"I said, "Okay, I'll let you stop for a bite to eat. I replied, relieved that she was the one to start the discussion again.
I probably didn't show it when I answered her, but a sort of weight evaporated from my shoulders when I heard her talking to me.
I am far from being good at skillfully restarting a conversation after creating such discomfort, I never know if I should create a comical situation, get angry, be sympathetic to her or apologise or even say nothing and keep quiet.
And as usual, I opted for the last solution which, in this case, seemed to be the best solution.
"Do you know the town or do you want me to point you to a good place to eat?"
"Uh, I could use your help." I said with still a slight permanent stress that wouldn't go away.
"Well, no problem, in that case leave the stagecoach controls to me and trust me." She added, looking at me with a big smile.
After seeing that smile, the little anxiety that remained in me evaporated in an instant, leaving me with only a pleasant feeling, which made me smile in return.
So she took the controls of the vehicle and led us past a small restaurant.
Well, it looked more like a bar than a real restaurant, but since she had asked me to trust her, I didn't make any remark and let her decide.
We arrived in front of this little bar, she stopped the coach and without saying a word, got off and walked towards the building.
After about ten metres, seeing that I was not following her, she turned round and said to me.
"How much longer are you going to stay here? Hurry up and follow me. She spoke to me in an authoritative, yet conciliatory tone.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming. I replied as I started to get off the coach.
Once I got off, I reached her level and we entered the bar.
But as we entered, a strange sensation appeared, a feeling of uneasiness and already seen.
This bar looked exactly like Meh's, the same atmosphere, the same style of men, the same smell and just seeing this scene brought back painful memories that were not very pleasant.
"I don't know about you, but I don't have a good feeling about this restaurant. I confided to Alia, discreetly so that no one would hear us.
"Yes, I agree with you, I too have a strange impression.
"It reminds me too much of the bar that was in Meh." I said to him before we were caught by one of his men who was sitting at a table a few meters away from us.
"Hey, what's with the whispering, we're interested in what you're saying too.
Just as in Meh, all eyes turned to us two.
This created a heavy atmosphere, similar in every way to the one I had experienced a few days ago.
To avoid conflicts, I preferred to answer in a very pacific way.
"Oh don't worry, we are just looking for a place to sit.
It was an answer that might have seemed adequate in view of the situation and intelligently said, unfortunately two problems appeared after my answer, the first one, the only remaining seats that were free were on the counter between two groups of 3 and 4 people.
And the second was that we had just confirmed that we would be moving in and therefore would have to eat something.
And it didn't fail, the same man answered us with an air showing that he was proud of him.
"Well, there's no point in looking any more, I've just found two seats next to each other, look, they're by the bar.
As he said this, he stood up, approached us and began to guide us.
"Come on, follow me, I'll show you.
Without saying a word, we followed him to the two-seater and when we sat down, instead of returning to his seat, as we had hoped, he looked us in the eye and looked at the barman with a not so friendly smile and said.
"Oh boss, since they're settled in, they must be consuming something, so pour them a couple of beers and don't worry, they'll pay later."
This guy was getting on my nerves more and more, but this time I couldn't afford to try to get hit again since this time Alia was with me and they could go after her.
And I'm not sure she would have escaped unscathed if she had been hit with such force.
So the only choice I had left was to be polite and courteous to these guys without letting them take advantage of us.
"Thank you that's nice, but we'll just have water."
Surprising as it may seem, the voice that spoke was not mine, but Alia's. "Hey, we're not counting on that.
"And by the way, we're not planning to stay here long, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't serve us a large glass.
There, she said it, one of the sentences that should not be said, she just said it.
But as the old saying goes, "Three's company".
"Oh and here's the money so we can leave. Are you coming Yù?"
Well, this time, she's clearly put all the guys in the bar on our backs.
And it didn't fail, as soon as she finished her three sentences and took my hand, the seven people around us surrounded us and an eighth person, who I hadn't seen when I entered the bar, stood between the circle and the two of us.
He was not very tall and did not seem very muscular. If you look at him closely you can see that he can't be much older than the two of us, 22 at the most.
He stood there for several seconds without saying anything, staring at us one by one as if he had just discovered something incredible.
Then suddenly he held out his hand and began to speak.
"Are you finished?"
"Done with what?"
I could tell from his reaction that he didn't like my answer.
He came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and started to press it.
He actually has a lot more strength than his body suggests, and I'm not very sensitive to pain, but I couldn't help but grimace when he pressed on me.
"If you answer like that one more time, I'll break your face, do you understand?
Well, unfortunately the worst quote I was afraid would happen just appeared right in front of me.
Well, actually it's not the worst, it might even be one of the best, because if he came on his own that means he's the "boss" of this bar, so I just have to make arrangements with him so that everyone else leaves us alone.
Except that the only thing that will make him change his mind is if I beat him, so my only solution is to beat him one on one. And fortunately I took my knife with me, otherwise I don't think I could beat him.
And for that I just have to get into his game and he hits me first to start the fight.
"I woke you up from your nap and you got up on the wrong side of the bed, is that why you are angry?"
I was careful not to provoke him too much, as he was still holding my shoulders, and if he hit me I wouldn't be able to dodge it, so I hoped that his first blow wouldn't hurt me too much.
And my provocation seemed to work as his grip closed even more and I saw his fist coming closer and closer to my face.