gleefully while looking at my opponent.
"I got carried away!" Eudayme said as his excuse. "My turn then." he moved his horse from C6 to E5.
"Bishop from F3 to E2." Cali said. I moved the bishop to E2 as he said.
Eudayme moved his pawn from B7 to B6. I moved my horse from E4 to G5 and took away my opponents pawn.
"You two are taking this game too seriously." I remarked but both of them ignored me. I guess this isn't the time to give a side comment. "Ikaw na muna diyan, Cali. Kuha lang ako ng orange." Pagpapaalam ko sa kanya at tumayo na upang kumuha ng sinabi kong prutas. Bago ako makatayo ay nakita kong inilagay ni Eudayme ang kanyang pawn sa C6 na nanggaling sa C7.
Nang mabalatan ko na ang orange na kinuha ko ay agad na bumalik ako sa couch upang makita kung ano na ang kinalabasan ng laro.
I saw that the game is almost at the end! Eudayme's face was a little frustrated and his coolness before was gone, while his opponent, Cali is smirking at him. Eudayme's king was already surrounded by Cali's bishop, rook and queen.
"Check! Your king has nowhere to run now, Eudayme." Cali declared, standing up and crossing his arms to his chest.
"Unfair! Felicine was supposed to be my opponent until the end, not you!" Eudayme complained to his opponent.
"Felicine ask me to be the substitute for her temporary absence, its not unfair Eudy." Cali explained. Eudayme sighed and lifted both of his arms.
"Fine! Its not unfair. You won fair and square." he said. I looked at the board again and was amazed because my substitute managed to defeat his opponent in such a short time! I could never do that
"That was amazing Cali!" I said, still looking at the board. "Nawala lang ako ng ilang minuto tapos nagawa mong matalo si Eudayme. Teach me some other time about chess." I said to him.
"Yeah, sure." he said, turning to me. I smiled at him and turned to Eudayme who's busy putting away the chess board and pieces. My eyes caught the wall clock and saw that its already 10:50.
I heard someone's belly rumbled. I turned my head to Cali and saw that he's looking at Eudayme. Tiningnan ko naman si Eudayme at nakitang nakangiti.
"Gutom na ako." he said while tapping his stomach with his right hand.
"Me too, all that playing made me hungry." said Cali. We heard the door creak that made our gazes shifted to it. We saw Tita, carrying an eco bag in his hands, emerged from the door.
"Hi tita!" I greeted her while Eudayme went to Tita's direction to help her carry the bag.
"Thank you hijo. Ikaw ba si Eudayme?" tanong ni Tita sa kanya. Oo nga pala, ito ang unang pagkikita nilang dalawa.
"Yes, Tita." he answered. "Pagkain po ba ito? Gutom na po kasi kami hehe." he continued.
Napatawa naman si Tita ng marinig ulit naming kumulo ang tiyan ni Eudayme. "O sige, kumain na kayo diyan. Sakto iyan sa inyo dahil narinig ko si Cali kagabi na may isa pa daw kayong kasama ngayon." she said that made Eudayme happy.
Inilabas naman ni Eudayme ang laman ng bag at kumuha ng isang tupperware. "Wow! mukhang masarap po ito Tita ah. Thank you po!" said Eudayme and began eating. Napatawa naman si Tita dahil sa ginawa niya.
Sumunod naman kami ni Cali upang kunin ang tanghalian at nagpasalamat kay Tita.
"Teka lang ah. Lalabas na muna ako para kunin iyong inorder kong dessert." she said.
"Samahan ko na po kayo." sabi ni Eudayme at sumama kay Tita. Nang makalabas na silang dalawa ay pinagpatuloy lang namin ni Cali ang pagkain, walang nagsasalita sa amin kaya naman ay naisipan kong basagin ang katahimikan.
"How was your bruise, does it still hurt?" I asked him, looking at his right lip.
"Kinda." he replied. Bumalik na naman ang katahimikan kaya't binasag ko ulit ito.
"Thank you." I said, looking at Cali. Tumigil naman siya sa pagsubo at tiningnan ako.
"For what?" he asked.
"For this day. This is one of the few moments that I had fun. You see, the last time I felt this way was when I was 7 years old." I said. I looked at him but he turned away.
"Same goes for me." he said in a low voice.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." he said and continued eating.
What does he mean by that? My curiosity increased and expanded more. Its unusual for him to say things like that. Does he have a problem with his family? I want to ask him many questions but I guess this isn't the time for that. I'll just wait for the perfect timing then. I'll definitely wait for that perfect timing!
~RIVALRY~