KALIKABUZA

Chapter 27

Today, I learned quite a few new things. 'Mofos' apparently, is a shortened form of mother fu... yeah. When people say something is 'lit', as in, "this game is lit" they mean that it is radiating with energy and excitement. 'Dope' means cool or awesome. I also learned how high-fives truly work: first, you have to acknowledge the other person's monumental achievement with a "Bro!" or "Yo!" or any other cool single-syllable word with an extended vowel. "Daaamn!" Next, you must take a step toward the exalted champion and extend your open palm. The champion will then receive the greeting by extending their arm and contacting your palm in a sort of flowing motion that ends with a snap. Once this is achieved, you will have given a proper high five.

What else have I learned today? Oh yes: it seems that pretty, non-athletic teenage girls enjoy talking to each other most when they're in the middle of a match. It is when they are standing on the court, when the match is in action, and the ball is bouncing around, that they decide to have conversations. However, it took me a while to figure out why they do this. I believe it is a way to cope with the fear of big, sweaty guys running into them. If they stand there, looking cute, chatting innocently, it will decrease the chances of the guys seeing them as active players, thus not knocking them over.

But what I especially learned today is that trash talk on court is absolutely integral to winning the match. I saw Michelle and the leader of Mofos when they got into their fight: their trash talk seemed to change the outcome of the game. Our leader showed more defiance in her talk, and that somehow translated into our eventual victory. But in the second match, against the Flies, there was no trash talk, so we lost fair and square. Even Team Swag got into a bit of trash talk in the quarter finals against Team Ballahs. Apparently, Duke got mad at someone in Ballahs and started dissing them. Oh yeah, 'dissing' is slang for 'disrespecting.' But the Ballahs were more aggressive, and ultimately, they ended up winning the match—and they went to win the Basketball Tournament. Figures.

As for point strategies, our Team Latte is fifth, with 115 points. In fourth place is Combo 32, with 120 points; in third place is Getafe with 125 points; in second place is Swag with 195 points; and in first is Team Hot Rods with a whopping 275 points. However, this list is only temporary. It's only a matter of time before the teams start to go broke and begin to use their precious Tournament Points to pay for their expenses. I give it three more days before this starts to happen. By Sunday morning, I predict that half of the teams will be going broke after overspending on food, amusement park tickets, arcade frenzies, beach games, carnival activities, clothing, candy and God knows what else. I sure hope our team is smart enough not to fall into those temptations. It's good to have fun, but not at the expense of depleting our Tournament Points. That's really the problem: the fifty-grand prize and reputation boost that winning the Kalikabuza Tournament will grant is almost too surreal to prioritize over the more easily accessible pleasures at hand. Between going to the expensive restaurants and buying VIP lane tickets, or saving our money and staying in the cabin—which would most teams choose? If everyone had my mind: the latter; but because everyone here is a teenager refusing to grow up: the former.

Right now, it is nearly 3 P.M, and I'm walking around the Village. The rest of my team is shopping in the mall—oh dear. The Village is a huge, sandy field where the thirty-two cabins are lined up in two rows. At the far end, away from the park, there is a giant rocky hill that has a flat face decorated with a sun design with a capital K. I love it. It looks like the Kalikabuza sun rising above the Village every day.

I'm not going anywhere in particular; I just feel like going for a stroll. But as I walk around, I begin to let my curiosity take over. The things I'm seeing are quite intriguing. Some teams are outside of their cabins, interacting with one another. The things they do and say to each other is worth analyzing. So, I stop where I am and discreetly listen and observe. The team I'm passing by is Team Royals—they're part of our Royal 60 alliance. Their leader is named Aria. She is a beautiful blonde girl with a cute face but a mean attitude. She reminds me of a certain princess I know. So, what is this Aria girl and her team up to? She's drinking a slushie with two guys. They are talking about... about... other campers' fashion sense. Interesting. They laugh at the description of certain campers who, apparently, don't know how to dress. Their thesis seems to be "if you could afford to come to Kalikabuza, you should be able to afford nice clothes." Then, their conversation suddenly switches to whom they think is the coolest team leader. Aria says, "besides myself." The two guys list team leaders' names. Duke is mentioned by both, and one of them mentions our Princess girl. Aria, surprisingly, agrees about Michelle. Her remark is: "she's really pretty." And then, they change the topic again, and ask, "who's that guy that's looking at us?" I feel a sudden, cold shiver and immediately walk away.

I guess I have to be more discrete. I walk further down, toward the sun rock. The very last cabin is Cabin 18. The team that lives there is standing outside. They are Team... Team... which team is that? It looks like... like...

"Hey Latte boy! Son, whatcha doing here?"

Oh my God! It's none other than Team Hot Rods! They're coming toward me! Oh God! "I... I just—"

"Where's the rest of your team, boy?" Blake, the big, bad leader asks as he steps toward me. "Hiding?"

"No! No! I'm here alone. I'm sorry to—"

Blake steps up to me. He towers far above me—by almost two feet. He looks around behind me, as if he were trying to smell out my team. Then, he looks down at me. "So, you're here to spy on us, huh?"

I feel my heart freeze.