C3 It's Like Romeo and Juliet, Without The Romance

After laying out the rules, Walters called Sue to pick me up from her office and guide me to where I can get my books and uniform. My schedule won’t be available until the first day of school. I spent too much time there that I wasn’t able to go uptown Neutral and find a job. I went straight home instead, started cooking adobo for dinner while waiting for Annie. The school visit had me have some questions that I want to ask.

“Is that adobo that I smell?” Annie asked as soon as she entered the apartment. I smiled at here through the glass partition separating the kitchen to the doorway. “It is. You better freshen up so we can eat.”

After eating half our body weight in rice and adobo, I leaned back my chair, patting my tummy. “I went to school today. The principal specifically warned me about getting in trouble with the West Side. What does that mean?”

Annie took a drink of her water before answering me. “Well, this city has quite a history. We’re living at Neutral, which is between the West and East sides. It’s called Neutral because this town is neutral. We both accommodate people and business from both the East and West. Sure, those two sides have their own wealthy economies, they’re like a whole country themselves, but they still need some of the businesses and resources here in Neutral.

“Also, around I don’t know, hundred years ago? There was an agreement that Neutral will be like Switzerland. It is the only place that people from East and West can mingle without killing each other; the killing part is actually is not an exaggeration. Think about Romeo and Juliet but without the romance. That’s how East and West have been since forever; the controlling families of both sides actually fought for Neutral, but for some reason, the government intervened and made this place well, neutral. That’s probably why your principal told you to stay away from the west side.” Annie started clearing the plates, saying she’s going to do the dishes since I cooked.

I still got a lot of questions though, so I ended up helping her anyway. “So basically, it’s some wealthy families fighting each other because of something?”

“Not just some family. It’s the Cross and the Saint. The Cross’ controls the East, while the Saint’s control the West. There are some rumors though the Saint’s have some less than legal businesses…anyway, don’t concern yourself over the West side. Just stick to the Neutral and East, study hard, and graduate so you can get out of here and go to some fancy college.”