City of Sinners

“Kiss this s**t again!” With a wide and satisfied smile, I punch the guy below me straight in the face. It leaves him spitting and coughing blood for one last mournful time before he gets fully unconscious. Poor boy. Oh, no—poor man. The surrounding cheers start to invigorate my senses. It has given me a satisfying kind of privilege. Somehow, it boosted my morale. “SITRI! SITRI! SITRI!” From sitting on the unconscious man’s weak stomach, I stood up, though exhausted. I look at those people cheering outside the metal-fenced ring, and I smile at them: a sly smile of victory for the gang of Vultures cheering for me and another sly smile of mockery to the gang of Owls who have been booing me just because I defeated their representative. Along with my two-faced smile, I then raise my fist. Me raising my blood-covered hand made the cheers from outside the fence become even louder. Bigger, banging. I could not remember any greater satisfying feeling I have ever felt than what I am feeling right now. This feeling that I am being recognized … It's something that I always desire. This recognition that I am a f*****g winner. Damn it, I really love this. “The winner, Sitri from the Vultures!” the announcer exclaims, trying his best to surpass the noise of those dumbheads outside the fence. The roars become even louder. I could almost feel my eardrums dead from the wild outcries of the people that are surrounding the arena. I almost turn deaf because—apparently—men have higher decibels of cringey shrieks and cries compared to those real sassy, girly IT girls wannabe (you know what I mean). I just discovered that, right from this moment. “SITRI! SITRI! SITRI!” The chants of the male mobs are still continuing as the door of the metal-fenced ring is being opened by the gang-fight wardens, so that I could finally go outside. While waiting, I unconsciously look at my hands, at my fist. Shit, I am covered with blood. This came from that filthy man lying on the ring who has been provoking me earlier with some cat-calls I would not want to remember. Because if I do, I’ll surely get mad again, then I would beat his balls into a pulp for the second time around. Dude, I never want to ‘re-kill’ a helpless, weak man like him. He’s almost meeting the god of death, and I don’t want to push him for more. When the door of the metal-made fence is finally open, I am surprised when the Vultures rush towards me and surround me with their baritone-tuned cheers. Then, they tightly squeezed me between their sinewy, vinegar-smelling arms. It’s gross, but I could not do anything about it knowing that I have no chance against a lot of them. “SITRI! SITRI! SITRI!” They continued chanting for me. Gaston, the leader of the gang—our gang—grabbed me by the arm and managed to lift me up, exposing me more to the chants and shrieks of those goons who are still outside of the arena. The way how he lifted me is as if I am a trophy that the whole gang got from this recently concluded fight. But damn, that moment when he lifts me, I see more people—lots of them. They are smiling at me, looking at me with fascination, admiring what I have done as I see their lips moving, chanting my name with exceptional honor and virtue. “Alright, alright, that’s enough.” From the group of Vultures who are lifting me, there is this one familiar man—I mean, very familiar—who appears beside Gaston who is lifting me. He tapped Gaston’s abdomen, signaling that he should bring me down. The leader of the Vulture gang quickly places me down when that man signals him. I frown when I face the man who signals Gaston to bring me down. “You’re always a party sucker,” I say as he weaves through the crowd, giving me space so that I could easily walk without being blocked by any of our gang members. From weaving the people aside, he then looks at me with his usual sleepy gaze. He did not say anything. He just stares at me. And then, as if he heard nothing, he just goes back to his current job—which is apparently pulling me out from the crowd. Sure he knows a great way to make me annoyed. Ever since I met this man, he is always like that: focused on his job to the point that he separates his personal emotion away whenever he is guarding me. Yes, his job is me. He is my guard. And my butler. I just didn’t know why my dad hired a skinny and neat-looking man (not to mention he's the same as my age) to be my guard and company wherever I go. What I know is that sometimes, he annoys me because he is a party bomber. He always spoils my fun. When we were finally outside the Sky Arena, the loud cheers and roars of the violence-loving people gradually lowered. Maybe because we were finally outside. The loud cheers were still there, but it was now only a muffled sound. “Valour,” I called my butler, “You know that I am still enjoying the cheers of those goons inside, right? At least, you should have let me enjoy it for a bit longer.” But instead of hearing me, Valour lazily goes towards the big garden in front of the Sky Arena. He sits on the Bermuda grass, then lays his back on the trunk of a small tree. He closed his eyes with a sigh. What the … is he planning to ignore me and just sleep?! “Valour, what the hell are you—” “Ah, finally, silence,” he says as if he isn’t hearing me. “Valour, are you trying to annoy me?” I ask, quite irritated because of his mundane acts. “No,” he answers. “Look, you just dragged me outside the Sky arena while I was enjoying my victory. You made pulled out from those guys knowing that I am enjoying their cheers. I am truly sure that you know you totally ruined the mood inside, right? And for what reason? To just let me look at you while you sleep there like Princess Cinderella?” I ask him, now totally annoyed. “If you want to, why not?” He shrugs, then closes his eyes back. “You are really going to sleep here? Fine, let me call Dad.” “You know you can’t.” I am in the middle of grabbing my phone when Valour replies. His voice is toned with noticeable threats. Then I remember why. Though irritated, I pursed my lips. I dropped my phone back in my pocket. I close my eyes and sigh. I went and sat beside him. Just like what he was doing, I lay my head and back on the trunk of the lonely tree found in this huge garden. “You’re widely taking advantage of my situation, Valour. You’re ruthless.” “If I am, then I should have just told this to your father,” he paused, “this … you joining in a gang.” I did not reply to him. I remained with my eyes closed. The warm breeze of the wind swept and daintily touched my skin. Yes, my father doesn’t know that I joined a gang. The gang of the Vultures. In this city, I am the first woman who joined a gang; who joined a group of people who are doing nothing but causing trouble to the city’s peace. At first, I was doing this because I was trying to rebel against my dad. I just want to see how he would react if he finds out that I am one of those bunch of stupid guys who are always looking for conflict and dispute. Knowing that he is the mayor of our city, the Sao Garde, I wonder how he will react the moment he learns about my grudge. I wanted to see how my dad and the people who knew me would react if they find out that the secret daughter of the well-respected mayor is a rebellious girl who joined a gang which is the primary stress and problem of the city. Just like that. But as time passes by, as I continue hanging out with the Vultures, I … ironically found peace. I found my importance. My worth. Because of these chaos-loving people, I recognize myself. That is why, instead of revealing that I belong to the gang and that I am the mayor’s daughter, I kept it secret. I kept it hidden. I decided not to reveal it to them, especially to my father so that I could still enjoy hanging out with the Vultures even though I know it would be wrong in the eyes of my father. And yes, the only one who knew the real me and the things that I am doing is my Butler. Valour. Well, because I cannot easily escape away from him, I just dragged and forces him to join a gang together with me. Now, here we are. After a minute, Valour stood up. “Where are you going?” I ask him again. “We need to head back home, mistress,” he answers, “you need to rest.” Loud yet muffled roars and cheers erupted inside the Sky Arena. The next fight after me must have already ended. “I want to go back inside. I want to watch more fights.” “No, you shouldn’t, mistress. You need to rest and prepare--we. Tomorrow’s the big day, isn’t it?” Hearing that, I then remember what it is that is waiting for us the next day. As a sign of defeat, I sighed and nodded. “Let’s go then.” I was about to stand up when from afar, I heard someone calling me with the use of his usual cheery and childish voice. “Hey, hey, hey! where is our gem going now?” I looked at the man who called. I saw Gaston, the leader of the Vultures walking towards me. Plastered on his rock-sculpted face is a big smile. On his back, other members of the Vulture gang are following him. “Gaston,” I responded. “Gaston, we’re leaving,” Valour answers. “What? Are you both leaving? Ah, dude! we gonna not do that! We gonna party all the remaining day long, and we gonna suck our asses onto the liquors!” “Yeah, that should be right. We got to celebrate Sitri’s victorious fight!” agrees another man behind Gaston. I sigh. I cross my arms on my chest and then look at them with a lazy and questioning look. My eyebrows are raised; one side of my lips twitched upward. “No, we will not celebrate,” I said. The men behind Gaston grunted disappointingly. Their faces suddenly turned crestfallen. If earlier, I was this eager to tell them that I wanted to party, now I am the one who is saying we would refrain from partying for today. “Sitri, why? Tired? Dude, we need to celebrate. You just won the fight against the Owls. Your win is our win. the Vulture’s win, isn’t it?” Again, I sighed one more time. “If I were you, Gaston,” I looked at him, and then to the rest of the men behind him, “I would go home now and rest. Have you forgotten what the big day is tomorrow?” Hearing that, the faces of the Vultures turn confused. “What’s tomorrow?” Gaston asked, still clueless. From my peripheral vision, I see Valour slapping his forehead while shaking his head. Because of that, I almost laugh. “Maybe that’s the reason why you guys were always at the last rank of the gangs in this city. You all got no idea about the time and schedule. Or kinds of stuff related to it,” I say as if I am not like them who forget every schedule that I have. It’s just that, thanks to Valour, I am being updated on everything. “But what could be tomorrow’s …” Gaston stopped. His mouth opens widely. He must have remembered what was tomorrow's event. “Guys, we go back. We rest,” he adds. I then give them a warning smirk. Still, my arms are crossed on my chest. “That’s right, Vultures. We need to rest. Long rest so that we have energy for tomorrow.” I look at them, one by one. “Because tomorrow . . . will be the long-awaited War of the Birds.”