Autumn's Feast - The first love

Part 5

"In what sense it costs, Sheila?"

"In the sense that you have to pay for it somehow, Uvo! How do you not know."
"Yes, I understood this. I thought it was free..."
"When is anything of value ever free?"
"When you steal it."
The little girl was dumbfounded.
"Well, yes... Sorry, aren't you the biggest among all of us in the group? You sometimes went out to do odd jobs outside the Riyuuseigai, didn't you? Then you have to have some Jenny!"
Uvo darkened, a slight blush faded on his cheeks and he frowned.
"This has nothing to do with it."
"What about it, how would you like to pay for the guitar?"
The boy stared sideways and with his arms folded at the entrance of the shop a few meters away where they were standing.
Behind them the street was alive with quiet chatter, some children playing. Inside a nearby house a delicate female voice could be heard singing a refrain in a loud voice and some children followed her, clapping their hands happily. In the surrounding slums, however, there were various small shops where people bartered baskets for bread, pottery with useful things found in landfill or repaired, almost no one used the "foreign" currency, the Jenny.
Uvo closed his eyes and breathed in through his straight nose proudly, slowly inflated his pectorals and raised his chin.
"Depends." he just replied, proudly and dusted off his denim vest.
Sheila rolled her eyes.
"How do you mean Depends?"
He smiled boldly at her and showed his white teeth.
"Let me do it!" he reassured her, lowering his voice, he winked at her.

Sheila was genuinely curious about what he was going to do so when Uvogin strode into the shop ahead of her she followed him inside.
"Yo!" greeted the boy "Good morning, I heard that you also sell instruments, is that right?"
At first no one responded.
They both looked around. A lot of dusted stuff was placed on the shelves, some things in display cases, respectfully divided by category complete with a sign: "Mechanic's tools", "Daily use", "Kitchen utensils", "Home textiles", "Mechanical tools and plumbing", "Single electrical components", "Repair tools".
Suddenly a small head, covered in a purple turban, with two welder's goggles, peeped out from a door further back from the counter. He was a rather advanced man, very thin.
Uvo smiled as he approached the counter and took off his glasses.
"Tell me, boy. What were you looking for?" the slightly trembling voice of the elderly gentleman croaked placidly, with a smile, his eyes calmly closed in their network of wrinkles.
The boy returned the courtesy and leaned down towards him, shaping his tone of voice into a calmer one.
"Hey there, jii-chan! They say you found a guitar in the piles, so I'm interested in getting it."
the young man said calmly, his face open, a big smile.
"Um, the guitar huh?" echoed the old man coming down from the ladder behind the counter "Ah, yes, yes, certainly. Come around back, boy, it's this one."
He led the way and the two boys followed him. He lit the oil lamp and showed a small variety of instruments that in their eyes seemed like an immense treasure. A beautiful folk guitar made of fine wood and iridescent blue and gold inlays on the central hole and the neck made it sparkle like a diamond in the eyes of the enthusiastic-looking young man.
"Here, is this what you meant?" he croaked, carefully grabbing the instrument by the handle and presenting it to her.
The boy took it carefully and turned it around a little, taking a good look at it. The iridescent sparkle reverberated in his sparkling green eyes.
"That's right! What do I have to do to get it?"
"Dear boy, that is a very precious piece, it costs a lot. It costs 100 Jenny."
"Th-how much?!"
"That's right, 100 Jenny. I know very well that very little money goes around here in Meteor City, I realize that, but I can't risk giving my most precious find to the first unwary person who shows up here. You understand that, don't you?"
"Of course, jii-chan, I understand well." Uvogin replied maintaining a calm tone although a little bit "But I need this guitar, I can't give it up! And besides, I don't have any money, you'll have to settle for a barter."
"And let's hear, young man, what do you have to offer me?"
Uvo bowed his head and exchanged a look with Sheila next to him, who was looking at him doubtfully and with bated breath.
He inhaled and let the air out through his nose, smiling, he relaxed his shoulders and crouched down to look the good old man in the face, calm, his smile had changed from bold to condescending and good-natured.
"The goods at stake are me, jii-chan. I will help you do the hard work for a week as long as you leave me free from 4 in the afternoon. I'm good at fixing some things, at welding, I usually give a hand to Hiro the carpenter and I'm a good mechanic and to Katoshi the carpenter, on odd days, I often give shifts to the searchers in the most difficult points near the Crater. I'm more than sure that you need a hand here in this little shop. What do you say, done deal?"
Two small eyes immersed in wrinkles opened under his spacious forehead and scrutinized him.
Sheila gasped, clutching her arms to her chest.
"Um, show yourself better son. You remind me of someone..." said the old man and stretching out his thin arms with dark sagging skin he grabbed Uvo's solid face with his bony fingers, touching him in different places. Although many were not blind due to disease, it was not unusual for the older people of Junk City to recognize the children of someone they had previously known well just by touching them.
When the old man's fingers slid over his features, his eyes immediately opened a little more, leaving him speechless for some reason.
"Oh...! I would never have believed...!"
Uvo let himself be touched even though it made him quite uncomfortable. The little old man seemed to be evaluating the strength of his shoulders, the solidity of his arms, then he touched his chin and jaw, gripping him firmly as only an old man can do.
"What?" he muttered, his thin cheeks squeezed in his grip.
"Tell me, boy... What is your name?"
"Uvogin, sir."
The little old man burst out laughing like an old turtle and gave him three pats, holding him by the ears.
"Exactly all your father. I gladly accept your help. Work for me as long as I need it and the guitar is all yours!"
"I have a note to add."
The little man grimaced.
"Ah... All your father..." he said bitterly "Let's hear this."
Uvo turned his shaggy head towards Sheila and smiled at her.
"Could you excuse us for a moment, Shei? It's... a man thing."
Sheila smiled with her serene face.
"Of course, I understand."
He bowed politely.
"Have a nice day, sir. I'll wait for you outside the shop, Uvo."
The boy smiled at her and turned to the old man.
"Look..." he murmured in a low voice, leaning towards him complicitly
"I need a favor..." he whispered.