“A glass of water, please, and…one of those?” I nodded toward the eggs.
“You sure you don’t want a beer?”
“No, thank you, mister. It wouldn’t be a good idea with nothing in my stomach.”
“Say, you’re really in a bad way, aren’t you, kid?” The man watched with wry amusement as I stuffed one of the revolting eggs into my mouth, almost gagging on the sour taste of it. No wonder so many had been left in the bowl. I wanted to spit it out, but I forced myself to swallow, hoping it would stay down.
The bartender glowered at me, but with my champion beside me, he didn’t say anything.
“We’d better get out of here. Come on with me, kid.”
“Oke.” I could have wept. There was still the piper to pay, and I hadn’t even gotten a decent meal out of it. But I was no welcher; unlike my father, I always
