The Operation: Snakes

“Oh ayan, nag-aaway na naman kayo. Give me that phone!”, pagalit-saway ng Nanay.

“No… we are not fighting mom. We just got carried away on the Snake game”, bilis kong sagot.

“Oo nga… ang haba-haba na kasi nung snake.”, reconfirms my twin brother.

“Last game na yan. Hindi yan binigay ng tita nyo para paglaruan… baka masira pa yan at wala na tayong cellphone.”, warning ng Nanay.

***

It was year 1999. We got the Nokia 3210 cellphone. My aunt bought it in HongKong. And it made us happier dahil for the first time, we had our own. And to think, it was the most “sikat” cellphone on that time, so “IN” kami. (Oo, ganito ang mga Pinoy di bah?). Kung ano yung sikat, dapat mayroon tayo. Hindi pwede na yung kapitbahay lang natin ang mayroon. Hindi pwede yung classmate lang natin ang may pipindutin. Kung may snakes silang nilalaro, dapat tayo din. At dapat ako rin.

Kaso nga lang, in our family, we only had one Nokia 3210. And I got 2 siblings, si Nanay, at si Tatay. Though, kami lang dalawa ng kambal ko yung palaging naglalaro sa phone, sila naman yung sumasaway sa amin pag nakita na nilang nagkapikonan na kaming magkambal. Ang isa kong kapatid na babae, was studying and staying with my tita sa Negros. (Buti na lang, bawas sa kompetisyon sa snakes).

Ako at ang kambal ko, we were staying with my Mom and Dad sa Mindanao. 1 hour and 30 minutes drive from the main city. Malayo. Probinsiya. My mom is a teacher sa elementary school sa barrio. Tatay ko, nasa bahay lang. Kami naman ng kambal ko, we were studying High School na 45 minutes away by bus.

At sa typical na lugar na we were staying, ang pinakamalala – WALANG SIGNAL. We had to run at the beach side pa if ever we have to call our sister and family sa Negros, or if we were going to send SMS to my aunt. And hindi basta-basta may signal agad-agad sa tabing dagat. We have to find a spot para lang makakuha ng 1 bar signal. Taas-kamay naming hawak ang cellphone just to maintain the signal and had to type fast the SMS then, mabilisang pagsend ng text. If the SMS could not be sent, therefore, we have to find another good spot again and again, para lang ma-send. And if ever, we could not send it talaga, we will just play along on the sands at makikipaghabulan sa alon, and after 30 minutes, we will be doing the same procedure na naman. Nakakapagod na hindi. Why? Because, we had our new cellphone at nakapaglaro pa kami sa tabing-dagat habang si Nanay at Tatay watching us while sitting sa bangkang nakataob. (Nakaka-miss nga lang minsan yung memories).

***

“Ayan, nabunggo tuloy. Game over na. Sayang! Ikaw kasi, sabi ng kanan, kaliwa ka, tapos baba. Ayan tuloy…”, I told my brother.

“Anong ako? Ikaw dyan eh. Ang ingay-ingay mo. Nakakawala ka ng concentration.”, sagot niya.

“Akin na yan. Ako naman!”, sabay agaw sa cellphone.

“Abah eh. Kasalanan ko ba yon? Akin na yan ulit, akin na! Kung di, malilintikan ka sakin!”, galit na sabi ni kambal.

“Subukan mo!”, depensa ko sabay tago sa cellphone sa school bag.

“Isa… dalawa….”, banta ni kambal.

“Eh di, magbilang ka hanggang 100. High score yun.”, pabiro kong sagot.

“Magkaka-black eye ka!”, isang pang banta ni kambal.

“Black eye mo sarili mo. Hindi natin ma reach ang high score pag may black eye.”, isa pang pabirong sagot ko.

***

That was our usual hiritan if we were on the mood to play at magkaagawan sa cellphone. We did not reach naman to the point na magsuntukan kasi my Dad was always there to scold us. If yung tatay namin na ang sasaway, hindi na namin pwedeng galawin ang cellphone. Nakapatong lang yun sa table habang kami ay nakatingin lang. We couldn’t touch it, and if we did, basag ang cellphone. Wala ng Nokia 3210. Kawawa ang cellphone. No more snake game.

Oo, from the beginning kasi, my dad was against of having one. Nakaka-addict daw kasi, sabi nya. And mapabayaan yung pag-aaral namin. He’s quite conservative in a way, na kahit TV, hindi niya gusto. Ang mayroon lang kami sa bahay, isang AM stereo. (Kaya, laking pasalamat namin ng magkaroon kami ng cellphone).

At si Nanay, habang nakatingin sa amin, nakangiti lang. And we stared back at her, with eyes wide open – bulging, seeking help from her that we could get the cellphone back and play with it. Pero, she would kept quite and continue writing on her lesson plan. She’s conniving with Dad. And so, ako at ang kambal ko, we joined forces and made a plan – The Operation Snake!

Every time na out of reach sa kamay namin ang cellphone, one of us will distract dad. Si Nanay naman kasi, busy palagi sa routine works niya every night. Kaya focus namin was Dad. Our aim was to let Dad sleep early. While I was talking to him, my brother slowly went to the table where the cellphone at, and then yung kamay niya, will follow the bottom grid of the table hanggang sa flat surface. Hila-hila niya were number of books ni Nanay and our notebooks. Then, while grabbing the phone, dahan-dahang ipapatong yung books and notebooks sa table. But, sa ilalim may nakalagay na calculator, para it looks bulging na parang napatungan lang ng things yung cellphone. After, we went straight sa taas ng bahay namin excusing ourselves na sa room na lang namin tapusin yung school tasks.

And then, we would do “Paper-Scissor-Rock” kung sino yung unang maglaro ng snake. Until, makatulog na kami sa kakaantay at kakapindot para makakuha ng high score.The excitement habang naglalaro, were very quite. We giggled silently. Laughed silently. And shouted, silently. Hindi rin kami takot na mag ring ang phone kasi, there was no signal at all.

***

“Nag-iinisan na naman kayo. Tama na yan, akin na ang cellphone…”, awat ni Nanay.

“Sandali lang ‘Nay. Hindi pa ako nakapaglaro eh.”, request ko.

“Anong hindi. Kanina ka pa kaya? Na-game over nga ako dahil sayo..”, diin ni kambal.

“O siya, paano ba kasi laruin yan. Akin na, ako naman ang maglalaro..”, dagdag ni Nanay.

Nagkatinginan kaming magkambal. Iisa ang nasa isip namin. Isang challenger. Isa pang kalaban. Isang kakompetensiya. Sa isip namin, sabay-sigaw ng “Operation Snake – Kalaban Attack!”.

“Sandali lang po ‘Nay… e-charge muna namin yung cellphone. 1 bar na lang kasi.”, sabi ni kambal.

“Oo ‘Nay, 5 minutes lang.. Ok na to… E-charge ko lang sa taas.”, sabay akyat sa room namin.

Si kambal kasama ni Nanay, nakinig ng radyo-serye. Si Tatay, tulog na. Habang nag-antay ako ng timing na bumaba, sumilip pa ako sa pintuan, sabay signal ke kambal. Everything was set. Ready.

“‘Nay, eto na po. Pindutin nyo lang po eto, tapos kaliwa po eto, then kanan, up then down. Ok po?”, turo ko sa kanya.

“Ano bang objective nito?”, tanong niya.

“Pahabain nyo lang yung snake at iwasan nyo pong mabunggo sa sides. Kundi, game over na kayo.”, explain ni kambal.

“Tapos, eto po yung restart. Pindutin nyo lang po to start a new game. Akyat na lang muna kami sa room namin.”, bilin ko.

After 5 minutes, tinawag kami ni Nanay. Dali-dali kaming bumaba. Excited. Nag-uunahan.

“Aba eh, palagi na lang akong namamatay. Kakasimula ko pa lang, game over agad. Ang bilis-bilis gumalaw nung snake!”, sabi ni Nanay.

Nagkatinginan kami ni kambal. May ngiti. Masaya. Success na naman sa gabing yon. Makapag “Bato, Bato, Pik” na naman kami. At makapaglaro sa buong gabi.

“Ganyan talaga yan ‘Nay. Dapat mabilis kang pumindot sa keypad. Concentration at focus!”, maikli kong paliwanag.

“Oo Nay. Snake kasi po yan. Talagang mabilis!”, pahabol ni kambal.