ok. im pretty sure its just gonna be this chapter and then an epilogue. i THINK
Disclaimer: why do I keep adding this? You know what I'm gonna say! If you dont, read the last chapter.
So, where were we? I remember. Kid Blink and I were sitting in the park. I was sitting in front of him, leaning back against him. He had his chin on my shoulder, arms around my waist, and was holding my hands. And he was about to tell me why he wore his eye patch. Now, I dunno, maybe it doesn't matter to you as much as it mattered, and still does in a way matter to me. I trusted him so much, and this was probably the biggest thing he had ever told me. I said this before, and I'll say it again. I know this term is one that should be used very carefully and selectively, but according to the meaning I know, I loved him. Hey, it feels pretty good to say that. I loved him. But remember, this was only in the sense of the word that comes to a sixteen year old girl. Maybe I didn't actually. Maybe I only thought I did because I thought I understood what it meant. Anyways. I'm mostly saying all this because I know you're only reading this to find out why he wears the eye patch.
And now you're waiting for me to get on with it already. But I'm not going to until you understand something. I suddenly didn't want to know anymore. I didn't want to know because sitting there, he was about to show me. And that's all I needed. I needed to know that he would tell me if I needed to know. And that should be enough for you too. Except maybe all of you don't love him(I don't see why not! He's the most wonderful guy ever!). So I guess I'll have to tell you the conversation that followed. Fine.
"I lived with my parents for awhile," Blink began. He held me a little tighter as he told about his past. He'd told me before, but somehow this was different. "Until my parents started arguing every night. I was around six, and I just ran away one night. Never went back, obviously, and I never wanted to. I was jus livin on the streets, but dat winter I got real sick. A girl who was out shoppin found me in an alley an brought me to a hospital. I never really met her properly or anythin, but dey told me she payed fer my stay and everythin." He sighed and I turned and kissed him on the cheek. It gave him some sort of reencouragement, cause he continued. "Now, when I say I was real sick, I mean real sick. They didn think I'd live. Well, obviously, I did. Cept my eyes got messed up. I completely lost sight in one of em, an the other one was messed up for awhile."
"So yer just blind in that eye? An so yeh wear the patch?"
"Well, sort of. I did start wearing it then, but later something else happened." His voice faded a little and I turned to face him again. A tear was gathering in the corner of his eye. I reached up and gently wiped it away. "Sorry. It's jus tough ta remember sometimes."
"I know. If you don't want to tell me any more, you don't have to."
"No, I want yeh ta know." He hugged me closer and I leaned against his chest. "Even if yeh hadn't asked, I really want yeh ta know. I jus haven't talked about it in a long time, maybe not ever. You may be da only person I've ever told."
"Thanks. Go on."
"Alright, so I'm a seven year old kid livin on da street, blind in one eye. I actually got the patch from this traveling street act. They were pirates, an" He laughed a little and I had to smile. "Well, dis one guy had an eye patch, an I got this crazy idea in my head dat it jus wasn't fair. I mean, I couldn't see out of one eye, an dat wasn't my choice, an here was dis guy who covered up his probably perfectly normal eye. So I kinda...attacked him an stole da patch." I laughed. I had always imagined him as a fairly well mannered kid, and I just couldn't picture him attacking a performing pirate. "So now I had da patch. Dat's when I met Mush and Race and Jack an all dem an became a newsie. Dey gave me a new name, I don even really remember what it was before. Anyways. I had da patch, but just because I was blind. Den somethin else happened so dat I really needed it.
Well, I never found who da woman was dat payed fer me ta be in da hospital, so I developed a sense of gratitude to pretty much any woman or even younger girls. Cause I just never knew if she might be the one who helped me out. So one day I'm walkin along an I see dese three older guys, I think they were newsies, I dunno, but they were bothering this girl. They pushed her into an alley and no one seemed to notice. But I did. I followed em, waiting fer a chance ta help. I saw a cop walkin by an I whistled ta get his attention." He suddenly sat up straighter and pushed me up. "Cover yer ears."
"Why?"
"Trust me." I covered my ears and Blink put his thumb and middle finger of his left hand in his mouth and whistled. Really, really loud. Some people walking by turnred to look at him. "Like dat."
"An the cop heard yeh?"
"Yeah. He came after da guys an caught one of em, but the other two managed ta get away. The girl was thanking me an the cop was telling me I did the right thing an all, I didn even think about what those other two guys might do. They didn't do anything fer a good two years. So I was nine or ten anI waswalkin home from Medda's one night. I had stayed a little later den da others, cause I wanted to talk ta one a da new show girls." He laughed a little, but his face fell. I leaned back against his shoulder and took his hand. I knew it was easier to say difficult things when there was someone right there."I took our normal shortcut through one a da alleys an dere dey were. Da two of em caught me an started soakin me. I guess I was too easy ta find, with da patch an all. Well, dey beat me pretty bad. I can't even remember all of it, just-" He was shaking. I sat up straight and let him lean on my shoulder for a second. He straightened up and gently pulled me back down against him. I understood how much of a difference it made to be able to feel someone against you, to feel their warmth, their heart beat, the steadiness of their breathing. It made it easier to cope with some memories. "I can remember bein on my knees. I could taste blood in my mouth, from my nose an lips. An I was holdin my wrist, cause dey'd pushed my against da wall an I tried ta stop myself." He took a deep breath. "An den da shorter one pulled out a knife. An one of em said-I don't even know which one, I couldn tell, my head was spinning-he said 'yeh ain't a pirate, so why yeh got an eye patch?' An he pulled it off. Course, it didn make any difference ta me, I couldn see from it anyways. Well, he kinda laughed an said 'Dat ain't no good. If yer gonna wear it, yeh needa reason.' So he started comin at me wid da knife. I could tell, he was gonna stab it right through me, but I grabbed his arm at da last second. I managed ta get my hand ta my mouth an whistle, but he came back down an slashed across my eye. An I mean, not just across my face, across my eye." I cringed at the thought. But now I knew. I hugged him tighter. "Medda an some a da others came out, but da guys gave me a good kick in da head an I blacked out. I woke up dere da next mornin in a pool of blood, my entire face hurt like hell, an da whole left half a my face was swollen up, plus a lump on my head where dey kicked me. But I just grabbed my eyepatch an went back ta da lodgin house. I washed my face an went ta bed. When everybody got back , I jus told em I got in a fight, no big deal." I looked up and saw tears in his eye. Knowing it would raise me some of the girlfriend deceny scale, I wiped them away.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, what's done is done. It don hurt now." He poked at the patch. "Jus da memory does a little." We sat there in silence for a long time. And when I say a long time, I really mean a long time. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember, Blink was carrying me back to the lodging house. The sun was just starting to set.
"I can walk if it's easier. Unless of course you jus like carryin me." He smiled and dropped me to my feet. We walked the rest of the way without talking, just holding hands. We went upstairs when we got back and I started washing my river water soaked spy outfit. I'm not sure what Blink had been doing, but as I was ringing out my mask, he came in.
"I jus thought a somethin. I know how you are with yer not believin things an all-"
"I believe you!" He raised his eyebrows. "Well, since you know me so well, what would you do to make me believe you?"
"I would take off da eye patch." I set down the black fabric in my hand and walked over to him. I took his hand an then looked up at him.
"But you don't have to."
"Yeh say dat. But Shadow, I know you. Even now, yer startin ta doubt it. Even though yeh don want to. I know you. Unless you see something fer yerself, yeh don believe it. An yeh know I accept dat." He raised one of his hands(the one I wasn't holding) and pulled off the patch. The skin that was revieled was unnaturaly pale(obviously, it was always covered), but it seemed to fit. His eye was almost completely white, there was just a pale ring of light brown in the middle. However, across the ring was a sort of line. This is a first, but I really don't know how to decribe it that well. There was just this dark line all across his eye. Looking closer, I could see the faint scar on his skin too. I reached out and pushed his hair back in a nice, romantic sort of way. Then I ruined anything I may have set up bycovering his right eye.
"So, if I do this, yeh can't see me?" He was smiling.
"No, I can't." He waved an arm in front of him, purposely avoiding where he knew I was standing. "Where are you?" I stuck my tounge out and shook my head.
"Yeh can't tell what I'm doing right now?"
"Nope." I let go of his hand and waved in front of his face.
"How bout now?"
"Nope." I leaned forward and kissed him.
"Now?"
"Yeah, now I can tell." He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into another kiss. I took my hand off his eye and hugged around his neck. He leaned back. "Ha. Now I can see yeh." I laughed. "So waddaya think? On Halloween, I'll wear da patch over my other eye an we can walk around scarin little kids?" Now we were both laughing.
"No, I think you should lean over Race's bunk in the middle of the night, see if yeh can freak him out." We laughed for awhile. Have I told you how much I love the sound of Blink's laugh? Yeah, probably. Still smiling, he replaced the patch.
"So now yeh know. An next time yeh wanna know somethin, yer just gonna ask me, right?" I nodded. "An yer gonna know I trust you with everythin." I nodded. "An yer gonna buy me some more chocolate fer Christmas." I laughed.
"Nice try." Then again, maybe I would. It would definitely help get me out of my bad girlfriend mode. He hugged me closer and kissed the top of my head. You see why I love this guy? He's so nice about everything. And he told me. So now I knew.
A few notes:
I don't know if that's really what would happen if someone cut you across the eye. I have no idea what would happen. Don't sure me or anything for misinforming you.
There is going to be one more chapter. That's right, just one more.
I'm thinking about writing a quick finishing chapter to Brooklyn Gals, cause it got taken down before I could finish. Your opinion?
That's all.
