The thing with fancy curtains is that they are most likely made out of a thin and expensive fabric and, to be honest, those kinds of fabrics make poor curtains as they do not stop the morning sun from waking you up.

Liam had just opened his eyes but felt that he wanted to sleep a couple of hours more, but the sun did not let him. Curse this awful place and zone, everything had gone awry as soon as he put his foot in France.

Knock, knock, knock.

Who would be at the door this time in the morning he grumbled and yawned while pulling on his pants. As he was newly awake he did not feel the need to rush to the door and took his time getting dressed so he would be presentable. But as he was done the knocking had turned in to some sort of fist fight between door and knocker.

He had a sinking feeling that he had done something in his frustration the day before that prompted someone to be angry at his door. But he could not for his life think of anything, it should be him that vents his frustration on a wood door.

But now the situation was what it was and now he had too clear up the misunderstanding.

Now, Liam was usually a calm, level headed young boy but the world had made it clear to him that the world was not the same as him. So when the pounding at the door intensified he got angry.

“What do you think your doing, slum rat?” He almost screamed as he opened the door.

It felt good to let his anger out on someone. Even if that someones were two bigger men that did not look all that friendly. Liam's father had once said that if you started something you have to stay committed to that something, otherwise you would fail and people would judge you on that failure.

So, even though the two men looked a bit intimidating he started them down and waited for them to answer him.

The two men just stared back at him and the waiting game started, the first one to speak would lose and Liam was not about to give these goons any respect at all. One of the men nudged the other in the side with his elbow.

“Did you have a company by the name of Zoëy last night?”

Asked the one with a bald head and a very crooked nose. Like someone just had grabbed it and made a scramble of it. But the thing that made Liam feel uncomfortable was the tiny pig eyes and his raspy voice.

“I did, but I fail to see how that is a concern to you?” He proclaimed and felt brave but that was most likely only the anger of being questioned like this. And he had learned that being abrupt and unfriendly was the way the French zone worked so why not talk back to them in the same way?

“You see, we are not bad men but you have to understand that we can be if you want us too.” Said the other man that looked rather good. This was most likely the ugly one's boss and the one that made all the decisions.

The two men looked rather comical when Liam thought about it. One big and ugly man with shabby clothes and the other rather handsome and nicely dressed. Even if they clearly came from the slums.

“So gentlemen, are you going to explain why you're here at my door so early?” Liam asked and to make a point he only looked at the proper dressed one.

Both men just looked at him with a questioning expression and then at each other. What happened next shocked Liam and for a second he felt like he was flying. But as gravity is a sure thing he felt the floor hit him hard in the back.

It was a completely new sensation of having no air, being restrained and having something cold and sharp against his neck. Of course, he would be robbed here in Paris too, what had he expected when he woke up?

The ugly one had his hands in a firm grip and as Liam tried to move them he realized that his hands would break before the grip. And the other man sat crouching over him and gave him a wicked smile.

“There, there, I get that someone wants to be rough and try new stuff and all that but you have to understand that there is a limit to how much damage you can do to merchandise. Can't make money with selling broken plates, can you?”

Had he broken any plates yesterday? No, he didn't think so. Not even on that awful restaurant had he broken any plats what so over. But the men had asked if Zoëy had been there yesterday, so that girl had broken something then?

But why in the systems name would he be held accountable for what that girl did after she left his room, she even lied and said that he got drunk and passed out?

The sharp cold edge pushed harder against his throat and Liam tried to understand its purpose for being there.

“Do you get why we are here now, kid?”

Liam collected his thoughts and tried to understand what this was all about, he felt that the refined man wanted an answer from him. But the only thing he could think about was the sour smell of the man's breath and Liam did an adjustment of his assessment of the man, slum rat through and through.

“I do not remember anything getting broken, and if that distasteful girl did anything I can be held liable for that.”

His patient was getting thin but he made a big effort to remain calm as he would not gain anything from making these rats anymore agitated.

“Kid, are you right in the head?”

The ugly man asked and looked worried for some odd reason that Liam could not comprehend. But the refined man gave his partner the same worried look. This was a really odd experience for Liam and it felt like his playmates were not that sure about the whole thing either.

“Gentlemen, It's not me that has forced myself into another mans room and it's certainly not me that had wrestled that same man to the floor, so easy with the insults please.”

Both the men looked shocked over Liam's calm tone of voice, as did he. This was one of the moments that he showed them the class difference.

He, a refined young man from one of the good families could remain calm when the plebeians resorted to violence.

“Boss, are you sure that this is the right guy?”

The ugly one asked his partner who looked troubled with something. And it took him a while to gather his thoughts and Liam just patiently smiled at him and waited. Some people needed their time to be able to formulate a sentence and Liam would not judge anyone's hardships.

“This is room 1911, right?”

The refined man asked and Liam just answered with a shake of his head. It was all clear now that these two had gotten the wrong room, an honest mistake.

Once the ugly man had gone to the door and read the room number again he came back with an astonished look on his face.

“We are on the wrong floor, boss”

The refined man gave a sigh and got up from Liam and brushed off imaginary dust from his trousers. A habit he must have from being in dirty places all the time Liam thought and began to stand up.

“You have to excuse us, an honest mistake”

Said the ugly one as he pulled Liam to a more vertical position and slammed his back within a breathtakingly friendly fashion. And before Liam could say anything both of the men had left the room and closed the door again, gone as fast as they came.

One thing was sure, he would never stay a night more in this rotten city and he would take the first rail he could to the Danish zone. Surely not all the zones could be this full of madness and violence?

He went to pack his bags a quickly as he could and ignored the discrete knocks on his door, Liam would not open that door again for anyone. But when the discom told him that is breakfast was at the door he felt his stomach growling, he had not eaten anything since that soup yesterday.

Liam packed his bags and then opened the door hesitantly and there he saw a small boy with a wagon of slices of bread, cheeses, and fruits. A pure delight!

As he sat down on the balcony to fully enjoy his meal he could hear a scream from a couple of floors down, the odd thing was that the scream traveled farther and farther away from him.

The French and their odd morning routines!

“Damn it, Roger! I told you not to let go!”

Someone suddenly exclaimed from somewhere down below. Liam recognized the owner of that voice and that would be the refined hoodlum he had met this morning.

“Sorry boss, but what's done is done”

The ugly man said as to answer the other man and Liam figured they were doing something odd on the balcony somewhere below. And that was not something he would spare a moment's thought on, what's over is certainly over!