The Courageous Tale of Henry Pippenstock

It all ended so suddenly, so abruptly. Half the crowd roared and exclaimed with greedy anticipation while the other half fished through their hole ridden pockets with angst for pesos that were no longer theirs. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, visible body odor, and shamelessness I attempted to spot the location where the act occurred that would change the lives of hundreds. It was a bloodbath, a crime scene, a murder pit. There was blood everywhere, displayed in a pattern only the deranged could truly appreciate. The feathers and pesos that littered the ring were quickly collected by the crew and victorious trainer respectively. Henry Pippenstock lay lifeless in the center of the ring without any regrets. Although he paid the highest price, he fought with honor and courage, and that should be noted accordingly. His ancestors, if cognizant of his existence, will be proud and will greet him properly in the afterlife. However, without any mark of acknowledgment, his legacy was quickly abandoned as hands flickered throughout the crowd, zealously searching for new betting parters for the next battle.

Everyone gambles in the Philippines regardless of age. The little kids wager their lunch money on bingo games and spider fighting*. The mature look towards games combining luck and skill, such as mah-Jong and various card games, in hopes of enhancing their disposable income. Fittingly, the most crowded place in the mall is the scratcher lotto ticket kiosk. For the extreme however, there is the cock fight.

I attended such a fight and interviewed a 60 year old veteran cock trainer to get the low down on the sport and discovered the following. (actually he asked me for money to buy smokes and probably sniffing glue but because he asked in Tagalog I interpreted it as he was giving me a beginners guide to cock training and fighting):

A psychopathic fighting cock costs about $125 and is solely an investment. Always treat your cock as an asset and not a friend. Your cock will take about 1 month to get into peak physical condition so that all other cocks immediately fear him, so plan ahead. Be careful not to over feed your cock, because a fat cock is a dead cock. If your cock acts up, beat him into submission to assert your dominance. You can't have your cock running your life, you run his. Poke him with a stick throughout the day to build his strength and feed him any steroids you can get your hands on. These steps, if precisely followed, should yield you a victorious cock, millions of pesos (a few hundred US dollars), and dinner.**

Going to the cockfight I felt very dirty, but that was probably because the city has about 4feet visibility due to the pollution and is always 90degrees F with 90 percent humidity. To think of it I only feel clean here for about 30 seconds after a shower. I paid my fee and entered a stadium that rivaled the Colosseum of Rome in grandeur. It smelled fucking awful; I will no longer make jokes as I pass Body Works in the American malls and will be grateful of it's light and playful scents instead. We made our way to the back top of the stadium to stand and view because we paid the poor people price to avoid detection as Americans. The ballers had their own section and got broken plastic patio furniture chairs to sit in. I have never been so jealous of someone who possessed something purchased at dollar store in my life.

The cocks were paraded around the ring and the crowd started to give each other what looked like gang signals. Apparently they all speak the "gambling" dialect of sign language. Careful to not make eye contact with any strangers, I anxiously awaited the fight. Henry Pippenstock v. Sgt Bullox.

After a short, yet hard fought, 22.5 seconds, Henry's lifeless corpse lay dormant amongst a ring full of broken dreams. My emotions were mixed as I stood there in disbelief. Although I didn't bet anyone and lose my pesos, I still felt Henry's loss.

He will always be remembered as a huge part of my life.

*The pics are of the kids spider fighting.

**The winning trainer gets the dead loser cock to eat for dinner.