Jack Of Arts

January 1, 2011 – New Year's Day. 10 AM

After a late night with the family and neighbors' New Year celebration, Tayaw woke up groggily on the living room's couch. His eyes were tired from the bright fireworks and the smoke that irritated his eyes. While adjusting his blurry vision, he could not help but take a glimpse at the only clear thing in his vision. "View Points – 2,265,324". He notices that the small display of the View Points in his vision gleams whenever it reached another million.

He realized before that a View Point does not mean the actual number an individual who already enjoyed one of his works. It's the number of times a person positively received any of Tayaw's work. He noticed this when one day, his View Point increased by one when Chala was reading the manuscript of the fairy tales' a.d.u.l.t version for the first time, despite already giving a View Point when he enjoyed reading the manuscript of the children's version that Tayaw e-mailed when Tayaw was still recruiting an agent. This means that if Tayaw released a total of 5 books, a person can contribute as much as 5 View Points if they enjoyed all of Tayaw's 5 books.

He also realized that he can access the void now as long as he has at least a million View Points. He found out about this during the second day of Tayaw and his brothers' visit in Ouigab, when the display of his View Points gleamed when it reached 2 million points. While he was watching the View Points slowly grow for a minute, he was suddenly transported once again in the white void. He also had access to the roulette but he didn't play because he knows he still has plenty of pieces he has not shared yet with the world. So with a thought of "I want to get out of here", he was transported back to the real world.

He unlocked his phone and saw an e-mail notification from Topaz. As he opened the Sales Report, he was satisfied with the combined 1.1 million sold copies both nationally and internationally. Tayaw's fairy tales have already hit the international book stores back in December 15 last year so the huge sales were expected. Today also marks the release of his books in non-English speaking countries like Russia, China, or Korea.

He sat up from the couch and went to his truck to get his laptop. Because he has no access to a bank and the nearest ATM machine is a few kilometers away, he logged in on his bank account using online banking. He was satisfied at the 7-digit number his savings account currently has. Earlier in the morning at 8 AM, Topaz already transferred his royalties amounting to 2,500,000BGC after Chala's cut was deducted. He is currently tempted to splurge but stopped himself quickly after realizing that someone his age does not have much use with the money he currently has without an a.d.u.l.t watching over his shoulder. After metaphorically bathing in the feeling of being a millionaire, he closed his laptop and headed to the kitchen.

Today, the family will take a short trip for a picnic beside Lake Tabila through the side of the town of Bogma, so Tayaw decided to prepare some of the food they would enjoy during the picnic.

He grabbed a big wheeled ice box he recently purchased and carried dragged it in front of the fridge. Opening the freezer, he took out huge ice cubes and stuffed them into the ice box. Next, he opened the fridge and took out a 4 liter Tupperware containing the potato salad he made in the previous evening and laid it among the bed of ice inside the box.

Potato salad is one of the easiest dishes to cook, and Tayaw knows how to make a good one. According to his own potato salad recipe for five people, one would need: 3kg of Yellow Finn potatoes, 2 ¼ cups of mayonnaise, 1 cup of pickle relish, 3 tbsp. of yellow mustard, 1 ½ tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp. squeezed lemon juice, 1 tbsp. paprika, 5 hardboiled eggs, 5 celery stalks, 2/3 cup of sweet white onions, and salt and pepper. He uses Yellow Finn potatoes because they maintain their shape after boiling them to softness, adding vinegar in boiling the potatoes form a thin crust along the surface of the potato which helps the potato hold its shape. The lemon juice is used to neutralize the smell of the vinegar during mixing process. He uses white onion due to its sweet and mellow taste while still packing a punch of that onion flavor. The amount of salt and pepper also depends on his mood.

Tayaw then sealed the ice box along with various beverages and dragged it to the back of his pick-up.

He went back to the fridge and took out two tupperware trays of the few kilograms of chicken and pork he cleaned, washed, and massaged with salt and pepper the previous night. In his previous life, Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections often gather once a month for barbecue while jamming and talking life. Tayaw has been the main cook during those gatherings and is confident in his grilling skills. He also grabbed a jar of his favorite pre-made barbecue sauce in the condiments cabinet and together with the trays of chicken and pork, loaded them to the back of his truck.

"Good morning dad." Tayaw greeted Liboo. Liboo, who just woke up as well, was dragging the family's grill and a few bags of charcoal to load on Tayaw's truck as well. "Good morning. I'll go get the folding table and the chairs later, got all the other things?" Liboo asked while yawning. "Well, just the ketchup and mayonnaise for the lettuce and cuc.u.mbers and we're good to go." Tayaw replied. The family is only planning to wash their face and brush their teeth. After all, the picnic is just among them, the kids will also take a dip in the lake, so it's fine to stink a little.

It's already 11 am when they reached the Tabila Lake and parked the truck on the parking spot intended for visitors of the lake. "Oh. Looks like we're the only ones." Kilat said as she pointed at the shores of the lake that is empty of people. Lake Tabila is a famous spot in Nabla Province but people who visit the side from the town of Bogma are a lot fewer compared to the other more scenic sides of the lake. It's still Lake Tabila with its blue clear waters, and with the Bogma side closer to Okuba, it's convenient for the family to have a picnic here.

A few minutes later, the family already set the grill while the two kids already changed to their swimming trunks. While Tayaw fired up the charcoals into embers, Kilat and Liboo are also setting up the tables and chairs. Payew who just brought the last things from the truck, is now playing the guitar Tayaw brought home last Christmas. Agew who was silent the whole time during the drive, is happily playing sand by the lake's beach.

While grilling the chicken and pork, Tayaw is teaching Payew some plucking and strumming patterns on the guitar. "Good. Keep practicing that for a while. Don't just resort to two strumming patterns. Also, do not use an excessive strumming pattern if it doesn't fit. Sure, the rhythm you were using goes with the rhythm of the song but it just sounds off." Tayaw explained to Payew as he noticed that Payew is using just whatever strumming pattern. "Give me. Listen to this." Payaw took the guitar and started an on the spot arrangement of the rock song Payew was playing. He started strumming a rhythmic pattern but is only using downward strums. Half strum – whole strum – half strum – whole strum, and started singing. "…I play this song but I can't love you anymore…" after the verse was done, he kept strumming the rhythm. "See? In this part of the song, it's like the beginning of the story so the guitar strumming should be simple as well." Tayaw explained while Payew nodded. "… I'd rather pretend that the sky doesn't know my wish …" Tayaw continued to the first chorus while changing the pattern a bit but still following the same rhythm. "This is only the first chorus which is tells us first the core of the song, so while it has a little more 'intense' strumming, it should still be simple and not too much." Tayaw explained further the reason of the strumming change. "… How hard has it been for you even after a thousand years passed …" Tayaw continued singing the rest of the song while teaching Payew the reason in adjusting strumming patterns.

A few minutes later, the chicken and pork are finally done and the family started their sumptuous lunch. Half of the lettuce and cuc.u.mber was made into salad by Kilat to neutralize the grease from the barbecue, and saved the half of for a healthy snack later.

After lunch, Payew joined Agew on the beach and they entered the water to swim. Liboo and Kilat were not worried as long as they don't go any deeper. After all, the brothers are excellent swimmers. Finally alone with his parents, Tayaw started speaking with them. "Mom, dad. How many more years before we can pay the house?" Tayaw suddeny asked. Liboo was shocked at the direct question from Tayaw. "Why?" Liboo asked. "Nothing. It's just bothering me." Tayaw replied. "You should not be worrying about stuff like this yet, son." Kilat also said. "So, how many years, really? I just heard that the interests are insane." Tayaw still insisted not afraid of offending his parents. Liboo and Kilat exchanged glances for a while before Kilat nodded. "Well, son. We moved in to the house when we got married so that was 19 years ago. We signed a 30 – year mortgage so we still have 11 years." Liboo answered. "I see. I kind of overheard you guys pay 2,200BGC each month for mortgage? I'm guessing the house is valued at 500,000 BGC when you guys signed the loan." Tayaw said to the surprise of the couple. "Yes. You were right. Where did you learn about these things?" Liboo said. "Uhm. It's just discussed in passing by a professor that banks make most their money from mortgages… We pay 780,000BGC in thirty years for a 500,000BGC house. Unbelievable." Tayaw sighed. "Well. That's how the world works son. Fortunately, we can afford it. With you already shouldering you and your brothers' college funds, we may be able to save up to chip away at the principal balance of the house." Kilat said. But that simplified statement had a history of struggle. Tayaw especially imagined their struggle when Kilat wasn't a teacher yet, and when he was still a baby.

"Mom, dad. If you don't have financial burdens, what would you two rather do aside from teaching or driving a van?" Tayaw asked suddenly. "I don't know. I'm making better money than your white-collar mom by driving a van, so I'm good." Liboo said with a chuckle which earned him a slap to the shoulder from Kilat. "I don't know either. It's always been my dream to be a teacher. I just wish it's easier to teach teenagers." KIlat answered.

"By the way. You should be concerned of your dreams, not ours. Why are you asking these questions?" Liboo asked, curious what has gotten into Tayaw.

"Don't worry; I am concerned about my dreams. Mom, Dad, guess what happened to me this morning?" Tayaw changed the subject to a more uplifting one. "No idea. You were with us the whole time. What could have possibly happened?" Kilat answered. "What? Your crush finally texted you back?" Liboo teased. Kilat also chuckled at Liboo's joke.

"Oh. Nothing like that. Your son just became a millionaire."