A week later… 

Felica fiddled with her fork, twirling the strands of noodles absent-mindedly as she watched Sel clean up the kitchen, washing the pots and pans. She squinted her eyes for a closer look, catching a glimpse of a bruise peeking out through his sleeve. 

“Have you gotten a full-time job yet?” Felica probed cautiously.  

Sel hesitated for a moment. “Yeah, at the temple. The parade was a huge success so the Shaman had enough to pay me a good enough wage. It’s not enough just yet, barely enough to tide us over.” 

“Weird. I was at the temple the other day in the afternoon – didn’t see you anywhere. Angelina said you were gone.” 

“I was on a break. Taking a walk. I can afford to rest a little can’t I?” 

“Yea…” Felicia stared at him as he finished cleaning up. Sel took off the apron, but before he could take a seat at the dining table next to the kitchen, Felicia reached forward with her free hand to poke Sel’s wrist, pressing as hard as she could. 

“Ouch! What the…” Sel quickly drew his arm back, glaring at Felicia.  

“Where did you get those bruises from?” 

“I hurt myself when practicing for the parade, you know that from last week!” 

“And why isn’t it going away?”  

“Because I’ve been working my ass off every day with no proper rest? Look, why are you asking so many questions about me? Focus on your studies, or if you have nothing to study, just take a break.” 

Felicia groaned. “I am focusing on my studies, all right? Fine, you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask.” 

“Thank you, finally some respect in this house. You look like you’ve been studying too much though.” Sel pointed to her gaunt cheeks and obviously sleep-deprived demeanor, her eyebags dark as night.  

“Didn’t someone say to focus on my studies?” 

“I did tell you to take a break too as well, not go all in at the expense of your health. Eat up and go take a rest.” 

“Sure.” Felicia waved her hands dismissively, shoving the pasta into her mouth unceremoniously while Sel sat down in front of her, adjusting his own sleeve to hide the bruises. Speaking of bruises… 

“Hey, you still got bruises on your arm from the fight. You need a doctor to check you up, and make sure there’s no serious internal damage.” Sel pointed out. 

“Huh? What fight?” 

“The fight, between Mom and Aunt Lynette a month ago.” 

“Uhh… Ohhh yeah. That fight. Yea, the bruises still aren’t going away.” 

“Do you need me to bring you to a doctor?” 

“No, no, no it’s fine, it’ll go away on its own.” 

“Seems like it hasn’t for a month. And the last time I checked, bruises don’t get yellow pus crusting around them.” 

“Infected wound, maybe. I already swabbed it with alcohol. Hey, didn’t we just talk about not asking questions? You don’t ask, I don’t ask.”  

“Alright…”  

The rest of the dinner proceeded quietly, Felicia continuously eyeing Sel’s behavior and facial expressions to try and catch any hints, while Sel kept a calm façade, not leaking anything at all.  

“You’re going to the temple later?” 

“Yea, long shift today. Might be till late. Can you handle Mom?” 

“Sure, just gave her food and a dose an hour ago. She’s a lot calmer nowadays with the new medicine you bought. Seems like it’s way more effective.” 

“That’s great to hear. Alright, I got to go soon, talk to you tomorrow, don’t stay up for me, okay?” 

“Got it.”  

She continued eating while Sel gulped down his food, rushing out of the house with his usual jacket on with clear haste. What is he rushing for? The temple isn’t going anywhere. Unless… 

A few minutes later, small gentle footsteps could be heard, the staircase floorboards creaks’ barely audible as someone tried to sneak towards the main door, only for Felicia to stare right at him.  

“Where are you going, Gideon?” Felicia happily asked, only for Gideon to swivel his head in shock, like a deer caught in the headlights.  

“Uh… I’m going to school! Yea, I’m going to school.” 

“Okay relax, you don’t have to say it twice.” Felicia grinned, knowing she was onto something. “Didn’t peg you as one to study on the weekends too, is your school even open? And you’re not wearing your school uniform.” 

A small curse escaped Gideon’s mouth. “Yea, yea it’s open! I’ve always been a studious student, an exemplary one. I don’t need my uniform to get in.” 

“Okay…?” 

“Alright, talk to you later, got to go!” Gideon hurriedly rushed out of the house, not allowing Felicia to inquire anymore.  

Suspicious. Too suspicious. Felicia wondered if her own birthday was coming up, and that they were planning some sort of surprise. My birthday is this month, but it’s still more than three weeks away. 

Yet she didn’t think planning a birthday party would result in Sel earning a bruise on his wrist, or Gideon sneaking away, obviously not going to school. In fact, for the entire week, the two of them have been acting awfully weird, attempting to minimize contact with her for some reason.  

Felicia took out her mobile phone, and checked her schedule. “Right, Mom would be asleep for more than another six hours with the new dosage. Time to figure out what’s exactly going on.” 

She herself masked up, donning a different jacket and jeans before leaving the house, moving quickly in the direction that Gideon was walking towards. Strange, his school isn’t that way. 

Her suspicions grew further as she tracked Gideon slowly, keeping a clear berth and sometimes hiding behind a few lampposts or rubbish bins. The amount of times Gideon looked over his shoulder to check for anyone following him only served to reinforce Felicia’s assumptions.  

Where the hell is he going? Felicia began to worry as Gideon started to enter the industrial sector of the small city, where the landscape was dominated by warehouses and smokestacks, their eerie blue fumes spiraling to the cloud cover above.  

Sounds of heavy machinery, metal clanging, and workers hollering over the din of boiling sludges accompanied Felicia as she took each step warily, earning long stares. Despite her masked-up appearance, she might as well have been a lily among thorns at best or a standalone brightly lit advertising billboard in the middle of the night.  

Sneaking around the corner of the street, she finally saw the destination of Gideon’s travels – an unmarked nondescript warehouse with boarded-up windows, along with a single guard with clear gang affiliations checking him in, patting him down.  

Felicia’s mind was running wild, unable to figure out why would Gideon be part of any gang. Doesn’t he hate the gangsters for ruining his mom? Why is he going with them now? Time seemed to slow down for her as she contemplated her options, each tick accentuated by the thumping of heavy steel presses, flattening and rolling metal in bulk. Each thump moved her thought processes forward, little by little before she finally lurched forward, heading straight for the guard.  

The guard wasn’t dumb, having already spotted her from miles away when she was sneaking around the corner. His hand rested behind his shirt, palm gripping the rugged beaded surface of a holster as he scanned the girl approaching him. He had learned from his early days to never underestimate anyone, giving a suspicious glance. 

“Stop right there.” The guard ordered the girl to stop five meters away on the pavement. “I’ve never seen you before, what the hell do you want? You a snitch? Put your hands up against the walls, legs apart.” 

Instead of complying, Felicia pulled down her mask, revealing the lower half of her face before snapping it back up instantly. The tough demeanor of the guard instantly disappeared, aghast as though he had just seen his great-grandma rise from the dead.  

“Wha- what are you doing here? This ain’t no place for people like you!” 

“Shut up, I could say the same about you. What the hell was Gideon doing here?” 

“I ain’t going to snitch on nobody.” 

“Then I guess I’ll snitch on you. Guess someone won’t be too proud her valedictorian boy is working as a gang bouncer.” 

“Are you fucking serious? I thought we were cool. Why don’t I tell your mom about -” 

The glare from Felicia was enough to shut up the bouncer immediately. 

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’ll find out myself.” 

“No,no,no can do. If my boss finds out I let someone like you in I’ll be dead! And if anything happens to you it’ll be a fucking incident – a newspaper article, even!” 

“It’s your choice, Breton. We can have the whole house of cards come crumbling down on both of us, or you just let me slide right through, and nobody suffers.” 

“But-“ 

“And I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much.” 

Before the guard could respond, Felicia quickly waltz in, sliding past him with ease and entering what seemed to be a intermediate cloak room, a loud ruckus and dull music thumping echoing from beyond the double doors, flanked by two larger guard bouncers who eyed her. They were far older than her, their muscular figures towering over. Yet Felicia was not daunted, summoning her own confidence. 

Before she could proceed any further, a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. “Hey guys, got one of my pals with me.” Breton, the guard from before smiled sheepishly. “I’ll just show her in quickly, help me take over for a bit?” 

“Sure thing, but who is she? Your girlfriend?” 

“Uhh… yea! I hope so! Haha!” 

“Great, always knew my little Breton had it in him.” One of the older gang members rubbed Breton’s head playfully, before opening the large double doors for him. “Don’t worry, Boss won’t know a thing. Just come back quickly.” 

“Righto, thanks a lot. I owe you.” Breton grinned, pushing Felicia firmly through the double doors into the wildest arena she had seen in her entire life. Granted, it was her first time seeing any arena – if it could even be called an arena.  

Instead there was barely any structure save for a few alternating benches and a ring full of drunkards and druggies, high on whatever chemicals they could snort up and having a go at each other in a brutal free-for-all. Onlookers laughed and jeered at the drunk fighters, forming a ring around a circle marked with chalked on the dusty warehouse floor. Any fighter who stumbled out bleeding was only mercilessly thrown back in by the onlookers, who also gave their own fair share of punches and kicks.  

“What the hell is this? Gideon is fighting in this? For what?” Felicia could not wrap her head around what was happening. Is Gideon that frustrated to participate in this? 

“Oh, no, no of course not. That’s just the pre-game show. Gets the crowd riled up a bit, make sure they acclimatized to the standard of cheap street fighting.” Breton waved his arm dramatically, as though he was proud of it as they sauntered in through the elevated benches, moving past other audience members who seated sporadically.  

“And ‘girlfriend’? Really? And how long are you going to put your hand on my shoulder.” Felicia glared at Breton warily, who quickly withdrew his hand awkwardly, slowly becoming indignant. 

“What? I couldn’t think of any other way to get you in! What, just tell them “Hey guys, a girl who is my junior in school is here, I don’t really know her nor am I really friends with her but can I just let her lean it to take a look in this obviously illegal fighting arena, pretty please?”? How did you think that was going to go, huh?” Breton waved his hands wildly. 

Felicia didn’t have a retort, instead focusing on finding where Gideon was. Soon, she spotted him, somewhat already fidgeting near one of the front benches, his hand fiddling with something in his pocket.  

Storming over to Gideon, she immediately grabbed Gideon by the hair, lifting him up with a strong tug.  

“Ow, ow, ow what the fuck- Felicia?! What the hell?”  

“Annnnnnnnnnd this is where I exit.” Breton took a long step back. “I must go now, my people need me.” 

“What the hell are you fucking doing here? I thought you were against gangs?” Felicia ignored the disappearing Breton and berated Gideon loudly, causing some of the nearby audience members to glance over in curiosity.  

“Shhhh keep it down, idiot! Sit down before you get lynched by everybody else. Oh by the fucking gods, why did you even come – how did you even know about this place?” 

“Anybody would have found it just by watching you walk.” 

“What?! I took multiple detou- were you stalking me? That’s not cool at all.” 

“Says the one lying about going to school without your school uniform, on a day when school isn’t open.” 

“…. Shit man… okay look, just sit here, next to me, and I’ll make sure you get home safe later!” 

Felicia was still fuming, but complied regardless, taking a seat. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.” 

“I’m not doing anything wrong here!” Gideon defended himself with a clear fluster. “I’m just… I’m just sitting on a bench.” 

“Near some two hundred guys who are all just somehow randomly gathered here as well, deciding to sit on benches? With half of them deciding to fight?” 

“Uhh… yea.” 

“Who the fuck are you trying to kid, I’m only one year younger than you!” Felicia gripped Gideon by the ears again, tugging it hard.  

“Stop stop stop! I’m really not doing anything wrong!” 

“Then take me home right now. You said you were going to make sure I got home safe right?” 

“I… uh…” Gideon’s eyes darted towards a brightly lit LED clock mounted near the ceiling, five minutes to the hour.  

“You got one last chance to tell me. Don’t make me pull out the ‘tell your mother’ card.” 

Gideon drew a sharp breath. “No fucking way.” His eyes scanned Felicia’s serious glance. “You’re serious.” 

“Of course I am! After all the shit I’ve seen, I’m starting to think my brother is involved too. What the hell have you dragged him into?” 

“Me? I didn’t drag him into shit, he was the one who dragged me in!” 

“Huh?” 

“Yeah, you thought your brother was a goody-two-shoes, huh? Well, you’re about to find out.” 

As the LED clock hit three minutes, a sudden buzzer rang clear through the warehouse, the drunk fighters immediately being manhandled by gang bouncers and dragged away from the center, the chalk circle already stained with muddy footsteps and blood splatters.  

Felicia glanced around frantically, wondering what was going on, before factory spotlights blasted the center of the chalk circle, a sleazy old announcer stood tall in the middle, his pupils heavily dilated as he grinned widely. 

[Tonight! We have a whole slew of matches lined up just for your entertainment. Welcome to Brawl Club!!] He yelled out, a wireless microphone tapped to his shirt’s collar, the crowd roaring back in response in a flurry of fist pumps, broken beer bottles and unidentified soiled fabrics.  

[And you know how we do it here – ain’t got time to waste! First Match – A eerie newcomer, veiled with an off-the-shelf mask from the temple: if that doesn’t scream local to you, I don’t know what else will! Will the power of the old gods protect him?] 

The crowd jeered and booed, laughing out loud as they mocked the temple. “People still believe in religion these days?!” 

[But don’t look down on him, he won’t go down that easily!] The announcer motioned to a hastily shoved out ‘lane’ between people, the gang members ferrying a fighter in.  

Despite the ‘glow-up’, he looked slightly weaker than expected, his stature only buoyed by his confident posture, moving up into the center of the chalk ring with victory in his eyes. Lingering purple remnants of bruises stood testament to the tough training he endured for the last month and a week, his knuckles raw and wrapped with a thin bandage.  

“Sel?!” Felicia was shocked, half-expecting Sel to be either a bookie collecting bets or one of the gang bouncers, assuming the bruises were from gang fights. She hardly expected him to be a ring fighter, especially one that was fighting for money. The subsequent introduction of the other ring fighter flew right over her head, with the bets immediately being collected around, exchanged for tickets.  

Gideon was already grinning widely, his hand pulling out what he had been playing with for a long time – wads of dema notes ready to place on Sel when Felicia grabbed him by the shoulder. “What the hell? You came here to bet against my brother?!” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“You’re going to put that money on the other fighter right? There’s no way he wins!” 

“Have faith in family – you didn’t see this guy train. Maybe a week ago I would have the same thought as you.” Gideon tugged his arm away, handing over almost all of his pocket money of five hundred demas, betting it all on Sel. That amount of money would be inconceivable to Felicia.  

“But the odds are against Sel!” 

“Even better for me.” 

In just a few minutes, a solitary bell rang clear and through, the two fighters immediately paced forward into the center of the ring, arms raised as the shouts of the crowd enveloped them. Felicia clutched her arm tightly, anxiety building over whether Sel could even do a thing.  

As the first blow of the fight was thrown, her heart hammered, adrenaline rushing through her veins even though she herself was not fighting. Every blow Sel took right on the arms, the ribs, and even the groin elicited ‘oohs’ and ‘urghs’ from the crowd. It was clear that despite all the training, Sel was nowhere as good as a fighter as his opponent, a sturdy middle-aged man with heavy hooks and a mean kick.  

Each blow caused Felicia to wince, wondering if Sel was simply going to topple over in the first minute from all the direct hits he was taking. Yet as time went on, two minutes into the first round, Sel had not thrown a single punch or even attempted to throw a ranging kick. The crowd was clearly incensed, though it was only the minority who had felt lucky enough to bet on the newcomer Sel.  

“Come on, you twat, fight back!” An agitated onlooker raged, nearly running into the chalk ring before he was manhandled back by bouncers positioned around the ring.  

“What the fuck is he doing, he’s just turtling up! What kind of fighter is this? Take off his mask!” 

His opponent grinned, delivering yet another straight punch that sent Sel reeling back, unable to keep his balance as he stumbled towards the edge of the chalk ring, where the crowd was standing. A few members took the opportunity to grab and throw a few weak punches at him, before shoving him back towards the center. “Get in there, you coward!” 

“Sel can’t take anymore!” Felicia was anxious, but as she glanced over to Gideon sitting next to her, her confusion grew even more.  

“All part of the strategy, Felicia. Just wait and see.” Gideon had the widest grin across his face, a rarity amongst the audience members.  

A short ring of the bell marked the last thirty seconds of the first round, sweat already trickling down and coating the skin of Sel’s opponent as the pace of the punches began to slow down.  

Sel’s eyes squinted, his mind locked on the breathing rate of the sturdy middle-aged man opposite him. Each inhalation and exhalation, each time his chest raised, calculating. Every step the man took did not escape Sel’s eyes, the shouts and jeers of the crowd drowned out by the blood thumping in his ears, fully focused on every single move. 

Waiting.  

Waiting for the right moment to- 

The very second the middle-aged man exhaled again, raising his arm to wipe the accumulated sweat off his brows, Sel suddenly stepped forward, driving his left foot into the ground with a force unseen, before delivering a brutal right sidekick right into the exposed ribs of the middle-aged man, a sickening crack apparent to the closest audience members.  

Reeling from the hit, the opponent immediately countered, throwing a series of hooks that Sel dodged with ease, knowing that the opponent had been caught off tempo, his breathing disrupted. Capitalizing on the opportunity, he suddenly went on the attack, the roles flipping in a single instant.  

With a flurry of combo punches, Sel was now the clear-cut aggressor, landing punch after punch right on the opponent’s head who desperately tried to shield himself, only to earn more hits to other exposed parts of the body.  

Sel delivered yet another kick to the knee, caving it inwards and causing the leg to bend horrifyingly. Before the opponent could even let out a scream, Sel’s fist was already in his jaw, smashing right into it and crumpling the opponent down onto the floor as a quivering wreck, muscles twitching on the cold dusty floor of the warehouse. 

The crowd went silent for a second, their minds still trying to register what had just happened, before the minority that had bet on Sel cheered their loudest, pushing their lungs to the limit. Gideon was one of them, pumping his fist into the air as he quickly dragged Felicia over to the collection counter.  

Five hundred demas had been turned into a thousand five hundred just like that in a matter of three minutes, the whole sequence of events staggering to Felicia. That money alone could pay for all of Mother’s Medicine.  

“Okay, now I’m going to send you home – Sel isn’t fighting till later.” Gideon turned to face Felicia, only to see her smiling widely.  

“Good. Because I need to get some money too.”