Chapter 5
I put my boots on, it was a gift from Terence on my sixteenth birthday to match his soft boots that his mother bought as an advance birthday present, it still feels new to my feet. Covering my maroon T-shirt is a black jacket that belongs to James. I zip it; half open and go out of the house.
The sun is still sleeping, but I need to find something to keep my family alive. The public library is close during Sundays, so basically, I devote my time working at the market.
"You're late, Keesha" Terence looks at his silver watch, shakes his head and smile beautifully. We never have a meeting time for trading, but every time he's earlier than me, he does that, like we have agreed on some time.
"My apologies, your highness" I bow at him and laugh a little.
As usual, we race to the market which is located in the edge of our district. They built our market there so it's easy for other districts to reach us. We are like their fairy godmothers, we give them what they want, but the difference is that we don't give it for free. We are not as genuine as those fairy-tale characters, because in real life people die out of hunger. It is illegal to enter other districts, but as long as no one tells the Queen and her Council, then it is okay. Not all necessities are present in every districts and Kentron is taking advantage of it. The Queen decreed a law prohibiting every district from entering other's except Kentron so they can get all the commodities from other districts and sell it in mark up prices. But Sapius is smart enough to make an advantage of their greediness. Unlike Kentron's high prices, we accept any kind of payment the other districts can provide.
We are both panting when we arrive at the market and as usual, he wins the race. The whole market is five times bigger than our house. In here, you can find everything – all kinds of foods from different districts, beverages like juices and alcohols, clothes of all kinds and sizes, artificial and herbal medicines and live and carcass animals. Our market is the main reason why a lot of families are still breathing now. It kept my family alive as well.
"Oh. Here they come, my bravest traders!" shouts a one footed, white haired man. He's clapping his hands with excitement; he nearly falls to the cement.
"You look happy today, Amp" comments Terence, smiling at him politely.
"Yes, yes. A group of handsome lads went here yesterday; they want fresh fruits from Erda. They'll going to pick it up later this evening. I want you to do the job" Amp says, glancing at me and then to Terence. His eyes moves strangely, like he can't control it; it makes him scary sometimes.
"What kind of fruits? We still have some in the storage area, right?" I ask. His eyes are looking at me, but it still moves, his eyeballs are shaking. If I don't know him, I think he's from the other district, with all the weird stuff and everything.
"Didn't you hear me Keesha? They want it fresh... from the tree. If you need some enlightenment, consult a dictionary for the word 'FRESH'!" He yells at me. I thought he is in a good mood, what happened?
"Fine, we'll do it" I roll my eyes at him.
"What will they give us in return?" asks Terence. Probably he is wishing that it's not some bird or anything with feathers.
"A full basket of tuna" Amp says in an excited voice.
"Nice" says Terence, sighing in relief.
"Yeah!" I laugh. "Just don't be so greedy on this one okay, Amp? I got my eye on you!" I say sarcastically and laugh at my own joke. When I realized that it's not funny to them, I clear my throat and ask Terence, "Are you good to go, partner?"
He nods and smile a little. "Really? I got my eye on you?" He asks and laughs hysterically.
We smile and walk out, heading north. The sun is still not out, making me feel comfortable. I like this kind of time – no sunlight but not to dark. Not hot but not colder than ice either. Since Erda is in the North part of Ezmer, we should cross Ventus first, which is located in the West. But because Ventus was built up above the sky, we really don't have to pass through there. After few hours of walking we finally reach Erda. We sneak at the back of their fence, just we always do. We stay silent for a minute, observing if their fence is charged with electricity or if beasts are roaming around. When everything is clear, we climb the fence like monkeys. Before we jump off, we scan the area first, safety precautions of course. I am thankful that I'm thin; I barely make sounds when we jumped, unlike Terence who sounds like an old oak barrel that fell off from the sky. He's so loud! Everything he does make me startle.
"Ssh!" I roll my eyes at Terence and continue walking to their 'Fruit Garden', the district people of Erda segregate their plants according to kinds – fruit, vegetables, herbal, drugs, poisonous etc.
I know a lot about Erda, we have been stealing at their gardens for four years, they are the best district for stealing – many resources with weak security system.
"I think we have enough." says Terence. He's guarding the entrance of the Fruit Garden while I am on top of an apple tree, gathering ripe apples.
I climb down quietly, with apples in my jacket. "Yeah, let's go get our fish" I say in a hiss. We still need to be quiet, any minute now their beasts will be awake. I hear a low growl behind me. I turn around and see a guard beast. His dark eyes meet mine; I swallow air upon seeing him. He's as big as a hippopotamus but with a face of a bulldog and he has a thick fur like of thousand cats. I can feel the beast's warm breath in my face.
"Don't move, Keesha" Terence says in a low, deep voice.
"No worries, Terence. I can't move, literally" My whole body is paralyzed upon seeing him. I have never seen such big beast. They normally have these lion size with the same face and fur. This one is different.
Terence is moving to my direction, I hear his footsteps stepping slowly, one at a time.
"Grab my hand, Keesha and on three we'll run. Okay?" He whispers, "Don't think of pissing that beast. You can't knock down such thing."
"What if I can?" I whisper back. "We've been training to fight these beasts, why don't we try now?" I ask him.
"Not this time" says Terence, grabbing my arms and then he drags me out of the garden. He doesn't lose his grip on me; it's too tight that it hurts my hands. He drags me while running and pushes me up in the fence.
The beast however doesn't make an effort of chasing us. His steps equal to ten of mine. He's so big and fast. A whistle suddenly fills the place, and the beast retreat, sparing our lives. Once we are outside Erda, I ask, "What happened to 'on three'?"
He stares at me like his going to punch me or something. "Stop doing stupid things, Keesha!" He shouts angrily, "You can't always be tough! There are things that you can't fight! Just stop, will you?" I have never seen him this angry.
"What's the matter with you?" I ask him. "I was only teasing you. We both know we can't fight beast. Don't be too serious on things; loosen up!" I punch his shoulder and laugh.
"I just.., don't want to see you hurt again." He says in a low voice. "You don't need my protection; I get that, but please, as long as possible, stay out of fights."
