El Coyote cojo was an institution in the Glen. A place where Latino culture shone with music and laughter.
It was also a bar.
The shrine of Mama Welles known for her kindness and pungent sarcasm.
Even though the bar was forbidden to under 18s (the rule was strictly followed by mama welles) Arya had frequented it because of her friendships which often made her mother gossip.
One of them was with Jackie welles. El pequeño demonio had become a friend through the gym. Jackie was aggressive at least when it came to training.
She sometimes felt like it wasn't his partner he was seeing but a more threatening shadow. But when he wasn't training he was like a teddy bear.
Their bond of friendship had appeared when Jackie managed to paint a skull on Arya's cheek for el día de los muertos. She had closed her eyes for a moment after intense training and had fallen asleep before waking up with a painted face. Since then they had not left each other.
It is for this reason that she was at this moment in front of the back door of the bar. She had taken a break from cleaning the tables for Mama Welles. She liked to feel useful and the bar had become a second or third home for her. The graffiti-covered walls, some representing the Santa muerte or the dead heroes of the gang, did not attract her attention. Her eyes were focused on the polluted skies of Night City.
It was one of the things she missed the most, the ubiquitous nature and the animals for heaven's sake. This town lacked that magic she had always known. The old gods had been replaced by a single god. Her father had her baptized for her three years by Padre. This man was far from the image of a priest that she had. He poured a bottle of beer over her head and declared her baptized...
Her father had then given her a gold cross necklace that was far too extravagant but which she wore every day now that it was no longer lying around on the ground.
Even though Arya was lost in thought, she still kept her ears open. It was for this reason alone that she heard the whispers.
The voice came from an alley across from the bar. She was sure of it.
She generally avoided the alleys of night city because even if she knew how to fight, it didn't matter in front of a borg. She could not receive chrome because she was ten years old instead of twelve. Her mother had explained to her that she would get her brain port and her first eye system at this age. The other improvements would only come from the age of sixteen. She was anxious not to be defenseless anymore. Kill someone without chrome was manageable but monsters with Sandevistan or mantis blades were out of her reach.
In conclusion, she shouldn't have done what she was about to do, but slipped into the alley. She made sure to stay behind a trash can trying to ignore the pestilential smell that emanated from it.
A man was in telephone communication via his ocular system. He looked like a Valentino, garish in color, golden chains and excessive tattoos. Seeing those colors she could have walked away but her instincts were telling her not to move and to listen.
"No, no he doesn't know I have this fucking shard. This idiot thinks It was destroyed like the others. Yes I managed to hide it. He wasn't going to look in my underwear. "
Ew
"That's solid proof, with that Campo won't see the light of day again for a long time. Yes... still 40,000 eddies. The package will be at the delivery point."
Arya had heard enough. No one touched his family. she thought angrily. Not yet.
As the traitor had his back turned, she slowly crept up behind him.
"Crack"
She had stepped on a piece of glass. She looked at the man ready to launch, but he hadn't heard anything.
She would only have one chance to take him by surprise and without honor.
She kicked him hard in the crotch. The man moaned in pain and fell to his knees on the floor. She didn't wait for him to get up before giving her a sharp blow to the temple with the edge of her hand.
The man collapsed, unconscious.
She hadn't killed him. The punishment of a traitor was special for the valentinos.
She had a call to make so she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Holà papí, atrapé a un espía, Sì. Junto el coyote. Inconsciente. Hasta ahora" (Hello dad, I caught a spy, yes. Near el coyote. Unconscious. See you soon.)
Her mother was going to punish her for months.
Ten minutes later her father appeared and ran towards her accompanied by his subordinates and hugged her.
"Mi hija, are you hurt?"
"No he didn't touch me. But he has something that belongs to you."
Campo nodded, giving her a proud look before turning to her victim.
Arya would never know that in this video her father was beating and then executing a member of the 6th Street gang.
The cops were washing their hands of the gang wars but wouldn't hesitate to catch a big fish to bring back a popularity in the city, non-existent.
Her father escaped prison and she gained the respect of the gang.
Because she had taken a break behind a bar.