OE Chapter 12 - Hear You Me
Pie Eater sat with Kiss on the Brooklyn Bridge. The very bridge that had caused this chain of events. Everything had gone wrong since he had first crossed this very structure.
He looked down at his baby sister and sighed. She looked so weary, so old, despite her being only sixteen years old. He wondered if this is what Kid Blink saw when he looked at Ocean Eyes. He hated the fact that Kiss wandered, that she had no real life, no real friends. But it's what she had chosen, and he had to be supportive.
Kiss snuggled against his side, her dark hair sticking up against his arm. "Wha's been goin' on wit' Ocean Eyes?" she asked, looking up at him.
He sighed. "Ya mean wit' all 'er bruises an' stuff?" Kiss nodded. "I dunno." He let the thought escape him, and he thought achingly of her beauty, now marred with purple spots. Everyone had seen them the day before, when Ocean Eyes had unthinkingly rolled up her sleeves. Pie Eater had been shocked, because there were so many, and they looked so painful.
And Ocean Eyes hadn't even mentioned them to him.
He knew he was losing her. No matter how tight he held her, how lovingly he stroked her hair, how sweet his kisses were, she was slipping away. She had begun to isolate herself against him, seeing him only at meals and when her friends were around. The rest of the time she hung around with Mush.
"She won' open up ta me anymore," Pie Eater said softly, staring out at the murky waters. "An' I think maybe Mush is to blame fer it." He opened his heart up, knowing that only Kiss would understand. "She's always hangin' aroun' him. I t'ink he may be brainwashin' 'er or… sumthin." Like hitting her, he added in his thoughts. The thought made him coil with anger inwardly. Not only stealing Ocean Eyes away, but then hurting her? It was enough to make him seriously think about joining the Brooklyn gang again just to beat up Mush.
But as that last thought ran swiftly through his mind, he shoved it away. He wasn't going to fight anymore.
Kiss stood up. "Pie Eateh, I'se goin' back ta Manhattan fer a bit. I'se really thirsty. Ya wanna come?"
Pie Eater shook his head. "No thanks. I'd ratheh sit heah an' t'ink. But come back as soon as ya can, okay?"
She grinned. "A course." She quickly clipped off down the bridge.
Pie Eater stared some more at the water. His senses told him someone was approaching him from the rear, and he looked back just in time to duck out of the way of Mush's fist.
"Whaddya t'ink yer doin'?" Pie Eater asked, scrambling to his feet and facing Mush.
"What I shoulda done a long time ago," Mush answered, scowling.
Pie Eater stared at Mush, wondering if that was the same expression he wore when he hit Ocean Eyes. He felt anger surging through his veins, seeping into his muscles. His hand balled into a fist, and before he knew what he was doing, he punched Mush right in the nose.
Mush let out a yell and bent over. Pie Eater snapped out of it. "Mush, is you a'right?" he asked, putting out his arms.
Mush straightened up with a little grin and Pie Eater realized he'd been faking. Mush wound up and punched, and punched, and punched.
Pie Eater didn't hit back anymore.
Mush began screaming at Pie Eater, but Pie Eater could only hear the thuds as his body was pummeled, not the words. He began slowly losing consciousness, but then a silver gleam brought back his senses somewhat.
"How dare ya hoit Ocean," Mush said, holding the large, flashing knife above him.
Pie Eater stared at him. He didn't even have time to register what was going on as he watched it come closer.
Mush felt a sick pleasure wash over him as he brought the knife down and let it sink into Pie Eater's flesh. "No one hoits me Ocean Eyes," he said softly, looking straight into Pie Eater's eyes.
Mush suddenly spotted Kiss coming back. Panicking, he turned and ran over the bridge into Brooklyn, taking the knife with him.
Kiss, not really paying attention to anything, wandered back to where she could see Pie Eater lying on his back, spread-eagle. She laughed a little to herself about the fact that her brother could sleep anywhere.
As she got closer, she could see that his chest was heaving painfully, and there was scarlet liquid summoning around his body. She tensed up a moment, staring. Then she sprinted over. "Peteh! Peteh!" she screamed, feeling all sixteen years of her come undone as she kneeled beside him. "Peteh! NO!"
Pie Eater looked up at her, the pain visible in his irises. "Christina?"
"Yeah?" she said, choking back sobs as she cradled his head. The wound was deep, and the blood gushed from it.
"I love ya." His chest rose once more, and then he uttered one word he'd never said to her before: "Goodbye."
Kiss just stared at him, then began to sob as his chest stopped rising, and his lips drew no more breath.
Ocean Eyes scowled as she sat on her bunk in the lonesome lodging house. She hadn't seen Pie Eater all day. She'd gone looking for him once Denton's doctor had worked on her left, and broken, arm. It now rested, idle, in a sling across her chest. She wished she had seen Pie Eater, that way she could convince Mush further of her little scheme.
The thought brought a smile to her lips, and she used her teeth to pull up her right sleeve. She admired all the green, yellow, purple. Then she turned and smashed her side against Melody's bunk.
Her arm got pinched between her body and the rail of the bunk, but the pain only lasted as long as her short squeal that accompanied it. She cackled a bit as she thought of Mush trying to beat up Pie Eater for her. For her! Because that was the point, wasn't it? To get everyone to go crazy over her.
She threw herself around the room some more, then repeated one thought in her mind: He didn't mean it. He didn't mean it. He didn't mean it. He didn't mean it… To further convince herself, she imagined the scenario to tell Mush about why Pie Eater had hurt her this time: she wouldn't tie his boots. The thought brought a loud laugh from her lips.
Pie Eater! Hurt her? Was Mush seriously so foolish as to believe that? Gentle Pie Eater, who, since his return from Brooklyn, wouldn't swat at the flies that swarmed around Snipeshooter? Ocean Eyes grinned. Manipulating people was such fun….
Mush stayed in Brooklyn nearly all day, afraid to go back. Eventually he stepped onto the bridge, clearing his throat and telling himself to remain calm. Luckily, it wasn't weird that he would be in Brooklyn for a day, because he had friends there.
The bridge was empty, but there were still spots of red blood on the ground. Mush smiled a little, though he knew it was a sick thing to do. He hoped that Pie Eater would have a wound for the rest of his life. That would teach him to hurt Ocean Eyes.
There was a totally different feel once he got to Manhattan. Unease was in the air. He stopped the first newsie he saw, Swifty. Swifty told him that Pie Eater had been killed. "Stabbed," Swifty said softly, so the younger kids wouldn't overhear. "On da Brooklyn Bridge."
Mush's thoughts swirled and went faster and faster until he thought he'd pass out. Killed? He was only supposed to be hurt… to learn a lesson.
The sun was setting, and Mush headed to Horace Greeley's statued image. He sat next to the giant impression of the man, and put his head in his hands. Ocean Eyes would never understand…
"Mush?" He looked down at the ground, where Ocean Eyes stood, her eyes wide. They slowly filled with tears. "Look what happened ta-day… I jus' said I wouldn' tie his shoes…"
Mush's head snapped up, and he looked down at her in confusion. "What time ta-day?" he asked, trying to figure out when Pie Eater had had a chance to hurt her.
"Oh, a few hours ago?" she said, tilting her head to the side.
Snoddy came over and gave her a hug. He was crying.
"Snodds, wha's wrong?" she asked, bewildered, and for a moment forgetting her act.
"What have you done?" screamed Mush, jumping off the statue.
"Didn' ya heah?" asked Snoddy, not composed at all. "Pie Eateh was keeled… dis moinin…."
"What?!" Ocean Eyes screamed, her eyes widening.
"So how did 'e soak ya?" Mush asked, standing next to her. He wanted to hear something, anything. Any explanation at all… Anything to ease his mind…
Nothing came. Ocean Eyes just stared at him, then she turned and ran as fast as her sprained ankle would allow.
That night, Ocean Eyes gathered up her items. Melody and Chance watched with clenched teeth and hard eyes. They both ignored her goodbyes.
When she stepped out of the lodging house, she was greeted by at least a hundred newsies. All held candles, which were the only lights to shine on their faces. Mush. Snoddy. Kiss. Racetrack. Jack. Dutchy. Specs. Crutchy. Itey. Jake. Bumlets. Swifty. Davey. And her brother, Christian, Kid Blink. One by one, they turned their backs on her until she was left alone in the middle of their semicircle.
Ocean Eyes' tide came in and out, and she could only cry.
"And if you were with me tonight / I'd sing for you just one more time / A song for a heart so big / God wouldn't let it live. / May angels lead you in / Hear you me my friends / On sleepless roads the sleepless go / May angels lead you in." - Jimmy Eat World
The End
Copyright © Mondie 2002
**Shoutouts: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed my story. They are ::ahem:: kimimay85, Tuffy, Blinks-Tiger, Dizzy, Holly Rachael Zintel, Vioshine, singa/Manhattan, Maniac Conlon, Stage, Misprint, Jo, Peg, Emu, Keladry of Mindelan, Sobe A Lizard, ICESTORM105, Lucky, nikki, ritz, and Stage. Thanks to all of you! :D You made writing this fic fun.**
