(I have decided to write up entries for old contests to practice writing. Here goes:)
Of course, I had lied. There was no point in questioning whether or not I had lied.
Lying was an art and I was an artist. It came way too naturally to me. Usually people have tells. A flicker of the eyelids, a scrunched up nose, blinking too much or biting your lip. I had mastered the art of getting rid of all tells possible.
I lied with the confidence of a smooth rich guy pretending to be wealthier than he really is. Not that I was rich. I was as far from rich as one can be.
However, both of these things were unknown to Yun who was looking at me with raised eyebrows.
"Did you really graduate from Oxford?" She asked, sitting up a little straighter. I smirked.
"Yes." I said, matter-of-factly. She smiled at me. We were sitting at a cafe in a secluded cubicle.
Yun was clad in all the luxuries available to a adolescent girl who had started a start-up project at the age of twelve. The project took off and gave her a million dollars a month.
She was in her early twenties now, just like me.
I examined her face more closely. It did look like she believed me. It was good that she believed that I was on her level.
"So what are you doing out in Cali?" She asked, taking a sip of her Pumpkin Spice Latte.
"Networking." I replied, drinking my black coffee. I resisted the urge to grimace at it's taste immediately. This facade demanded too much of me.
"I might be able to help you with that. If you are looking to get in touch with the big names in the tech world, I have got you covered." She said, with a good natured smile.
"Oh really?" I asked, trying not to sound eager.
"Yep." She said. Her phone rang.
She excused herself and walked away to an empty corner. I sat back in the cubicle and considered the situation. It was by pure coincidence that I had met her through an acquaintance. She was a good candidate to rob. Meeting more rich people meant more money. Everything was coming up Orpus.
She came back with an apologetic grin on her face.
"Can we meet again on Monday? I am sorry but I have a meeting." She said.
"Sure." I said, with a smile. I paid for the bill. You have to throw some money around to get some and escorted her out of the cafe.
She drove away in her Mercedes and I finally unbuttoned the top two buttons of my bottom down shirt. Damn, that thing was uncomfortable.
Having made the perfect impression, I made my way to my evening haunts.
Joker's was a grungy bar in the heart of the town. Once I entered the bar, I went into the back room and picked up the leather jacket I had left in the care of Scott, the bartender.
"How did the facade go?" He asked, handing me an ice-cold beer.
"Perfectly." I said, taking a sip of the beer.
"I shouldn't have asked. That is the Orpus way of doing things after all." He said, grinning.
Scott was a burly man. Every inch of his body was covered in tattoos. I had had my shoulders and upper back tattored with a giant dragon breathing fire upon his insistence.
"Are you going to the joint today?" He asked, cleaning an empty wine glass with a cloth.
"Yes. I need the money." I said, gulping down the rest of the beer.
"You know that you can always ask me for money whenever you need it. You don't have to fight in that pigsty to get that money. I am your friend, Orp." He said, looking defeated.
I rose up to my feet and patted his shoulder. "You know how I roll. No debts and no loans. I gotta run, here's the payment." I said, handing him the money for the beer.
He looked at it as if he didn't want to take it.
"Take it or I'll just leave it here." I said and with a sigh, he took the change.
I smirked as I walked away from the Bar towards the sweaty, cigarette-odoured dungeons of the criminal underground: The Lockdown.
It was located in an abandoned tunnel underground which was originally supposed to be a Subway track but due to some government error, it was never finished and now it was the home of many fighting criminals.
No one believed that the misfits of this world are great interior decorators. The rats were gone, the walls of the tunnel were covered with halogen lamps and graffiti. Some of the work was exceptional, Banksy-level even.
As you moved further on, the noise of talking and laughter grew louder. This was the tavern.
Tables, stools and people occupied this part of the Lockdown. Mostly old-aged criminals were laughing and the young ones were fighting or serving or brooding in the corner. A bartender named Luke served the majority.
Heads turned as I entered. "Orp!" Someone greeted me and soon I was returning many greetings and welcomes.
"So you'll be fighting?" Brody asked. He was a biker.
"Yep. Gotta check in with Liam. See you on the other side." I said, walking on.
This is where the chains were. This part of the tunnel was assaulted by white stadium lights which were centered on a metallic cage. The cage is where the magic happened. You had to fight till your opponent could no longer do so, preferably making him physically disabled for two to three years.
The Lockdown was a ruthless dungeon filled with hungry criminals with an appetite for violence. It just so happened that I had no choice but to serve them that violence.
"My Man, Orpus. Ready for tonight?" Liam asked, as soon as he saw me. He was a lean, rich dealer who commissioned fighters and earned money by bets in the underground. He was a pretty good man if you overlooked the fact that he looked only for money and that he was incredibly vain. He was peak Dorian Gray.
"I'm always ready." I said. He smiled as his eyes twinkled. Confidence is what earned him his money.
He handed me my wrist straps. I tied them.
"We are against Juan today." He said, with an audible gulp.
Juan was the best fighter in the Lockdown. He was three bundered pounds of muscle and foul play. I had never fought him before.
"Don't worry, it will be a piece of cake." I assured him.
Of course I was lying.
