Episode 2

Santo's POV

I'm Rodrigo, but everyone in the hood knows me as Santo. I'm 25 years old, born and raised here in Penha, and I've never liked the way Metralha runs this hill. I've been working for the faction since I was a kid, learned everything I know from my close friends who, like me, aren't satisfied with the way Metralha is doing things. So we decided to make a move and take him out of power.

Today's the big day. We're finally going to take over Penha and put an end to Metralha and all the crap he's been pulling on the people here.

While I can be kind, those who know me don't call me "Morte" (Death) for nothing. The nickname is suggestive and very real.

I've been preparing to take over the hill for a long time. I want to be the owner of this whole thing, yeah, for the power—'cause I'm no fool—but also to give a better life to the people here. Metralha charges taxes on everything, doesn't protect the population, lets his men wreak havoc, and puts no limits on their brutality. With me and my men in control, things will change, oh, they will.

I'm here looking at Metralha's shack, which is not a shack at all, more like a damn mansion. We're going in with everything, guns blazing, no one gets out alive. Today, Morro da Penha will have a new owner, me.

And so it was. Me and my right-hand man, Jotape, led the soldiers who were also against Metralha. We stormed the place, all guns blazing. We already knew it was going to be a war, and that there would be casualties. The order was to leave no one alive. Anyone on Metralha's side was dead, but Metralha himself, I want him for myself. I want to make him pay for every single thing he took from me.

The absurd taxes he levied caused my father's small bar to close, pushing him into depression. He drowned himself in booze and drugs and one day, he committed suicide. To raise me, my mother turned to prostitution and ended up murdered by a client who didn't want to pay. Because of Metralha, I lost everything when I was only 12, and I'm going to collect on that debt.

It was years of living alone, having to fend for myself for food and clothes. I did things I'm ashamed of, others I'd rather not remember. Days and days just surviving.

I dropped out of school in high school. It was a drag to work all day and still have to study at night. I tried as hard as I could, but exhaustion got the best of me. Besides, getting involved in drug trafficking didn't make things any easier at school, so I decided it was better to leave than to keep dealing with those clowns who only knew how to judge me.

I only had one friend in this life, Jotape. He showed up one day to run some errands with me. We got chased by the cops, and he helped me hide. We've been inseparable ever since, I trust him with my life, and he feels the same.

Jotape and I have a pact: never involve kids in trafficking, and never do to the people what they did to us.

He lost his mother too, but it was to an overdose. He never knew who his father was, and like me, he was a child alone, since his younger sisters were adopted by wealthy families down in the fancy part of town. Being older, he wasn't chosen. Just another injustice on the list.

Jotape and I have a lot of scores to settle, but we didn't sit around feeling sorry for ourselves, complaining that we were wronged. We fought to ensure that no one would ever dare step on us again because if they try, they get lead.

As for the rest, I'm a simple guy. I like hanging out with friends, barbecues, pagode music, everything nice and easy. I don't like stuck-up people; they stress me out.

I love animals, especially my dog Mathias. I'm crazy about food; I eat like crazy. I think because I've been through hunger, I'm kind of crazy about it, but I work out hard so I don't turn into a tattooed meatball.

I'm a die-hard Flamengo fan, I love football.

In terms of relationships, I don't have any, and I don't want to have to get over anyone. I don't even have time for that.

Now, sex, that's another story. I don't go without, I hook up with whoever wants me and I'm into. I've done it all in bed; I've been to plenty of sex parties. Even fooled around with guys, just for kicks. Done it all.

But I've always made it clear that I'm not interested in relationships, let alone kids. I even got snipped. Had to threaten to blow the brains out of that Bolivian doctor wannabe, but he did the surgery, and it worked.

I don't want to bring any kids into this world. I'm not a good person; I'll never be a good father, and I would never condemn a child to live in this world. Of the few things I've gotten right in life, the vasectomy was one of them.

But getting back to the reason for my hate.

Metralha...

Wait for me, Metralha, the new owner of the hill is coming.

This is me: big, bad, and good-looking.

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