Barnes directed me inside the 'shack' and showed me around, although all there was to show was a torn blanket filled with blackish grime to where it seemed hard to believe it was previously white if not for a couple blotches that somehow stayed white. The room reeked of alcohol that lingered in the air like a plague and there were a couple dirtied buckets catching water from the straw roof that leaked water along with a couple chipped bowls that also seemed to catch water. Even with all those buckets and bowls, however, the wooden floor, swollen and rotting, creating an unpleasant smell.
"There's yer bed," he pointed to the blanket on the floor and pushed me towards it "Ya like?" he smiled, though far from a one seeing as his breath smelt like rotten fish accompanied with his yellow rotting teeth.. Well... What little he had. Even with his unpleasant smell that reeked of pee, fish and alcohol, I still smiled warmly. He barely knew me, yet he offered his only 'bed' for me and didn't mind taking me in even given his current circumstances. My stomach filled with butterflies. He was one of the few people who treated me like a proper human being, but what I didn't realize is that I shouldn't throw caution out the window from one 'nice' gesture.
"Thanks, old man, but that would be too much, I can sleep on the floor," I smiled again and rejected his offer I couldn't just impose on him like this.
"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! THE VALUE GONNA GO... Ahem never mind it's fine, just take it, I can't let the young lass sleep on the cold floor," He started screaming but he caught himself he stopped and this baffled me.
"What's wrong old man?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Err... This... Um.... Don't call meh old man lass!!" He quickly changed the topic, so I stopped prying after all everyone has their own secrets.
"Here, lemme tell ya the streets aren't fer any wimps, ya gotta stand yer ground and be on guard whereva ya go," Barnes warned me "So first off yer gonna need to know how to fight,"
"Fight?"
"Yeah, how else are ya gonna get the best dumpster, they're not gonna offer ya it on a platter," Barnes scoffed, his words slurring from the lack of teeth.
I gave a light nod, and he led me out of the shack was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees. There were a couple of stumps that surrounded a tiny table that was littered with empty alcohol bottles.
I had actually secretly peeped at my clansmen who were training in the yard a few times, so I picked up a few moves; it was just that most the times I was injured and never able to put them to use.
Knowing I could finally practice them made me slightly excited. "So old man who am I gonna practice with? You?" my eyes shone with excitement and expectation at the thought.
"EHHH! Lass, I'm far too old fer dat how bout dis I'll go ask someone I know to come practice with ya?" He suggested and my hopes came tumbling down so I lowered my head in disappointment.
"Besides yer too skinny yer gonna get killed at the slightest poke, so ya should just try to put some fat on dat body er yours," I looked down at my body I was a bit too skinny, the outline of my bones were obvious but that's how I lived most of my life as so I wasn't that bothered.
Realizing my dirty state, Barnes let me bathe alone in a small stream further into the small forest.
After taking my bath, I washed my clothes and pulled on a small cloth he had given me that fit like a dress on my body if you ignored the holes littered across it. I wondered where he got all this stuff from.
While we waited for my clothes to dry, he told me of the streets not to venture on and the descriptions of people not to mess with along with their names and respective gangs and forced me to recite them five times to make sure I didn't forget to which I happily obliged. He told me the best places to beg and a few techniques on how to do them, his number one rule being 'The more pitiful ya act de best'
I quickly absorbed all this new info listening to his rambling with the utmost intent and before I knew it night had fallen and he led me to my 'bed' where I obediently tried to sleep and having already lived a life where the mattress was like a stone I soon drifted off to sleep.