51 MEAT FOR THE CA (1/2)
A brown-skinned, green-haired young man with a big belly stepped in the Cat Ring which got sodding done to it. He was only 170cm tall, yet his stomach and well-stocked limbs made him appear less cute and more aged.
”Kekeke, there's no way this 'beer belly' can win the test. Just look at his juggling assets, ew,” one man among the crowd sneered, for the big-bellied young man was shirtless despite sporting a pregnant woman's belly. ”That tattoo on his arm is definitely for show. I wonder which shitty tribe he hails from.”
”Hehe, who cares about his tribe? I'm gonna bet against him and earn everything I lost in the last round.”
”I'm gonna earn that and much more, haha!”
”It's because of goofs like this that we bettors get to profit a lot at least once in a while.”
Most of the audiences gave strange and excited looks to the brown-skinned young man in the ring, which somewhat put the referee Jehez at unease, but given that he knew the identity of the young man in the ring, he could keep his worry under check.
The big-bellied young man labored to settle down on the grassy ground inside the ring, and after he did it well, he began to gobble up the boiled sweetcorn, his eyes, however, gawked at the plate full of cooked meatballs and the big bowl full of brown soup that rested on the ground before him.
Knowingly or not, his actions provoked the crowd.
”What the heck? Not only did he plonk himself, but he's also wolfing down the sweetcorn. I thought it was for luring the cat! Then that meat and soup—are those also for…”
Everyone, who was on their way to betting in his favor, abruptly came to a standstill and believed to have saved themselves from another disaster.
”I don't know where he got that meat from, but it's such a waste,” Lirzod said, his brows raised. ”If it were me, I would have surely made the cat meow for the meat.” One of his hand, however, was rubbing off the itching spot on his other arm thanks to the light burnt mark left on his forearm resulted from blocking Aziz's punch only hours ago.
”Sweet corn was one thing, but I thought that the meat and the soup were for the cat,” Sariyu who was standing beside Lirzod opined, the black cat from the previous round still clung to her and fixedly stared at her face as if it was requesting something.
Just then, the big-bellied young man emptied half the bowl in one lifting, tentatively shutting all the mouths of the crowd.
Moments later, many men placed bets that he'd lose, and only very few people bet on seeing a single gesture from the cat, the latter of which was a rare thing. Jehez was in mixed feelings as he signaled the start of the round with a meow, for he was unsure of the potential of the contestant.
Soon after Jehez signaled the start, the big-bellied young man picked up four of the boiled meatballs and bounced them in his hands while eyeing the cat. ” Delicious things… you want?”
Though the white cat intently stared back at the bouncing meatballs in his hands, it still didn't seem like it was about to step in any time soon. More than half a minute passed with the contestant doing nothing but juggle the meatballs.
”No look. Only tell, Lord Cat,” the big-bellied young man appealed to the cat. ”I… fulfill... request.”
His speech mystified the audiences.The crowd had already waited impassively for as long as they could, but now they got something that frustrated them to such an extent that they felt a gnawing sense gorging itself on their hearts.
”The heck, he failed to entice the cat, and now he's trying to chat and make a deal with it?”
”What did he even say? I didn't understand it at all.”
”How silly. Just get up and give up already.”
The crowd began to mock him mercilessly. ”Stop wasting our time and get out of the ring, or do you want our help to get you back on your feet?” Some members of the audiences laughed so hard that their intestines twinged.
”I doubt if he can even understand our words fully.” A few, however, pitied him a bit.
”Geez, such a mess for us to deal with!” some stayed indifferent to his efforts.
Though the big-bellied young man couldn't clearly understand their language, their laughter almost brought tears in his eyes; however, he held back the tears and put his concentration principally on the cat. ”Come, Lord Cat. Please,” he begged the cat with an emotional tone that seemed sincere. ”You… lick—your body—no more. I lick… your body.” He wished to give it a meatball, so he casually waved his hand forward and backward and excitedly said, ”Only some. Come. Come. Balls! Balls! Feast! Feast!”
The crowd was utterly baffled as his dialect just messed up their minds. ”What's that gorilla ranting about?”
”Someone please take him away. I think that headache is growing on me.”
At that moment, Lirzod spoke out, ”'If you come to me, you'll no longer have to lick yourself. I will do that for you. And this meatball is just an advance. Just come to me, and you'll have the feast of your life.'” He took a slight breath. ”I think that's what he meant... in a nutshell.”
”Eek!” The crowd was taken back upon hearing Lirzod's words, and some even felt sick down to the stomach. ”Did he truly say that?”
”It seemed like he did—something along those lines.”
The audiences now looked at the big-bellied young man with contempt.
”He's too desperate and hopeless.”
”Yeah, as hopeless as a leafless tree hoping for Spring.”
”Can't fully blame him though,” Lirzod said. ”He's a bit too fat to even hope to catch the cat, so he must have no other choice than do this.”
”Do what?” one man refuted Lirzod's words right away. ”There are many better ways than commit to such a stupid tactic, heh, if it even can be called a tactic that is.”
Just then, the big-bellied man tossed the meatball ahead, and as the meatball rolled toward the cat, the creature skipped aside, and soon after the meatball went past it, the cat sprang forth and gripped the meatball with its two forelimbs and wasted no time in swallowing it whole as if it were a rat.
”A gesture!” most of the audiences were stunned. A black cat going after a meatball wasn't a big deal, but for a white cat to put such a display, most couldn't believe their eyes, and particularly, the minds of some bettors slipped into chaos. The ones who had bet on witnessing no gestures this round now fell to their knees whereas the ones who had bet on seeing one gesture now jumped in ecstasy.
However, the very next moment, the referee, Jehez stated, ”Two gestures.”
”What?” Many people viewed at him in puzzlement, especially the ones who previously bet on one gesture now had their expressions turned ashen.
Nonetheless, because Jehez's whole focus was on the cat, he didn't have the time to explain them.
”How come he said 'two gestures'? I saw only one.” Lirzod glanced at Sariyu. ”What do you think?”
”I think that cat took a quick sniff before eating,” Sariyu replied, ”though I'm not entirely sure about that.”
The audiences, who heard her words were pleasantly surprised, and they looked at her as if she was in a different league compared to them in many aspects.
Subsequently, the crowd began to murmur among themselves. ”Did you see the cat sniff?”
”No, I didn't.”
”I didn't either.”
”Maybe, the sniff was so subtle that we missed it?”
”Nah, I was watching the cat all the time with my eyes.”
”You can only watch with your eyes, brother. Not with mine or with some other's eyes.”
”Hahaha, you caught me.”
As some sections of the audiences were busy in their respective chats, the white cat in the ring turned toward the big-bellied young man who just finished the remaining soup and burped like a bear. Both their eyes met. ”Deal, or no deal, Lord Cat?”
The cat, however, didn't respond but continued to observe him with utmost attention.
”Half time... gone,” the big-bellied young man's pupils dilated more and more by the second. ”Patience… also gone,” he picked up one meatball after another in quick succession and tossed them into his mouth with one fluid motion of his arm.
Seeing the speed with which he moved the arm and plucked the meatballs from the plate and later juggled them like a professional, the jeering of the crowd stopped, for a coldness crept in their cores, forcing the expressions of many men to freeze as wood frogs in winter do to survive through the chill.