Chapter 58 - If others can write fillers, why can't I?

November 9, 2011 – Wednesday 7 pm – Ironstone, Ouigab – Hoon

The band and I just finished our practice in the bas.e.m.e.nt and I'm currently relaxing in the common room. Bay-an and Jenna are cooking a simple dinner in the kitchen, Inson, also in the living room, is playing with his laptop, Ramil is taking a shower, and Ike is doing his homework. Poor Ike, he always has to study solo.

I, on the other hand, am reading Tayaw's new book, The Halfling. Tayaw's new book was quite difficult to read at first because of the very formal grammar. I could only imagine what the English version looks like. After re-reading the first chapter however, I became used to it and got transported to the world of The Halfling. And that world, when I think about it, is Tayaw's creation.

*Bzzzzzt*

The doorbell's buzz reverberated in the room. All of us snapped our heads towards the main door. Aside from Tayaw's agent, Chala, we don't get visitors. Not even Jenna's boyfriend or Ike's girlfriend visits the house.

"Hoon, can you get that? Thanks." Jenna yellowed over to me from the kitchen, breaking the tension. "Inson, let's go together. I'm really not good with strangers." I asked Inson to accompany me. "Alright." Inson said as we headed for the door.

Jenna has become a lot more polite over the past few months especially when Tayaw added another house rule regarding our language. It only not changed how Jenna spoke but also how the rest of us talk to each other. Words like 'Please' and 'Thank you' helped a lot in keeping our interactions peaceful.

I looked at the intercom and saw what looks like a delivery guy judging by his uniform, waiting by the gate. It looks like there's another package for Tayaw. I opened the door and we headed towards the drive way. I froze at the two big boxes lying beside the delivery man. One is rectangular, and made of wood, the other one is a regular cardboard box. "Hello. Package for uhh.. there's a lot of names here." The delivery man said as he looked at his clipboard.

"Is there a Hoon Tiamat among the names?" I asked the guy. "Hoon… Tiamat. Sign here, please." The delivery guy said. After all the small stuff, the delivery man saw my and Inson's concerned faces. "Don't worry. They're a lot lighter than they look." The delivery man said and went back to his truck.

A minute later, Inson and I got the crates in the house. The crates indeed look lighter than they look, but they were still heavy. From what I saw while signing the delivery man's clipboard, it looks like these are the ones that we requested from Tayaw to buy for us in New York.

"Guys! Our stuff from New York is here!" Inson yelled excitedly as the band filled in the living room.

"I guess Tayaw isn't coming back anytime soon, huh?" Jenna said.

"Maybe it's just a lot for him to take home." Ramil offered a more plausible possibility.

After a few minutes of unpacking, I finally pulled out the first item in the first box. It's the item I requested; a replica of King Fischer's electric guitar. It's just not a replica of any of King's guitars, but it's a replica of the one that he played in his most legendary performance in the 1972 charity concert for Africa. I put the encased guitar aside first and pulled out the rest of the items from the box.

Ike received his handcrafted red maple drumstick. I have to say, they look luxurious and unlike the typical white wood used in drumsticks, the red shade of the wood used for Ike's drumstick gives it a heavy appearance.

Next was Jenna's make-up kit and her leather bound binder planner. A binder planner can be bought in whatever bookstore in Ouigab, but from what I heard from Jenna when she requested it from Tayaw, the binder folder she got is a replica of a famous TV character's prop in the show. The make-up by the way, I can't believe how expensive it is.

Ramil got a luxury handcrafted saxophone cleaning kit. It's just as beautiful and as classy looking as the Tayaw's saxophone in the studio. "Dude. It looks like a mini toolbox." Ike remarked. True. I guess saxophonists need a lot of tools to maintain their instrument.

Bay-an received an unassembled replica of the New York subway train that came in a box. I have not seen toy trains, but I know Bay-an's replica is special. "Hey man. Can I help building it?" Inson asked. "Sure." Bay-an simply replied as he studied the box of the toy. Even though I was never interested in toys, the box of Bay-an's train replica is quite big for me to be curious.

Inson received his order of his favorite basketball player's jersey and basketball shoes. "WHOAH!" Inson suddenly exclaimed to the confusion of the group. "What's up?" Ramil asked. "Dude! Tayaw had them signed!" Inson said as he showed the band Kareem Lee Watson's huge signature on the jersey and on the basketball shoes. That was cool of Tayaw to do that.

"Guys. That's all, right?" I asked the group. "Yes." Ike said as he looked at the remaining unopened box. The rest of the fellas are staring at the box as well. Not only them, I'm also itching on opening it. "I mean… It has our names on it, right? Might as well open it." Jenna hesitantly suggested.

"Screw it. We're all in this together, alright?" I concurred. From the expression of the band, they agree with Jenna's suggestion too. With that, I jacked the lid of the box open. The next moment, I pulled out the top layer of the bubble wrap and looked inside. I was confused to see more boxes inside. I then noticed that the top two boxes are labeled with my name and Ike's.

One by one, I pulled out the boxes and distributed them according to the names. The red color of the boxes was also revelead. We got a closer look at the bird logo and the bird perched on a baseball bat made us realize that it's a baseball team's merchandise. I then distributed the boxes to the guys in accordance to their names. "I'll open mine first." Ike said as he quickly popped of the lid of his box.

Ike pulled the items inside one by one: a pair of baseball cleats, a baseball jersey, a baseball cap, a baseball glove, and a big coffee mug with Ike's name on it. Ike took off the wrapping of the coffee mug and pulled out what looks like a ring box.

"Hey. He's not proposing to me, is he?" Ike said, his words amusing the band. Tayaw, as far as I know, is straight as a rod. "Why don't you open it and say 'yes!'?" Ramil said, and his feminized voice while he said 'yes!' made the band lost it. "Hahahahaha! Good one Ramil!" Bay-an said.

Ike's face on the other hand, became complicated but he opened the ring box anyway.

"Wow…" Ike just drawled out as he saw what was inside. "Show us! Show us!" Jenna commanded. Ike turned the ring box around for us to see a shiny, sparkly, ring. It does not look like an engagement ring like Ramil jested, but it looks even more beautiful! The ring is thick and massive.

The band, or the shank, is made of silver. The sides of the band is adorned with what I would expect are fake diamonds. One side of the band has '2011' and the other side has 'CHAMPIONS' that are assembled with small green crystalline stones. The head of the ring however, is the knockout. Just like the logo in the box, the bird perching on a baseball bat is displayed in a mosaic of different types of colors of crystalline stones.

I pulled out my phone for a quick search and found out that the 2011 World Series of Baseball Champions is the St. Louis Cardinals. Tayaw is one of the few baseball fans I know who are Teungebians, but I didn't realize he was this huge a fan.

"Guys, look." I said to the band as I showed what I looked up. "Wow." Realization also hit them. "Guys… Uhh. This ring isn't expensive, right?" Ramil suddenly said as he also pulled out his own ring from his own gift box. This question made the group froze.

"Hey. It may be. But not thousands of dollars expensive. I mean, silver is expensive. But I think the stones are fake. These must be fan rings." I said. I mean no matter how rich Tayaw is, he couldn't possible buy us expensive gifts like a ring with real gems in it.

"That's true… Ooh! Thank God the cleats have rubber spikes! I thought they were gonna be professional ones that have metal spikes. I can use them!" Inson said as he examined the baseball shoes. I also opened my box and pulled out the sports merch inside. I'm not a fan of baseball myself, but I think baseball has the slickest fashion when it comes to uniforms.

"Tayaw is really creepy. How does he know all of the sizes of our shoes and clothes?" Jenna said as she pulled out the baseball jersey from her box. Compared to our jerseys, hers look like a child's version.

"I think it's just a part of how smart he is. He also sees our shoes by the doorway every day so it's not like he just blindly guessed." I replied. "That makes sense." Jenna nodded as she greedily examined the championship she also got.

A few minutes later, I pulled out my phone again to check the time. It's currently 8 pm so if I deduct 17 hours, it will be 3 am in New York. I know that Tayaw goes to bed early and gets up early every day at 2 am, so I tried calling him for a video chat.

"Guys! Wear your baseball outfit! I'm calling Tayaw right now." I told the group, which they agreed to and hurriedly put on their jerseys and baseball caps.

After two tries, Tayaw finally accepted the video call and just like usual, Tayaw looks awake and fresh. "Hello there! Oh! Looks like the package arrived. How's everything?"