"Morning, Catalina!"
"Morning!"
On his way to work, León happened to run into another waitress from the café, Catalina Ferrer!
The two greeted each other with a smile and went in to work together.
Catalina Ferrer was a Barcelonesa born and bred. Her family was ordinary, and she worked part-time at the café. She had started a few days before León. She was nineteen and very beautiful.
Even an ordinary waitress's uniform couldn't hide the air she carried about her.
A kind of cool aloofness, the air of a strong woman in the making.
Of everyone in the café, she was the one León got on with best!
After all, they were both new, and she was a pretty girl. On top of that, León had a soul from a later era, and with his high emotional intelligence he often coaxed her into laughing.
The two of them went in together, tidied up and started the day's work. Soon it was dinnertime. A flood of customers poured in, and León was kept busy.
Just then, León noticed three men swaggering in through the door in loud patterned shirts, hair parted in the middle, tattoos showing, strutting like they owned the place!
León was no stranger to that look.
Gangland chancers!
And by the look of them, the lowest rung: foot soldiers!
In Barcelona, the criminal factions had become part and parcel of society as a whole.
The black-market estraperlo networks ran everything from food to cigarettes, and at the bottom of that structure were the men who collected payments from businesses and kept order in their territory.
No one could touch them at all!
And a faction was no charity; it took money to keep so many young lads.
Smuggling, gambling dens, black-market goods and protection rackets were all ways they made their profits, and of course those were the higher-level ones.
For ordinary foot soldiers like these, the job was collecting protection money from businesses.
Seeing the three of them come in, the café owner, well used to it by now, took an envelope out from under the counter and handed it over.
The leading chancer opened it, glanced inside and nodded with satisfaction.
Just as he was about to leave, his eyes suddenly lit up: he saw Catalina Ferrer coming out of the back kitchen with a pot of coffee.
"Well now, old Puig, taking on new staff again?"
"Such a pretty girl. Is she still a young one, like?"
The leader walked towards Catalina with a grin, and the owner's face turned very sour.
"Tomás el Podrido, I've already paid the protection money. Don't cause trouble here!"
But Tomás el Podrido waved a careless hand and said, "Relax, relax!"
He planted himself in front of Catalina and said, "Gorgeous, have you a boyfriend? Get to know me! They call me Tomás el Podrido, or you can call me Big Tomás!"
Seeing the leering looks of the three chancers, Catalina's pretty face went pale. She took a step back and said angrily, "Get lost!"
"Ooh, the girl's got a temper! But I like that!"
With that, Tomás el Podrido stuck out his grubby paw and grabbed Catalina's hand.
Seeing this, none of the customers in the café interfered; they minded their own business. Some even watched the show with interest and sniggered.
And the owner didn't come out to stop it either; his face just looked sour.
León glanced at the owner. After working here a few days, he knew the man was a coward who didn't dare make trouble. But León couldn't be like that.
He believed that in public like this, Tomás el Podrido couldn't go too far.
But he couldn't just stand and watch Catalina being groped.
León stepped forward, took Catalina's arm, pulled her back and blocked Tomás el Podrido.
"That's enough. Don't cause trouble!"
Staring at Tomás el Podrido, León said evenly.
Several years in the Wehrmacht, and he had walked the battlefield in the Civil War. Even though León's expression was calm and he did nothing else,
the commanding presence he carried made Tomás el Podrido's face freeze.
Then, as soon as he recovered, he felt he'd been shown up and was furious. He glared at León and swore:
"Boy, do you want to die?"
"This is a café. If you're not eating, leave," León replied coldly.
He didn't want more trouble, but this chaotic society would never let you live a quiet life, and honest people only got walked on.
Christ, a bleeding waiter this cocky!
If he didn't bring this lad to heel and make him kneel and apologise, Tomás el Podrido would never be able to collect protection money round here again.
His own lads would look down on him.
"Shite! Do him for me!"
Tomás el Podrido gave the order, and the two lads stepped straight forward!
One of them went to grab León by the collar, but before he could!
León moved first, stepped in, threw him over his back and slammed him onto the floor!
"Crash!"
He landed flat on his back with a heavy thud!
The lad's face went red, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head!
Then León kicked out on the diagonal, so fast there was no time to react.
The other lad felt as if a boulder had hit him in the chest. His body spun, and he flew four or five metres, smashing through several tables.
The pain left him curled on the floor like a prawn, clutching his stomach, snot and tears running, spewing up his breakfast.
"Whoa!"
The café was in uproar. Everyone got up and backed well away, staring at León in astonishment.
Nobody had expected this handsome lad to be so dangerous, taking down two gangland chancers with ease.
Behind León, Catalina covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes full of delight.
She'd been worried whether León could handle three chancers!
Only now did she realise she'd been worrying for nothing. He was that good a fighter!
On the other side, Tomás el Podrido saw his two lads wiped out in the blink of an eye, and panic hit him.
He knew he'd run into a hard case!
But he couldn't bring himself to back down now, and he pulled a navaja from behind his back.
"Boy, you can fight all right!"
"Your ma's a whore, believe it or not I'll hack you to death!"
Having absorbed the original soul of the body's owner, León's character had also changed a good deal. After all, he was a man who had been through a war.
Seeing Tomás el Podrido pull the navaja, León's eyes turned cold.
Tomás el Podrido was stunned for a moment, because he saw a powerful killing intent in the eyes of the lad in front of him. It was like being stared down by a tiger, and that look frightened him.
He felt a flicker of cowardice, but the next second he grew even angrier. Being frightened by a waiter; how humiliating.
"Boy, you dare look at me like that!"
"You're asking for it!"
In his rage, Tomás el Podrido slashed at León!
"Crack!"
But before Tomás el Podrido could cut him, León moved, caught his wrist and twisted it savagely!
"Argh!"
Tomás el Podrido's face twisted in pain, and the navaja fell to the floor.
León's other hand clenched into a fist and struck him on the chin.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, along with several teeth!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A savage beating left Tomás el Podrido bleeding from the nose and mouth.
He struggled at first, but after a few punches he collapsed completely to the floor like a dead dog, out cold.
Catalina hurried over to hold León back!
"León, stop, you'll kill him like that!"