Chapter 10: Taking One for Brooklyn

It was as if I had been thrown off my feet and all the air was knocked out of my chest. Ebony, however, faced me with her jaw set. As far as I was concerned, this girl needed to be put in her place and I would do whatever it took to make that happen.

"If you think," I walked towards her slowly and got inches from her face. "You're going to walk all over me like you do everyone else, you've got another thing coming."

"I don't think you want to do that." She stated superiorly.

I laughed bitterly, "Hon, I've grown up on these streets. The last thing I'm scared of is some stuck up hussy and her empty threats. You want to try and win? Fine. We'll see what happens in the ring."

"You're the one that's going to pay for it." She crossed her arms to prove a point which I found futile.

"The fact that yoah even tryin ta make a deal wit me befoah the fight says you don't stand a chance. Gin's right, you are scared."

She flared for a moment but then shrugged trying to seem non-plused by my comment. The two of us stood there in a stare down; our own personal battle to see who would give up and break the eye contact first. It didn't last as long as it felt but it felt like an eternity; hatred coursing through my veins the whole time.

"I mean it. I better win." Ebony said curtly before turning on her heel and leaving the kitchen.

I held my composure until the door closed then muttered between my teeth, "Bitch." I punched the cabinet to release some anger and regretted it almost right away. I shook my hand trying to ignore the pain and walked out of the kitchen muttering curses under my breath. Any plans that I may have had were gone. Instead, there was an extreme desire to win; not just for myself but for the other girls, and for Brooklyn.

--

"Remy, Ebony, yoah up!" Racetrack called from the doorway.

"Good luck fighten hells angel!" Gin managed to yell at me before we walked out the door, not even bothering to conceal the comment from Ebony.

--

Audience POV

Outside Spot was waiting to watch the fight when his sister came fuming up next to him. He heard her mumbling under her breath and rolled his eyes.

"Are you dat upset bout not bein able ta fight?" He asked.

"I ain't mad bout dat! It's dat bitch, Ebony..." Switch continued to mumble.

"What'd she do dis time?" Spot remembered how upset Remy had been when she received the note last night that said Ebony would be fighting and how flustered she was this morning when he met her. In his opinion, Remy was pretty laid back so it took a lot for a person to really irritate her. He couldn't help but be intrigued with Ebony because of this.

"She's a conniving little tart."

Spot laughted at her remark but Switch ignored him. "She's tryin ta win taday and if she doesn't she told Remy..." Switch stopped realizing that she was sharing too much with her brother. "I mean..."

Spot turned to Switch, his eyes narrowed. "She told Remy what?" He crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

"Don't listen ta me Spot." Switch tried to wave it off like it was nothing but Spot didn't budge. She sighed, "I guess it don't mattah now. You're gonna find out soonah or latah. Comon."

She grabbed his arm and lead him to the back of the crowd so no one else would overhear.

"Ok, promise you won' go blowin yoah top..."

"I ain't promisin nothin."

Switch threw up her arms, "Why do ya always gotta be such an ass ta me? I would think dat when yoah talkin to yoah own sistah dat you would try ta be a bit more...human."

Spot crossed his arms and didn't respond. He just stood there waiting for her to calm herself down and explain what was going on.

"It's fixed Spot. Who wins, who loses...it's all fixed."

"So...where does Ebony fit in ta all a dis?" Spot asked calmly.

Switch furrowed her eyebrows and gave her brother a skeptical look.

"You already knew." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Uh...yeah."

"Da whole time?"

"If by da whole time ya mean da past five yeahs...den yeah. Bruin fills me in."

Switch stood there staring at her brother, her emotions a cross between impressed and irritated.

"So when you bet on me ta win, its just cause you know I actually will?"

Spot brought his hand up to his face in exasperation.

"Switch..."

"Do youse got no faith in me at all?"

"You just said it yoahself! Why would I bet on ya when I know youse is gonna loose?"

He couldn't believe they were getting into this now, of all times. Spot decided at that moment that talking to his sister was more work then it was worth.

"I'm a hell of a good fighta Spot! Ya want me ta show ya? I'll throw dis whole thing!"

"Will ya calm down! Ya don't need ta prove anythin ta me. I know youse a good fighta." He ran a hand through his hair and looked around at the other boys to make sure they weren't listening in. "Geeze."

Switch nodded and crossed her arms calming down slightly. "Damn right I'm good..."

"Can we get back ta da original convasation now?" Spot looked over to see Racetrack leading Ebony and Remy to the ring. He really wanted to get back and watch because this was the one fight he had been looking forward to.

"Ebony told Remy dat she wants ta win da fight and get all da winnins or she's gonna rat us out bout da fights bein fixed."

Spot's mouth tightened as he narrowed his eyes and Switch knew exactly why. It wasn't because of what she had threatened to do but the fact that she had made a threat at all. No matter who you are, no matter what kind of information you posses, you don't threaten Brooklyn.

"What's Bruin gonna do?" Spot asked. He was curious as to how Remy reponded to the threat.

Switch shrugged, "Someone walked by so I moved away and didn't heah what Remy said." She continued at his questioning, a little embarrassed, "I was eavesdroppin at da door."

Spot gave his sister a savvy look then let his eyes travel back to the ring where Ebony was circling Remy in a careless mannor. He shook his head. "I know Bruin and dere's no way in hell she's gunna let dis goil get away wit dat." He watched as Remy dodged a punch from Ebony but didn't return with anything. "At least she bettah not."

Switch looked at her brother and noticed a trace of apprehension which brought about her own set of doubts. They both knew Remy well enough to know that she would take a hit to her pride in order to cover up for the girls and that was the last thing either of them wanted her to do.

--

Normal POV

Normally I dreaded putting on a show for the boys but this time was different. I felt myself wanting to fight, wanting to prove myself because I was angry. And what better way to take out ones anger than to beat the crap out of someone? I was experiencing a true fight for the first time in the ring, and I was enjoying it. We stood facing each other in the ring surrounded by many shouting newsies which I found to be exhilarating for once. I heard the various shouts of support from Brooklyn and couldn't help but smile a bit.

I stood there with my head tilted slightly, taking in her appearance; feet spread, legs bent, and fists at her face. Already I could see her weak spots and registered her tactics so I could turn them against her.

I gave her a rakish grin and asked, "Ya ready for this Eb?"

She merely squinted her eyes as a response and jumped forward, swinging her fist towards my right eye. I quickly dodged it and moved to the other side of the ring. Once again we stood for a moment staring at each other, neither making a move.

"I'll admit this Eb; you're better then I thought you were going to be."

I made sure to stress Eb. Hey, if she was allowed to butcher my name I could do the same with hers. Plus, I wanted to distract her as much from the fight as possible.

She made another attempt to hit my face which I also dodged. If I could keep this up, I would have her completely exhausted before the end of the fight. The words Spot had said yesterday were rolling over and over in my head; 'It takes more energy to hit and miss then to hit and strike.'

Ebony suddenly lifted her right leg and brought it up to my face. This caught me a little off guard but I managed to duck so she missed. I didn't have time to respond however, for she immediately brought her fist back to punch my face. I'll give her credit for being fast, but like Gin said; she was too eager. I was unable to dodge it but did manage to block it with my arm and stepped back to put some space between us.

It went on like this for a while; Ebony punching or kicking and me dodging or deflecting all of them. I talked every once in a while in an attempt to mock her. I would say things like, 'Oh, that was a close one,' or 'You should really try that one again. You almost got me.' every time she tried to make a hit. The crowd around us was getting restless at no one getting hit and were yelling at the top of their lungs for us to get it started, but I choose not to hear it.

I could tell that Ebony was starting to get tired because of the sweat that was forming on both of our brows. My plan had worked for the most part. The only thing I didn't take into account was my own ability to continue dodging without getting tired. I was enjoying the fight until Ebony decided to speak for the first time since entering the ring.

"Apparently you didn't take what I said seriously. You're making a mistake."

I smiled in spite of myself. "Oh I did…but you're the one who made the mistake Eb, not me."

It was her turn to smile but it wasn't a 'ha, ha I told you so' smile like mine. It was down right malicious.

"I hope you know what you're doing. Because there's no way I'm going to let a street rat like you keep me from getting what I want."

It probably wasn't a good idea, but I froze at her comment which allowed Ebony to land her first punch to my jaw. There was a collection of boo's heard as I recovered from the blow. It was at least good to know that the crowed seemed to be on my side.

I shrugged off her comment, ignored the fact that my lip was bleeding, and put my fists up again. I refused to let myself think about the hit to either my jaw or my ego, though they would both leave a bruise. Gin was once again right, her hits were hard and dead on.

"Oh so you can dish it but you can't take it huh?" Ebony sneered.

"Eb, you forget. I don't give a damn bout my rep."

"Stop calling me Eb!" She ran forward to throw another punch at me which I easily dodged.

"Why don't cha just go back ta yoah stuck up orphanage."

"Right, well at least someone there cares for me. Who do you have huh? A bunch of low life nothings who don't stand a chance..."

I cut her off with a fierce blow to the face which caused her to fall back. I hadn't planned on hitting her that hard but my anger had clouded my judgement. We weren't supposed to actually knock each other out and that's what I had just tried to do and everyone could see it. I didn't care though. She had no right to say those things about me or my friends. Ebony staggered up with her hand to her lip.

"You bitch!" And with that she lunged at me.

The boys around us whopped and hollered at the sudden furry in the ring. We both took multiple hits but she had turned something on in me that I hadn't realized existed and it was starting to show in my actions. She didn't stand a chance and it didn't take long for Racetrack to realize this. He rang the bell to signal the end of the fight but I kept going. In an instant, he and some of the other boys were in the ring prying me off Ebony. I spat at her and then allowed myself to be carried to the other side of the ring where I pulled myself out of Deuce's grasp. The boys stood in silence as they waited for a still Ebony to get up from the floor. It took a minute, but she finally did and after the relief spread through the crowd Racetrack took my arm and lifted it to declare the winner as Brooklyn. There was a tumult of cheers as I quickly left the ring and headed back to the lodging house not wanting any of the boys to grab me.

Ebony sat for a moment trying to collect herself as I pushed through the crowd. She followed me limping and entered the building to find me waiting for her in the entrance. Before she had the chance to say anything I grabbed her shirt a pulled her to me. The other girls in the house froze in mid celebration.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again," my voice was dangerously low.

"How dare you!" Ebony attempted to pull away but I wasn't done yet. "Racetrack please do something!"

Racetrack however, was leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed watching the scene with amusement. "Sorry doll. I only regulate da fights in da ring. Youse on yoah own."

"Try what you did today again an' you'll be crawlin back ta Manhattan."

I held Ebony there for a moment making sure she knew I meant business before letting her go and walking up the stairs to the girls room where I slammed the door behind me.

--

I paced the room upstairs trying to catch my breath but was unable to do that because the door flung open and Skittery stomped in the room.

"What the hell was that?!"

I didn't even look up at him to answer but kept walking back and forth between the bunks in an attempt to calm myself down a bit. When I get angry I have a tendency to lash out and that was the last thing I wanted to do to Skittery.

"Look Skitts, this isn't a good idea right now. I just need ta be alone."

He grabbed my arm to stop my pacing and made me face him.

"You shouldn' ta done that. Youse know she aint as good a fightah as you!"

"Don't give me that! You have no idea what she's..."

"I don't give a damn. That gives you no excuse ta beat her within an inch 'a her life!"

"She's walkin ain't she?"

"Ya know what I meant Remy."

"She's lying to you! Can't you see that? Christ Skitts, Ebony's got you wrapped around her sordid little finger!"

"I can't believe you would go so low as ta pummel her like dat. Do you have any idea what it's been like foah her da past couple 'a days? It ain't easy bein new, Rem and you know it. So she treats you like shit, get ovah it. I expected youse ta be da biggah person."

We stood there for a moment staring fixedly at each other. I didn't know what to think and I certainly wouldn't be able to figure it out like this so I pulled my arm away.

"Please leave." I looked away from his eyes and instead focused on the cracks in the floor.

Skittery stayed for a moment then scoffed and left the room in a huff. I watched the door for a while as I felt tears well up in my eyes. This was not at all how I imagined things to go after winning. I grabbed a pack of cigarettes from under Dreads' pillow, went out the window, down the fire escape, and through the back streets; away from the celebrating newies.

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Hey guys, thanks for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think.
I have the next chapter ready but I really don't like it...so I'm going to wait on posting it.