The city of Kota Kinabalu was taken over by the ferocious solar sphere in the cloudless blue heaven. Under the typical humid Malaysian weather, I heard noisy chatters behind the school garden. There was a small forest behind Tung Sang Secondary School, and it was rare to see people roaming around that area.
I tiptoed on the grass like a lioness stalking after its prey. While pretending to be a ninja, I was sure I saw my stepdad’s dark blue cap floating across the line of gigantic shady trees.
“Sedia….mula! (Get set….go!) ” a man shouted in Malay.
I hurriedly climbed up the middle tree to get a better view. As I stopped on a firm branch, I felt like I was engulfed by a dark shadow summoned by Sailor Moon’s villian, Queen Beryl. A group of men between ages 20 to 50 formed a large ring, cheering and yelling at a couple of chickens which were on the centre of the human circle. The spectators were all Malay, brown-tanned and big dark brown eyes with translucent hues of excitement and rebel.
One of the chickens was a brilliant orange with black tail feathers. It literally flew in midair and pounced onto its opponent who was a pure white fellow. And right away, I spotted my stepfather, Mason, in his blue cap; he stood a few feet behind the orange and black chicken.
My stepfather’s chicken flapped its wings like a hummingbird while lifting its boney legs off the ground. It kicked right at its opponent’s breast. A white star suddenly gleamed on the chicken’s left leg. I squinted to take a closer look. Did I just saw something metal? The sun was kind enough to reflect a beam of light onto the object tied around its right leg. Sure enough, a freshly-sharpened curvy blade was attached at the back of the leg. That was just cruel! Why would people do something inhumane? And the next thing I knew, the white chicken had an artificial spur tied around each leg as well. If this was Satan’s strategy to turn men evil towards animals, then I had to do something…for God’s sake!
I looked up into the sky and murmured, “What should I do, Lord? Should I get the principal or crash into the match to grab the chickens?” I looked at the horrific sight again and hoped that I would hear a holy whisper. The sun radiated its summer heat that made the scene to look like a mirage in the middle of the Sahara desert. And I thought I had this big splat of sweat stained on the back of my school uniform. But, the tropical weather wasn’t the only thing that caused me to be drenched in the icky, stinky colourless paint. I couldn’t stand watching the white chicken suddenly gather courage to kick the other candidate; it even used its beak to poke at the opponent’s head. Mason’s city-known champion swiftly kicked its target’s breast once more, leaving a tiny stream of blood.
“Pheline Wong? What are you doing up there?” a voice startled me.
I immediately turned around to see whether it was one of those nasty junior boys who liked hitting on senior girls. To my relief, Principal Matthew Liu was standing near a big rose bush in the garden. Suddenly, my right foot nearly slipped and I quickly grabbed hold on the tree trunk to keep myself standing on the branch.
“Are you okay?” the school’s “Second Father” gasped.
“Y…yeah!” I replied.
The cockfight match was way too loud that I believe the students in the nearby classrooms could hear it. Principal Matthew came near the wall of trees and looked at me with his eyebrows raised in curiosity. Could it be that God has arranged all this to help me? Oh wait…that’s it!
“Can you guys carry on with what you’re doing somewhere else?” he asked as he walked through a small wire gate between the school fences.
The crowd turned their heads with their annoyed masks on. As I crouched behind them, I saw my stepfather stepping forward with arms akimbo. I removed the blades from the chickens, and held them under my arms.
“You’re under arrest!” a different voice froze the atmosphere.
I shielded my eyes from the blinding sunlight with my right palm. A policeman stood next to Principal Matthew. I looked at clumps of chicken feathers scattered on the forest soil; the trees surrounded me with a grateful embrace.
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