It was not until Sunday afternoon that Lucy finally took off the dress she had been wearing since Friday. She peeled herself out of it as if shedding a layer of skin. Letting the feeling of that night go was much harder than one would think -- it's quite easy to remain in the doldrums, much easier than you would think. Strength, in Lucy's mind, was a commodity.

Nevertheless, she stood in her slip dress as she looked down at the heap of tainted clothing at her feet.

After a long, cold bath scrubbing away the filth, she situated herself in front of the mirror. Hello stranger, it was as if she said to her reflection. She ran her eyes over her makeup-less face, her pale skin, and her slowly drying hair that was now inching towards her belly button it was getting so long.

She was fixed on her hair. It was still wet. Which meant it was crimping into loose curls.

"Your hair curls when you're in the rain." He let his fingers dance around her now chocolate-colored hair.

"…Is that good or bad?"

"Good." He tucked the hair behind her ear. "Always good."

She almost let the memory snap her in two, but she refused. She got up, marched over to her nightstand, and took out an object that glistened when she tilted it every which way.

She plopped back down in front of the mirror. Back straight. Certain. She divided her hair into two sections on either side of her face. She took the pair of scissors in her hand and grabbed the first chunk.

Snip.

Release. She refused to blink and grabbed some more hair.

Snip.

Release.

Snip.

Release.

And so it went, this pattern of machine-like labor that strand by strand, set her free. She waited to stop and think until she was finished, and when she did she looked like a different person altogether. Her chestnut hair that so easily made Spot enamored of her was almost gone. It danced along the tops of her shoulders as she turned her head from side to side looking at the finished product with incredible euphoria. She didn't care how others would think of the new 'do; Spot would never be spellbound again by her in this way.

As she placed the scissors back into the nightstand drawer, she looked at Spot's hat and paused. It was still sitting there like a stain still ruining her life, a spot she could never fully rid herself of. Perhaps that's where his name came from…

She came back to reality when her memory reminded her that Jack had asked if she was keeping his hat there to burn it. She had no intention of burning the building down, especially at Spot's expense, so instead, she came up with a better idea. She sat down in the same place where she had chopped off her hair and went to work.

Snip.

Release.

Snip.

Release.

Monday came in swiftly and Molly said nothing to Lucy when she arrived for work. They remained unspeaking to each other for the entire day. Lucy worked doubly hard and doubly fast, and it made Molly stop and wonder what had made her so efficient. Men, she had thought to herself easily. Good for business.

While Lucy stitched and sewed and pulled and cut, her concentration was half on her speedy labor and half on the resentful thoughts that fueled her. With every rip and tear she sewed back together she envisioned Spot making those damages and it made her so furious that she ended up completing two days' worth of work before five o'clock. Naturally, Molly did not complain and sent her home for the day.

The sense of accomplishment put an extra boost in Lucy's step, and she was going to need it, for she was about to make her way to the Jacobs's apartment for dinner. Just outside the shop she stopped, pausing nervously. She wanted to go back home and come back out. She wasn't ready.

She gulped. Now or never.

She made it halfway there in faux courage -- she could hardly say Lucy Sullivan at the present time was a courageous person because in all honesty she could not say that if Spot suddenly appeared she would be strong enough to walk away. She knew she would not forgive him in the blink of an eye, but it was too hard to say she would walk away from him altogether.

As she neared the Jacobs's block, a congregation of boys made her stop in her tracks. Gasping, she was just about to turn and run in the other direction when one of them spotted her.

"Well, look who it is, boys."

Racetrack's tone was so severe she hardly recognized it. As he nodded in her direction, the rest of the boys -- Skittery, Blink, Mush, Boots, and Specs -- shifted their gazes as they turned. Her eyes flew to Blink, for his arm was bandaged up; and Boots, his left eye was swollen shut; and Specs, he had a limp.

"You'se caused enough trouble fer us, keep on walkin'!" called Skittery.

Lucy looked down and rotated her frozen body in the other direction, taking baby steps.

"Nice hair!"

"Yeah, Spot say he likes it that way?"

"Spot says 'cut,' you'se say 'how much?'!"

"Nah, it's easier to fool people this way, right?"

They erupted in laughter as Lucy all but sprinted down the street. Her face was breaking as she choked for air and fortunately, just in time, Jack appeared and stopped her in her tracks. He grabbed her arms and she buried her face in her hands, mortified.

"What happ…You cut your hair?"

She bobbed her head up and down in her hands.

"Oh…Looks good…" He paused, and Lucy knew he was forcing the compliment. "What's goin' on, why you cryin'?"

"Nothing. Let's just go, alright?" She started to walk but Jack held his arm out to stop her. He wheeled her around.

"Jack, please, can we just go? Please? Please…"

He studied her face and pleading eyes with suspicion. He must have heard the boys laughing behind her, as all he did was glare at them icily and they stopped. He turned and they started to leave the scene, walking to the Jacobs's apartment in silence.

As soon as they got there, Lucy moved her shortened hair in front of her face and ducked behind Jack. Sarah came to the door nearly two seconds after Jack knocked. She gave Jack a brief greeting, ushered him inside, and shut the door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway. She gave Lucy a sympathetic smile as Lucy slowly straightened herself up into a more dignified stance. It comforted her a little that Sarah looked more concerned rather than angry with her.

"I cut my hair."

"I see that."

"I wanted to make sure he never plays with it again."

Sarah nodded in clarity, "Oh. That makes sense." She started to smile warmly and gave Lucy a hug.

Esther gave Lucy exactly the same treatment and gave her an even tighter hug upon her arrival. Nobody said anything about Friday night or why she took a pair of scissors to her long, wavy locks, and instead encouraged her to take a seat, get comfortable, and eat as much food as she could fit in her stomach. For the first time Lucy felt at ease with her situation and lost the feelings of hopeless solitude and isolation, for there was more evidence to the contrary than she could ever really hope for.

David was not as over-the-top polite as his other family members, yet Lucy respected this. After dinner the two of them stepped out onto the fire escape. It took a while for Lucy to generate the memory she had of their last meeting here -- it had been just after a thunderstorm and David had said how much he enjoyed the scent of rain. Lucy had been busy letting the intoxicating fragrance remind her of Spot and how, ironically, he had been so obsessed with her hair.

"I have a feeling I'll regret this in a couple days," said Lucy.

"What?"

"My hair."

"Oh." He shifted his arms from the railing. "Maybe not. It's therapeutic."

Lucy wrinkled her face and grabbed the longest strand she could find. "Better be."

David laughed. After a few moments he turned back around and leaned against the railing, situating his arms over his chest. "So…Some things've happened with the guys I think you should know about."

Lucy turned and mimicked, subconsciously, his exact stance and posture. "I already know they hate me, I don't need the verbatim dialogue. Spare me, I can't take it."

"No, it's not that." He fumbled for the right words and scratched his head. "This thing now, it's bigger than we thought. Chase actually backed down, knowing he couldn't stand up to Jack and Spot as two separate rivals. He's just given up."

Lucy snorted a nervous, scared laugh at the irony. "Ya think it had anything to do with my 'fighting' skills?"

He chuckled, remembering how Lucy kicked him directly in the groin. He winced at the flashback. "Maybe…But we're meeting with Brooklyn in a few days for discussion, assuming Spot's made it out of the refuge alright…"

Lucy snorted a laugh. "God, I love that…"

David chuckled too but got back to business easily. "We're gonna try to negotiate with them."

"Negotiate?"she repeated, alarmed. "What's there to negotiate?"

"Lots 'a things. You wouldn't think so but there is. Right now it's just a free-for-all. Guys're coming here, we're going over there, the injuries are starting to get worse --"

"Worse? All this started Friday night, how could things've gotten so bad so fast?" She gestured frantically, her arms and hands waving, giving away her obviously increasing panic.

"You'd be surprised," he answered truthfully. "This is Manhattan against Brooklyn. No other gang's backing up either side out of fear. Some guys are pretty banged up, on our side and theirs. But don't panic. Nobody's gotten seriouslyhurt so far. Things are just…kicking up a notch. So Jack and I, we're going to sort it all out civilly before things get worse. Nobody wants this getting out of control."

Lucy scoffed and thought of Spot's viciousness. "I doubt it." She looked back up to David's serious and honest eyes, and muttered an apology at once.

"Don't apologize. You're fine."

"So, what, are you gonna stage one big fight and get it over and done with?"
"We'll see what Spot says. I have a feeling it's gonna get ugly in that meeting."

"Yeah…" she groaned.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook it encouragingly.


After Jack walked her straight up to her apartment that night and told her, yet again, what to do in case someone would try and break in, Lucy sat in front of the mirror to gather together the mess she had made earlier on the floor. Between the chunks of brown hair and the remnants of Spot's hat, she had to laugh before she let it make her cry.

Then unexpectedly, a couple of knocks clapped against the door. She assumed it was either Jack or David, for they were the only two who had been making house calls lately.

Yet when she opened the door, unprepared and unsuspecting, she could hardly believe who her visitor was.

"Hi."

"…Hi…"


A/N: I was going to combine this chapter with the next...but you're just going to have to wait haha but really, it would have been far too long and I want to finish this story as much as you, so I'll be updating super duper fast. Two chapters after this! You can thank me by reviewing :) Oh and a HUGE thank you to all those who voted in my poll! You ROCK.