Chapter Three
Two months later Enoki’s mother died in child birth. Enoki was left alone in a village who already didn’t think much of his family. No one wanted the old house he lived in so he just stayed there, begging for food from anyone who would give him a scrap to eat. Eventually he became accustomed to getting food from the men at the local bar. He’d do tricks and they would give him pieces of food, bread or fish.
Enoki danced across the table, a slight drunken sway to his steps as he kicked his feet up with each little hop on his way. “But when I returned the fish was gone-” He sang, spinning as he met the end of the table. “So I ate a peach and went ho-oah wah?” His balance faltered and he stumbled backwards, falling into the lap of one of the laughing bar patrons.
“Come on kid, fell off you have to have another cup.” The old man grinned, showing crooked teeth. He shoved Enoki back up as someone pushed the bottle of sake toward him.
Enoki drank it down obediently and began his dance again. It went on like this for another half hour, but Enoki couldn’t really tell time except when he was tired it was time to sleep and when he was hungry he went to the bar to ask men for food.
After three more drinks Enoki could barely stand. “I saw a Big fish when…” He swerved to the side, crashing into a man. He looked up at him, vision starting to swim.
Enoki didn’t normally drink this much, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it so much.
“Come on kid. You’ve had enough.” The voice sounded distant and he could barely see who was speaking.
General sounds of protest and annoyance came at all sides. Enoki clutched his head, groaning. Too much noise was making it harder to see. Blackness enveloped his vision as he fell back against the man’s chest and everything went dark.
Much later, Enoki woke up with a groan, holding his throbbing head. If he looked out the single window in the one-roomed shack, Enoki could see stars twinkling against the ocean water. His head swam as he looked around. He knew this feeling though eh couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here.
Enoki swung his legs over the short shelf, tossing the blanket aside and hopping down to his feet. His knees buckled under him and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. He groaned, clutching his head and stomach. Too much more of this and he would loose what little food he had gotten from the men at the bar.
Stumbling to his feet again, Enoki clutched the workbench he’d been sleeping on. This wasn’t good. He could barely stand it was a long time he had been this drunk and hung over before… He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of old fish and salt water and promptly retched into the nearest bucket.
By the time he was done emptying the contents of his stomach, another person had joined him in the room. He glanced over. “Who are you?” He croaked, spatting bile into the bucket.
“That’s gross.” The boy was slightly taller than Enoki, with long sleek black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. “Who are you?”
“Enoki.” Enoki said, kneeling back, away from his new mess. “Who are you?”
“Why should I tell you?” The boy grossed, edging towards the door. “What are you doing here? How’d you get here?”
“I have no idea.” Enoki groaned. Staggering to his feet again, he tried not to breathe too deeply or open his eyes too much. His head was starting to throb harder.
The boy bolted from the room, shouting “Mister Lee, Mister Lee! There’s a thief in the shelling house. Mister Lee.”
The door muffled the shouting some but not enough to keep Enoki from dropping to the floor and clutching his throbbing head. He hated getting this drunk, but the men at the bar seemed to enjoy it.
Some time later, Enoki couldn’t tell if it was short or long, everything felt like an eternity when his head felt like this, a large man with broad shoulders and scars along his arms and hands came into the small room.
Enoki looked up, carefully balancing his head so the world didn’t swerve. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trespass. I’m not sure how I got here. I’ll go home, please don’t hurt me.”
The man reached down, pulling Enoki up by the collar of his worn-out shirt.
Enoki whimpered as his head threatened to fall off.
“What’s your name boy?” The man, Enoki assumed it was Mister Lee, asked.
“E- Enoki?” He answered timidly.
“If I offered you a job and a home, would you quit drinking and work for me?”
There was an indignant squawk from outside the door. The big man glared at it, a warning growl creeping from the back of his throat.
Enoki cowered, hanging at the man’s mercy. “Yes, sir.”
“It will be hard work.” The man warned. “And you will not be permitted to drink at all.”
“I understand, Sir.” Enoki didn’t much like the taste of sake anyway.
The man glared into his eyes, his breath smelled of fish and smoke. Enoki could feel his stomach start to spin again.
“Please, Sir, put me down?” Enoki whimpered.
The man set him down roughly. “You will call me Mister Lee and you will live here from now on.” He turned without another word and left the small room. “Come, Yuki, we have to build a new shelling house.” He called to the boy peeking around the door to get a look at Enoki.
The boy squawked again, but obediently disappeared from Enoki’s view. Enoki, climbed back up onto the bench, closing his eyes and pulling the thin blanket over himself, shielding his face. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but right then it didn’t matter. He was tired and his head hurt. Within minutes, he’d fallen into a deep sleep.
~Chapter 4~