"Please Ms. Larson, you don't understand." Edge begged our landlord. We had arrived back at our Lodging House well past midnight after we were missing for two days. And she was furious.
"You girls think that you can stay and go as you please. Well, I've had enough. You leave whenever you feel like it, you don't pay your rent on time, and now you bring Anne-Marie home drunk!" I winced as she used my real name.
"First of all, it's Midway. Second, I'm not drunk." I slurred.
"You can't even talk and you smell like liquor. That's it. I've had enough. Get out!" She shouted. The entire bunkroom had woken up now, and was staring at us. We stood there frozen.
"You're kicking us out?" Guil whispered in a small, fragile voice. I could tell she was trying to make Ms. Larson feel guilty. Guil had been the least hated of us three.
"Yes. Now pack your things and leave this instant." She whirled around and swept out of the room.
"Well, now that you're out of our hair, we can all move along peacefully. I must say, it took her a while to come to her senses and finally get rid of you." Nancy stood there looking extremely smug, with an ugly sneer on her face. In my drunken state, I lunged at her, no longer worried about getting in trouble with Ms. Larson; too late for that. Edge grabbed me and held me back.
"C'mon, we got nothing to lose." I said.
"Oh, I know, I just think Guil and I should do this. You can watch." She added helpfully. I nodded. Guil was already advancing on her.
"Hey Mids, which window do you think is the highest" She called. I laughed. Nancy shrunk towards her bed in horror. Edge again cracked her knuckles. Nancy screamed. Now, they didn't work her over too bad. Just a busted lip and black eye. A few bruises. Some missing hair. And those tiny scars near her ear, courtesy of Guil's fingernails. Anyway, we were certain she would never mess with us again.
After making Nancy literally wet herself, we gathered our things and left the building. Ms. Larson had found the beaten Nancy and screamed at us to leave immediately. We slowly walked down the hall, chatting nonchalantly about the weather and headlines, occasionally insulting Ms. Larson as she stood there trying to make us move faster. She yelled some more, but there was nothing she could do. We were free from her tyranny. Finally.
It would have been a joyous occasion if we had had a place to go. We stepped outside the door, and stopped suddenly. Ms. Larson sneered in triumph and slammed the door behind us, knowing we had no place to sleep. I cursed after her.
"What now?" I asked, grabbing my throbbing head. I swear I will never drink again.
"Well, we could try Kloppman's place." Edge suggested. Guil shrugged and we headed toward Duane Street. Normally, after what had happened the last time I went there, I would have avoided the newsboys at all costs. But, I was too dang tired to worry about that now.
"Hey Kloppman." Guil wearily greeted him as we walked into the old building. I could hear the boys upstairs, still awake and riled from the party.
"Girls, is something wrong?" He glanced at my shoulder, but I shook my head at his unasked question.
"Ms. Larson kicked us out. Can we stay here tonight?" Edge asked quietly. Kloppman smiled sadly.
"I don't see why not. There are some extra beds in the bunkroom. Just follow me." He led us upstairs, where I had never been before, into a large room. It had about twenty-five bunk beds and about forty boys, most of them half dressed.
"Wait here." Kloppman whispered to us, leaving us in the shadows of the room, where nobody noticed us.
"Boys!" He called, and they all stopped and turned to hear him. "What would you all say about getting three new roommates?" Most shrugged their indifference. Some called out 'sure' or 'why not'. He grinned and beckoned us forward.
"Hey fellas." Edge called, as happily as she could. At this point we were dead on our feet. They all froze. I laughed out loud at their expressions. Some of the modest ones dashed into the washroom, most just stared incredulously. We ignored them and headed toward the back of the room, where five empty bunks stood. We climbed onto various ones, dumped our stuff on the floor, and slid under the blankets. I fell asleep instantly, ignoring the buzz of noise from the other end of the room.
