"Court Royalty"

"Court Royalty"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

         The court was packed. It seemed unusual for a practice game. Women from all over the campus were turning their heads to and fro in hopes of catching his eyes. They wore their best tank-tops and had their hair all fixed up. They all knew he was available and it seemed he was the best prize on campus.

          When they called out his name some of the women fainted , as if a rock star had just entered the building. He looked sleepy , as if he had just woke-up and hadn’t been warming up. Opponents from the rival school saw this as a sign of weakness.

          The women cheered as he got hold of a ball and started to shoot. He ran and caught the ball. Without planting his feet on the ground he would shoot and the ball would go in. His team mates passed to him and he shot at every angle. Not one shot missing its mark.

          The rival school who were so serious in their warm-ups all stood amazed at what he could  do.  Their jaws dropped and their morale a little lower as each shot went in.

          The rival school had 2 seven footers in their roster and was expecting a rout against a team that mainly consisted of guards. Most of these guards had been rejected by most varsities. Spolarium University never even had proper training facilities but it did have Him. Pablo Roxas II , the son of a rich Shipping magnate who somehow chose to study here. He didn’t cause much ripples last year when he came , but when he played against the top-seeded La Signore he proved to be such an overwhelming opponent that he had all his guards foul out. They were forced to guard him with a much slower player which he took full advantage of and advanced Spolarium University to the finals. He was injured in the dying seconds of the first game of the finals and so had to sit out. Without him , the colleges hoop dreams crumbled but not without realizing that Pablo would be staying for 3 more years with them. So now was his second year and the start of his redemption.

          When the game started the starting center of the rival school obviously had the advantage over the much shorter player but the Spolarium defense never really relied on blocks and physical defense. It started with one steal and deft passing to runners who never needed to plant their feet on the ground like Pablo. There was no need to rebound for his shot was true. Their speed was amazing as they cut off their opponents veins of life , the passing lanes that would ensure a point. For every steal they took Pablo would shoot and get points. So it was natural that the game progressed in such a fast pace that the large centers never really had time to settle down their half court set up and the crowd had all sided to the smallest team in the country.

          They had ball thieves and a sure shot , that was all that mattered as the game ended with Pablo dunking and giving his team 134 points against the rival schools 86.

          The game was over and everyone was streaming out of the court. Some were streaming toward Pablo. Somehow he felt like he was a Nazarene Statue in Quiapo as almost everyone he passed by tried to touch him. All except his best friend Christina who was sitting at the back room of the gym. She was still fixing a few kinks in the website she had just set-up and was oblivious to the commotion around her.

          Pablo smiled at everyone because that’s who he was. Chris as usual had been in his game to support him but never really minded him. She didn’t even notice that he was all cleaned and changed when he sat beside her.

          “So you got the kinks ironed out yet?” Pablo started as he put down his gym bag to his left.

          “Hm?” was Chris’s response as if waking up just now to find that she was in a now empty gym. “Is the game over? Who won?”

          “What? You mean you were sleeping up here all this time?” Pablo said with an incredulous look in his eyes.

          “Well I did finish off a paper for my little neighbor last night…I mean it’s a good thing I’ve read most of Shakespeare’s works or I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.” Chris said as she started rubbing her tired eyes. Pablo sighed. This was Chris , she can never say no to a soul crying out for help. Pablo somehow felt that the reason God gave her such a kind heart and wonderful mind was because there would be so many people that would need her.

          “So did we win?”

          “Yes , We did Chris we certainly did.”

“I bet you scored all the points again huh?”

“No , Albert and Nido got most of it”

“Only coz you let them probably….ahahahha”

“Chris , you know my team mates are very talented , they could go on scoring at will if they wanted to.”

“And you couldn’t? I mean Pablo you practically carry this team on your shoulders most of the time. I mean when will you ever get to join in the other Orgs? “

“Probably never, but I’m happy to be where I am. So are you hungry by any chance?”

“You know me ,I’m always hungry.”

The two friends burst out laughing. Pablo slinged his Gym bag across his shoulders and pushed Chris’s  wheel chair toward the exit he had the school made for her.

“You know Pablo , I can wheel out of here myself.” Chris stated

“Yeah , but who will hold  your laptop for you?”

“You got a point” Chris said as she looked at the pockets on the sides of her chair.

And so at the nearest McDonalds Pablo pulled up and they had an indecent dinner of fries , burgers and cokes.

“You know , this ruins my diet quite a lot. Wait. Let me rephrase that…this has obliterated all my efforts this past week to cut down on my calorie intake.”

“Chris , you don’t need to diet. I mean you diet some more , your probably going to float out in the next storm.”

“hahaha , very funny Mr. Roxas. But speaking of storms , isn’t there one just approaching the Philippines?”

“Yeah , I think I heard about that one , they says its going down south though.”

“So you are still pushing for that game there in Bacolod?”

“Yeah, I guess. Coach says it will be good if we go and play the team we have there. They have a big center that he wants me to learn how to defend.”

“I have a weird feeling about this , lets says you call in sick or something on the day of the flight?”

“Of course I can’t do that. That would be putting the team down.”

Chris munched on her burger and said nothing after that.

The trip to her house was uneventful but the silence was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. With a couple of knives really but even then you wouldn’t cut through it.

Pablo pushed Chris toward the door and she knocked on it. It was opened by a sultry looking woman , who looked younger than her years. She smiled at both of them.

          “Well it seems you two had a great time.”

Chris took her moms hand placed it on her forehead as a sign of respect and went through her without saying a word.

          “Hmmm , it seems one you didn’t have a good time at all then?” The woman said. “What happened?”

          “I don’t really know tita , she just went silent on me on our way here from McDonalds.” Pablo said eyeing Chris as she opened her room and slammed it shut.

          “Don’t worry about her Pablo” Chris’s mom patted him on the shoulder and turned him to his car. “You’ve been with her since she was a child , she’s like this at this time of the month”

          “I don’t know tita…I mean she has been acting really strange toward me lately”

          “Like I said , its her time of month kasi. Tell you what, why don’t you call her when you get home? I bet she may have cooled down by then and you guys can laugh about this again…like the other times she has done this to you.”

          “Thanks Tita…I think I will do that….” Pablo said then drove off.