Yellow Ribbon

Chapter Four

He winked at me before tying my hair up and made me sit down on the chair with Price who is grinning. Umalis na silang mga manlalaro. Pinaliwanag ni Coach ang pagpapalit sa officials pagkatapos ay natuloy na sila sa paglalaro ulit.

"Joji was our hidden weapon. Too bad they already saw him here before the district game." sumimangot ako kay Price.

Tumawa lamang sya sa reaksyon ko.

"For a friend, you're a protective one." ngumiwi ako sa kanya.

"Ano ba kasing ginawa mo?" tanong ko nang mapatingin sa kanyang kamay na nasa kandungan niya kasama ang ice pack.

"Just a clumsy mistake, I guess." he looked at his hand, with a serious face.

I frowned. Nilingon ko ang field kung saan nagsisimula na silang maglaro. I don't know why, but, if I compare the mood a while ago, I was sure that this time, its more intense.

The batter was called, and Joji was in position to pitch. The batter even have his serious face, and then position his bat. I looked at Image which became the catcher as of the moment. What the hell is happening?

Joji took a stance before throwing the ball to the batter, the latter tried to swing correctly but-

"Strike!" The referee announced. Napatayo ako.

My hand flew to my mouth because of the surprised. The sands between the pitcher and the home base was floating in the air like there was a wind blew them. Why? I did not even see the ball coming from Image's glove. I only saw Joji throwing his hand, but not the ball. How?

Agad akong umiling para panoorin ulit ang kilos ni Joji. It was the same stance where he crouch a little bit, his right hand which holding the ball is at his back, then his left hand with gloves is in front, after a seconds of inhaling deeply, he would take a step back and immediately throw his hand without seeing the ball being thrown away, and coming towards the catcher, you will just notice it when -

"Strike two!" when the referee would announce the strike.

Namamalikmata ba ako o nabubulag lang? Kinusot ko ang mata ko tapos ay nanood nanaman ulit. He did that over and over until he was done striking the last batter of that round. The opponent didn't have the chance to even bun his throw, I think they couldn't also see the ball coming. He would hid it in his back, and immediately throw it where you can't even see it even its shadow.

Isa-isa silang lumapit dito at nakisilong. Tawa-tawa naman ang lahat ng member at pinagpapalo sa likod si Joji. He was laughing at them. His eyes saw me so he immediately went to me. I pouted at him. He chuckled before taking an embrace. He even have the audacity to sway me with his body.

"I did good, right?" kumurap-kurap ako bago tumango.

Teka lang, uto-uto talaga ako.

Tinulak ko sya kaya bumitaw sya sa pagyakap sa akin. I looked at him, my eyes filled with wonder and curiousity. He raised an eyebrow at me while grinning. Nagmamayabang sa ginawa niya kanina.

I know he was good at playing baseball. Being the catcher was already enough title to gain the popularity and a credibility as a good player. I'm beyond surprise and speechless. Ang sama ko naman din na mababa lang tingin ko kay Joji noh? Pero masisi niyo ba ako na ang ginawa lang naman sa akin niyan ay kung hindi pang-iinsulto at pangbabara.

"What?" tanong niya, tinawag na si Image for the next batter.

"Did you cheat?" now, he frowned.

He gave me this expression that he is waiting for an explanation of my accused. He even crossed his arms in his chest. Nilingon ko ang mga kasama niyang nakangiti rin sa aming dalawa, ngunit nung nakitang nakatingin ako ay nagkanya-kanya silang ginagawa. Ang iba ay nagkunwaring nanonood kay Image. Ngunit ang totoo ay nakikinig sa usapan naming dalawa. I heard him sigh, so, I looked back at him.