Crossing over

April 04, 2008 1:14 AM

Finally, Alex is now an official binata! With the help of Daddy Boy and Mommy Jinky, who is a nursing grad, the circumcision was set to take place. Up to the last minute, the boys thought that Josef was the one performing the pukpok method on Alex. Kuya gave Alex one more chance to back out, but he bravely stuck to his decision to be a man, the Pinoy way. In a secret room, as Alex was lying down, he admitted he was even more scared of the injection of anesthesia. He opted to have the other boys present for moral support. Out in the activity area, 100 boys were also about to cross over to adolescence, thanks to the volunteer resident surgeons and interns of Capitol Med. No worries, boys… as Doc Boy says, “Parang kagat ng langgam lang!” Uh… how big is this proverbial ant, exactly?

To show their support further, all the boys wore skirts and walked funny. Since it was a potentially humiliating situation for Alex, the other boys also pretended to have the post-op pains to prevent the girls from teasing. They exited the Confession Room in a line, and Jieriel guessed the reason at once, since summer was tuli season. Mommy Minda was in on the secret, and was ready to give a safe answer to the girls when they asked about it. Kuya challenged the girls to figure out who had the circumcision done, and after observing them a bit, the vote was 3 for Ejay, 3 for Jolas and 1 for Alex (though the one vote of Jieriel was counted for someone else, since she couldn’t make up her mind about Alex). Afterwards, the boys spilled the truth, with the condition that all understand Alex’s position and that he be treated normally. Because of Alex’s courage and the boys’ unwavering support, Kuya gives in to their request for a guitar.

As night comes, Josef and Beauty cross over through the door marked “Off Limits” to the secret abode of the guardians. The condition of Kuya was: Neither the housemates nor the guardians can find out about their secret task. Beauty instantly recognized her mom’s slippers, since she gave them herself. Her mom was under the sheets, but Beauty was sure it was her. She began ruffling through the laundry to try to find anything that belonged to her mom, but wasn’t able to find anything. The entire time, Beauty’s tears were flowing non-stop, and she felt it was unfair that some were given the opportunity to be with their parents while all she could see were slippers. Kuya then gave her five minutes to grab her mom’s slippers and another five because she had to retrieve her own slippers, which she thoughtfully left so her mom could use them.

The next night, they were again allowed to go in the guardians’ house. Josef and Beauty tactfully led the others to an early sleep. At the right time, they woke up Kevin and Jieriel, the two housemates they chose to share the privilege with them. Kevin broke down when he saw his dad. Jieriel, since she just saw her dad during the grad, didn’t give in to tears, but still felt the urge to hug Daddy Gerry. Josef served as the lookout who made sure that no one over-extended their stay.