The Darker Side Of Black

Introduction

I hadn't had much sleep, the sickly feeling from the chilly winter morning had already invaded my nostrils, causing me to sniffle with a watery nose. Yet my eyes kept glancing over the tattered pages of my favourite and only Jane Austen book. I could never stand the invasive common cold, it made my head feel like it was weighed down by heavy dumbbells, limiting my movements on the bed made of hay. At least the book and the warm cup of tea rested on the bedside table kept me company, even though the illness made the tea taste bland, it was the only warmth I had within the cramped, cocooning gypsy wagon.

Extreme gusts of wind were enough to make the wagon rock on its wheels, causing a slight ripple on the surface of the tea, however the tea now began to tremble in an unorthodox fashion and my headache is gradually intensified by the deep chanting of names in the distance.

"For Heaven's sake, what are they up to now?" I roll my eyes, closing the book with the thud, barely having the strength, nor motivation to get up from the bed. As I threw on my dusty light blanket and headed throughout the gypsy camp towards the treeline, I could hear the chanting getting louder and deeper.

"Go on! Hit him harder!" a familiar voice of an Irish man was heard through the maze of trees. Each step I took, my feet would be swallowed by the wet, slushy mud. This was horse territory, galloping horses have dug their hooves into the ground, scarring the land and making it impossible to walk through without being covered in dirt.

Eventually I see the crowd of familiar men from the gypsy camp, all standing around two young boys, both the age of 13. They were scrambling around in the cold mud, their faces bruised, and their chests battered. Desperately trying to land a solid punch to the others ribs as the men cheered and watched like spectators of a Roman Colosseum. Peeking through the small openings of the crowd, my heart twists and descends into my stomach when I recognised one of the swollen faces to be my younger brother, almost unrecognisable.

"Aiden!" I screamed with a raspy voice, pushing through the barriers of men who stood around them, their war screams were almost deafening, and their ripped white vests smelt like beer from the night before. It took all my strength to separate the boys, only to be greeted by laughter's of the men watching over my shoulder.

Displeased and dissatisfied with the entertainment, the grown men resort to bullying.

"Aw, poor lad couldn't take it, he had to get his big sister to help him" one mumbled with the cigarette between his lips, causing the others to laugh like sheep.

"Eve! Stop. I was winning." Aiden replied croakily with his face turning bright red, I couldn't even distinguish whether his face was red from embarrassment or bruising. I ignore them, using the spare rag in my pocket to clean the unnecessary wounds whilst Aiden tried to push away, clearly humiliated in front of those he called his 'friends'.

"Aiden... These men aren't your friends, they just want to see you hurt" I tried my best to explain to him, but he was so engrossed into the gypsy culture, believing that everything must be solved by violence.

"Relax Eve, it was just a settling between two gangs..." one of them spoke out, wearing a white vest, stained with beer, his cheap trousers held up by dark suspenders. He knew he was lying, and he knew I detected it, there would be no possibility of two rival gangs settling a truce by getting their youngest to fight for them, there was something darker behind this.

Then I noticed it, the small paper in their hand, being passed around with a variety of handwriting on it from where the men placed bets on who were going to win.

"You were going to bet? They're children! NOT MEN!" I couldn't help but release my anger on the taller men who looked down at me sheepishly with their hands in their pockets. I took the small crumpled piece of paper and tore it up in front of them, throwing it into the air for the small gust of wind to take it away. They all looked in annoyance but not a single man raised their voices.