When I was a child, my parents left me in front of Francizsek Fort with a letter that said, "Please take care of Felizch." It seemed like they didn't care about their responsibilities. I was lucky that a squad was patrolling the walls that night, or else I would've been food for the canines. The entire squad ended up taking full responsibility for raising me. I wouldn't say they were role models, but they were like family to me.
"Hey, Felizch!" called out a drunk soldier.
Annoyed at the ruckus, I replied, "What the hell do you want, Javier?"
"I've got four membership coupons for the brothel nearby. Wanna come with me?"
The captain, upon hearing this, slapped Javier on the back of his head.
"You shouldn't bring children to a brothel, dumbass!"
"Calm down, Captain. It's better for children to learn at an early age, don't you agree?" Javier replied with a joyful tone.
"I wouldn't care about you bringing him unless you bring me too!" said the captain, after chugging an entire bottle of wine.
I looked at both of them with discontent. "Seriously... You guys aren't for real…"
After trying to convince me to come with them to the brothel, they ended up forcefully dragging me across the street until we arrived at Natasha's brothel.
"Let me go, you ugly bastard!" I shouted as Javier dragged me across the floor.
"Learn to have fun for once, Felizch. Maybe you'll find your type once you get in there," Luna sarcastically said while laughing at my dusty face.
We entered the brothel, and Javier showed the keeper four membership coupons.
"Natasha! Three rooms, please!" Javier said, overflowing with drunken enthusiasm.
The keeper looked at me on the floor and said, "Javier, let go of Felizch…"
Javier dropped me to the floor, and I gasped for air.
"You fucking bastard… you actually dragged me here," I mumbled under my breath.
Natasha looked at Luna and Javier with concern. "You're not bringing Felizch in, right?"
Luna and Javier looked at me. Luna picked me up with one hand and told Natasha, "Three rooms, please!"
I looked at Natasha with an expression that said I wasn't ready for this. "Alright then… three rooms." Luna and Javier laughed hysterically while dragging me up the stairs.
"Hey, don't drag the kid!" Natasha shouted at them.
We arrived at the second floor, and Javier chugged some beer.
"Well, kid, it's time to man up!" Javier said as he dragged me along. We were met by two beautiful women.
"Well, well, I'm going in, baby!" said Luna. He immediately went to his room with the blonde prostitute.
Before Javier went inside his room, he tossed me some oil.
"Put that oil to good use, kiddo!"
And he went inside with the brunette woman.
Puzzled, I played along and looked at the number written on my paper. "006." I looked at the labels written on the doors, and after a while, I found the door. I nervously opened it slightly, peeking inside the small gap at the edge of the wooden door, thinking an old hag was waiting on the other side. To my surprise, a girl my age was waiting inside, playing with her hair.
She had gray eyes, short dark gray hair, and a face that seemed sculpted by the gods—words couldn't express her beauty. I stared at her for a minute while moans echoed from Javier's room.
"Close the door," said the girl.
I was frozen in place, a whirlwind of thoughts rushing through my mind.
"Your name?" I nervously asked.
"I'll tell you if you close the door," she replied.
I slowly closed the door and asked her again, "So… will you tell me?"
The girl sighed. "Haniel."
We stared at each other for a moment.
"What are you waiting for?"
I was puzzled by the situation—or perhaps I felt honored to have my first time with such a beautiful girl.
"What?" I muttered.
Haniel sighed, pitying me. "Come here, sit next to me."
I slowly walked to the bed Haniel was sitting on. Annoyed, Haniel dragged me to the bed and said, "Raise your arms."
I hurriedly raised my arms. Haniel pushed me onto the bed and leaned in close as we both lay down. Unable to bottle up my emotions, I gently pushed Haniel away.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Confused, Haniel mockingly asked, "What? Don't you want to man up?"
I got up and angrily said, "You're so young. We're both young! Is Natasha okay with this?!"
Haniel pushed me back onto the bed and replied, "Why do you care? Mind your own business. Strip already!"
I got up and dragged Haniel into the chair next to the bed. "Sit down!" I commanded.
I let go of Haniel's hips and calmed down for a moment. "Look, don't you have some dignity? You look like you're 12 or 13—you're my age!"
Haniel looked down slightly for a moment as I sat on the bed.
"My mom…" Haniel faintly said.
I leaned in closer. "What?"
"My mom died a long time ago," she said in a melancholic tone.
I got up and sat next to her. "My condolences…"
Haniel vaguely replied, "It's fine. I'm getting used to it."
I sat closer to Haniel and asked, "What made you do this?"
Haniel, confused, looked at me and said, "I need to eat to live. That's why I'm doing this."
"That must be tough, huh… I have to work to eat too."
"What kind of work?"
"Hmm… Let's see, I have to wash Javier's underwear. It reeks every time I wash it—it still smells like the first time I washed it."
Haniel chuckled for a moment. "That sounds so much worse compared to working in a brothel."
"You bet! I have to wash all their stupid underwear every single day. Why can't they just do it themselves, am I right?!"
"If I were in your position, I would've killed them already!"
"Me too!"
Haniel leaned in closer, faced me, and gripped my shoulders. "So why not kill them now? You can run away with me—we'll go somewhere far away, live a life where we can eat and sleep peacefully without work!"
I stared into her pale gray eyes and replied, "I can't kill them. After all, they're my family… Sometimes they don't get along, but they move on and become happy again, just like they always do."
Haniel let go of my shoulders and, in a sad tone, replied, "Family, huh… I no longer have one."
I got up from my chair and enthusiastically said, "You can always stay with us! Luna accepts anyone who doesn't have a home. Javier used to steal food from merchants before we took him in, and I was abandoned outside the gates until Captain Luna took me in and cared for me."
Haniel's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope, and she asked, "Can I stay with you guys?"
I sighed and told her, "I literally just hinted that you can come with us—"
Before I could finish, Haniel gripped my arm tightly and ran outside the brothel. "Hey, wait! You forgot my shirt!"
We arrived downstairs, and the crowd in the brothel stared at us. Javier and Luna were there too, resting after their sessions. Surprised, Javier spilled some of the beer he was drinking and slowly walked toward me.
"H-hey, it's not what you think this is…" I stammered.
Javier, with a menacing look in his eyes, said, "Oh, I know what I think this is…" His eyes softened, and he looked proud. "Felizch… I never thought I'd live to witness the time you finally grew up."
Haniel and I were puzzled by the situation. Javier raised his cup and shouted, "Drinks on me, you lowly bastards! Let's celebrate our brother's first time!"
The whole crowd cheered, and Javier beamed with pride, while Haniel and I remained confused.
"What the hell…" I muttered to myself.
Haniel dragged me outside as chaos enveloped the brothel. We could hear voices singing and the thumps of feet as people danced. Finally, outside, we gasped for air.
"What was all that about?"
Felizch muttered to himself as they sat in the street. A moment of silence was shared as they distanced themselves from the chaotic presence of the brothel. They quietly sat in a vacant alley, with the moon shining brightly in their direction.
"Isn't the moon beautiful tonight?" said Felizch, while Haniel rested on his lean shoulder.
"Yeah... it is," she replied.