Jack's point of view
I didn't have time to play the revolutionary.
Sitting in my seat, I kept my eyes fixed on the board while the math teacher explained an exercise that half the class wasn't even trying to understand anymore.
My eyebrow was still throbbing, my cheek remained painful, and every sudden movement reminded me that I should have thought better of it before challenging Hérèse .
However, it wasn't his victory that had kept me awake for several days, but everything I had lost during that time.
How quickly everything changed.
The Pleasures district wasn't just a place for me.
Behind its misleading name, there are people who want to survive and who are forced to go far.
The area was home to night shops, clandestine gambling dens, and several establishments whose owners paid a portion of their income to groups tasked with protecting them.
Basically, everything came back to me on the condition that I stayed.
The brothel where I spent a good part of my time was one of the oldest places in the area.
My mothers worked there and knew the risks of their job, but they had always been able to count on a tacit agreement: as long as Bé's gang protected the neighborhood, they swore loyalty and commitment.
The small gangs that prowled the streets thought twice before attacking them.
This agreement ended when I lost my job.
The gang hadn't officially kicked me out since they still want to get the money and the whole house back.
I earned this place hard, I will do everything to regain their esteem.
I am now just a little boy whose name was no longer enough to intimidate anyone.
The small gangs had understood it even before I could accept the situation.
Within a few days, thefts had multiplied, customers had been robbed in the alleyways, and some women had begun to receive threats when they returned home.
The brothel had increased its security, but the staff couldn't be everywhere at once. As for the few boys we had taken in who continued to obey me, their loyalty carried little weight against groups who now knew I had no one left behind.
It took me so many days to even take a simple break.
The discussions had yielded almost nothing, and the few agreements reached had been broken as soon as I turned my back.
They take 10 times more from us than the gang, how are we going to survive?
I have to go back home.
The problem was that simply apologizing wasn't enough to get back a position you'd lost.
Be had never appreciated people who came back empty-handed promising to do better.
What a stupid rule.
I turned my head slightly towards him, right in front of me, he seemed completely absorbed in his notebook, to the point of not noticing that the twins kept talking to him.
An indifference that could have been mistaken for arrogance if I hadn't already seen him try to flee from every person who mentioned his name.
This boy had no idea what he now represented to others.
He has no ambition.
That was exactly what I needed.
If I could steer this movement, give it enough importance to recover everything and put it back in line, there's nothing better than a good defeat and discouraged people, I could demonstrate to Be that I was still useful.
One stone, two birds.
I feel no guilt
He wasn't my friend... he was just an unpredictable element
BRINNNN NNNNNNNNNN !
The bell interrupted the lesson. I carefully packed my things, then waited for the other students to start leaving before joining Maëva near the door.
"So?" she asked me. "Are you planning to sit and watch him until the end of the year?"
– There are enough of us to go.
Silence
– I'm thinking.
– That's new.
I glared at her, but she just smiled. Maëva had always had this annoying way of provoking people without ever giving them the pleasure of seeing her lose her temper.
"The students are starting to regroup," I continued.
– The twins have already convinced several people to participate in their movement; they are very effective.
– You are ready
– You say "you" as if you're not going to be part of it
– I don't need to be at this point, what? Do you need me?
Her smile widened slightly.
– No, it's fine
Yet she had agreed to help me; in any case, it's better this way.
We didn't necessarily share my priorities. Where I was looking for a way to regain my status, she was mainly interested in Hérèse .
An obsessive.
She must be disturbed.
"Do you really think he'll agree to play along?" I asked.
Maëva followed my gaze to Hérèse, who was clearly trying to escape the twins by taking advantage of the other students leaving.
"He doesn't even want to participate in their meetings," I murmured.
"Don't worry about that detail," she replied.
She uttered these words without smiling, and I understood that she wasn't joking.
I wasn't sure that Hérèse possessed the necessary qualities to withstand this kind of pressure.
She moved closer to my ear
There was something strange about his fighting style, a stark contrast between his usual hesitation and the violence he displayed in the arena. Yet, outside of combat, he behaved like a boy who would have preferred to remain unnoticed.
I looked at her in silence.
– It's not like you actually support him.
she finished before rushing behind hérèse
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My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Several kilometers from the establishment.
Iréné
He closed the file in front of him and reviewed the latest information he had received. He had missed several classes, but his absence was anything but spontaneous: he was preparing the ground for what he considered the "right" time.
Could he be the best trigger?
And for Hérèse , the only urgent thing was to get home.
For Jack, every hour counted.
For Maëva, every reaction.
The field had to be ready at the right time.