.seis.
The interviews had been a strange experience for Javier. On one side were the hosts, speaking in Japanese, then he had to listen to the speaker in his ear that translated every word that was being said. He and the other players were asked questions about the Asian tour and eventually they moved onto a game. Javier, Toni and James were a team, while Sergio and Cristiano were the other. The whole point of the game was that the players would go up onto the podiums, one from each team, and then they would be asked questions about the Japanese and their culture.
If the contestant got the answer wrong, they would get a pie thrown in their face by their opponent. By the end of the show, the five Madrid players ended up with all kinds of pie flavors on their clothes. But the one who had done the poorest was Sergio, who at the end had to stand on one side of the studio while the other four threw pies at him.
Though he had a good time, he couldn't help but feel bad for leaving Amaya hanging.
Now what would she think of him?
They left the studio in the late afternoon and Javier wanted to go down to the beach, but realized it was too late and she was probably gone by now. But he promised himself he would be there the next day.
As he laid in his bed before going to sleep, James was talking to him. But Javier paid no attention to his team mate. When the Colombian realized he was being ignored, he grabbed his pillow and chucked it at his friend, hissing, "Ey! Te estoy hablando hijueputa." Hey! I'm talking to you motherfucker. After saying that, he automatically let out an amused chuckle. Even after being team mates with James for several months, Javier still found it amusing when James said hijueputa. For one, because he looked so much like an innocent little kid. And also because it was different from the way Javier would say it to James.
"Hijo de tu puta madre, tu, cabron!" Javier said back. Son of a bitch, you, fucker. "Habla bien, güey." Speak correctly, man.
"I'll speak the way I want, weón." James laughed. "No me jodas." Don't bother me.
"Va pues," Okay then, "What were you saying?"
"They told us we'll be visiting China next, then South Korea, and lastly the Philippines." James repeated what he had been going on about earlier. "Hey, weren't the Philippines part of the Spanish Empire at one point?" He recalled from what he had learned at school. If anything had stuck, it was the colonial period in history, and the revolutionary period. "Wouldn't they know how to speak Spanish?" He wondered aloud.
Javier shook his head. "Nah, I doubt it. They became Americans after the Spanish American war. And you know those gringos, always taking land that isn't doesn't belong to them without caring who they trample over." By that, Javier meant the southern states in America which had been forcefully taken by the Mexicans in the mid eighteen hundreds. "I remember reading somewhere in a secondary school textbook that the Americans got rid of the Spanish language in the Philippines and forced them to learn English."
"Well," James sighed, "That's another set of countries I won't feel comfortable speaking in."
"You talk too much anyway." Javier bantered.
"Jaja," James let out a sarcastic laugh. "Pass me my pillow, I want to go to sleep."
The Mexican footballer grabbed his friend's pillow, which he had chucked at him earlier, and threw it at him. James reached out to turn off the lamp on his nightstand and almost instantly fell asleep. Javier chuckled to himself. "He actually was tired."
.
The next morning, Javier got up early. He, James, and a few other team mates had planned to have breakfast at the hotel before going out. They had found out there many places to visit in Japan. The hotel lobby alone had endless brochures filled with maps and activities one could do. They would be visiting the hot springs, visit the markets where they would stock up on snacks, go to a theme park, a festival in the area and lastly a club.
Javier let his friends know he would be returning to the hotel instead of going to the festival with them, and would meet them at the club. But his real intentions were to go to the beach. He knew that if he let his team mates know where he was going, they would tag along.
Since they had arrived in Japan, none of them had thought to visit the beach. That was due to the fact that it was winter time and the weather was too chilly to spend at the beach.
By the time it was early afternoon, Javier had plenty of photos in his cellphone to post on the social media for days and he also felt as though he was on his way towards a better relationship with his team mates.
Before they headed off to the hot springs, Javier said goodbye and boarded a taxi that would take him back to the hotel. From there he would walk tot he beach, hoping to find Amaya there.
He made his way down a few streets to the beach, walked the same direction he had walked the first day, and sure enough he heard Mexican music playing on the beach which was just about lonely. Occasionally he saw people out on a jog, but other than that there weren't many people in the water.
His legs carried him past a sandy dune and he saw her sitting on a beach towel, her boombox by her side. To her other side was a small red cooler. At first, Javier didn't know whether to approach her or not. His voice sounded nervous as he greeted her. He didn't know what her reaction to seeing him would be. He also knew she had every right to be upset. "Hola Amaya." He said in Spanish.
She turned her head towards him slowly, her expression unreadable. "Chicharrrrrrrrrito." Javier found it adorable the way she pronounced his nickname. And he didn't have the heart to correct her. It was a soft r sound rather than a rolled r sound.
"Are you mad because I didn't show up?" He asked her, trying to get the worst things out of the way.
She shrugged her shoulders indifferently, but finally said, "I heard you got chosen to be on the show Fukuoka Daily."
"I didn't want to be there." Javier explained, hoping she would believe him. He wasn't sure why, but he needed her to believe him. He needed her approval. "Isco got sick and--"
But she stopped him, raising a hand. "Don't worry about it. I won't kill you." She joked dryly. "I know you have more important things to do sometimes. I won't make you feel bad about it."
"I feel bad anyway." He admitted. "Let me make it up to you."
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "How?"
"Let me take you to dinner or something." He suggested.
"Hm." She thought about it. Nodding her head and getting up on her feet quickly, she told him, "Okay, but nothing fancy. I hate those type of places. Lets eat somewhere small and truly Japanese."
"You'll need to lead the way." Javier warned.
Dusting the sand off her clothes, Javier noticed how a small smile made way onto her lips. "Well, Chicharrrrrrrito, prepare for the greatest night of your life."
-
yay.
another chapterrrrr. and chivas won yesterday so im extra happy. what kind of bums me out is that i'll need to write my stupid don quijote essay tonight because i skipped class to finish it. but i couldnt. it was too hard to find the information i need. and now i put it off until the last moment. and then i need to do my fucking spanish homework. and email the honor society coordinator so that she might give me an extension to join. i hope you like the update. i love you.
-clary xx
