VICIOUS
Chapter Six
At dinner that night, Jack called everyone's attention as we were all finishing up dinner. I was sitting at a booth with Charlie, Iz, Pirate, and Piper, chatting and laughing with them.
"As ya all know, we have a new girls' lodging house and I can't be there, so I'se appointed a leader for the girls," Jack informed us all. "And I'se decided that Pirate will be the leader, since she's been captain. Figured she'd be the best."
The boys cheered and us girls gave her pats on the back. She grinned sheepishly, which was funny. Pirate never got embarrassed by anything. After a while, I excused myself and headed out of Tibby's. Walking around Manhattan while it was steadily growing dark was becoming increasingly more fun each time I did it. The night air on my face felt good, after being out in the hot New York sun all morning and afternoon, selling newspaper after newspaper to sucker after sucker.
I'd left my hat in the Lodging House, after taking it off once all my papers were sold. It really wasn't smart to walk around the city without your hat up if you were dressed like a boy. I'd heard stories of girls getting thrown into the Refuge for not dressing like girls. It was a stupid reason, yes, but the bulls made any excuse they could to arrest people.
More money for them.
So, I was sorry I'd left my hat. I couldn't afford to be in jail. I was too soft for my own good. I wouldn't last two hours in jail. They'd eat me alive. But I digress.
I was thinking as I was walking, naturally, with my hands shoved in my pockets. I liked wearing boy's clothes. You couldn't put your hands in your pockets wearing petticoats and a corset, now could you?
"How goes it, dollface?"
I whirled around, fists out, ready for a fight, until Silver stepped out of the shadows of a nearby alley. Shocked, my hands dropped.
"What are you doing here?" was my clever response to seeing him.
"Nice to see you'se, too, Angel."
I blushed. "Ah… what I mean to say is: don't you have to be in Brooklyn?"
Silver crossed his arms and smiled at me. "Like I'se said."
I laughed. "Let me try again," I offered. "I'm so glad you're here, Silver!" I threw my arms around his neck and smiled at him.
"Better," he approved. "Next time, say it like you means it."
We hooked arms and began walking.
"So brings you to this neck of the woods?" I asked him. "Because I don't believe you came just because you missed me."
Silver nodded. "You're right. I didn't come just because I missed ya. I came to talk to ya about Desiree."
I wrinkled my nose. "Lovely. Let's talk about her."
"Well, it's like this, Angelface," Silver said nervously. "Desiree did… better than I'se figured she would."
I frowned. "How much better?"
"She bought thoity papes and sold forty of 'em by lunch."
"Damnit," I muttered.
Silver produced a cigarette and lit it, handing it off to me. I inhaled the nicotine gratefully, sighing. I licked my lips and glared at the street as we walked together along the sidewalk.
"Angel, say somethin'," Silver said nervously.
I sighed again. "If Spot says she can join the Brooklyn boys, then she joins," I said simply, frowning.
"That's it? No bitchy Irish-ness in ya? At all?" Silver elbowed me slightly and I looked up at him.
"Not even I can argue with Spot, Silv. What he says is law. He is king after all." I inhaled more smoke.
"Yeah, but I thought at least you'd punch her in the face, regardless of what Conlon's gotta say."
I smiled. Silver was such a boy.
"So I'll bet she's all over him, yeah?" I glanced over at him.
"Actually, she's not," Silver said, looking at me. "She hasn't said five words to the guy at all. And I've had Sneak and Rain trail her when she wasn't with me."
I snorted. Wow, I was so unladylike.
"That ain't gonna last."
"I dunno, doll." Silver shrugged. "She says she's over him. Now that you'se two is together."
I rolled my eyes. Silver seemed very convinced that Desiree was being truthful. But Silver was… a boy, a child. He was still young, regardless of how long he'd been on the streets. Some things you didn't learn until they happened to you, no matter how street smart you were. But Desiree was obviously very smart to con Silver into believing her little lie.
After a while, I said goodbye to Silver and headed back to the girls' lodging house, which was just down the block from Duane Street. Silver was heading back to Brooklyn to report to Spot that I was doing good. I wondered for a moment if Spot had birds follow me when I left him. Before I went inside, I looked around me, wondering where they were hiding.
I stepped inside, signed my name in curly, lady letters that I couldn't shake for the life of me, and walked up the steps. The girls' lodging house was roomy, probably because there weren't many of us here. But I had to admit that I missed the squeaky floor boards and they catcalls from the boys down the road. It felt odd to be here without them.
I missed them.
"Hey, Angel!" Piper called when I finally made it up the steps. I waved at her, pulling my boots off before I took a seat in the circle. Iz, Charlie, Pirate and Pip were all sitting in the middle of the room, talking apparently, when I'd come inside. Well, pretty much. Charlie was counting her coins from selling that day, I was sure, and Iz was braiding her hair for bed.
"Hey, guys. Whaddya say?" I asked, crossing my legs under me Indian style.
"We're plannin' on playin' craps tomorrow after sellin'," Pip informed me, smiling sweetly. "Care to join us in a friendly game?"
I smiled. Piper was just as bad a gambler as Racetrack was. I was so surprised that they weren't anything more than friends.
"Sure, girls. I'll meet you in the Square tomorrow after sellin'."
The next morning passed like clockwork. I sold papes, improvising headlines as usual, and then headed back towards the Square when I was finished. I waited with Iz there for Pirate, Charlie and Piper to arrive and I re-braided her hair for her, since I was a former sophisticated girl and Iz was convinced I could braid properly.
Which, was true, but I could braid only because Sean's mother had taught me on his little sister how to braid hair. I smiled silently at the thought of Sean's family. I wondered what they were doing, if they'd followed us after we'd left, and I wondered if they'd be proud of Sean to know what he was doing now.
Once the three girls had arrived, Pip produced her dice and, after Charlie deemed them unloaded, we began to play, laughing loudly and having a grand old time, until Pirate nudged Pip and I at the same time, jerking her chin the direction of an approaching police officer.
"Jesus," Pip muttered and gathered her dice in her hand, stuffing them into her pocket.
"Fine day, isn't it, ladies?" the officer said, stopping in front of us.
Five pairs of innocent eyes stared up at him.
"It's very lovely, sir," Pirate spoke, her accent making her words sound even more innocent than our dirty faces did. "How do you do?"
"I do well, dear, thank you," the officer said. "But are you ladies aware that it is illegal to play craps in the street?"
Piper shook her head, blinking with wide eyes. "Not at all, sir. We had no idea. We're so very sorry."
"Yes, well," the officer said, straightening up. "See to it that it does not happen again, or else I will have to escort the lot of you to the refuge. Young ladies such as you should not lower yourselves to such standards."
"You're terribly right, sir. It will not happen again," Pip said, her earnest seeping from her mouth. It almost made me laugh.
"Excellent. Good day, young ladies," he said, doffing his cap before lumbering off down the road.
We waited until he was out of earshot and then we all burst into fits of giggles, leaning against each other and laughing so loudly that we were beginning to make a spectacle of ourselves. Charlie jumped up and did impressions of the officer, accompanied by a most outrageous voice, and it only sent us into more fits of laughter until we were sure our sides would simply burst.
Leaning against the wrought iron fence, we instead decided to toss rocks across the way, all sitting in a line against the fence.
"You must tell us about Spot, Angel," Pip said, flicking a rock over the toe of her shoe.
"Yes, you have to!" Charlie added. "What's it like being his girl? Is it just marvelous?"
I nodded. "It is actually, yes," I admitted. "It's kinda funny, really. Almost every girl wants him and he picked me. Ain't that just the funniest?"
"But it's so sweet!" Iz smiled at me. "Spot Conlon is so incredibly dreamy. You are so lucky, Angel."
I blushed. "He is rather handsome, isn't he?"
We giggled amongst ourselves for a bit until Izzy looked up and frowned. I don't think I've ever seen the girl frown in my life. It was so out of place on her face. Her mouth looked much better smiling.
"She will rise from the grave, clothed in rags," she said, probably quoting a half-penny novel she'd read but I couldn't recall from which one.
Four pairs of eyes turned and four mouths frowned simultaneously. My girl friends knew all about Desiree and her ilk. Pip had filled them in on most the things that had gone on, and I told them the rest. Needless to say, my three new friends were not impressed by the twit that was walking out way.
"She looks like she's goin' to somethin'," Charlie added loudly, so the twit could hear.
"Round one is about to commence. On guard," Pirate agreed.
"Do ya need somethin', whore? Ya real bad for business," Pip told her as she approached us. And she was right.
Having a two-bit brothel whore hang around us was terrible for the job. Well, having Wendy around wasn't bad for us, though. Wendy was high class and high maintenance. I didn't even consider her in the same profession as Desiree, even though, technically, she was.
It just didn't seem like it. Wendy was nothing like Desiree.
"Not entirely," Desiree said, answering Pip's question. "I just wanted to come and tell Angel myself that I'm not interested in Spot any longer. So don't worry."
"I wasn't worried," I informed her and crossed my arms. "So why don't you like him anymore, Des? Because he's taken, or because you finally realized that he doesn't want you?"
"No," she said simply, and it annoyed me. "He's just... not my type."
Why wasn't she fighting me and taunting me like she usually did? It made me wonder. But I wasn't convinced that Desiree didn't want Spot anymore. It was such a terrible lie.
"Didn't know whores had a type," Charlie commented testily. I glanced at her. She was getting seriously irate. I wondered if she was going to get up and punch Desiree. Honestly, she looked about ready to.
"They do," Izzy told her and directed her glare to Desiree. "Men with money."
"Anyhow," Desiree said airily, as if my friends hadn't just completely defended my ass in front of her. "I just thought you should know."
I snorted slightly. "Glad you dropped by."
She smiled like we were old friends and then walked off down the street, probably back to her damn brothel for the day.
"Please tell me you don't believe a word of that shit," Izzy said and it surprised me. I'd never heard her swear before.
I smiled wryly. "Not on her life. But I do think I'm going to pay Spot a visit in a few days. I want to see how long this thing lasts."
"Well," Pip said and then stood up. "I don't know about you'se guys, but being a bitch makes me really hungry. And I'm itching to play cards. Let's go to Tibby's."
And so we did, but I kept quiet. I couldn't help fearing that Spot would be sucked in Desiree's deception. I wasn't sure what I would do if he had.
-hides from the angry kids with no money-
Okay, I know this is seriously late as hell, but I've been working nonstop with no time to write PLUS having writers block...
Anyways, forgive me!
All characters that aren't mine belong to their owners. I just was allowed to play with them. (: Yell at me if I've gotten them wrong.
Funfact: Playing caps on the street was actually illegal. If you got caught, you'd either get a stern talking-to or a night in jail. :)
CTB!
xx Wicked/Sara
