CHAPTER ONE
1999- Brooklyn Origins
“Eula!”
Somebody was yelling my name.
“Eula!”
I’d been dead to the world, fighting demons in my dreams, and wasn’t ready to resurface. Endless corridors, a search for something that had been stolen from me and copious amounts of blood- my sleep had not been easy but I did not feel like facing my waking reality.
My room was dark, the old wooden shutters firmly closed. I had no idea what time it was.
I heard my name again.
“EUUUUUUULA!!!! YO! OPEN YOUR WINDOW!”
I slowly opened my eyes, crawled out of bed and shuffled to the window. Pushed the ancient, creaky shutters away, hauled the screechy, warped frame up, gripped the rotting windowsill and peered down into the blinding daylight.
Mundo.
Doe.
Standing on the sidewalk on Halsey Street, looking like he was ready to put in work. Definitely looking like he was wondering why I was nowhere near ready to do the same. From the way the sun was hitting the street, I could tell it was somewhere around 2:30pm. It was an early summer day, but the humidity was already a physical presence. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit to waking up and getting on with it, but dealing with Mundo generally didn’t leave me with many options.
“Jesus, Doe,” I called down, “What time is it?”
“Time to get yourself out of bed and come do what needs to be done,” he shouted up at me.
"Okay, okay, gimme a minute!" I shouted back, my eye roll loud enough to hear.
Mundo had a set of keys to my apartment, but I didn’t bother asking him why he didn’t use them to let himself in. He tended to prefer a dramatic gesture over convenience.
I backed away from the window slowly, careful not to hit my head. I knew I had to get moving- apparently there was shit that needed handling. And that was not surprising- there was always shit that needed handling.
It might’ve sounded like Doe was barking, but that was just how he was.
I didn’t take it personal and I wasn’t scared at all—Mundo was my world.
