"Done?"
"In 7 minutes and 11 seconds," the frail old man voiced out his annoyed tone.
"Calm down, mister," Caprio replied, gesturing for him to calm himself.
The old man remained silent, preoccupied with preparing the starving customer's food. Caprio kept asking the old man, which made him annoyed. Not even 10 seconds, and he would be asking.
The old man did not bother to give a glance at the customer, his concentration purely for cooking. Meanwhile, Caprio stood while fidgeting with his fingers and moving around.
In the elderly peripheral vision, he saw Caprio non-stop movements. His forehead bulged out a vein, and his eyebrows lowered and pulled closer together.
"Boy, stop right now. Annoy me once more, and I guarantee you this food will be thrown at your dirty face," the old man's had an exasperated expression. His hands halted and he looked at Caprio.
Caprio was stunned and was left speechless. "It's my way of distracting myself."
The frail-old man sighed, fed up with his nonsense and distraction. Without looking away from Caprio, the old man pointed out his finger near him. It was an extra sturdy chair made out of wood. The chair was located a meter away from the old man, providing him personal space.
"Sit still and wait," the old man said, voicing out some dominance.
Caprio heard him with clarity. He sat down to avoid making the old man's temper rise up. His hands inside his pockets, his butt almost at the edge of the seat, and his back on the backrest.
Caprio smelled the food's aroma. It was richly sweet with a hint of dense spiciness due to the spicy konjac. Meat glazed from different spices mixed, making it hard to separate smells. The scorching fire sizzled the meat's juice.
"..." his mouth slightly split from each other, his gaze lowered—catching sight of an Tonkinese cat rubbing itself from his leg. The cat was purring and showing its soft belly towards Caprio.
Paying no mind, he removed his hands from his pockets and covered his eyes. He was quiet, waiting for the food to be done.
Minutes passed, and Caprio's still in his position—not moving an inch. The Tonkinese cat is still near his leg, sleeping with its belly exposed.
"Young lad, here you go," the old man handed a plate with hot food to Caprio.
"I 'preciate it." As soon as the plate was handed to him, he let himself devour it. Although he was hungry and eating like a glutton, he had to keep his table manners.
Caprio savored each succulent bite, tasting it thoroughly. The cat woke from the glutton's movements. Caprio decided to give him a skewer of beef to the cat, sharing his meal.
The old man dared not to bother Caprio's meal. He was standing with his arms crossed to each other.
'..." the owner watched him, stuck on the ground and not moving an inch.
The young man finished eating and put down his plate on the ground. He looked around, searching for something. Caprio felt a cold sensation on his cheeks, pulling his body back.
It was a bottle of water handed to him by the old man. Caprio bowed slightly and took the cold water bottle.
Opening the lid, he gulped down the whole bottle, his Adams apple going up and down. As he got into the last sip, he threw the empty bottle on the ground—passersby looked at Caprio with judgement.
"Boy, pick it up." Surprised with the boy's action, he spoke in a serious tone.
"Why?" He asked, not following the old man's order.
"To keep the city clean. Look around and see for yourself."
Caprio was noiseless, looking at the frail-old man with sharp eyes. The wrinkly man felt chills down his spine, like the boy is looking at his very own soul. He is unable to see his eyes closely, but it felt like a massive being looking down on him. For some reason, his body started getting hot, his mind shaking—causing him headaches.
"Fine," he said, placing his hands on his knees and standing up. He walked to where he threw the bottle and picked it up. "Mister, where's the trash can?" He asked.
The standing elderly snapped back to reality and replied to the boy, "Here." The old man pointed at the trashcan beside his stall.
Caprio slowly walked with a bottle in his grasp. He threw the bottle in the trash and started walking away from the old man.
Seeing this, the old man spoke loudly to him, "Young boy!"
"Yeah?" Caprio looked back at the old man; his movements stopped.
The frail old man swallowed his Adams apple; his mouth opened, and he asked, "Wanna help an old man out?"
"With what?"
The old man pulled out his pocket watch from his inside pocket in his jacket—looked at the time and gazed at him again, "My food cart, I close my shop when noon hits."
"I'll help if you remove 3 shards off my tab," Caprio bargained, not willing to help for free.
"2," the old man fought by bargaining.
"Deal," Caprio walked back with a slight mischievous smile.
The two of them started packing up for the day. Caprio did all of the work while the old man sat and scolded the young man.
"Not like that, fold it inwardly!" The old man taught Caprio how to fold his stuff.
"You're sitting down," Caprio complained.
"I'm paying you 2 shards—quiet now," the old man spoke, basically telling him that he is working instead of helping.
Caprio stood quiet, realizing that it was fair since he owed the old man. He began to put away the old man's stuff again quickly. "You carry all this stuff, or do I carry it for you?" Caprio said, clapping his hands to remove any soot and dust.
"What a kind man, eh? Place my belongings in the food cart," the old man stood up from his chair, walking towards his food cart.
"And the umbrella?" He pointed at the umbrella in his hand.
"On the cart," the elderly said, his hands gripping the handlebar on the right side of the cart.
He set down the umbrella on the cart, positioning it to not hit the old man. "There," Caprio rested his arms and hands above his hip.
"It's your first day here?" The old man didn't leave, asking the kind helper questions out of curiosity.
"Yeah..?"
"Got a place to stay?" The elderly asked, his eyes meeting Caprio's covered eye.
"No. Mister, are you the type to question kind people?" Caprio's voice was calm, and his question was genuine.
"I got an extra bed in my house. You won't mind if it's a multi-tenant house, do you?"
"For free, or are you going to charge me?" Caprio pulled his pockets, revealing there's nothing with him.
"Clean the house each week, then we're good."
"Fine by me, I'll move the cart out of kindness," Caprio motioned his hands to move away from the cart. The elderly nodded in silence and gave him control.
He clutched the handlebars, waiting for the old man to lead the way. The old man noticed him ready and ambled.
On their saunter, Caprio often catches glimpses of people looking in his direction. He ignored them and commenced sight-seeing. During his appreciation of sights, he asked the old man a question: "Can't ignore it anymore if these citizens and foreigners keep looking at me weirdly. Why?"
The old man continued to lead the way, not looking back. "You stink very badly. You look homeless by your hair."
Because of the powerful smell emitted in the city his nose, which was unfamiliar with it, was unable to recognize his odor. He discreetly smelled himself and coughed once.
"Isn't it embarrassing you?" Caprio asked
"They're looking at you, not me." The old man laughed.
The elderly turned left on the sidewalk, and so did Caprio. Unlike the other 2-story houses, he spotted a 3-story house. Its facade was plain and ordinary; the front entrance had a paved path that connected to the side walk. The sides of the stone path were bushes—The stone road was flanked by plants, with emerald and rich foliage.
"If I were to presume, that'd be your house?" He pointed.
"Spot on," The old man turned left again, walking into his own property.
Caprio looked around the area and was confused. 'No place for this food cart to station...' he thought.
"I hope I'm wrong, but are we going to put this food cart inside your house with a small doorway?"
"You are wrong. Station it on the side of the path." The elderly stood and waited at the door, waiting for Caprio
He stationed it like what the old man said and headed over at the old man. The frail man opened the white door, revealing a cozy, relaxing home.
Inside was an alluring scent of powdered lavender harmonized with creamy vanilla. The whole house provided ambient lighting. The walls were covered in deep mahogany wood 3D panels—the golden oak floors refined with a detailed polishing.
The furnishings, including the color, were chosen perfectly to match the flooring and walls. Delving deeper inside the house, to his far front was the kitchen. The kitchen was classic but still coordinated with the style of the house. To his left was a living room. Its decorations were basic, but in spite of that, they added a touch of life.
Located at his right was a dining table. A considerable size of dining table was present in the middle of the area. The south and north poles of the table only have 1 chair; the west and east poles have 3 chairs each side. The table and individual chairs have their own special motif and style.
The kitchen and living room, as well as the dining area and kitchen, are separated by sturdy walls. The stairs leading to the basement and upstairs were located in the upper left corner of the dining area.
"Home abode." The old man spoke, showing off his deluxe home.
"Truly." Caprio removed his boots and entered his new home.
"Shoes on the shoe rack; it's right beside the door," the elderly stood outside the door, waiting for the young boy.
Caprio looked to his right and saw a shoe rack. There were a variety of shoes lying on the shoe racks. 2 different shoes, and 2 unoccupied spaces for pairs of shoes.
Caprio bent down and placed his boots beside a worn-out brown shoe.
Caprio walked deeper inside the house. 'Spacious than I thought.' He was in the area of the living room. The sounds of classical music and the fragrance that attracts were found in the living room.
Caprio sat down on the creamy white couch that could fit nine people. The couch's alignment resembles a box without corners, and the other side has no existing couch. The couch was centrally located and faced a exquisite painting that almost goes corner to corner. At the left of the living area were windows with a folded cloth to keep the light in.
'Meow.' A cat meowed near Caprio, startling him.
Caprio straightened up and gently caressed the cat to test its mettle.
Like what Caprio had hoped, the cat allowed him. "You seem familiar,' Caprio spoke to the cat, stroking it's pelt. "Mister! Is this your cat?" Caprio yelled loudly that resonated throughout the house.
"No," the old man replied, heading to Caprio with his hands behind his back.
Leaning back on the chair, Caprio rested his hand on the feline's small head. "Where are the other people?" Caprio asked, not seeing any tenants the old man mentioned.
"They're not home," the elderly continued. "I'll be sleeping in my room; don't be loud."
The old man began to make his way to the stairs, leaning heavily on the rails for support.
"Wait!" the pet cat hopped onto Caprio's lap.
The owner didn't walk back down; he instead stood on the stairs and replied, "What is it?"
"Your name, sir?" Caprio asked loudly.
"Teodor," The frail man continued his walk up the stairs.
'This is strange. Everything is strange. Some machines that never existed back in the days.' Caprio ruffled his hair.