53 THE DAMSEL AND HER HOMEBOY (1/2)
The moment Booboo concluded his ditty, most of the crowd had their jaws slackened, but ridicule filled their gazes right away.
”What the heck has happened? Did he just versify his feelings for communicating with the cat?”
”That's not it,” one man among the crowd voiced his opinion, his eyes showing the disrelish he had for Booboo's actions. ”How can he expect a common cat respond to that? Well, I guess he's too drunk to know that.”
”Stop trying to socialize with the cat, schmuck! This test ain't a f**king get-together party.”
”Yeah, this isn't fair,” another fellow sneeringly yelled, ”Show something better for us to shit on.”
”Heh, just let him be, guys,” one individual seemed rather casual about what was happening inside Cat Ring. ”In a way, it's good for us who bet against him.”
As the seething crowd continually trashed him outwardly with words while inwardly feeling glad of the ongoing drama in Cat Ring, Booboo waved his hand strangely as he said aloud, ”Curse the cat that doesn't come to terms with me. Curse it so that it knows its clanger.”
”He's trying to curse the cat now?” one person among the audiences sniggered. ”He's such a chump.”
”Haha, as if his curses are gonna scare the cat into submission!” some sections of the crowd hollered and dissolved into laughter, especially the ones around Burton, but he didn't feel the urge to join them in the cachinnation.
Howbeit, the very next moment, the cat dropped its belly to the ground and fell asleep as fast as a kitten.
Cries of surprise echoed in the hall.
`”HUH?” the precipitous action of the cat came as a complete shock to the audiences, forcing a few to reel. As Booboo dawdled toward the cat, their hearts could not tackle what their eyes showed them, for the cat didn't even jerk its ear let alone move its body. It only meant one thing—that the cat was fast asleep.
The crowd cawed as if mimicking a murder of crows at work while Booboo pulled the headband from the cat and began to walk out of the Cat Ring. ”This test was a breeze, hic,” Booboo said and smiled as he took random steps in an attempt to come out of the ring, ”but I liked it as it very much supports the saying 'the end justifies the means.' It was a pleasure playing this.”
”Four months on the ship—and I haven't seen anyone win like this,” one man among the audiences opined with a cloudy expression which gradually brightened. ” I thought he was flogging a dead horse with his ditty, but how naive and wrong I was! I think we haven't been making full use of the opportunities we have to win this deck test.”
”Hey, you!” The moment Booboo stepped out of the ring, someone approached him. It was Gon. ”Where did you get that ticket?”
”Where did I get the ticket?” Booboo didn't even cast a glance at him. ”It just got into my pocket somehow. I, hic, should thank it for that. Thank you, ticket, wherever you are. Thank you.”
Gon placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes oozing what seemed like killing intent. ”Do you know who I am?”
Booboo glanced at Gon and stretched his lips into a smile before shoving the headband in Gon's coat and then patted on his shoulder twice. ”You can keep it.”
Gon's face warped into a warthog as he immediately shut his mouth and turned away. Moments later, he began to vomit like a pregnant woman.
”What happened?” the crowd was utterly puzzled. ”Why's that boy vomiting all of a sudden?”
”Did the daily bread get to his throat as well?”
”No, I think the armpit of that drunkard does the deed.”
”How sneaky.” Many of the audiences focused at Booboo, their eyes swollen with jealousy and contempt for all sorts of reasons. ”We let his tipsiness belie his talent.” If regret was a fruit, then it's overly ripened image would have resembled their visages. Though one of the gestures was the cats falling asleep for any reason, no one still expected for such a rare gesture to be shown now of all times. Regardless, other than a couple of fellows, none bet on seeing a single gesture, so they made painful expressions. Only a few had the heart to let out dry smiles even after losing their money.
The referee, Jehez, however, smiled so hard that half of his yellowish teeth were exposed.
Meanwhile, Lirzod just got back to Sariyu with the baby crow in his hands.
”That was quick,” Sariyu cast a glance at him, somewhat smiling with her eyes, ”you barely took a minute.”
”As nimble as the cat was, it ran into a corner and yowled as I approached it,” Lirzod said and crowed with rapture. ”All it took was a 'bow' to frighten that fool.”
”You seem so satisfied for scaring just a cat that you are trying to relive that moment in your mind.” Sariyu sighed, pleasantness escaping off her eyes at once. ”Stop being a feckless entry, and show some responsibility!”
”Responsibility?” Lirzod blinked twice. ”I didn't get you. Ah, did you perhaps think I would bring the cat back to you? My bad. I was—”
”Do I look like I'll pinch myself over a cat?” One of Sariyu's brows moved up and down, and her voice deepened to some degree.
Lirzod shook his head twice, a trace of glumness still left on his face.
”Listen,” Sariyu pinched Lirzod's nose satisfactorily, ”I don't give a damn about the cat, but I do give a damn or two about a heedless homeboy even if he failed to remember that it was his turn next to take the test.”
Lirzod watched her, his mouth agape with fascination. ”Oh yeah, you are super right. It's my time now.” He tossed the baby crow at her, startling her. ”Don't let that chick escape. I will make it sing 'Caw Caw' when I come back.”
”Uh, w-wait,” Before she could speak, Lirzod excitedly left to the Cat Home. She didn't know what to do with the animal. She took a quick look at the baby crow and saw that there were no wounds on it other than the loss of some feathers; however, it still seemed to be in a state of shock and didn't move at all even though its eyes were open. ”You almost got snacked on by a cat. That's what you get for pooping on people. Don't do it next time, yeah?”
The crow, however, didn't respond at all.
”It's either in too much of a shock from what had happened to listen to you now, or it's stoned just like its master.” The long-nosed man, who was still standing beside Sariyu, said and then stepped a bit closer to her and uttered in a low voice, ”Don't take my words in a negative way, but there's some strange odor floating around you, miss. It's very subtle, so I'm not sure if it's perfume lingering over or something else.”
Sariyu gave him a fleeting glance before minding the baby crow again. ”If you are uncomfortable, then don't stick around.”
”No, no, miss, I'm not uncomfortable, but it's just that…” the long-nosed man didn't know what to say. He thought it would be the right choice to start a conversation with her relating to the odor, but now he surely realized that he shouldn't have brought up whatever he had.
”La-lee-la-lee-la,” Booboo, on the other hand, made it to his donkey, Heehaw, while making a tune with his mouth. After he took a sip from his wine bottle, he was about to get on the donkey. ”At long last, I can get off the ground… wait,” he touched the top of his hat. ”Where's Caw?” he looked around for the crow, and his eyes took a tour throughout the assemblages of audiences and eventually settled on Sariyu. Following a transient grin, he wasted no time and came straight to her, ”Which crook cribbed my Caw?” His words attracted many ears including that of Sariyu. ”Oh my, to my pleasure, it's a damsel who has my bird. On second thought, I think she can keep it.”
Realizing that Booboo was coming straight to her and was speaking to her, Sariyu turned to face him. ”What's your problem, mister?”
”My problem? It no longer is mine, hic,” Booboo looked at the donkey, ”You said you wanted something from this damsel, didn't you? What was that all about?” he paused a moment. ”Oh... okay,” he looked back at Sariyu, ”Nothing much. Heehaw seems to be interested in seeing your twin peaks, that's all. Can he see them?”
Silence took over the hall for a moment as Booboo's words sunk into people's minds.
Sariyu's brows made a fine line as her frigid look sent wintry winds at Booboo.
Burton who was standing about ten meters away from her narrowed his eyes, focusing his stare at Booboo, but before he could step forward, the long-nosed man interfered.