Mya and the others watched the woman go with pity in their eyes until the foreman turned around and barked at them,
“And the lot of you, if you want to be paid, get back to work.”
After that, the rest of the afternoon went along without incident. The company served lunch: some kind of stew and water, and then they resumed work until the sun touched the building roofs in the west. That was when the whistle sounded once more with a TWEET, and they all stopped their work.
Mya lined up once again with the others to receive their wage. Getting to the front of the line, she stuck out her hand, and the Forman dropped four square bills into it, a brown colour like mud. These bills had the image of an ornate-looking shield printed on one side and an image of a great tree on the other side.
Quickly sticking these bills into her pocket, she turned and left, retracing her steps from the morning back towards the house. She wove through the streets along with the crowds as they all headed back into the slums. On the other side of the street, a crowd went the other way, returning from the docs.
Ducking into her alley and down the stone steps, she opened the door and entered the small basement room. Inside, Lily and Devlin were chattering away about some game they had played earlier that day. On the bed, looking like he hadn't moved all day, sat Even, carving away at some scrap piece of wood with his knife.
Upon her entering, he looked up at her, shrugged, and went back to carving. Deviln and Lily came over to her and began pestering her.
Seeing this familiar scene, she smiled, thinking that even if they didn't have much, at least they had a family.
Then the door was kicked open with a BANG! Three large men burst into the room armed with clubs and quickly scanned it. Each man had a tattoo of a dog bearing its fangs on their left hand and wore both rings and chains made of some silvery metal. Locking onto Even with their eyes, the man in front, who seemed to be the leader, spoke.
“There's the fucking brat, grab him. Break an arm if you need to.”
As the two men behind him moved into the room towards Even, Lily wailed in fear.
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“Shut her up,” commanded the leader. One of his goons raised his club to strike the girl. Mya, without thinking, dove sideways around the man and shielded Lily from the blow, taking it across the back instead.
“Stupid bitch” the goon said, raising his free hand and slapping her across the face; one of the rings he wore cut into her cheek, and she tasted a metallic liquid on her tongue.
Grimising through the pain, she cupped a hand over both the young children's faces and shushed them till they grew silent.
The goons ignored her, and the children turned back towards Even, who had dropped his knife and raised his hands. However, the men didn't seem to care and flipped the bed he was on, threw the mattress against the wall, then gave him a few whacks with their clubs until their leader spoke up again.
“Alright, kid. " He started in a guff tone, “Where's the Authority? You stole it using our information, and we were willing to pay you for it. However, you and your friends pulled a fast one on us, and that can't happen.”
“I don't know,” Even spat in reply. “They ran off with it and left me behind to take the fall.”
The man motioned for one of the two goons to hold him up, “If you don’t know, perhaps a night with our dogs may encourage you to talk.”
He then turned to the table and swung with his club, shattering it into pieces, turning to the other goon, he said,
“Check the place.” After he said this, the man went around breaking off cupboard doors and smashing things he found. When he arrived at the wallet stash, he sneered and grabbed all the money there, placing it in his pockets.
“Nothin' here, boss.” He told the leader.
“Well then, grab him,” The boss replied.
The two men picked him up by the arms and dragged Even out the door and up the steps; Mya, checking on the two little ones and, seeing they were just scared, followed them.
Coming up the stairs after them, she watched helplessly as Even was dragged down the alleyway and onto the street.
Going back inside and locking the door, she continued trying to soothe the two younger ones until there was a knock at the door. Knowing that refusing entry would just have their door broken down she went over and cautiously opened it.
On the other side, two military officers stood in distinct forest green uniforms.
“We need to speak to the boy named Even.” One of them told her before glancing inside and seeing the destroyed room.
“He's gone.” Mya told them, “Taken a few minutes ago by some gangsters.”
“Shit.” One of the officers muttered under his breath before addressing her again,” Do you know who it was?”
“The dogs, at least that's what their tattoos were,” Mya replied.
At her words the two officers looked at each other, then back to her.
“Thank you for your time, Miss,” one of them said before they both turned and quickly walked away.
After the officers left, Mya once again locked the door and sat in a heap on the floor, softly running her hand through both the children's hair.
“It's all okay; it's going to be okay,” she said more to herself than to them. Looking around the room, however, she knew it didn't look good. They could repair the table simply enough, and the bed wasn't damaged, but the cupboards and drawers would cost them. And worst of all, the money they had been saving was all gone, taken by that goon.