Race smiled, "I could tell," he said. "I'se Race by de way," he said, spitting in his hand and holding it out to Topsy. She imitated his movements. "So ya new around heah?" he asked, hoping to conjure up a conversation with this friendly girl.
Topsy nodded, "Me an' Bittah got recruited by Shootah," she said, looking behind her shoulder, hoping that Bitter would remove herself from the bathroom.
Race nodded. Seeing that she was concerned about her friend, he spoke up quickly, "Well, I'll let ya go talk ta your friend, she looks upset," he said. Topsy looked at him gratefully and slipped a 'nice to meet you' in before running off to the bathroom.
Bitter ignored Shooter, who was trying to talk to her. She had thrown some water on her face and had then proceeded to lock herself in a stall. She heard the door open and Shooter saying, "Thank Gawd yer heah, she won't talk ta me at all."
Tospy
smiled, "I'll get her out in a jiffy, jist give me a minute or two,"
she said. Shooter nodded and then left abruptly after taking a last look at the
stall Bitter was in.
Topsy
stood next to the door and smiled her genuinely sweet smile. "C'mon Bittah,
talk ta me, what's wrong?"
Bitter sighed heavily. She ran her fingers through her hair and got up, putting a smile on her face, which usually convinced everyone. She opened the stall and smiled at Topsy, "Oh, it's nutin. Let's go meet those people," she said, taking Topsy by the hand and dragging her out of the bathroom with her.
Topsy just shook her head, "You don't fool me, we'll talk later," she said and followed Bitter back to Shooter and the table full of newsies.
Shooter smiled as they approached her and said, "Good, now I kin introduce ya ta de gang."
Bitter smiled falsely through all of the introductions, she hoped she could remember all of their names, but her mind really wasn't on such things as remembering names. Topsy couldn't help but notice Bitter's far off look and took a note to ask her later. The introductions were short and to the point to the girls' pleasure. There seemed to quite a few couples and Bitter and Topsy were glad that Shooter stayed by their side all night, helping them out with names.
They sat down at the bar and Shooter ordered a light drink for herself and motioned for the two girls to follow suit and they did. She smiled as she took a sip and licked her lips. "Well, I know neither of you were paying attention when I told ya all de goil's and guys names, so I figured that I could just point 'em out," she said with a grin as the two girls looked at her in shock.
"Airight, we'll start with the easy ones first," she said. She smiled as she heard a boy hollering. A boy with a bandana around his neck and a cowboy hat on was yelling at a girl who held a slingshot in her hand, ready to shoot him. "Now, dey boy wit de cowboy hat is Jack, he's de leadah in Manhattan, real jerk sometimes, don't know what Slingshot sees in him. The girl next to him with the slingshot an' marbles is Slingshot, she's real good with one, taught her meself. Nevah kept Jack from fallin' for her tho," she said with a smirk as the girl loosed another marble that hit Jack square in the cheek. The girl smiled as she kissed him where she had hit him and soon he was kissing her back.
"The couple next ta dem are Kid Blink an' Athena," she continued, pointing to a boy with a patch over his eye and a thin girl with auburn hair hanging off of him, laughing at the jokes he was telling. "Opposite from them are Goosey and Itey, who never seem to part," she said, obviously talking about the petite girl and the guy she never let go of. "The two that are getting up and leaving are Spadey and Skittery," she said and a tall boy popping chocolates into the girl's mouth, never letting his arm leave it's place around her shoulders.
"Three a' de goils are missing, probably off with their guys, you'll get ta meet them latah, dey always jump all over newbies," she said with a smile.
A pale looking girl with dark brown hair sat down next to Shooter, ordering a large drink. She looked slightly familiar to the girls and Shooter greeted her with a hug, "Heya Dream, how ya doin?," she asked.
The girl muttered some intangible words and looked up to see the two girls staring at her with wide eyes. She looked at them closely, "Aren't you . . ." she said drifting off.
"De goils' from de train," Topsy answered her with a sincere smile.
Dreamer smiled, "Oh yeah, how's yer arm?" she asked, addressing Bitter.
Bitter smiled, looking down at her arm, "Oh, it's all healed up, barely hoits anymore," she said. The conversation carried on and soon found them talking all night and ended up being the last ones to leave. They discussed all that had happened since they had departed the train that dark night. The bartender, who was in the process of cleaning up, interrupted them. "Ya goil's bettah get home before it gets too late, it's dangerous at night," he said, pointing out that everyone else had left.
The girls thanked him and finished their drinks and left, full of conversation. Topsy took this time to confront Bitter, the two of them trailing after Dreamer and Shooter who had struck up a conversation about the best way of selling papes.
"Hey listen, I know dat ya ain't one ta share about yer past, but something's been really upsettin' ya lately and I was wonderin' if ya'd tell me," Topsy said, looking at Bitter who was looking at the ground, her smile fading.
"Well, it's jist something dat happened a while ago," Bitter said quietly, not wanting to bring back the old memories, that she had been trying to shove away.
"C'mon, ya kin tell me," she said. Bitter nodded and took her time, trying to put it into words. She looked up carefully at Topsy, ready to tell her, when she noticed that Dreamer and Shooter were nowhere to be seen.
Her eyes searched the darkness, but she couldn't see them anywhere. "Great, dis is jist wonderful," she muttered. She saw a retreating figure in an alley and without thinking called out to the person. "Hey mistah, ya know where de Brooklyn Lodgin' House is?" she asked.
The guy turned around with a smile and motioned for them to meet him in the alley. Bitter looked at Topsy with a shrug and walked into the alley. When they were close enough to talk, the guy smiled and said, "Yeah, I know where dat is."
"Could ya point us in de direction?" she asked.
The guy smiled, almost menacingly. "Yeah I kin, but I got a favor for ya to do fer me," he said.
Bitter gave him a strange look and said, "An' what's dat?"
The guy shoved her against the wall hard and pulled out a knife. "Hey!" Topsy exclaimed, running at the guy. She soon found herself being held back by two muscular boys.
"Would ya tell Shooter dat I miss seeing her pretty face," he said, putting the knife up to her cheek. "Oh an' jist let her know dat Trick told ya dat this is the kinda treatment I'll give her when I next see her," he said with a laugh.
"Treatment?" Bitter said nervously.
"Let's make a deal . . ., oh I don't know your name, how horrible of me," he said, "You must be new."
Bitter glared at him, "I'se Bittah, and what's it to you?" she asked angrily as she could not shake him off of her.
Trick smiled, "Well, ya bettah get a bettah attitude Bittah, or I might jist hafta hoit yer dear little friend over there too," he said.
Her eyes widened as she glanced back at Topsy, who was looking at the knife terrified. "Leave her alone," Bitter said with an edge in her voice.
"I hit yer soft spot, didn't I?" Trick asked, "or do you have more?" He proceeded to poke the knife into her various limbs and the knife soon found its way back to her cheek. "I think that this is it," he said with a wicked grin, "Remember me every time you let a tear slip, cause it'll only make you hurt more." With that said, he slashed her across the left cheek and that's when she retaliated.
She kneed him in the stomach, causing him to free up her hands and she hit the knife from his hand, it clattering into the darkness. She shoved her elbow hard into his stomach and rushed at the goons holding Topsy. Topsy took one of them out by the legs as Bitter took a few swings at the other, soon sending him crashing to the ground. She punched Trick once more in the face and then grabbed Topsy. They ran and ran, until they found themselves in a familiar area.
Topsy rushed into the Lodging House, Bitter right after her. They found themselves surrounded by guys and Bitter and Topsy looked at each other. Bitter muttered an 'I'm sorry' and pushed Topsy towards the door, covering her face. She felt someone grab her arm, that was busy covering her face and she turned around face to face with Spot. "Whaddya want?" she asked, edgily.
He looked her up and down, checking for any other cuts and said, "You'se staying in heah fer de rest of de night."
Bitter opened her mouth to object, but found herself interrupted by Spot.
"No arguing. I'se gotta take care of dat wound an' den find out what de hell happened to you two," Spot said. He then turned his attention towards a few of the boys that were standing there, gawking at the scene. "Blue, Twistah, take Topsy back to de goils' lodgin house an' explain ta Shootah our situation," he said.
Topsy took a last look back at her friend, who looked as though she was about to explode and let the two boys lead her out the door.
Bitter watched her leave and when she turned around, Spot was gone. She looked around the lodging house, wondering where he could have gone. She wandered into a side room that had a single bunk bed in it. It was quite clean and the only thing that made her think that someone stayed in that room was a picture frame that was on a nearby dresser. She picked it up to see Spot smiling back at her. His face was full of delight, him standing next to a boy that was older than him and a young girl standing in front of him.
Two older looking people stood behind them and Bitter smiled as she thought of seeing Spot being a momma's boy. She couldn't help a feeling of sadness wipe over her as she thought of the family she had never had nor would ever meet. She felt tears come to her eyes and felt one drip down her face.
A loud voice interrupted her sorrow and she almost dropped the picture. "What de hell do ya think you're doin'?" Spot asked as he entered the room, an angry look in his eye.
She wiped the tears away and put the frame down, "I was jist wonderin' where ya had gone an' was lookin' around fer ya," she said quickly.
He saw the tears in her eyes and his anger soon dropped. Not wanting to seem like a softie, he muttered to her in an authoritative voice, "Don't evah go in dere again."
She nodded and swallowed her tears, following him out of the room. He grabbed the cloths and bowl of liquid that was sitting upon a table and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a room opposite of his own and turned on the lamp, putting the bowl and cloths down on a nightstand next to a single bed.
"De caretaker is outta town, so ya kin sleep in his room fer de night," he said. Bitter nodded and whispered a 'thanks' before sitting down on the bed, being tired from running.
"Now, why don't ya tell me what happened," he said, soaking one of the cloths in the liquid.
She proceeded to tell him every last detail of the fight between her and Trick and Spot muttered some curses to himself as he thought of Trick being up to no good again.
"Who does he think he is, anyways?" she said angrily.
He sat down next to her, cloth in hand and smirked, "He jist so happens ta be de leadah a' Harlem, an' an unpleasant one at dat," he said.
She looked at the cloth, "Dat gonna hoit?" she asked.
Spot smiled, "Not dat bad," he said and pressed it against the cut gently. She let out a 'yelp' and Spot had to coax her into letting him treat her. "It ain't gonna get any bettah if ya don't clean it," he said.
She sighed. "Fine," she said bracing herself, "As long as I don't gotta see a doctor."
Spot cleaned the wound and soon the bowl of water and peroxide was bloody and the cut taken care of. He finished and looked at her with a smirk, "So what ya got against doctors?" he asked, her obvious fear of doctors concerning him.
Bitter shrugged, "I jist don't like dem," she said, getting up. "No more questions," she added as she made her way to the door. "I'se too tired ta answer dem," she said with a yawn.
Spot rolled his eyes, knowing he would get it out of her later and watched her walk slowly to the bathroom. He took care of the bowl and cloths and left some clothes for Bitter on the bed. Knowing he had taken care of everything he headed to his own room and got ready. He didn't fall asleep until he saw the light go off in the room Bitter was in and then sleep found itself upon both of them.
* * *
