The Crime Lords

Chapter 6- Earning your place

My dream planted itself in my head all morning. I felt like the red light was still consuming me, holding me in place. So, I stayed in my bed for an extra ten minutes or so, letting nothing enter my mind except the wonderful sounds of birds chirping to welcome a new day and the permanent smell of soil and grass. When the frozen feeling wore off, I got up, got dressed into a black t-shirt and brown denim shorts, prepared a beef flavoured noodle cup and sat on the wooden kitchen bench. I took tiny sips out of the plastic cup, careful not to scald my tongue while I thought of the day ahead.

Today was Kira and Ella's initiation. Today we would see what the younger girls were capable of and if they could defend themselves independently. I knew Kira was alright in combat when she was angry and Ella was crazy enough to roll your head in a full circle.
My daydream faded when Joel walked into the kitchen. He had a bad case of pillow hair and dark circles.

"Did you wrestle a gorilla?" I asked.

"No," he replied, "just Ella. That crazy child is impossible to contain, let alone sleep in the same room with."

I couldn't wait to see Kira and Ella in action. The deal was, if you defeated one of the commanders of The Crime Lords in a hand-to-hand combat duel, you were accepted. When Wills, Joel and I decided to start the group, we voted on who would be the leader. I was ruled out because I had more of a go-with-the-flow attitude and wasn't good at making plans. Wills thought he was most worthy of being boss and Joel agreed so Wills became the boss. After that, Joel duelled him and narrowly defeated him due to an injury in Wills' shoulder that Joel managed to target.

So, Joel was declared the first commander. Then, it was my turn. I duelled Joel and defeated him with without taking many hits. Therefore, I became the second commander. All three of us decided on an important rule for all initiates to follow: you have to duel a commander or the boss and they'll decide if you're ready.

"So," said Joel, breaking the silence, "who's turn is it? For the duel?"

"You mean, who will duel Kira and Ella?" I asked.

He nodded. I thought for a moment, I would love to fight Kira, but I have a feeling Kira won't be happy with that, I'm not overly fond of battling Ella, she'll probably break my nose with her laugh.

"I'm not sure" I said finally.

"I didn't mean do you want to, I meant who's turn it is" Joel said.

I understood now. If Wills was in automatically, Joel duelled him, I duelled Joel.... "It's back to Wills" I answered.

A girly giggle followed by a sigh indicated that the girls were rounding the corner. Kira had her golden hair tied back in a ponytail and she was wearing her pink and purple pyjamas. Ella wore two piggy tails with red and blue pyjamas.

"Morning," Kira said, flopping down on the couch followed by Ella, "when do we start?"

"At noon," the deep voice of Wills came from behind me in the hallway, "until then, free time."

Best words ever! I jumped from the bench having finished my noodles and ran to the trapdoor. I was about to open it up when a heavy hand clasped my shoulder. I didn't even need to turn around to know it was Wills.

"You're staying, we need to talk." Wills said in a monotone. This indicates the message: 'don't try to escape.'

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Once the girls got dressed and left to go explore the bush, I joined Wills and Joel, my fellow commander, in the lounge area. I sat next to Joel on the dark red lounge while Wills paced back and forth in front of us, stroking his chin in deep thought.