KALIKABUZA

Chapter 58

'Day Eleven—one more day to go before the end of the Kalikabuza Tournament. Who's going to win it? Who's going to take home the gold? What do you think, Wer?'

'Hard to tell, Amy. There are a lot of teams at the top of the points table. It doesn't look like we have a guaranteed winner yet.'

'What does our official tournament mathematician—Rick Lopez—say?'

'He says that at this point, all of the teams are still mathematically capable of winning the Kalikabuza Tournament; but realistically, only the current top eight or ten stand a chance.'

'I wish I had the brains of Mr. Lopez! He's the one who calculates the points table every afternoon. So, ten teams, huh, Wer? This is getting spycish!'

'For sure, Amy. Today is Soccer Day. Bonus points go out today to the top scoring team; team with the least goal conceded; and a third, very fun bonus points, for teams with the coolest goal celebrations.'

'Wow! I guess we'll be seeing a lot of cool celebrations today. Spycish!'

'Oh, what is that?'

'What's what, Wer?'

'Op. Do you see that? On some of the campers' t-shirts, it says Op.'

'Oh, yes I see it. What is it? That's not for bonus points, is it? Matching uniforms?'

'No, no, Amy. I have no idea what that is. Op... Lots of campers seem to have it.'

'Not the team leaders, though. I don't see them with the patch.'

The radio people only just noticed that? But true: what's up with that? Even some of the people in my team have the Op. What the hell? Is this some kind of joke I'm not aware of? "Hey, you."

"Yeah?" Elise answers, without looking at me.

I grab her wrist and pull her toward me. Her green t-shirt has a black circle hand-drawn on it, with the letters Op written inside. "What is that?"

Elise shrugs. She has the audacity to turn her back on me. "I dunno."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa—excuse me?"

"I don't know what it is."

"Then why do you have—turn around!"

Elise turns around, slowly. Behind her, I can see Jonesy, Agnetha and Adriana: they all have the Op symbol on their shirts.

"What's all this about? What's Op?"

"You'll figure it out eventually. Hopefully."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Elise says nothing.

"Tell me!"

Elise looks around. She seems to be shrinking... breaking down. She can't stand up to me forever.

"Don't make me be nasty to you again. Tell me what it means. Now."

Elise sighs. She shakes her head. Ha, I got her. "It's just... it's..."

"Yes?"

"It's just something that—"

"Team Latte, please get on the field. The match is starting in one minute." Shoot. I look at Elise as she walks onto the field, dodging my question.

Why is this field so big? Are we supposed to run all this distance? Geez! That's way too much! And what do all these white lines all over the grass mean?