Jackie Welles, despite being only twenty, was drinking a soda at El Coyote Cojo, his gaze fixed blankly on the wall while the background noise tried to pull him out of his stupor.
It felt surreal— that bastard was gone.
Just when he had been about to stand up to him, to show him he was no longer the strongest man in the house, that he would never hurt them again, that the belt would never be raised in his hands again…
They killed him in some random alley, dead drunk.
And even so, it still felt like too dignified a death for a man like that.
All that rage and determination he had built up? It was like punching foam with all his strength.
When some Valentinos showed them the video of the death as proof, neither he nor his mother felt sorrow—only an overwhelming sense of relief that was followed by a party.
Well, maybe he was the one who threw the party. His mother had too much conscience to act like that.
"Jackie, everything good?" Pepe approached his boss's son with a plate in his hands. "You've been staring at the same stain on the wall for an hour."
"I was thinking about what kind of paint we could use to…" he made a circular motion with his index finger around the place, "you know, freshen the place up a bit. It's been needing maintenance for a while."
Now they had money to fix the place up—why not?
"A warmer color could work," Pepe commented as he set the plate down on Jackie's table. "But I'm not about to make that call for Mama Welles."
He wanted to keep his job, thank you very much!
"You're not the only one!" Jackie chuckled softly as he looked at the plate. "What's this? I didn't order anything, mano."
Though it smelled amazing!
"Remember that girl, Misty? She stopped by a few days ago to say hi and brought some potatoes for Mama Welles." He pointed at the plate. "She told me that next time you came by, I should treat you to a dish so you could try them."
Ah, Jackie remembered her. She had scared the hell out of him the first time he saw her.
She had been sleeping in the storage room, and when he went in to grab some bottles to help his mother set up the bar, he didn't see her and tripped over her.
His right cheek had hurt for the whole week…
"That girl's got fire in her heart," Jackie nodded, feeling his appetite kick in.
He grabbed a couple of potato wedges and popped them into his mouth.
"Yeah, she's good people…" Pepe agreed. "You know who she's with now, right? Well, she said that if Mama Welles wants, she could 'pull some strings'"—he made air quotes with his fingers—"so the bar could get organic ingredients at ridiculously low prices."
"Wait," Jackie froze mid-chew. "These are real potatoes?"
No wonder—they were the best he'd ever had!
Nothing like those food-print 3D potatoes.
No, that wasn't the point.
"I thought she ran off with the ripperdoc?" Jackie looked at Pepe, confused. "Since when does Vik have connections for organic produce?"
"You didn't hear?" Pepe shot him a surprised look. "She's under the protection of a big shot in Night City now—someone even you would know!"
Jackie felt confused.
He didn't know Misty that well, but from what he remembered, she didn't seem to have any particularly outstanding talent or ability that would earn her the protection of a major player in the city.
"Don't leave me hanging—spill it!"
Pepe glanced around. Everything was calm—there weren't many people, and those who were there had already been served.
"Alright, this is gonna blow your mind!"
…
When Pepe went back to the bar a while later, Jackie was sitting there with his mouth wide open, trying to process everything he'd just heard.
Was this for real?
The girl who had been sleeping in the bar's storage room… was now with that guy?
The same one who wiped out Maelstrom and the Animals because they pissed him off?
The Night City Druid?!
And if what Pepe said was true (and he trusted he wouldn't joke about something like that), judging by the girl's new antlers… it looked like Misty was learning that weird kind of voodoo magic?
So that thing could be taught?
Did it have something to do with that huge uproar out in the Badlands?
"Still… that druid seems like a good guy, right?" he thought as he ate another potato.
Several kidnapped kids from the area had been rescued by him, and he had even handed out that strange concoction that turned the streets of Heywood green. Taking care of those plants had almost become a habit for everyone.
Before, only corpos with luxury penthouses had anything green in their gardens.
He remembered seeing Padre personally handing out each vial like it was holy water in the streets—though maybe it worked the same way, in a sense…
Jackie was happy for Misty!
At the same time, another thought began to take root in his mind.
"I should go see her," he glanced at the half-eaten plate of potatoes. "We're definitely getting real food for the bar, so it makes sense to go there in person to negotiate, right?"
He tossed another potato into his mouth.
And if, by chance, they happened to be recruiting people for some jobs…
Well, he wasn't going to say no to making a little extra money.
Besides, Padre had already passed the word around the Valentinos a while back—stay on good terms with that guy and his people. From what he knew, even the Mox seemed to be extending an olive branch.
He was a friendly guy—he loved making friends!
Maybe… could he become something like Misty too?