Ryan only took one look at her and froze. She had lost a whole lot of weight in just ten days, and she didn’t look too good. Her eyes were red, and it was evident that Moussa had just cried. He kept telling himself that if she wasn’t pregnant, after a while, after a time when she got over Chelsea, he would make her happy. He swore to the God of the Forest that he would love and care for her for the rest of his life.
Barely recovering his mind, Ryan came over and squatted down beside her. Curiously, he asked, “‘Beggar’s meat’ what’s that?”
“The original name is ‘beggar’s meat.’ Those people in our tribe who cannot work and rely on other people’s help, we call them beggars. They wrap the bird in mud and set fire to burn it. The bird is wrapped in mud so that it will be cooked. The smell is delicious, so we all learn to do this, and we call it ‘chicken.’ Because there is no chicken here, I wrapped the meat with mud and then set fire to roast it. Because the practice is the same, so we call it ‘beggar’s meat.’” Moussa tried her best to explain the origin of this ‘beggar’s meat’ in terms that Ryan could understand.
“Okay, it’s good to eat.” Moussa finished explaining it. It was also baked and roasted, and the meat was dug out from the ground with a small wooden stick. In a hurry, she used her hand to get the meat, resulting in being burned, and screamed, “Whew, it’s hot.”
“Careful.” Ryan was not in time to stop and saw that she was burned. He hurriedly grabbed her hand and thought nothing of putting her red-hot fingers into his mouth.
Moussa was shocked and hurriedly pulled her finger out of his mouth, hiding it behind her in embarrassment, and mumbled, “No, it’s okay.”
Ryan was startled for a second, then bowed somewhat despondently. He helped her knock the clay lump off the ‘beggar’s meat,’ and an overwhelming aroma came to his nose. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “It smells so good.”
Then he tore a piece off, carefully blew it cool, and then handed it to Moussa.
“Thank you.” Moussa took it, casually sat down next to him, and ate it in small bites.
Ryan also pulled a piece, sat down next to her, took a bite, and swallowed it. Then he pretended to be nonchalant and asked, “Moussa, do you want to go back to your tribe? I’ll take you back, okay?”
Moussa smiled bitterly after chewing and said, “I’m afraid I can never go back.” She did not know how she came to this different world, and Moussa was afraid that she would never be able to go back.
Couldn’t go back? Wouldn’t that be a good reason to take her away? Ryan was disappointed.
The two were silent. From time to time, Ryan would look at her belly. However, because of the cold weather, Moussa was wrapped very tightly and had a cloak of animal skin around her, so he couldn’t really see if there was any sign of a bump. However, even if there was, it shouldn’t be noticeable.
Ryan thought about it and asked tentatively, “Moussa, have you felt uncomfortable anywhere lately?”
“No, I’m fine.” Moussa smiled. She didn’t want him to worry about her, so she just said she was okay. But God knows how Moussa could be OK? Left alone in this cold cave, she couldn’t sleep all night long. Even when Moussa was tired and fell asleep, she would always be awakened, and her tears would always flow down uncontrollably because she missed Chelsea so much. She missed his body heat, his smell, his dominance, his tenderness, and even his rudeness…
“No, really? Any particular desire to sleep or to eat in particular?” Ryan cautiously confirmed further.