"We're here!"
Exclaiming in excitement, Frank used his free hand to gesture to the noisy marketplace in front of us. Middle Middle street market was an official market, unlike Top Bottom street market, where there were concrete shops built along the side of the walkway, a small team of policemen that would occasionally visit to check on the security, and actual signs pointing towards long-time store owners.
Heading towards a store with a vibrant green sign titled 'Ms Fin's Vegetables', we greeted a nice looking woman with a vegetable on one hand and a scale on the other.
"Ms Fin! Good afternoon!"
Waving our hands, we greeted the woman with a smile on our faces.
"Oh my! If it isn't Frank and Dan, I thought both your parents came to buy groceries yesterday? Did they run out?"
Putting down the vegetable in her hand, Ms Fin leaned over her store front and squinted towards us.
"No it's not for us. Ralph is the one who needs to buy some groceries for his family."
Shaking my head, I gestured towards Ralph, who stiffly nodded his head, his eyes faced down towards his feet.
"A new friend? Well, feel free to look at my wares. They're a decent quality for a cheap price. Can guarantee that you won't be disappointed!"
Winking with her wrinkled face, Ms Fin then shifted her attention to the scale on her hand and took another vegetable to weigh it.
"Come, let's look at the vegetables. You need to buy some Sweet Hay right?"
Pulling us forward, Frank grabbed one bundle of Sweet Hay into his hands and observed it. Ralph, a little hesitant, also took one bundle into his hand. Although he didn't look like he knew what to look for when checking them.
Leaning close to his ears, I whispered some guidelines on how to choose the best vegetables. Like the Sweet Hay in his hands, we have to make sure that there are no yellow lines running down the side of the long stalk. Those yellow lines are proof that a certain type of insect had infected the stalk with its eggs, and those eggs could make you sick.
Ralph nodded his head as I gave him several tips.
"The good thing is that Ms Fin is usually quite diligent in ensuring that the vegetables here are safe to consume. However, it does not hurt to check."
Patting Ralph on the shoulder, I took up a bundle of Sweet Hay and looked at it closely for any flaws. Then, once I was sure it was of good quality, I passed it over to Ralph. Seeing the Sweet Hay in my hands, Ralph fished out a small bag from his pocket and opened it for us to put the Sweet Hay into.
"How many bundles do you need?"
Placing one bundle into the bag, Frank asked as he picked up another bundle.
"Three."
As he spoke, Ralph handed me the bundle in his hands to double check. Then, after I nodded my head in approval, he placed it inside the bag and pulled at Frank's clothes.
"We have enough. Thanks."
Putting down the bundle in his hands, the three of us huddled around Ralph to glance at his shopping list.
"Ms Fin has three of these, but the rest are in other stores."
Nodding our heads, Frank and I quickly grabbed the required vegetables and guided Ralph on what to look out for. Then, after letting Ralph choose his own vegetable and double checking for him, we handed over the bag to Ms Fin to weigh.
"You boys sure are experienced in what to buy."
Laughing, Ms Fin used a small calculator in her stall beside where she put down the weighin scale and read out the price for us.
"10 dollars."
Digging out a note from his pocket, Ralph passed it to her.
"Thank you. Come again."
Waving to us, we waved back to her as we continued our trip through the market.
"Next on the list is to get 4 bottles of Crystal powder, which should be available at John's store. He sells all sorts of spices, and is fairly trustworthy so no worries that he might scam us. My family has been buying our things from him for ages."
Explaining while walking, Frank led us to another store with an old man manning the store front.
"Frank! What brings you here so soon? I swear that Jesse just came here yesterday. Don't tell me I'm losing my sense of time. I don't want to retire just yet."
The old man, as soon as he saw Frank, immediately started going down a deep rabbit hole of self doubt.
"Don't worry Ivan, your memory isn't failing you. I'm just introducing a friend to the Market and helping with their grocery shopping."
Consoling the old man, Frank stepped forward to introduce us to each other.
"This is Ivan, the owner of Crystal Ball. And Ivan, this is my new friend Ralph."
When Ivan met eyes with Ralph, I could see one of his grey eyebrows raise a tiny bit. However, his face soon morphed into a large smile towards the two of us.
"I didn't see you there Dan! How's Van? I haven't seen that man in a while, it pains me to think that he might have forgotten about me."
Without giving me time to even respond to his questions, Ivan laid his eyes on Ralph. His gaze seemed to deepen and he showed a thoughtful expression for a millisecond before it was covered up by his smile again.
"Nice to meet you Ralph. I haven't seen you before. Recently moved to Middle street?"
Ralph nodded his head slightly, Ivan gave a weary smile at his shyness but his eyes showed a small calculative light. Instinctively, I took a step forward and blocked the direct line of sight between the two of them.
"Dad's been doing fine. He's been slightly busy these couple of weeks at his job so maybe that's why he hasn't visited you. He definitely hasn't forgotten about you."
Grinning, Ivan gave his slightly mean-sounding cackle before turning around and digging through his shop drawer.
In the meantime, while he was distracted, Frank and I quickly grabbed the 4 bottles of Crystal powder and gave a quick run down on what to look for. Then, as soon as Ivan turned around with several small sacks in his hands, we passed the bottles to him as well as the cash. If we let him keep talking it would be sun down before we could leave his store!
Seeing us push the bottles towards him, Ivan made an obviously fake sad expression, one hand dramatically covering his heart while the other wiped away a nonexistent tear in the corner of his eye.
"How sad! To think that nobody liked to stop by and talk to this old man anymore, and would rather push him away."
Opening one of his eyes, the moment he saw that nobody was fooled by his acting, he straightened his back and took the four bottles.
"Fine fine, I'll let you three go since you seem busy. Total is 4 dollars. Also, a free gift from me."
Giving the three bottles a rough look, Ivan took the money and passed us the change, the bottles, and the sacks.
Saying thanks, we opened the sacks with sparkling eyes. Inside were a couple round white objects. Taking one of them out, I could feel the rubber-like texture and couldn't help but widen my eyes.
"Are you sure we can have this?!"
Exclaiming in shock, I carefully put the eraser back into the sack and kept it tightly into my pocket.
"Why bother to ask if you're not even going to return it if I say no."
Squinting and smiling at me with a teasing voice, Ivan gave another mean-sounding laugh before turning his back to us to tend to his shop.
"It's yours. Keep it."
Smiling in delight, the three of us continued on our journey through the market in search for the rest of the items on Ralph's list. There were several more fruits which we bought from the temporary stores in the middle of the market. The stores were made of either wood or pieces of metal held together by rope or nails. The sellers there were either too poor to buy a permanent store on the sides of the market, or were too new to meet the requirements to buy one.
Quickly checking off all the items we had to buy off the list, we were finally left with the last one. Jackseeds.
Heading towards the entrance of the market after making one whole round, we walked up to a store that held a familiar face.
"Charlotte! We've come to buy some things!"
Walking up to a women dressed in a pair of eye catching green overalls, the moment she heard our voices, she turned her head to give us a mischievous smile.
"Well if it isn't the two troublemakers who like to claim my vegetables are not up to standard!"
Crossing her arms, she gave us an arrogant smile as she stood in her shop front. Looking at us, when her eyes glanced at Ralph, she seemed to show a look of surprised.
"Aren't you June's little brat? I haven't seen u at Top Bottom market for a while. Congratulations for making it to Middle street."
Despote her arrogant demenour, she quickly noticed the shopping list in Ralph's hand and immediately showed her palm.
"Give it."
Obediently handing the list over, she scanned through it and turned around to search through her wares. Then, packing several of them into a bag, she passed them over to Ralph.
"10 dollars."
Taking the bag, Ralph gave her the cash, and she used her free hand to shoo the three of us away.
"You three quickly go home. If you're out and about when the sun sets, who knows what will happen to small little monsters like you."
We bowed in thanks to her, and quickly walked out of the market, the setting sun's rays slightly blinding us.
"Shirly sure likes to act tough."
As Ralph kept the Jackseeds in his bag, Frank sighed while walking towards the crossroads with us.
"She is nice. She added one more Jackseed."
Smiling, Ralph interjected gently. To which, Frank nodded his head.
"Sure sound like something she would do. If only she would act a little nicer, she would have more customers."
Reaching the crossroads, Ralph and I waved goodbye to Frank before heading towards our apartment.
"Shopping sure took a while, but I'm glad we bought everything we needed."
Smiling as we arrived at the apartment, we walked up the stairs and I waved goodbye to Ralph.
In a great mood, I stood in front of the door with my hands reaching for the doorknob. Turning it, I entered the apartment, intending to tell my parents all my daily report for the day, when a familiar face stopped me.
Those calm and serious eyes, that mature atmosphere. That irritatingly expressionless face.
"Hello Dan. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Oliver."