Marven’s First Novel, chapter #04

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One morning, Aldo again made himself useful by going to the community plaza to avail of the extremely-lowered-priced NFA rice. He arrived there to a kilometric line and went at its tail and waited. When he has finished, he went home.
Later that afternoon, he went to Greta’s house because there was a banquet there and she invited him. He sat on the sofa in the living room along with other visitors. After a few minute, Greta took the floor and invited everyone to the buffet to already get food. At this, the visitors, mostly the elderlies proceeded. The younger visitors, mostly teens, remained seated to allow the older folks to go first.
Suddenly, Hans came running playfully and gasping laughingly before Aldo, and made his way to their porch. Aldo turned his gaze at him and watched him carefully lest he go all the way outside the gate which happened to be open. But Hans turned towards the bushes and hid himself underneath, at a gap between two plants. A few seconds later, another child came and asked them in the living room if ever they saw Hans. Aldo signalled the teenagers to be quiet. Then he replied to the child:
“Are you playing hide-and-seek? Go find him yourself. He can be anywhere.”
The child proceeded to the porch and, after a few seconds, found Hans when he, excited at his playmate’s appearance, giggled and made the leaves rustle. When the two children came to the door, Aldo said:
“All right. Get back inside. And never ever go outside the gate.”
A few minutes later, Greta appeared and invited them in the living room to already get food. Aldo pointed her to the situation in the kitchen, at which, she nodded in understanding. She turned to the teenagers and said, pointing her thumb back at the spread:
“Come up there when your parents are already done. Okay?”
“Okay,” they said in unison melodiously.
Greta left.
After about fifteen minutes, the older folks came back, plates in hand, to their respective seats, some in the sofas in the living room and some in other places in the house where there are chairs or any surface to sit on. Upon settling, those in the living room urged their teens to already get food, at which, the latter said amongst themselves, “Let’s go,” and then went to the table. Greta then came in view and signalled Aldo to already go to the table, at which, he nodded, raising his eyebrows and smiling tight-lipped.
Moments later, a female relative, a young woman in her 30s who looked like a teacher because of her aura and voice, took the floor and the microphone and called everyone to join in the games she has prepared. For the sake of brevity, we will just refer to her as the teacher although we don’t know if she really is. But she looks the part. Greta strongly urged Aldo to join, and he obliged. Aldo joined his relatives in the games. They were the usual games played at parties which never get old, though they had been in constant use for decades, because they never fail to excite people and keep any kind of social gathering alive. In fact, throughout the entire time that the games ensued, roars of laughter, thrill, and suspense rattled Greta’s house and transformed it into something different from its usually being a dignified, quiet, and reclusive house of a well-to-do family. As we know, these games usually consist of short races featuring weird obstacles, handling of objects while handicapped, and some IQ tests. This last one is what Aldo enjoyed the most. He competed mostly with teenage relatives who are serious high school or college students, genius-kid types.
Though the participants were just there to enjoy, the winners among them didn’t go back to their seats empty-handed. The teacher made sure of that. The children and teens were exultant at the prizes they received which included candies or chocolates wrapped in a cellophane sheet and tied shut; apparel like hats, bags, and handkerchiefs; school supplies; and some cash given in smaller-denomination bills.
In the final game, the teacher put a certain twist to an ordinary quiz game that made it look smart, complicated, and intense. She herself must have prepared the questions, which were good, truly befitting the finale. Everybody stood up and surrounded the contestants, including those who were already quite at ease in their corner. Like this one particular middle-aged dude who stood up and broke out from the group of alcohol drinkers who had been converging around a rectangular table, drinking beer and gin and taking bites of the side foods that went with it, even before the party started. He flocked with the onlookers and watched the quiz game with marked interest, flashing a silly grin as he did so. After a few minutes, he suddenly yelled tipsily that the winner in this final game will receive a prize from him. The onlookers he flocked with looked back at him in surprise at his loud and wavy pronouncement and his mention of a sum in four digits, thinking whether he is serious about it or not. But he shouted out his offer once more.
The man seemed to know what he was talking about; and Aldo, along with others, heard it loud and clear. As his teenage contenders may have been, Aldo was also energized by this although he kept his cool and tried not to look eager. He thought it fine that these kids get the money. It might help them in their school expenses. But they don’t seem to look as poor as he definitely is. He is, in fact, at present, with not a single centavo in his pocket. Besides, they still have their parents to support them. He, on the other hand, is at the point in his life wherein he is now expected to earn money for the household. He would love to give away the battle to the kids. But he thinks he needs the money more than they do. Therefore, he took the game seriously with the aim of winning it. Then he thought, I’m sorry, kids. I’ll just make it up to you later in some other instances. But right now, I need to kick your butts.
Consequently, he turned out to be the winner in that final game. He felt sorry for the youths who seemed to have expected to win too. As the champion, he received a combined prize of cash and goods. The teacher appeared more than happy to hand these out to him. When he turned to go back to his seat, the teacher held him back because she remembered about the additional prize. But when she looked at the table of the alcohol drinkers, she saw that the man who said it was already reclining asleep. Then she just let Aldo go and told him to stand by. She then gave her final remarks, thanked everybody for joining, dropped the microphone, and proceeded to cleaning up the mess. She had some help.
Greta witnessed this little scene; and she approached the drunken man and poked him to wake up, first gently and then a little bit vigorously, to no avail. Alcohol truly knocked him down, and he was in deep slumber. Then she thought it prudent to not anymore rouse a drunken man as the proverb said. Then she approached Aldo and asked him to stay until the party is over.
“What am I going to do here when the party is over?” Aldo sneered.
“Just do it.”
“Why?” He paused for a few seconds, trying to figure out what she was trying to say and then said, “Ah... No, it’s okay. I’m not expecting. He’s just some drunk guy. Who’s he?”
“He’s my father-in-law. And that girl right there is my sister-in-law.”
Aldo looked at the girl. “Oh.”
“He’s fast asleep. I couldn’t wake him up.”
“Just leave him alone.”
“But... Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She paused for a few seconds. “Wait here. I’ll try again.”
“No, don’t.” Aldo looked at him gravely. “The man was obviously drunk. He was just joking. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Fine. If you say so.” Greta turned her back and left. When she was about five steps away, she post-scripted, “I’ll still see what I can do.”
Aldo snickered and said, “Suit yourself.”
When she has gone out of sight, Aldo lingered for a few more minutes and then finally bade the older folks farewell. The latter cordially sent him off, and he stood up and stepped outside.
Out in the streets, it was already quiet. It seems that the people are already resting in their homes although there are still a few walking outside under the starry sky. Aldo made his way home which is just a few blocks away. When he got there, he looked at the wall clock and saw that it was already past nine.

tentatively titled, The Simple Adventures of a Simple Simpleton
by: Marven T. Baldo