Valentino

2. Portafoglio ♛

The eery silence of the night had made my steps sound extremely heavy. The night wasn't exactly dark, but instead it was foggy signaling that there was rain soon to come. I walked discreetly, retracing the route the men had taken. It led me to a rusty red door covered in cobwebs on the hinges. Outside the mysterious door, I pressed my ear against it; only to hear faint sounds that were undistinguishable.

I took in a deep breath and decided to take action. My small hands pushed against the door in hopes that it would open, and surprisingly it did quite easily. The place was sketchy and I needed to figure out what this all had to do with Valentino. May it be that this was where he would be fighting tonight? The answer to that would be most likely.

The tough push revealed an unsurprising sight. Instantly a huge wave of disgust washed through me. Vast amounts of people were scattered throughout dancing dirtily on top of each other. The smell of cheap beer flooded my nostrils and I cringed at even the thought of it. If you're going to drink, do it right.

Cheap alcohol accounts for a cheap day. Rule of thumb was to never do that—unless you wanted to wake up the next two days with a pounding headache and a weak stomach.

A majority of the people were men who were arguing against each other, pushing each other just as Vince had done so a few moments ago. The only women present were those atop men scouring for money through prostitution. Despite the music being loud, the arguments roared over it.

A man approached me and glared as he pointed towards the door. "Hurry the fuck up and close the door." He yelled rather rudely.

If there was one thing that I hated the most, it would be people telling me what to do. "Do it your fucking self." I grunted as I left it open. I purposefully moved further away from the door and closer to the large group of people huddled in the middle. A loud slam sounded from the thick door behind me.

"So this was it," I muttered lowly. An underground fight club where people were betting on fights and blood spill. A beer bottle was smashed a few inches away from my feet and I looked up to the person responsible—a man with a beer belly tumbling without balance.

I waved it away and gave a small smirk as I began to imagine my re-encounter with Valentino. And despite the fact that there were many drunkards and harsh looking men, there were also those lucky few that were eye candy.

A harsh push was thrown to my shoulder and my elbow immediately backlashed to whomever's abdomen it was.

"Dude, what the fuck?" I exasperatedly groaned. I brought my arm back to my side but I kept at a position that would allow me to easily strike back at him if he were to get any closer.

"Yo, calm down." He was a young and tall man that had his hands raised up defensively. "Wanted to see if you wanted some." He then revealed a clear small bag that held white contents in it.

I wasn't fazed by it, instead it just raised an involuntary anger in me. Rage towards how I let drugs run my life for nearly two years and fucked my life over...and most importantly how it had killed someone I loved.

"Next time don't fucking touch me." I spat angrily.

He barked back. "A pretty lady like you shouldn't be passing 'round here if you don't want to be touched. You know, without grabbing anyone's attention."

"Just stop talking for the benefit of everyone here tonight." I pushed past him but I could still feel his presence lingering me. I wanted to find Valentino, not another fucked-up boy.

Another loud smash sounded throughout the building resembling that of broken glass. It was most likely another beer bottle being thrown to the ground. I suppose that the action was so common around here that people weren't disturbed by it.