Chapter 3
How Long Does It Take To Hit the Ground?
Life with Bert was never easy. I grew up with him throwing poker and drinking parties. Our apartment always smelt like smoke, gas, and alcohol. I despised that man. He's broken more laws than my real dad even and the government let him get away with it. All because they didn't want me to meet my real parents. Bert had everything done for him. The government payed for our apartment every month. They payed for my medical expenses, our crummy food, Bert's cigarettes and beer. He didn't have a job. And anything he wanted he got. But anything I wanted, I had to earn. Bert always told me if misbehaved, he'd take away my allowance, make me go to bed without supper, or suspend my TV time. What allowance? All the money I had I earned. I have a job as a performer in one of Maroni's clubs. And the supper, I was out with my other performers every night either out to dinner or making music videos to promote the club. And TV time? He must've meant his little tacky TV in the living room. My job gave me the money to buy my own laptop, PSP, HD Flat screen, and multiple phones (I always experiment with explosions, and cell phones make brilliant detonators).
But that aside, I got around pretty well. Whenever Bert was angry, or really drunk, or a mixture of the two, he'd beat me into the hospital. He's done things that would've easily been called child abuse, or maybe even homicide, but the government always let him get away with it. He had a crack supply once that the police found, and still he didn't even get a citation. But I stayed out of that place a lot. Staying the night at my friend Storms house, dancing the night away at Maroni's club, or just chilling out in the ER or Arkham. I have to say that the nurses and doctors at the ER where probably the nicest ones to me growing up. I had my own room there, and they expected me to come, even if they had just released me.
There's a big difference between the ER an Arkham. The people are way nicer at the ER, and the food is way better also. At Arkham, they look at you like your some sort of misbehaving mutt. They stick their noses up at you. I think working there makes them feel good. That everything around them is not half as important as they are. They don't show you any kindness in my wing. Even though I had never really done anything wrong, I still somehow managed to rank as C Block prisoner. The same as all of Gotham's finest criminals. Poison Ivy, Jonathan Crane (the Scarecrow), The Mad Hatter, and Harvey Two-Face. I got to meet them all. Save the Joker. They never let me meet him, mainly because sometimes he was kept in solitary confinement. But on the rare days we did get to be in the cafeteria or Rec. Room together, the guards always made sure we were on opposite sides of the room at all times.
I nearly broke my neck dozens of times straining to get a look at him. Even though we was the most notorious and evil villain in Gotham, he was my hero. I looked up to him. Literally. In my bedroom in Bert's apartment, it looked like a normal teenage girl's room. Posters of pleasant things covered my walls and billboard like plastic covers on a couch. But when the door shut, and I was alone, (which was often) I would reveal what was on the back of those posters. News paper articles and pictures of Harley Quinn and The Joker shared the space on my roof. My other walls were about the other villains of Gotham, and the back of my closet doors were about the Bat Brats.
But I had my entire billboard devoted to the Harlequinade. Mostly on Columbine. He fascinated me. He was so young, and yet he was just as bad as all my other friends at Arkham. Plus he had power to control over all the Harlequinade, even Pant-a-loon, an others older than he was. I discovered many things about the Harlequinade. Like the fact that there's always 69 members, no matter what. And the ever popular rumor of the Harlequinade House. A place where the entire Harlequinade lives and plots. The police rid off this rumor to calm the public, but I always believed it existed.
After that night in the hotel, I couldn't stop thinking about Columbine. I had followed him for a while, nobody knew anything about him. They simply knew him as dangerous. And he liked that. The cops didn't know his name, his age, where he lived or anything. I had information about him that they didn't. He was only a year older than I was. He was Italian, like most villains in this town. Then unimportant things like how we have our hair parted on the same side, he likes to blare music whenever he works, that fact is known by everyone in Gotham, but they don't know that I actually like the music he plays. And just other small things that wouldn't matter to the police. But somehow they mattered to me.
He somehow mattered a lot to me. And how could I ever forget the night he found that out too.
Flashback
I was sitting in my room on my bed. I was off tonight from the club, so I was checking off banks that had been robbed lately with my highlighters. My phone vibrated, so I picked it up. My friend Storm had just texted me saying she just saw the bat symbol go up. Right when I read that, the TV flashed to a breaking news report. I was on the edge of my bed when I saw who Robin was fighting. The anchor-man's voice narrated. "This is a clip from just now," I lost track of what he was saying after that. Columbine was being backed into a ledge by Robin, Batman and a bunch of cops. The camera view was from a helicopter. Columbine and Robin were standing on a ledge, and I saw Columbine look down. I became terrified because I knew what he was thinking. He looked back to Robin, smiled, and jumped off the building.
I gasped and started tearing up. Because there was nothing for him to land on. The anchor-man's voice seemed relieved, "And now were certain that the notorious criminal known as Columbine, is dead. I mean look at that fall! There's no way he could've survived that." I paused the TV. And finally I couldn't hold it in anymore. I broke down, almost to shocked to cry.
"ROSE! What's going on in there! Why are you crying!" Bert yelled.
"Shut it Bert! I'm,... I'm watching Titanic! Just,... shut up!" I sobbed. I was crying uncontrollably now.
"You know, your a lot more upset than I thought you'd be." a voice said.
Shocked, I turned to my window. Columbine sat in my window frame, he was pretty beat up, but he was actually there! I was to stunned to speak, so I just ran up and hugged him. "How in the world!"
He unfolded his hand, "Invisible string," he explained. He had set up a net of it. I held it, "Of course." I said. The wonders of duct tape and invisible was one of the things we talked about. I punched him a few times, "Don't you ever do that to me again! You had me worried sick! I thought you were dead!"
"Ok, ok, OW! I'm sorry," he said. We both paused, "Whoa," we both said. "Did I just say I was sorry?" he asked. I was just as shocked as he was. "Yeah you did," I said. "Wowwww,".
We were both thinking the same thing. He hadn't said he was sorry for anything in years. "How do you do that?" he exclaimed. "Do what?" I asked getting defensive, I haven't done anything. "How do you make be all, ugh... you know!" he growled. "Gee, thanks for being clear. I totally understand what you mean now." I said sarcastically. "You make me act all, …. Good. STOP IT! I HAVE A REP TO UPHOLD!" he staggered back after that, that's when I realized that he was really hurt.
"Come here dummy." I walked into my bathroom and pulled out the first aid kit. I'd had plenty of wounds like this before so I knew exactly what to do. I love it how even though he was one of the most feared villains in Gotham, he still acted like a child with a skint knee while I was playing doctor. "Stop it! It stings!" he wailed. "It's hydrogen peroxide! And just wait a minute." He did, reluctantly. Then the looked on his faced eased when it stopped hurting. When I was done bandaging him up, I patted his head. "Now was that so bad?", I asked handing him a sucker I had on my desk, (I always have candy around, no matter where I am.).
"I guess not, seeing that I have a really nice nurse." he smiled. I blushed. It got even redder once a thunderous snore echoed from the living room. Colly shot back, "What, was that?" he asked. I rubbed my forehead. "Oh, just dear old dad." I got up and opened my door, revealing an unconscious Bert in a chair, surrounded by empty beer cans. "Colly, meet Bert." I said with a look of disgust on my face. "That's your dad?" he asked stunned. "Unfortunately." I admitted. "Gross. I mean, ugh.." he said a bit embarrassed. "Oh no, he's revolting, insult him however many times you wish. I won't get mad. I hate that man." I told him. "But then again, who doesn't?" I said closing my door.
I yawned and looked at the clock, 3:30 am. "Wow I, guess I should get going then, seeing that it's so-" I cut him off. "Are you serious?" I asked. I looked up at me, "What?" he said leaning back in through the window. "I may have bandaged you up, but you are in no way ready to get up and go somewhere." I warned.
"I got here didn't I?"
"The building you jumped off of was two blocks from my house! And you didn't even walk you,... swung from your little strings you had set up and, dufarky." I said. "Dufarky?" he repeated laughing. "It's a word my friends and I made up when we don't know what somethings called. Also, it sounds funny." I explained. "Riiight. I'll just be leaving now,"
"Can you even walk?" I asked. He rolled his eyes. He tried to stand up, he got up, and fell onto my bed.
"Mm-hm," I said. "Ok, ok, you've made your point." he admitted sitting up on the bed. "So if I can't leave, where do I go." I gave him an odd look. "you know for a teenage evil genius, you sure are dumb." I said.
I opened my arms wide, gesturing to my room. "Here you moron!" I yelled.
"Here? Are you sure?" he asked. "Yeah sure, what's mine is yours. I always have people here." I admitted sitting on the bed next to him. "Why thank you. How will you ever repay you?" he asked. "Oh, just see it as now you owe me a night in your bed,-room. Bedroom." I said. "nice save." he chuckled.
So that's how he figured out I cared about him. I freaked out when I thought he was dead, I doctored up his wounds, and let him share my bed. Nothing happened, we basically just talked each other to sleep. He woke up with me gone though. I had church, but I left him food and cash. I got back and he was there. That day, after church, turned out to be the best day of my entire life.
A/N
dooh far key is how you pronounce it lol. And I'm so sorry it takes a while for me to type, I'm a fast typer, that just doesn't get a chance on a computer a lot. I will update soon. Happy Spring Break!
