7 NOT ALONE (1/2)
”I care not that they threw at me,” Lirzod clenched his fist, breaking the raw egg in his hand. ”Still, I care that they threw at a baby.
”It's not alone...”
The egg — thrown at the foal before — rolled on the floor and ended up stopping at Lirzod's feet. He glanced down.
”Don't even think about it,” 777 let go of the luggage cart.
”Want to throw that at us?” One of the four men stood. ”Dare it if you can.”
”He wouldn't dare it for a horse,” 777 stepped forward and came to Lirzod's front. ”That thing doesn't even have a mother. It's a pity, but that's the reality.”
”What do you mean, it doesn't have a mother?” Lirzod asked.
”No, its mother died while giving birth to it. No other horses welcomed it in their group, much less feed it. Milk is a rare thing on these lower decks, so it's fed at irregular times.”
”That's why it looks so bony,” Lirzod couldn't help but remember the lives of the domesticated animals of his clansmen. Most people who owned buffaloes and cows, never fully fed them. Even when they gave birth, their calves weren't provided with enough milk. Things were especially worse when a drought or a famine was upon the town.
When it came to taking care of their domestic animals, his clan would rank definitely somewhere near the bottom, in the entire state. Lives and lifestyles of people came first, before their pets or domesticated animals. That's why most of the Faceless clan's pets and domesticated animals had their bones exposed throughout the year. The few that looked sort of healthy were the ones owned by the rich families of the clan.
Though there were a few souls like himself or Duera, who acted differently from most others, and showed concern when it was needed, their deeds didn't really change the minds of anybody.
Lirzod picked up the egg,which startled 777. ”I'm warning you. Don't do anything silly.”
Lirzod pressed it a couple of times, and it felt more like a rubber than an egg. ”My father used to give these type of things to mother, hoping she'd learn to control her emotions. I think that's called a Stress Ball. She surely relieved her stress by throwing them back at him.” He glanced up at those men. ”My father is a frightening husband. He shut my mother's mouth from just getting a couple of spongy things thrown at him. I always wished to be like him, but you guys are making me be in my mother's shoes,” He lifted his hand. ”I guess, this one can be called a Stress Egg. One egg to crack you all. That makes this one hell of an egg, don't you all think?”
”Try it if you can,” The four men were all smiles.
Lirzod said in a low voice, ”Take out the flashy box from the red bag.”
”Flashy?” 777 puzzled. ”What for?”
”Just take it out.”
”Alright, but I need — ”
”Need a coin again?”
”No,” 777 opened the white bag and it was filled with many boxes, but the red one stood out. ”This one?”
Lirzod nodded, and it was tossed to him. His legs began to reduce the distance between him and the four men.
”What's that package?” One of them asked out loud.
”Maybe, he's gonna gift that to us,” Another guy said, which made them all laugh in a wild manner.
”But it's too bad. We don't receive any gifts other than eggs,” The third guy shook his head.
”Who knows, they might be eggs,” The fourth guy's eyes showed expectations. Hearing his words, the remaining three licked their lips, and their mouths salivated.
”Yes. There are eggs in this package,” Lirzod's voice reached their ears. ”We use this setup to boil eggs while they're still in the package. Even this cover is heat resistant.”
”What, so he's not a bad guy after all.” The four men no longer showed any hostility towards Lirzod and freed their postures. ”We can boil the eggs without even having to uncover the package? That's cool.”
”Yes,” Lirzod said with a knotty smile ”Just make a bonfire and place this on it for a minute and you're good to gorge.” He handed the package to one of them.
”Sorry, brother,” They began to apologize. ”We didn't know you were so open-handed. We wouldn't have hit you otherwise.”
”It's alright,” Lirzod scratched his cheek. ”Mistakes happen all the time. But can you guys tell me why you didn't throw eggs at Burton?”
”Burton?” The four of them were puzzled.
”Uh, I mean the guy who went before me.”
”Oh, you mean the one who's with the red-haired girl.”
”Yeah. He's the one.”
”We would have thrown at him if he was alone. Too bad that he's with a girl.”
”What's the problem if he's with a girl?”
”We won't throw eggs at women. That's our first rule. If we break it, our higher-ups will break our backbones.”
”Oh...” Lirzod paused a moment. ”Can I take this Stress Egg with me?”
”Of course you can. We have many more of them, so feel free to take it.”
”Oh, thanks.”
The four of them looked at each other before hesitantly asking Lirzod, ”We know it's rude to open the gifts in front of the givers, so... If you leave, we will start taking care of this thing. Only, if you want us to do it right now, that is.”
”Feel free to use it any time,” Lirzod turned and walked away.
The four wasted no time in arranging necessary things to light a bonfire. Meanwhile, Lirzod reached back to the luggage cart and took out a kilo packet of white-coated boiled grams.He tossed it to 777. ”Give it to that baby horse.”
”It's still not old enough to eat these. Do you want to kill it?”
”Those are not your ordinary ones. They are soaked in milk for seven days. It's highly nutritious, and is a favorite food of bovines.”
”Why the heck are you carrying cattle food?”
”It's not just for cattle.”
”Oh.” He quickly went and poured the entire packet in a dirty metallic bowl that lay beside the foal. Though it was hesitant at first, the smell of the food made it give a try. 777 came back to the luggage cart, and both of them were on the move. ”I didn't expect you'd give them a gift. So, what's in the gift box?”
”My clan's tradition.”
”Tradition?”
”Yes.”