Early in the morning, the sun shone into the room and fell on a tangle of black hair.
The duvet had slipped off, revealing perfect curves of pale white skin.
Catalina Ferrer was only nineteen, at the age of full bloom, a beauty that was hard to resist.
Thinking of the madness of last night, Catalina's face went even redder. She didn't know what had come over her; she had given in to León half-heartedly.
Perhaps, from the moment she invited León to stay with her, she had already been ready!
After all, in her eyes León was young, handsome, funny, and most importantly, responsible.
She'd had a good impression of him from the start, and after the fright those chancers gave her yesterday, it had got even further out of hand.
"What are you going to do next?"
It was already nine in the morning, and the two shameless young people were still lying in bed after their morning exercise. They were both out of work anyway, so there was no hurry to get up.
He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag and pulled Catalina into his arms.
"I'm going to keep studying!" Catalina said softly, limp, her eyes hazy.
"That's great. Study and you've a future; you'll find a decent job later on!" León nodded and asked, "What are you planning to study?"
Hearing León agree with her, Catalina perked up.
"I want to study law and become a lawyer, but my parents won't support me, so I have to work part-time to pay the fees."
Catalina said slowly. She was from the country, from a family of many girls; she had three older sisters.
Her parents thought school was wasted on a girl and wanted her out working, but Catalina had the makings of a strong woman and didn't accept her lot like her three older sisters.
Instead she worked part-time to earn money and went to school at the same time.
"And I don't like the name my parents gave me, so I'm going to change it today."
"I've already thought of a new name!"
"Eva Ferrer!"
Hm?
Eva Ferrer?
León had been listening to her story with a faint smile on his lips, but when he heard the name Eva Ferrer, he froze.
He sat bolt upright, staring straight at her.
León didn't know whether an Eva Ferrer had existed in his past life, but he clearly remembered the name from a Spanish documentary he'd once watched.
Eva Ferrer!
And she was a female lawyer — one of the first women judges in Barcelona!
Her heroic spirit and strong-woman presence had left a deep impression on León.
Looking back now, the Catalina in front of him really was exactly like that Eva Ferrer!
"What the hell is going on here?"
León was a little confused. He'd thought he had crossed into the real Barcelona of decades ago, but now it seemed to overlap with things he'd seen and read.
And Eva, seeing León staring at her, let her voice trail off, as if she guessed what León was about to do.
Instead of refusing, she buried her head under the duvet.
"Never mind, what's there to think about!"
"Just go for it!"
León didn't want to think about it any more; he'd explore it slowly later! He pulled off the duvet and jumped in again.
"Go easy, I'm still a bit sore!"
…
The port district was one of the liveliest places in Barceloneta. When night came, the bars and small dance halls were buzzing.
The bustling crowds were full of extravagance and swagger.
But tonight the whole port district was strangely different, even a little chilly.
Groups of gangland chancers were walking towards each end of the street, two or three hundred on each side.
All of them looked vicious, with navajas, sticks and other weapons in hand, and the atmosphere was very tense.
And León, holding a steel pipe half a metre long, stood behind the crowd, watching quietly, very calm.
He was here to make money!
This was a feud between factions. Of course, whether it would actually come to a fight was uncertain!
Among these hundreds of people there weren't many real faction members. Most were hangers-on, plus "hired hands" like León.
The turn-up fee was five hundred pesetas a head, and if there was a fight, another five hundred on top.
This was already the third one León had joined. It seemed easy money: you stood at the back for a while and got paid.
Because both sides usually only shouted, the chance of a real fight was very small.
The first two had come to nothing; the two sides just shouted and finally reached a peaceful settlement.
But this time, the bosses on both sides didn't seem to be having a pleasant chat!
"León, something's not right! It's not going to really kick off, is it!"
Beside León, a short young man said in a low voice.
His name was Paco, and because his mouth was a bit big, he was nicknamed Big Mouth Paco.
"Don't panic, just stay at the back. Nobody's going to bother us," León said.
They were small fry at most. If the other side wanted to kill anyone, they'd go for the bosses!
Sure enough, the two sides really fell out.
He heard the boss on his side shout: "Lads, fight to the death, victory is ours!"
And the other boss shouted too: "At them!"
In an instant, more than five hundred people from both sides were fighting, and the scene was utter chaos.
And what hadn't León seen before?
Compared with artillery fire and flesh and blood flying on a battlefield, this was nothing.
León simply waited until both sides had just about fought themselves out and the Guardia Civil finally arrived at the end, then collected his thousand pesetas and left.
However, something unexpected happened. A Ribes gang lad, who'd been beaten about and didn't know where he was going, came running right up beside León.
The two looked at each other.
"Looks a bit familiar!" León was taken aback!
"It's this little bastard! I've finally found him!" The fella opposite was overjoyed.
León didn't recognise him, but he had a deep memory of León; he'd have known him even burnt to ashes!
He turned his head and shouted behind him: "Boss, I've found him, it's the little scumbag who wrecked Big Tomás!"
What the hell!
León swore at the fella's mother in his heart, and finally remembered who he was.
Wasn't this one of Tomás el Podrido's lads from a few days ago!
The one León had kicked across the room!
No wonder he looked familiar!
That's right, Tomás el Podrido was Ribes gang! What a mess!
And this lad was very excited to see León. Last time, going to collect protection money with Tomás el Podrido, he'd been humiliated.
Put down by one man on his own, and Tomás el Podrido still lying in hospital! Now he'd finally found his chance for revenge.
Just as he turned his head to call for backup, a dark shadow flashed right in front of him.
"Crack!"
With a dull sound, the world spun, and a steel pipe smashed straight into his face.
Blood poured from his mouth, his teeth were shattered, half his face swelled up, his eyes glazed over; he was completely stunned, unable even to cry out in pain.
"In a fight with blades out! How dare you turn the back of your head to the enemy?"
"There's something wrong with you!"
León shook his head. He'd planned to coast the whole way, but unfortunately this fella had spotted him!