Chapter 2 Cleaning

Snow melted and spring came, rivers started to flow with schools of fish splashing around. Newly born animals and beasts prancing and dancing around, chicks chirping while trying to get out of theirs shells. Green spots can be seen sprouting on the white snowy hills and mountains around Sin City. People removed and stored their fur coats, while the city guards cleaned up and disposed of the frozen corpses of homeless men and women. Citizens cheered and smiled as they bask in the sunlight of the morning sun.

It has been seven years since a man, a woman, and a baby watched the sunset as they bid their farewell to a young mother buried on top of the hill. Nothing much has changed inside the city, people entered and exited like they always do. Session road can be found in the southern part of the city. There were only a few people walking around, most of them were either drunk or has a hangover. Quite a few of them could not carry themselves anymore and just lay beside the street.

All the lights were off including the ones at the Fragrant Pavilion at the end of the street. The guards already left and went home to sleep.

“Eznho!” a shout could be heard from inside the building.

An old man with shades of white, gray and black on his hair was shouting from the first floor of the pavilion. His hair was neatly combed towards the back until his nape like it was licked by a cow. He wore a pale green robe, his face was a little wrinkled and had a strong smell of perfume around him. He was the manager of the pavilion, his name was Tang.

A young boy can be seen running from the back of the building with a broom in his hand, he had an oval face with a straight nose and light red lips. His eyes were pitch black, it was like staring into the abyss. He had a long black hair falling down on his back which was tied by a gray strip of cloth. His build was good enough for his age, he was about one and a half meters tall with a tanned skin. The only thing that was amiss was the apathetic look on his face which does not seem to have any ripple of emotion. He stopped in front of the manager.

“You should know your responsibilities by now, I don’t have to tell you every morning what to do. Now go start cleaning from the third floor and don’t break anything, Understood?” manager Tang instructed the boy.

Eznho just nodded without saying anything and started walking up the stairs.

“That kid really creeps me out, he only talks to either Minchin or Martin. I’ve never seen him talk to anybody else.” The manager shrugged his shoulders and started walking, he didn’t mind it much as long as the boy was doing his assigned tasks.

Eznho was a strange kid, he rarely cried when he was still a baby that’s why the others didn’t bicker about having a baby inside the compound. His first word was spoken when he was three years old and it was the word “mama”. Miss Minchin was startled by the word and couldn’t help but sigh, a tear uncontrollably fell from her left eye. Most of the time he only speaks to either Minchin or Martin, he rarely interacts with other people. He started going to his mom’s grave alone a year ago when he had free time, he would sit there until the sun sets.

“Did Ezhno already start ?” just as manager Tang was about to go out, Martin called out to him.

Martin was already in his late twenties, he has a generic face with stubble growing on his chin and on the space between his lips and nose. He has a brown and short spiky hair, with the same brown eyes but with a deeper shade. He doesn’t stand out much but you can feel a good vibe coming out of his body. He has a positive outlook on life.

“Hmph, yes he did, both of you should have started earlier, you are not teaching that boy properly Martin. Don’t make me be the one to teach him.” Manager Tang lectured Martin and continued to walk out the door.

“It won’t happen again manager Tang” Martin grinned naughtily, bowed and started running upstairs.

“Oi! Ez, did you get lectured again by old Tang?” Martin started to wipe the tables while talking to Eznhno who was also wiping the other tables.

Eznho just shook his head and forced a smile. He rarely smiles, most of the time this rare smile was directed towards Martin and Minchin.

“Don’t mind him, he is just not in the mood because costumers are slowly decreasing, it’s not that obvious now but if this goes on, it would be bad for business” Martin sighed and looked at the window.

“Rumors have started spreading around last month, merchants and travelers are saying that a tension has been built at the border and war might erupt. I heard people are starting to prepare in case of emergency evacuation. Who knows, it's just rumors.” He was looking at the clear blue sky hoping that the peaceful days would just continue.

He had no great ambition, all he wanted was a simple life, a happy family with enough food to share with everyone. He looked at the boy with and sighed. He could not help but recall the woman he loved, that gentle and kind smile. If only...

Eznho just continued doing his chores without saying anything. It was as if Martin was not speaking.

“Don’t worry little Ez, nothing will happen to you as long as I am here, gahaha” Martin proudly declared while going beside Eznho and pat his head.

The little boy rolled his eyes inwardly but smiled on the outside. He was happy, at least he still got his silly big brother Martin and his aunt Minchin who both looked after him. He was luckier than most of the other children in the city, at least for him, he has his own bed and blanket to warm him at night. He was curious about his mom and even his father but he never asked, he is just waiting for Martin or his aunt to tell him.

“On a serious note Ez, I have talked with Miss Minchin about it and we both agreed to prepare just in case. We already started to save money in case we need to go further inside the kingdom to be safe from the war if it really happens. Anyways that’s just for safety measure so don’t think too much about it gahaha” Martin just laughed like a silly man and continued patting the little boys head.

“Let’s finish this before lunch so we will have spare time later on before start our afternoon job, faster now Ez, let’s have a bet. Whoever cleans slower will have to give half of his meat to the faster one gahahaha”

Martin continued talking while Eznho just listened patiently while cleaning. Just like that, they continued cleaning starting from the third floor to the first.