The sun was sinking below the horizon, painting the Vice City sky in shades of orange and purple. The salty breeze blew in through the cabin's open balcony, gently rustling the cheap curtains Lucía had hung just three days ago. Four days. Only four damn days since she'd gotten out of that concrete cage filled with ridiculous women. And here she was now, a cold beer in her hand, her sandaled feet resting on the splintered wooden railing, and no guard yelling at her to get back in her cell.

Lucia took a long drink, letting out a contented sigh. The orange sleeveless T-shirt, stolen from a convenience store on her first day out of jail, clung lightly to her skin in the humid heat. The old shorts and worn sandals were all the luxury she needed. Her hair, pulled back in a messy ponytail, revealed the mole next to her nose, that "shit detail" that some stupid woman in prison had said gave her "the look of a street cat." How ridiculous.

Below, the waves crashed against the shore, a sound a thousand times better than the gates closing. There were no alarms, no screams from other inmates, nor that smell of rotten disinfectant that had been stuck in her nose for five years. Just the sea, her beer, and silence. Well, almost silence—some idiot on the beach turned up a radio at full volume, but for once in her life, Lucía didn't feel like fighting about it.

"Legal, huh?" she thought, biting the rim of the bottle with a wry smile. Of course she could try. Work at something boring, pay the rent on time, pretend she didn't know where to hide a body if necessary. But deep down, that tickling in her knuckles, the same ones that had broken noses and broken locks, reminded her that patience was never her strong suit.

A sharp knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Caminos! You know I haven't forgotten your three months of rent, I won't forgive you even if you were in prison!" Says the Rent collector

The beer bottle crunched in her hand

"Shit, really? Four days" she groaned, standing up lazily "Four fucking days of peace…"

Her sunglasses fell over her eyes with a quick gesture. If it was another fight they wanted, at least the collector knew she was smiling at him when she punched him in the face.