Duskwood Legends [English Version]

Game of Hearts.

I run down the stairs, behind Jessy's back.

"AND THE WINNER IS JESSY!" my friend exclaims, starting toward the bar counter.
"You just know how to CHEAT!" I point out and shake my head, laughing.
"Here we are, Phil" Jessy steps behind the counter to hug her brother, still intent on drying and dusting.

She must have missed him a lot during his detention, I think.
Although they have a mostly stormy relationship, you can tell a mile away how much they love each other.

"Thank you girls for being here to help me out". He leans his head against her sister's as he looks at me and smiles.

His way of staring at me insistently makes me really uncomfortable.

We start working right away, however. It's just after 6 pm when we finish cleaning the whole place.

There being three of us, we were really quick to clean, dust and arrange the drinks, bringing them from the warehouse to the back to the counter.

We even managed to help him update social media, announcing via stories and posts the upcoming reopening. Needless to say how many likes the various pages have received, I think all the youth of Duskwood has been waiting for this moment.

I see, however, comments written by some idiot, such as "Sorry, but weren't you in jail?" Or "I can't believe they released him, poor girls killed, there's no justice anymore" while another, "What are the police up to? He must have paid them to get released 🤷".

I grit my teeth in anger.
I see Phil shrug and laugh about it.

Not everyone can be so strong and ignore such petty opinions coming from his own fellow villagers. I deeply admire and respect him for not letting himself be demoralized and start again as if nothing had happened. I only hope that this bad reputation created by those incompetent police officers doesn't damage his business and, even worse, his private life.

"Let them talk, they'll only increase my popularity like this..." he chuckles, waving a hand in the air in a fake putting on airs.

I still feel the blood boiling in my veins.

I get on Instagram with my account and start writing a comment: <<How many distinguished criminologists we have here. Thank you so much, your comments will definitely bring justice to our community....>> I can't finish typing that Phil literally rips my phone out of my hands, deleting it.

"Forget it, it's not worth it. In a few days no one will remember it. It's fresh news...and people need to talk about something." He spreads his arms and tilts his head, showing me a forced smile. He locks the phone and places it back in my hands.
"Really, it's nothing," he concludes, shaking his head.

"I'd like to understand one thing, though. What did they arrest you for?" Jessy bursts in, sitting uncomfortably on the stool in front of the counter, addressing the two of us face to face.
"Just because there was a matchbox with the Aurora logo next to Amy's dead body?"
"Yeah, they thought that was enough to set me up, I assume." He answers her, crouching down and resting his elbows on the counter. He runs a hand through his hair, puffing, and then pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his jeans pocket and lights one.