Pilgrims
Problem Solving

Rio's story made me think of many things. I secretly admire Fox's stubbornness. His life choices are very complicated. He does not like to live in a false state of affairs. He wants freedom of expression. He prefers to live with people who are similarly unattached, like Rio and the other children in the shelter.

But, he must also be feeling depressed. He had to accept the responsibility he did not want, just out of respect for his dead adoptive father. It must not be easy to decide. The weight of the burden he also bore.

Things did not get better the next day. When the four of us ran a marathon, we were stopped. There were about eight people who confronted us. I recognize two of them. Those guys. They want to make calculations with us.

“Hey, you. This is our area. Exiles are forbidden to set foot here even if it is just passing by,” said the most angry person. Two people I know are standing at the back. I stared at them sharply, and they immediately shrieked like cowards.

“It's a public road. Free to pass by anyone, right?” Fox chimed in calmly.

“Hey, women rummy! How dare you speak in such a relaxed tone. You think I'll forgive you because you're a girl. Cuh, a vagrant like you pretends to be the leader of the exiles.”

The words of the rogue man made me hot. I'm angry because his words are so demeaning to Fox. I moved forward, but Rio held back my arm and shook his head. The look on Rio and Fox's face, hasn't changed at all. Leon too. Why am I the only one hooked?

I wanted to kick that bastard in the face, as well as those two cowards who were standing at the very back.

“Keep out,” Fox said calmly. “We're training.”

“What did you say?” the rogue was angry and started the attack. His kick was avoided easily by Fox. “You want to dodge huh?” He grew increasingly violent and attacked Fox with his big fists.

Fox held the fists of the sangar with one side of his left hand. The sangar punched again with his other hand, Fox easily held it with his right hand and twisted both hands until he grimaced in pain.

“Go,” Fox said sharply to the Sangar. “Before anyone gets hurt.”

Three friends of the sangar did not accept their chairman to be treated like that. They're about to attack Fox at the same time. I wanted to move, but Rio still held my arm and muttered softly in my ear. “You just watch.”

Fox dodged the attacks of the three of them. And with just one move, those three people could be subverted. They all grimaced in pain. The other four people, including the two cowards, were unable to move and just stood trembling on the spot.

Fox casually approached one of the cowards, and spoke politely to them. “What now can we pass?”

The man just nodded timidly. We continued our training as if there were no interruptions.

“You know them?” I asked Rio.

“Yes. They are from the academy that is in the city center. Always looking for an opportunity to annoy me and Fox who often run through their area. But just this time they actually took action,” Rio replied.

“Maybe it's because of me.” I explained briefly to Rio what happened that day, when the two men were bullying Rio and Fox.

“You're really hot-blooded, huh?” rio's Comment.

“Yes. I shouldn't have been hooked at that time. Arrogant people like them will definitely not stay silent treated like that,” I said feeling guilty.

***

I can't believe my words quickly realized. They were really expecting an open war. Our basecamp was charred to eat by fire overnight. Those people are more stupid than we thought.

“What is our action?” I asked Fox.

“We won't do anything,” replied Fox.

“It will only add to the problem, May, ” Rio denied.

“So you think we'll just shut up?” I don't accept.

“The problem is not that simple. Police have announced that this is due to an electric short circuit. If we strike suddenly, we're the ones going to jail. It is not difficult for them to look around for our mistakes,” explained Rio.

Here Leon finally spoke up. “In my opinion, that is why we must act. But we act in a respectable way.”

“What do you mean?” ask Fox.

“Meet the elders in their academy. We challenge them to an open duel or whatever, and make a deal. If we win, they have to stop bothering us. The mestre there must be honorable people right? They will have a fair match. And we can teach the cowards who burned our basecamp without dealing with the police. How?”

“Good idea,” Rio agree.

“Yes, the important thing is we do something,” timpalku.

“Alright,” says Fox. “We go there now.”

***

The four of us were sitting on the beach this morning. How else would you like? We have nowhere to gather. The old gym building we were training in had become shapeless debris from being scorched in flames last night. No one's talking. I don't even know what to say or do. Just the pounding of the waves I heard broke the silence that had been about half an hour into this.

Our decision to act yesterday, brought a new problem that was difficult to solve. The elders agreed to our proposal to compete, only that the type of match they proposed turned out to have its own difficulties for us. They did not want to have an open duel, arguing that it would lead to a new grudge instead of solving the problem.

Then they proposed when the tourist season arrived later, their side and our side both did the show for a full week.

His judgment will be left to the tourists watching. The winner is the one who gathers more audience. We agreed for the reason they accepted it.

The four of us had trouble putting on a big show. Especially now that we don't even have a basecamp.

"You must have known what our difficulties are,” said Fox began. “The number of people who will show the show is only four, so it will not be good enough to do a jogo in wheels. Besides, we don't have a music player yet. The promised time is one month away. I want to ask your opinion.”

Rio immediately expressed his opinion. “We can hold a recruitment. If necessary, we can knock on the door of the house of young people around here.”

Fox refused firmly. “We don't have time to train them, after all knocking on their house is too rough and looks a little pushy. We can't force anyone to join. The others?”

I voice my opinion. “I don't know if this is good or bad. But have you never tried to show a duel that has a story, some kind of drama? I mean the duel is real, not in a logo on a wheel. Isn't capoeira a constantly evolving martial art? We can include some acrobatic movements as well if you want.”

I saw Fox thinking about what I said.

Rio was supporting me. “Hey, I think that's a good idea. Lately capoeira street always just do jogo and avoid each other. We can do something more realistic. We show that capoeira can also be an effective self-defense science. And it doesn't take many people to do it. Four people were enough to put on this show. How's Fox?”

Rio asked Fox's decision.

Fox thought about it for a moment. Then, he spoke. “OK. We can try it."

***