Theo the Street Kid and the Extraordinary Competition

Chapter 15 - An Old Rival's Revenge

   When he arrived, he realized he wasn't the only one with the idea to search for the pyropes in the Mountain of Garbage.
Hundreds of people were rummaging through the trash, from wealthy children of the nation's elite to poor orphans like him.
He recognized some of the rich kids.
One was the actual son of a four-star general. Another was the daughter of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. A third was the son of the Kingdom's richest real estate developer.
Theo wondered why they would jump at the chance to fill an official court position that paid a mere $1,000,000 a year. To these spoiled brats, $1,000,000 a year was just a drop in the bucket. They probably had ten times that much already in their trust funds alone.
But maybe they wanted the prestige of an official court position, allowing them to be close to the King. That could have been their primary motivating factor.
But Theo wasn't worried.
He had a huge advantage over all the others: he was on home turf. He knew what kind of garbage each section contained.
On the northern section were mostly disgusting leftover inedible parts of food: fish, chicken and pork bones, apple cores, rotten mangoes, stale bread and rice.
On the southern section were mostly broken electronics and unrecyclable auto parts.
The eastern section contained human waste, dirty toilet paper, used condoms and used needles.
The western section had various miscellaneous knick-knacks: discarded glow sticks and dolls and cell phones.
Theo decided to start at the western section because, compared to the other areas, it was the least stinky.
For the next two hours, he dug through the gigantic pile of trash in the putrid stench and unbearable heat.
He knew he was looking for a needle in a haystack, but he had to do it.
He was doing it for himself, for his mother, for Wolfie and for all the abused homeless street kids in his country. They needed him.
After hours of digging through the rubbish, he was about to take a break when he saw something red glimmering in the sunlight.
Inhaling sharply, he picked it up and examined it.
At first, he thought it was just another red cap, but it was hard and smooth.
He wasn't too familiar with gem stones, but he knew this was definitely a precious stone of some sort.
Was it a ruby or a topaz?
His heart beating wildly, he didn't dare to hope.
Could it be?
Had he finally found a pyrope after all those red herrings and hours of searching in the suffocating heat?
He nodded slowly.
I think so, he thought. I think this is it.
He looked around. No one was near him.
He was about to put it discreetly in his pocket when suddenly, a noise alerted him.
A hand swiped the gemstone from him.
"Pyrope? It's mine!" a voice shrieked.
Theo whirled around.
He could recognize that pimple-ridden oversized nose anywhere.
It was Borm, the same boy he had fought with over a loaf of stale baguette.
"It's mine!" hollered Theo, pocketing the priceless gemstone.
He had a momentary flash or deja vu, but this time, the stakes were much higher.
This time, they weren't fighting over a trivial slice of rotting food. They were fighting over a much more valuable prize.
And just like the previous time they had tangoed, Theo had found the item first. 
 "Give it back!" bellowed Theo.
Just like the previous time, he was determined to win again.
Borm was Theo's arch-nemesis and the score was about even.
Theo advanced on Borm, but Borm punched him in the gut.
Theo recoiled, but didn't fall down.
He wished he still had his pepper spray with him, but it had disappeared somewhere.
Theo tried to punch Borm, but he dodged it.
And then, in a brilliant move, Borm pointed at Theo. "Hey, everyone! He has the pyrope. This boy found the pyrope! Get him!"
All those within hearing range immediately stopped their search and thundered toward Theo, creating a deafening noise.
Borm smirked at Theo and mouthed the word revenge.
Then he dashed away.
Oh crap, thought Theo. I am so screwed.
Like a shark feeding frenzy, people instantly began hemming in on him, crowding him in and preventing any escape, let alone chasing after Borm.
Theo wanted to kick himself for not thinking of that smart tactic.
His back against the Mountain of Garbage, he faced the eager bloodthirsty horde of people.
He was indeed trapped.
He felt so helpless.
He shook with rage.
His face reddened as sweat poured down onto his chest.
Not only had Borm successfully stolen what rightfully belonged to him, but Borm had also outsmarted him.
Theo hated being outwitted by his rival.
They had known each other for years and had fought over everything.
And now, Borm had robbed him of his chances of fulfilling all his dreams.
Facing the mob now, Theo did the only thing that popped into his head: he opened his hands to show his empty palms and turned both pants pockets inside out.
"I don't have it!" he protested. "That boy Borm has it! I'm just a distraction so he could escape."
Seeing the evidence, the sea of people left Theo alone and scrambled after Borm like a herd of elephants.
Theo was now relieved but also bitterly disappointed.
Borm had opened the door of his shack so that rainwater would flood it and stolen his belongings as revenge for losing the loaf of stale bread to Theo.
Now, his petty rival had taken revenge twice.
He wanted to murder Borm.
For a moment, Theo considered digging around in the Mountain of Garbage again in the hopes of finding another pyrope, but he was absolutely exhausted, not to mention discouraged.
So he decided to head back to the Royal Lotus Hill Hospital.
When he arrived at the hospital, he was about to head into Wolfie's room to check on her when the TV above the receptionist's desk caught his attention.
The news was on and the same female anchor from the night before was reporting.
"We have some breaking news for you. All five pyropes have now been found and the Royal Palace is in the process of verifying the authenticity of each one. So far, no one has decided to sell the pyropes, so it looks like the five contestants have been selected for the Extraordinary Competition."
"In other news, there have been reports of people killing one another as they searched for the pyropes. At least twenty-five people have died and forty-eight people have been injured during the hunt...."
Theo stopped listening.
He couldn't begin to describe his own disappointment.
All five pyropes had now been found.
And Theo had been left empty-handed.
He was absolutely crushed.