They walked briskly in silence past the other people that also walked past them, greeting his uncle and mostly ignoring him as he followed behind.
It took a while for them to leave the main center of the town, and past some of the farming fields that surrounded it.
Devin's legs ached and he wanted nothing more than to complain about the scorching heat above him, the coarse clothes he wore, and the things he wore on his feet, which he couldn't call shoes.
Regardless of how many questions he had on his mind, he kept quiet and continued to follow behind his uncle, until they got to what seemed to be the outskirts of the town, and what he thought was a village.
The house, his uncle finally stopped in front of structurally looked okay, irrespective of the small size but if he thought the main town they came from looked terrible and poor, he didn't dare compare it to his new surroundings.
It was a small house with what seemed to be a shed where the animals were kept and a small space in the middle where a few vegetables were planted in rows.
"Watch your step…you know how much Waina career for her flowers," he warned as he stepped up the stairs leading to the house.
But he had only just gotten to the door to open the door and step in when the door flew open revealing a middle-aged woman with an extremely annoyed expression on her face.
She stood at the entrance and made no moves to make way.
"Hoatin…you're back. So early?" Making her displeasure at his presence clearly known, not seeing a need to hide it.
Devin simply stayed behind and kept his mouth shut, as all he wanted at that moment was a place to rest, some food, and a way to take a bath.
The smell and feel of dried blood and dust that clung to his clothes and skin made him feel extremely uncomfortable and weak and at that moment, ignoring the glare directed to him by Waina his uncle's wife was easy.
"...and why the hell is he back? Shouldn't he be at the farm? How do you expect to eat if you can't even work? Do you think we run a cha…"
Hearing her rant, Hoatin couldn't hide the building annoyance he felt as he snapped at her, interrupting before she could finish.
"Can you shut up for once..!" only to continue in the same tone when he got the reaction he enter, as he watched her flinch back.
"Do you think I'll be back with Jin if not that it was necessary? Get us both some food first before asking me stupid questions!" He yelled right before he forcefully stepped in through the door, nudging her out of the way.
The mention of food was enough for Jin to instantly react and move to follow Hoatin into the house for his own share, but he had only taken a couple of steps forward about to enter through the door when the entrance was again blocked by his new uncle's wife.
"Are you stupid! Don't you know that you aren't allowed inside the house? Go to the shed, I'll deliver your food to you,"
From her loud tone, it was clear that the woman was deliberately taking out her anger on him.
'Do poor people enjoy yelling like this without any reserve or are these people simply the manner less,'
He thought, while doing his best to be as calm as he could when he heard her continue.
"Jin, even with how irreversibly stupid and weak you are, I still provide for you. Without me you're nothing. No one would ever want such a smelly thing around so you'd better respect me more,"
'Food! Think of the food,'
"Thank you, Aunty," Devin replied doing his best to summon the best smile he could at that moment as he stared back at her, only to watch in shock as she raised her hands and slapped him the next second without so much as a warning.
"Paa!"
The ringing by his ear on the left side of his face was enough evidence for him to realize that he had just been slapped, something that had never happened in his entire life.
The worse part was the fact that it was by the poor and stinky woman in front of him.
In a split second, he glared at her with all the aura of the prideful arrogance he had cultivated throughout his entire life as the son of one of the richest people in Europe and the CEO of the biggest Pharmaceutical company in the world.
His fists were clenched at his sides and gritting his teeth as he felt his rage well up within him was all he could do not to raise his hand and show her how it was properly done.
"You dare raise your head to direct stare and glare at him! I'll slap you again!," she yelled while pointing and waving her index finger right at him.
"Why should I care about a disobedient child? Not to mention bring food for you.."
Almost like she toucher in a particular trigger in Devin's body, he suddenly felt his anger dissipate as he went as far as to lower his head even as he felt her move her finger close to his face, going as far as to aggressively push his head back.
'Think of the food…the food!'
"I'm sorry Aunty. I was just excited to see you. I'll return to the shed and wait for the food…" he said instantly turning back on his terms the second he was done talking, knowing that his continuous presence there was hazardous to her health.
"How.."
But before she could say more words for him to hear, he was gone disappearing from there as fast as he could and making his way to the so-called shed, he had just been told he lived in.
From the dilapidated form and structure of what seemed to be only five feet in width and three in breadth.
He managed to pull open the wiggly door without completely breaking it off its hinges and entered, instantly resisting the urge to cringe, yell and cry in that order.
'There's nothing lower than this
Looking around to see nothing but a straw mat on the ground, a couple of coarse and awfully faded clothes on the ground, which seemed to also serve as a pillow.
There were no windows and looking up at the roof, seeing the sun wasn't particularly hard as the large enough holes in it made it particularly easy for him.
'I can't believe human lives here'
Devin was aware that he died in the car crash and somehow found himself in another world, something he was thankful for, but the more he tried to become accustomed to it, the more he wondered if death wasn't better than the horrifying situation he suddenly found himself in.
He finally walked in, and he had just taken a step in, when he suddenly heard a loud squeak from behind him, jerking backward to see a huge rat race out of the corner, a toss the straw mat on the floor to another corner of the shed, where a large hole could be seen, one that led outside.
"Rats!" he yelled in shock and disgust stunned at the event that just occurred.
The extent of his troubles, we're slowly sinking in and Devin's agile and focused eyes instantly showed a trace of depression.
'I can't stay here…' murmured to himself, even though he was exceptionally clear that with how poor he was and weak and slightly injured he felt, there was nowhere for him to go.
It was at that moment when he heard a loud knock on the wiggly door of the shed, one that looked like it was inches away from knocking the already lifeless door down.