So sorry for the long wait. College has kept me pretty busy and finals are coming up _ ack ! Do not want! Anywho! I hope you guys enjoy :))))
Undisclosed Desires chapter 21. Rolling in the deep.
A knock lightly came to the door and Sophia slowly stood up. Thinking it was one of the newsies, Sophia opened the door with a big smile on her face and then to only see an old woman holding a pie.
"Hello there me darling. Did I catch ya a bad time?"
Sophia quickly shook her head. "No. No...uhmm, can I help you with anything?"
The old woman nodded. "Why of course! You can start by taking this apple pie I made for you."
Sophia gratefully took it. "T-thank you Miss..."
The old woman smiled and put up a hand. "Please, ya can call me Granny. Everyone here does. I'm the oldest one heah in the building."
Sophia nodded. "Thanks...Granny." she then looked behind her and then back at Granny who seemed to peak into Sophia's home. "Is there something els?" Sophia asked.
Granny shook her head. "No dear. It's just...I sometimes hear another in here from time to time."
"Oh you mean Spot. He's my...well he's uh...He's my fiancé." Sophia blushed at the very word.
Granny smiled broadly. "Congratulations me dear."
Sophia smiled back. "Thank you. He's not here now though."
"Is he a hard working man?" asked Granny.
Sophia shrugged. "Well...so far he's out looking for a job. We've only been here two days and so far we have only been able to sell scraps of metal and wood and that we find out in the city. It's been hard but we've managed. Oh! Would you like to come inside?" Sophia stood to the side to let Granny in but she shook her head.
"No need me dear. I'se best be gettin' back to work me self. Take care now."
Sophia nodded and said goodbye to Granny.
Later on in the day as the sun started to set, Sophia watched the yellow and orange rays settle behind some buildings. For a few seconds she could feel its warmth and she pressed her hands together. She looked down at the apple pie and her stomach growled. She had been waiting for Spot to get back before eating it. She could smell the sweet syrupy smell of apples just waiting for her to dig in. Just then Spot came in and a with him a few flakes of snow fell off of him.
"It's 'lot worse out there than ya would think." said Spot, hanging his worn out coat in the tiny closet.
"How bad?" asked Sophia.
Spot took in a deep breath and let it out. "Well...I'se glad not ta be a newsie this winteh. Looks like it's gonna be a wet December." He then noticed the pie sitting on the table and slowly pointed at it. "Where ya get the stuff to make that, Smalls?"
Sophia sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "An old lady gave it us. She said to call her Granny. Says she the oldest one here in this building."
Spot grabbed for two forks and sat down across from Sophia and handed her a fork.
"The we'se souldn' let this pie go to waste then should we?" Sophia shook her head and smiled as they both dug into the pie and started to eat. "Another thing," said Spot after taking a few bites.
"What's that?" asked Sophia.
"I'se found a good job today."
Sophia swallowed her food down hard. "Really? That's great! Where?"
"The District Work Union." he told her.
"How much does it pay a week and when do you start?"
"Eight bucks a week and I start bright and early tomorrow."
Sophia finished eating her last bite and got up and ran up to Spot and kissed him. He then picked her up and carried her to bed where he made love to her again.
That next morning when Spot awoke he slipped out of bed as quietly as he could and started to put on his clothes. Sophia turned in her sleep and moaned. Spot stopped suddenly until it was certain that she wouldn't wake up and he bent down and kissed her cheek. As he finished putting on his clothes and took up his newsie hat and looked at it. He laughed, remembering the Brooklyn lodging house and how everything used to be. He then slipped on his coat and took up his cane and head off to the District Union.
When Sophia woke up Spot was gone. She was sad to see him gone so early in the morning, but then at the same time she was happy. Happy to know that Spot was making money. She soon got up herself and got dressed for the day. Sophia left the building to go find more scraps to sell. In the morning the city was at its quietest and most peaceful. She liked it. Sophia felt independent doing things on her own, making a living with Spot and to maybe someday start a family of her own. That was a nice thought: Having a family with Spot.
Spot and Sophia were growing up. They had less time to play and spent of their time working in the city. Sophia picked up one last scrap of metal and put it in her big multi-colored bag that she has sewn together with different pieces of fabric that she had found lying about in the city. The straps weren't that long but she still managed to put the loop around her head. It was easier to carry it that way. She sat down on a curb just a few blocks from her home and pulled out a rag. She got out her first piece of scrap metal, spat on the rag and started to clean off the metal, making it look nice so people would want to but it use it for something. Depending on the size, Sophia sold her scraps of metal from two to five cents. Five cents being the biggest. Sophia usually made about 15 to 20 cents a day depending how much she sold that day. All the while Sophia thought of the Brooklyn lodging house how a part of her still wishes that it was still there and the other part of her is glad that it did. She also thought of the newsies and not just the ones in Brooklyn, but her friends in Manhattan too: Jake Kelly, he always has a smile on his face and knows what to say. Racetrack, he's always got a joke to say and a fun game to play with cards and dices. David and Less, the two brothers with the loving family. It made Sophia miss hers even more. Mush, Kid Blink, Skittery, Pie eater, Crutchy, she missed them all and wished she could see them again.
After selling all of her scraps of metal, Sophia slowly walked back to the tenement. Her breath made a smoky fog whenever she breathed out. her cheeks were numb with cold and her teeth chattered. Her hands were blue and her toes poked out from the top of her shoes. As she was making her way back she passed the start of the Brooklyn bridge only to see two little boys, maybe ten to twelve years old, playing on the ice a little ways from the Brooklyn bridge. She gasped. She felt scared for the boys. Was no one else seeing this?
"Hey!" she called out to them, but they didn't seem to hear her. "Hey!" she yelled louder this time, her voice cracking because of the cold. The boy continued to play on the ice, throwing snowballs at each other. Sophia instantly felt responsible for them and walked down by the ice. "Hey boys, get off of the ice." This time one of the boys did hear her and motioned the other boy to stop. They looked back at her, waiting for her to speak again. "Get back on land. It's too dangerous out there on the ice. Please come back!"
As the boys slowly started making their way back one of them stopped. His foot quickly went under and soon his whole body. The boy left standing screamed and tried reaching for his friend. Sophia's heart stopped for a moment and then started to beat rapidly. She hurried as fast as she could on the ice towards the boy trying to help his friend. Sophia could feel the ice beneath her feet starting to give way. Please, give me more time. She begged to God.
As Spot started heading on home he wrapped his coat around him for more warmth, his cane hooked to his side by the belt loop. He then started to hear distant screams and a swarm of people over to one side on the Brooklyn bridge. He ran over to see whatever was happening and peered down at the river.
"Somebody help them!" a person cried.
"Where are the police?" cried another.
Spot looked at the two struggling figures below and strained to see that one of the people on the ice was Sophia. How could he mistake that ribbon in her hair? He instantly went down the sloop and on to the side, first slipping a little and then regaining his balance. As he tried to make his way over to Sophia and to what looked like a little boy, he too could feel the ice breaking beneath him and knew, without a doubt, that the ice under Sophia would eventually give way. How he managed to make it to her in this time was far from his understanding.
Oh fuck it! Spot cursed to himself and slid on his tummy the rest of the way to Sophia. He could feel the ice burn him and knew that he would have bloody marks on his stomach after this. But he reached her just in time as the ice started to break. The water stung Sophia because it was so cold. It felt like a thousand needles being stuck into her body at the same time. She could only imagine how the little boy was feeling being completely under and feeling useless. Sophia struggled to stay afloat while still holding on to the boy and with her other hand she tried to pulling herself up but the current underneath the water was too strong. Her hand flopped helplessly on the surface and suddenly, a warm hand grabbed hers. She opened her eyes realized that she had them closed the whole time because of fear. When she looked to see her savor water filled her lungs as she started to sink, too tired to fight the current any longer she coughed up water while struggling to say his name: "SPOT!"