Keeping it Safe
Chapter One: The Death of a Gentleman
The day came sooner than we all expected - too soon. Kloppman, though old and wheezy, was always in fair shape and good spirits. When he had taken fever midwinter we had all assumed that he would recover as usual, no harm done. But the sickness persisted, leaving his twinkling eyes sunken into his hollow face, and his sallow skin hanging loosely off brittle bones.
Us boys of the Lodging House could do little more than brew him a few cups of tea and continue on our usual schedule, maybe leaving a kid or two behind to stay with him on the worse days.
But on a morning dawned dismal and gray the time arrived at last when old Kloppman would draw his final, shaking breath, and end his reign over the Lodging House. The residents of the house mourned as was appropriate, but other things were to be considered…
Kloppman had not named a successor.
For boys who would not go far in life, running the Lodging House was like a last hope, and a good one. A secure, ensured bed every night, money to spare, and many under you - no more walking the cobblestones with numb feet, little better than a beggar and about as miserable as one.
It would have taken but a few simple words from his deathbed, but it seemed fated that the one thing that Kloppman neglected would be the thing that set his beloved boys at each other's throats and the peaceful balance of living forever destroyed.
+
The trouble started before I even had a chance to catch my breath and wipe my eyes. Jack Kelly, the arrogant little bastard he always is, called together a 'meeting' with a select few of his cronies. They hadn't even gotten upstairs before some of the others began to protest.
"A meeting for what, Kelly?" Specs spat, his glasses off and eyes rimmed red.
"Who needs an explanation?" It was Racetrack who turned on the larger boy. "It's over your head, boy," he retorted. Specs fumed and Pie-eater came to his side.
"If this is about leadership than we all have a right to be present," he said quietly, eloquently. Jack looked the older boy up and down, then shrugged.
"Fine, come along then."
We - the older residents - retreated upstairs leaving the younger boys down, still with Kloppman. Kid Blink, ever trailing Jack, was left outside to act as a guard for the door. I paused by the window before sitting agreeably on the floor - the cloud cover was thicker than before, and the first spatters of rain were beginning to fall. We had been right to leave selling to the scabbers for the day.
Jack took one of the three chairs in the bunkroom, Racetrack and Mush the others. Pie-eater and Bumlets lounged on their bunks, Swifty, Specs and Dutchy joined me on the floor. I thought I could see Snitch and Itey lurking in the shadows, but I didn't pursue the thought.
"Kloppman is dead…" Jack began, floundering.
"And it is us who remain to pay the price." Pie-eater finished solemnly. Jack blinked up at him then nodded.
"Right."
"Why not just get this out?!" Mush looked away from flexing his arm, impatience clear on his face. "The old man is gone, the house needs a keeper, and we sure as hell ain't gonna hire someone outside when we've got plenty boys in here to fill the position!"
Jack nodded again. "We need a leader," he said plainly, and barely hesitated before adding, "And I think that leader should be me."
"What?! You're crazy!" Bumlets cried, Pie-eater shook his head and I could feel Swifty tense from beside me. There was murmur of unrest from the shadows as well. I shuddered and glanced to Racetrack, surprised to see him frowning hard.
"Whoa, Cowboy!" He said. "What makes you think you can just step up and take the reins like that?"
Swifty was the only one to crack a smile at this joke, and it went well with the malicious glitter in his eyes. I found myself shuddering again, and suddenly wondered what I was doing in this room, at this time. Surely I should be down, keeping an eye on the younger kids and mourning Kloppman, not here with a bunch of vicious cutthroats who thought only of petty power and petty profit. Of course leaving was no longer an option.
Cutthroats? Was that really the right word for these boys, a cheerful, trustworthy and ever joking group that had acted as brothers to me? I had grown up with the kids, going with them from scared, young, poor boys to cocky, older, poor boys. But all things in life call for a closer look. And as I sat in that cramped room, only half listening to the arguing, I found that it was here, in a moment of real trouble and decision, that each boy's true personality shone, brighter and uglier than before.
There was Bumlets, Bumlets with his smooth Spanish accent and perfectly styled hair, who laughed so heartily and smiled so widely with a mirth that never reached his eyes. No, his eyes were cold and harsh with no room for merriment.
And what of Racetrack, whose treachery ran as thick as his accent, or Pie-eater, wise beyond his years, diplomatic and calm, yet always calculating and manipulating? Of course the most obvious was Jack who was self absorbed and arrogant, but he was predictable. Worse was Swifty, Swifty with his quick smiles and quicker lies - one doesn't earn a nickname like 'the Rake' for nothing. Mush of course, laughing one second and pummeling you the next, picking a fight with anyone and everyone, not caring who.
I shook my head of the unwanted thoughts and focused back onto the discussion. It had progressed into yelling and insults and I felt a headache coming on. Pie-eater's level voice cut through it all, amazingly.
"Bumlets calm down, we can't even understand you… Race, stop spitting…" He sounded quite weary. "This will go nowhere if we can't even talk about it in a civilized manner."
"Civilized, hah! If we take the time to be civilized then we'll be homeless this time next week!"
"Yes, and still duking it out on the streets over a conflict that we'd long since lost the need for!" Pie-eater's soothing tone was considerably quieter than Racetrack's harsh retort.
"Who needs… need?" Mush muttered, but no one paid him any heed.
There was a momentary silence before Jack came in again.
"I still don't see why I can't just take it - you followed me in the strike, why not now?!"
"Oh, no one was passionate about that strike, not like you, Cowboy," Jake said bitterly from the floor behind me. "What else were we supposed to do but go along with what you said?"
"Besides," Dutchy continued for him. "That was a strike, an idea, something we followed because there would be a payoff - we could gain from it. This… this is our home."
"What, you don't think I'm capable?!" Jack said hotly.
"Jack…" Pie-eater tried to interrupt.
"You think Davey was just putting words in my mouth? You think I'm stupid?"
"No one ever-"
"Oh shut up!"
I winced as Pie-eater held up his hands in defeat and disappeared from sight on his bunk… without that shred of sanity there was no telling what this 'meeting' could dissolve into. Now not only had Jack pushed away our greatest asset, he had revealed his worst fears without any provocation. I began to have my doubts on how smart he really was.
"Why not take a vote?" Specs suggested meekly. A few people looked confused. "You know, over our next landlord," he continued.
"Aw gee, and here I just thought we were bartering over the price of fresh fish!" Racetrack shot. Specs looked hurt but stayed silent.
"I can see the results now," said a smooth voice to my left. Swifty had half of a mocking smirk lingering on his face. "Jack… one… Race… one… Bumlets… one…" He faced Specs and arched an eyebrow. "Specs… two." Both Specs and Dutchy blushed deeply and I heard a snigger from Mush's direction. I sat quite still, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. Unfortunately that was not an option.
"This one's been quiet. What do you think, Snoddy?" Swifty turned those awful glittering eyes upon me.
"He doesn't think, that's the problem," Racetrack said under his breath.
I opened my mouth to speak reluctantly but was saved the trouble as Snitch glided into view. He was like a cat, that one. Lithe, silent, and observant.
"Boys," he said, and his voice was silky, almost like a purr. "Compose yourselves. The younger ones need rest." He looked over to Pie-eater's silent form, added, "and support."
A few seconds later Kid Blink tentatively opened the door and looked to Jack for approval. Jack nodded and a small crowd of the younger boys herded themselves into the room. Some headed to the washroom, others straight for their bunks, but a great many gathered around Pie-eater, who had hopped to the floor and was speaking quieting, comforting words to them as usual.
I suddenly wished I was young enough to go and stand by his side, looking up at him like the steady, solid presence that he was… instead I had to pretend that I was fine, pretend that I needed no parent-like figure and could easily comfort and fend for myself. I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat and stood up, still feeling a strong need for reassurance, to be told that everything would be ok and that the Lodging House would exist as it always had. That we could go back to joking and laughing innocently, and selling together… and I wouldn't get all these thoughts and images of the true natures of my friends.
I collapsed readily into my own bed and stretched the cramps from my legs thoughtfully. The early darkness of winter had already set in when we had come up to this foul room, and I knew that now was truly time for bed. How many hours had we spent up here, arguing and arguing and yet gaining nothing? It was a pattern that was due to repeat if a solution wasn't found soon. I could hear Snipeshooter talking worriedly to Pie-eater.
"Pie, Boots says that we need someone to come and take Mr. Kloppman away because we can just leave him there and we can't bring him anywhere but Thorn says that anyone who comes will take the Lodging House away and then we'll be on the streets, he said it happened in Queens, Pie I don't want to leave and I don't want to go to Queens, but we can't just leave Mr. Kloppman we just can't! Snipeshooter's voice dissolved into sniffles. I found myself rolling over as to better hear Pie-eater's answer, but they had moved away and out of earshot.
I shifted into a more comfortable position and fell into a fitful sleep as the noise began to quiet down…
+
It was completely dark in the bunkroom when I was shaken awake by a strong hand. I groaned and was quieted, once my eyes had adjusted to the feeble glow of a stolen lantern from downstairs I saw that it was Pie-eater rousing me.
"Wha…?" I tried to form words without success, still groggy with sleep.
"Shh… come with me, put on some coat or something, it's pouring outside, slippery and freezing."
I nodded numbly and stood, the creaky wooden boards like ice beneath my feet. While there was no snow to remind us of the winter we lived in, the cold was bad enough for any amount of the white powder. I found two other, heavier shirts and pulled them on, shivering madly, then followed Pie-eater quietly out the door and down the stairs to the small room where Kloppman still lay. Bumlets, Mush, and Snitch were all there waiting.
"Took ya long enough, Snodd," Mush mumbled, obviously not fully awake himself. "Thought you was dead for a minute or so there."
"Two bodies would have been much harder to carry," Bumlets told me matter of factly. "So thanks for finally gracing us with your presence."
"Though it would have been nice to have an extra bed," Snitch said, a little wistfulness creeping into his voice. I ignored him.
"Wait - bodies? Moving bodies? What?!"
"That's right," Pie-eater said. "We're disposing of Kloppman - right now."
"I-what?!" I said again.
"Quiet down," Snitch hissed, cat-like again. "We woke you because you were strong, not because we wanted you to bring the Lodging House down around our heads!"
"Ok… ok…" I forced myself to calm down. Pie-eater squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.
"Alright," he said, moving ahead. "…let's go in."
I took the old man's legs, careful to avoid looking directly at him. Snitch opened and closed doors quietly behind us as we moved out.
"Where exactly are we putting this here body?" I asked Snitch as we emerged into the fresh air. He winced against the biting rain and then told me simply:
"We're just the middlemen, bringing him to Swifty… he'll… he said he'd take care of the rest?"
"Swifty? But he's in the Lodging House!" I protested.
"Nah, he left after you knocked yourself out," Bumlets said from one side.
"The important thing is that you keep quiet tomorrow and agree with whatever I say," Pie-eater reminded me from his station at Kloppman's shoulders and head. "No matter what happens tonight."
The other two nodded and murmured their agreement and I had a feeling that they had heard the warning before.
Snitch disappeared ahead, presumably to scout for any prying eyes or unwanted visitors. It was very dark and the rain covered up both sound and smell, but caution would not be regretted in a city where shadows moved and walls talked.
How long we walked, I'm not sure, it was hard to gauge with no moon and no conversation to pass the time. I was freezing and half asleep on my feet, my arms aching from carrying Kloppman's own limbs.
At last Snitch returned from one of his excursions to motion us into a narrow alley. We pivoted in and then entered a low door set in the wall a few yards down.
We got through with some difficulty and I was surprised at the scene which unfolded.
All loud talking and betting ceased as we entered, and Swifty stood up from his place at a half-rotten table across from the door. He put down his cards and the girl on his lap and came immediately to meet us.
The door had opened into a fair sized room, alive with all breeds of creatures of the night. The thick stone was of the walls was moldy and dripping with moisture, there were several leaks as well. All in all, not a place where I would opt to spend my time, though I wasn't shocked to see Swifty right at home in the thick of it. Swifty showed no expression as he greeted us.
"It's about time," he said dryly.
"Yeah, well, we had to get this one up," Mush said, freeing one hand to jerk his thumb at me.
"And we had to take a detour around sixteenth," Snitch added. So that was why it had taken so long.
Swifty ignored them both and continued to talk to Pie-eater. Snitch immediately made himself scarce.
"Is there anything on him? No small coins?" He asked quickly. Pie-eater winced.
"I didn't check, I doubt it."
"There isn't," Snitch said as he came back looking grim. Swifty nodded, satisfied.
"Alright. Bring him over here… just set him on the floor there."
I dropped Kloppman with the rest and stood straight. A chill ran down my spine as I felt a cool hand on my shoulder, then running through my hair.
"Hey cutie, what are you doing here?" A light voice cooed softly from behind me.
"Leave him alone, Elizabeth," Swifty said boredly, not even turning from his conversation with Pie-eater. "He's not interested."
Elizabeth dropped her hand and came around to my front, looking me up and down. She was of medium height, skinny with long matted brown hair. Her blue eyes seemed cloudy and listless despite a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She took a step forward and boldly grabbed the front of my shirt, tugging me closer and to eye level.
"Come on, big boy," she said huskily. "Don't think you can take it?"
I watched her tongue run over her lips, completely at a loss for words, and then jumped back as Swifty pulled the girl off me. He spun her around and backhanded her viciously.
"I thought I told you to stay away!" He yelled, then slammed her into a table and turned his back, seething. Elizabeth choked back a sob and I stared, then shivered again and looked to Mush, whose mouth and eyes were wide open. The silence that had reigned with Swifty's wrath hadn't lasted long, nobody seemed to really care or think it was anything out of the ordinary. Another woman with shockingly red hair and a full body was snickering, but no other emotion was shown.
"So you'll be back by tomorrow?" Pie-eater was asking.
"Dunno. Maybe?"
"You should be… Jack's probably going to start lobbying for leadership again."
"Ah yes. Hell though, I don't care about that whole deal. And there's no one to warm my bed for me at the Lodging House."
I noticed then his grip around a different girl. I saw that she was the one that was on his lap before. She peered lovingly up at him through curtains of lush blonde hair, and I felt sick to my stomach. Did Swifty use and abuse her, too? I looked to Pie-eater, who was still focused on Swifty, and shrugging.
"I know, but if-"
"Yeah, yeah… I don't want Jack getting the position, you don't have to remind me. God I hate that bastard… I'll still help you, don't worry."
Pie-eater looked slightly relieved and I frowned. Did this mean Swifty was going to help him secure the position of landlord? As much as I wanted Pie-eater to be the lucky one, I felt uneasy about him running with the likes of Swifty. But it wasn't my place to say anything.
"You all ready?" Pie-eater was turned to us now. "We should head back."
We followed him silently outside, where it was still raining.
"Somehow," Pie-eater said once he had shut the door. "It seemed a lot colder in there than it is out here."
I thought that summed it all up pretty well.
-
Author's Note:
This is actually the beginning of a story I wrote back in July, while I was at my sister's college freshmen orientation. I've been thinking about picking it up again, because several character relationships are already developed (there's about two more chapters already written) and I've been in the mood to jump into the middle of something, rather than the beginning, lately. Anyway, please review, because it makes me happy. I'm going to go make some toast. -Kez