Labu'a, Lionne
Bertholdt did not continue the story after he was interrupted.
This was understandable, for Reiner's sleep was serene for a long while after that night, giving his housemates little time to speak of private matters. The business in the garden had also increased. Bertholdt had purchased seeds to plant from a certain traveling salesman and the sprouts were currently knee-high and lush green. They needed daily weeding and watering, attended to by two aged men and a young girl.
On a day Annie was sent down the endless driveway to retrieve the mail was a day she received a letter. It was buried among the catalogs and bills and advertisements, but was found by a quick shuffle; the thing something she had never gotten before. The dogs followed the girl back to the house.
The envelope was ripped open once Annie seated herself on the porch. She scanned the writing and a disgusted look wrinkled her nose.
Dear Annie, it read, I apologize for not writing you sooner. It has taken me longer than planned to settle here in Trost City; it has been a while since I've been in school you know…
Annie looked at the corner of the torn envelope. Las Vegas, Nevada. Entertainment Capital of the World! it provided. Annie shredded the papers in mere seconds, sitting in the feathers of the aftermath as the particles flew about her. Her knuckles gripped white.
The screen door dropped shut behind her. Bertholdt exited the house right before Reiner, the latter male in a much more sour mood.
"I look like a damn farmhand!" Reiner spat, motioning to his new pair of overalls. A straw hat also rested upon his head.
"When people garden, this is what they wear." Bertholdt informed him, dressed much in the same way. Reiner huffed at that and stalked off, leaving his brother to tell Annie she had a new outfit as well.
Annie much preferred the denim work clothes to her usual dress or skirt. The overalls did not damage easily and did not have to be constantly minded for cleanliness. Also, the girl finally had a garment that matched her garden boots.
The trio worked amongst the young plants together, hoeing and weeding and watering. Most (if not all) of the greenery split into two leaves to increase the surface area available for gathering sunlight. Annie checked not to strike the growing vegetables with a swing of her hoe, her Uncle Reiner not so precautious. He dug and attacked the earth as if it were a fight to the death. His face was scowled and stiff, his whacking violent. Annie cocked her head, resting a moment to watch the display.
"Do we need all of these vegetables?" Reiner demanded, breath shallow and labored.
"Do not think of it that way!" Bertholdt heartened. "Think about how good everything is going to taste! Peas, carrots, tomatoes…"
While watching her uncles Annie took a full view of the garden. A sudden realization dawned upon her that every plant looked identical; everything was just alike.
"What is this row?" Annie asked, pointing to the line of plants before her. Bertholdt leaned forward to check the marked stake.
"Cabbage."
"And this?" She inquired while indicating the next one.
"Beets."
Compared, the two had no differences
"I thought beets grew in the ground."
"The part we eat does, but they have leafy tops as well."
Reiner was not as unconcerned and oblivious as his brother. He noticed his niece's critical eye and raised himself from his work, viewing the similar plants with her. Suspicion bloomed on his face.
"What is this row?" Annie asked for the third time.
"… Potatoes."
"Potatoes? Now wait just a damn minute!" Reiner removed himself from the heart of the garden and began to walk before the rows, looking at the pictures upon the seed packets.
"What is that row?" Annie questioned once more.
"Tomatoes…" Bertholdt replied softly, sensing something was out of place as well. Reiner squinted at the picture of the tomato plant upon the package.
"None of these plants match their picture!"
He then began to name the apparent vegetable in each row as he walked, Bertholdt making a distressed noise as he realized each one was wrong.
"Leeks, squash, yams, lettuce…"
"That row looks right." Annie said when she considered the picture to the plant. "It is…"
"Corn." Reiner stated flatly. "It is corn. Just like all the other rows.
"Oh…" Bertholdt whispered, covering his face with his hands. "That's why all those seeds looked alike… But I thought that was how all seeds were supposed to look."
"Nothing but corn. We will have to eat corn for months."
"I am so sorry, Reiner…"
"Poor Uncle Bertholdt…" Annie sighed, leaning onto her hoe. "That wicked seeds salesman saw you coming…"
Spirits were raised when a honk sounded. It was the notable honk of a large transportation truck, not the all-too-well known one of a Buick, the girl and her uncle's looking towards the sound. A wide grin uplifted Reiner's features.
"By God, it's here!"
What phased Annie was the appearance of a giraffe. The incredibly tall animal was seen clearly over the brush and trees of the land, moving slowly with the truck as it navigated down the driveway
"Bertholdt, lets go! Annie, you help them unload."
The girl was nearly struck with a gardening tool when her uncle tossed back his hoe in all his excitement. He rushed towards the house, his brother hurrying to follow, although not as careless discarding his tool. Annie waited until the vehicle braked to inspect the truck.
Three men and many crates greeted her. All the workers bustled and moved along the crates, each in a uniform that read Scout Animal Movers. A spot above the company logo also provided the girl with names; names such as Erwin, Levi, and Mike. Annie did not, however, pay any of them much heed, instead interested in the contents of the crates. A gap in one caught her fancy. She peered at the moving shadows inside, only jumping when a fat, deadly paw darted out, a roar accompanying the action. Embarrassment of her reaction made Annie scowl.
"Careful, kid." The dark-haired worker warned, him a witness to the scene. "Get any closer and he will tear your face off."
"I know." Annie said testily, the worker making an unimpressed huff, his attention returning to his work. His colleague recovered a clipboard and scanned the typeset.
"Is this Reiner Braun's place?" The man named Erwin asked. Annie confirmed with a nod. "I see… We brought your lion. Sign here."
Annie signed in her uncle's stead with her own name. The triad of animal movers prepared themselves to unload a single crate, the side stamped to read Roseville Zoo.
"You get your very own king of the jungle!" The bearded worker enthused, giving the girl a smile and wink. She shrugged, aloof.
"Quit shitting around and help us unload."
The crate was beginning its process of movement when Reiner and Bertholdt reappeared, both with new hunting garments and rifles. Bertholdt held his by the nozzle with a worried look in his eyes, Reiner examining that his gun was loaded with a snap.
"Where do you want him?" Erwin asked, Reiner inclining that where it was headed was fine. The crate was sat gently upon the dry yard.
"Why did you buy a lion? A used lion?" Annie asked, rubbing her forehead simultaneously, walking to stand by the wooden crate.
"Stay back, Annie!" Bertholdt fretted needlessly, the girl sighing. "I don't want you mauled and eaten!" He then glanced to his brother, the man staring hungrily at the crate. "Reiner, are you sure this is a good idea…?"
"This is the best idea I've ever had!" He declared. "A lion head will look so good over our fireplace…"
"Uncle Reiner, you don't have a fireplace."
"I'll buy one!"
"Gentleman, pleasure doing business with you." Erwin interjected, although politely, dipping into a short bow. "We hope to see you again soon."
With the absence of the truck and other animals it was eerily quiet, the crate hushed. Annie knocked on the wood.
"Are you sure there is a lion in there you can shoot?" She inquired. "This does not seem very sporting…"
"When you are as old as we are this is as sporting as it gets." Reiner said, cocking his gun. "Now, Annie: when I give the word, you pull the latch. Then we can see if there really is a lion in there to shoot."
"Maybe Annie should have a gun too…" Bertholdt feared, his niece assuring him she would be fine. He prepped his gun as well, swallowing audibly.
"Okay… Now!"
Annie jerked the latch back, her ears covered and body ducked before the hatch could hit the dust. It was many moments before she lifted herself up and removed her hand's from her ear's, questioning the lack of gunfire. Her uncle's remained poised.
"Hey!" Reiner shouted at the crate. "You, in the crate! Get out of there!"
An aged lion simply yawned. Annie looked inside the container to view the mangy beast, the golden eyes of the animal staring at her lazily.
"It is awful tame…" She commented, Reiner moaning with unhappiness.
"This lion is no good. It is a defective lion!"
"Are you going to shoot it or not?" Annie asked.
"I can't, not inside the crate! That wouldn't be sporting. I need to wait for it to pop its head out!"
"It looks so old…" Bertholdt said, lowering his rifle. The creature coughed, hacking pitifully. "And sick too…"
"Oh, now I really can't shoot it!" Reiner growled, throwing down his gun. Annie hid the chuckle caused by her uncle's childishness behind her hand.
"Defective, a dying zoo reject…"
"Can I keep it?" Annie requested, her uncle's taken aback.
"You want to make the lion your pet?" Reiner gaped.
"Why not?" She asked with a shrug. "I can feed it, water it, take care of it… What else are you going to do with it if you are not going to shoot it?"
"Annie, do you think you can nurse the lion back to health?" Bertholdt inquired.
"Perhaps."
"And then we can shoot it?"
Annie sighed at her Uncle Reiner.
She hesitated until her uncle's made the journey back to the house, lifting the door to shut the crate.
"They are a bunch of knuckleheads, I know." Annie told the lion. "But they are usually good people. Usually."
The lion yawned.
.
Annie gifted her pet cold steak and fixed the crate to allow more light in by sundown. The girl discovered some of the animal's personality when it stared at the outside curiously. The lion watched the dogs and the pig and the birds with an observers eye, rumbling happily.
Annie was given a glass of tea when she joined her uncle's on the porch, the top stair still her designated sitting area. She hummed as she heard the lion heave with a roar.
"Are you sure he cannot get out?" Bertholdt queried.
"She." Annie corrected. "She is a girl lion."
"Figures…" Reiner mumbled, sipping his tea.
"I named her Christa."
Reiner all but sprayed the tea from his mouth, the liquid choking him. He created a wet stain on his overalls at the spitting display. He then bolted upright, furious.
"What did you just say?" He asked in a dark, level voice. Annie raised an eyebrow.
"That I named her Christa?" She repeated, Reiner growling dangerously, setting his glass down hard enough to slosh tea out of the sides. The screen door shut violently behind him.
"What is his problem?" Annie scoffed, disapproving of his attitude. Bertholdt cowered behind his tea glass.
"Christa is what he used to call her, Annie." He whispered.
"What? Why?"
"Because she reminded him of Saint Christina." He explained. "Because Historia was raised a Christian by her mother, but her father was Muslim…" He trailed off, point made, silence falling with his words. Annie put down her bitter tea that tasted sour.