AUTHOR'S NOTE: ::Sighs:: Here it is.chapter 11, at long last yall finally
get an explanation. Ironic how 11 being my fav. Number is my fav. Chap huh?
Yeah w/e. Ok, enjoy. ::sighs::
Chapter 11-At Long Last: A Confession and Explanation
PART ONE:
Sly knelt down beside Slick's crumpled form. "Slick." He whispered. She looked up, her silver eyes full of pain, he smiled sympathetically, and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Slick, what's going on." Jack said his voice even despite his slight anger. She looked away from Sly her eyes adapted a hard look as they looked at him.
"Is there somethin' ya wanna tell us 'bout Chicago?" Spot asked, his voice hard, and cool.
Her gazed shifted to Spot, a slight fear peaked in her, they knew something.
Sly looked between all the other boys and Slick, they were all regarding her with a weird look, that he couldn't quite place, then it dawn on him, they HAD read the article. "You read that article didn't you?" He accused coolly.
Slick's eyes snapped back to Sly, "What article?"
"The article about Snipes' an' Lily's murder in the Chicago pape, the one I have in my bag."
"You have that article?" Raider broke in.
"I had it from the day it came out, I don' get da papes much, but I did that day an' I guess I neva threw it away. I found it crumpled more, and stuffed in my bag when we got back from suppah, I didn' think much of it, but da way yer all actin, I can tell yall read it, didn' ya?" Sly directed his last comment towards the rest of the bunkroom.
"Yeah, we did" Blink said quietly.
Slick's eyes grew to the size of saucers, and her skin paled another couple of shades. "But that means....you think....oh."
"Would ya care ta explain it?" Jack asked.
Slick's eyes were hard, as was her face, she looked at Sly then at Raider, who nodded slightly. Taking a deep breath she began, "Alright, I'm sure that Raider an' Sly 'ave already some what explained to ya that we're part of what's known as The ToC. Am I right?" Nods resounded from all corners of the room. "There are three gangs that make up The ToC, The Hawks, The Sliders, an' The Blades. The three of us were part of The Hawks, our leader was Razz Collins, he took ova when our former leader, Hawk, was killed in a fight."
"A fight with Slider." Sly put in.
"Yeah, a fight with Slider. The Sliders are notorious for their extensive smuggling and underground operations. The Hawks, for their incredible thieving and conning abilities. And The Blades for their unbeatable skill with weapons, but also for their own underground operations an' also thieving and conning, they're a mix, which makes them one of the best."
"An' dese are all teenagers?!" Bumlets cried incredulously.
Raider smirked, "Yeah, the gangs are mainly made of teens, but we often mix with adults ta get our jobs done." There was a brief shifting in the room, which caused both Sly and Slick to smirk as well from their seats on the floor.
"What does dis all hafta do with Slider bein' afta ya?" Jack asked.
Slick looked at him coolly, "Jus chill out an' I'll get there, ya've waited 3 weeks ya can sure wait another couplea minutes." Sly and Raider snickered, they loved it when Slick spoke with such authority to other leaders, they found it amusing, especially when she got the glares back, such as the one she was getting from Jack now. Slick smirked again. "Where was I?"
"Explainin' what we're all good at."
"Oh yeah. Slider an' Blade each run their own namesakes, as I'm sure ya've figured out. The feeling is "to each gang his own" we stick with our own an' avoid the others 'sept when we need ta."
"Yeah, 'sept when it comes ta you an' Blade." Raider muttered. Slick glared at him and Sly sent a warning look to them both, now was NOT the time to be getting into THAT argument.
"Yeah, 'sept when it comes me an' Blade." Slick agreed. Eyebrows raised all around the room. "NOT LIKE THAT!" Slick yelled seeing their thought process, "Blade an' I are good friends, we respect each other." She defended herself. "See, The Hawks aren't quite as strong as when Hawk was the leader, we've kinda split into our gangs inside our main gang. Take me, Sly an' Raider here, we're our own gang, along with Maze an' LT." At the mention of Lil' Thief (LT) a small blush rose in Sly's cheeks. "No way Sly!" Slick cried seeing her friend's look in response to the name of the Irish girl. "You an' LT?! Why didn' ya tell me earlier?"
"Slick, back ta the story, don' embarrass Sly any more." Raider said trying to sound like he was sticking up for his friend if it wouldn't have been contrasted by the grin on his face.
"Alright, spoil my fun." Slick grinned at the boy sitting next to her who was trying to regain his cool outward appearance. "Ok, so as I was sayin' we stay ta our own gangs, when it comes ta that though, it's mainly The Blades an' The Sliders that have the most tension between them since The Blades are a mixed group. The Blades an' The Hawks are on the same side when it comes ta hating The Sliders, but The Hawks hate both The Blades an' The Sliders, The Blades hate us, an' The Sliders couldn' give a shit 'bout us, since we don' usually do business tagetha."
"You jus' said 'us'." Blink broke in quietly, "Ya were associatin' yerself with 'em"
Slick faltered for a second, "Yeah I guess I did, but I've been one of 'em for the past 6 years, it's a hard habit ta break."
"Whose Snake?" Boots suddenly broke in.
"Slider's side-kick an' right hand man." Slick said coldly
"So ya say that Da Sliders couldn' give a shit 'bout ya, but why den is Slider afta ya?" Spot asked studying Slick closely.
Slick's blood ran cold, it wasn't something she really wanted to get into, because it would lead her thoughts back to.....that night.... "Uhm...I messed up some business a his." Both Sly and Raider shifted uncomfortably, which did not go unnoticed.
Spot studied her closer, she was uncomfortable, as where her two Chicago companions, "Care ta elaborate?"
"Not especially." Slick said shifting under the glares she was getting.
Lucky for her, there was a knock on the door a second later, "Uh, come in." Jack said getting to his feet.
The door opened to reveal Kloopman, "Heyya boys, I got anotha one 'ere." He said looking couriously around at the boys sitting around the bunkroom quietly as if listening to a story, he then saw Slick sitting on the floor, "How ya feelin' Slick?"
"Good, thanks."
"Anotha one Kloppman?" Jack broke in, earning an annoyed glare from Slick.
"Yeah." Kloppman turned and motioned for someone behind him to come forward.
If Sly wouldn't have reached out and grabbed Slick's arm as fast as he did, the figure framed in the doorway would have been dead quicker than the eye could see. "YOU!!" She screamed, trying to break from Sly's grip, but was only held back more as Raider raced over to grab her other arm.
"Heyya Brooklyn, Sly, Raider, how's it goin'?"
******************
§ sHoUt OuTs §
CHACHI: Thanx! An' yeah I will keep e-mailin ya if it keeps ya comin back I'll do jus 'bout anythin'
RAIDER: Cliffy's are a BLAST to write! An' I know I'm bein hard on all the Newsies, ::races around hugging them all!:: but I'm afraid their surprises ain't ova yet!
KTSTAR: My fav. Reviewer!! Ya get anotha prize for comin back AGAIN!!! An' like I said ta Raider, I'm sorry for bein hard on the Newsies!!
TIGER: Yeah I know I'm a poopy head again...
STRIPES MCKEE: So how are Cliff Hanger and Slick Floor doin this time?! LOLOL
SPLASH: Me LOVE caffeine!! An' yes I KNOW I'm being mean to all the Newsies, but.....but...uhm... it works so well in the story!! I SORRY!
RUMOR: Slick's doin' some 'splanin', but the rest WILL come, me PROMISE!! An' sry ta say, yer jus gonna hafta wait for more scerets!! I hope ya got the Snipes thing, but if ya didn' well I'll 'splain eventually!!
WILLOW: I know, Slider and Snake are REALLY cruel, an' sry ta say, you don' know the half of it yet!! Blink an' Slick? Nah, I thought about it once upon a time, but yeah they make better friends than a couple. I know, I kinda like Slick as her own person, not having to rely on anyone else, and that includes boyfriends (and girlfriends) and yes, as I'm sure you figured, Lil' Thief or LT is a girl Chicago Hawk member. The other 4 I named are guy.
STYMIE: I take that as a complement!!! I did review more on "Unless.." It's really good! I want you to keep it up, an' if ya do, I'll keep this story up k?
EMU:!! My fellow Iowan!!! How's it goin!? Sry, it's still strange to think we live in the same state, even if that state happens to suck ass, anyway....THANK YOU!!!
SPLASH #2: Thank ya!
PURE-PRINCESS888: I LOVE holding peoples in suspense!!! It's soooooo much fun!! Here's yer update, next one will hopefully be soon!!
***********
AUTHOR'S NOTE: An' here is PART TWO!!!
PART TWO:
"What are you doing here?!" Slick screamed again.
"Jus' comin in ta check on yall an' oh, is that poor Snipes?" Came the mocking voice of a tall dark-hair and eyed boy. The last comment caused the rest of the bunkroom to look at the stranger with more contempt. "Slider would be 'ere ta do it himself, but I'm afraid 'e's still in some pain."
"Good." Slick spat, still pulling at her restraints.
"Such a tempah Brooklyn, one wouldda thought ya woulda learned."
"Me? Lose my tempah, yeah right. 'Ave ya so innocently informed the cops yet?"
"Nah, thought I'd leave that 'till mornin', I was hoping ta leave a body ta go with my story, but since yer lil' Snipes is back 'ere I may jus hafta go work someone else ova."
"That was low, beatin' up Snipes, Snake."
Snake smirked. "I don' think so, I jus wanted ta remind ya of yer last night in Chicago."
"If ya wanted ta revisit that night, why didn' ya jus' ask me ta beat ya ta bloody 'ell again Justin?"
Snake's face darkened at the mention of his real name. "That part of the night was an accident."
"Only cause ya didn' have enough bodyguards."
"I will remind ya Brooklyn, that what happened ta Snipes an' Lily, could easily happen again, Slider's not gonna forget last night or any other that involves you, he's on a blood mission Brooklyn, an' it's yer blood he wants 'e won' rest 'til he gets it." With having the final word, Snake turned and strode from the room.
As soon as the door was safely shut, Sly and Raider released their iron wrought grips on Slick's arm, she jumped towards the door, and ran into Jack and Spot. "What was that all about?" Jack asked slowly, holding a shaking Slick in his arms.
Slick pulled back and went back to her place on the floor beside Sly and Raider, who each put a protective arm around their friend and associate leader. Slick looked back up at Jack and Spot who walked back to the bunk they were previously sitting on. She sighed, getting into the memories of that night were painful.
"They deserve to know, especially after Snake's comment, we both know, as does Sly, they wont jus' walk away with out hurting you more, an' they have all these weapons to use against ya." Raider said quietly looking around at all the Newsies.
Slick nodded and started back in, "I said that we, uh, mainly I messed up some business with Slider an' his gang. It was an underground op., smuggling actually, I got a Job, a con, I wont go into what the smuggle was, but my employer had an enemy who was a regular of Slider's, it was my job to get what was smuggled to my employer's enemy back to my employer. Unfortunately, thing didn' go so smoothly, an' a couple of Slider's guys were shot down, along with a couple of his regular's and a couple of my employer's. Slider ain't stupid, he knew there was someone workin' on the inside ta get the Job as far a long as it'd come, he made a couplea inquiries an' discovered I was one a the people behind the Job. Things started ta get ugly from there, since we didn' have a nice relationship ta start with, in fact, we'd messed up business with each other in the past. But for him, he decided ta get rid a me." Slick stopped for a second, and closed her eyes tightly.
"What 'appened?" Mush asked
Slick looked at Mush an' gave a sad smile. "Slider don' jus' go after you, 'specially if he really hates ya, 'e goes afta yer family, 'e was smart enough ta stay away from most of the Hawks, knowing, he didn' wanna start a full fledged gang war."
"Family, da Hawks?" Itey looked at Slick confused.
"Yeah, dese guys 'ere are like yer family ain't they?" Slick asked the curly-hared boy. Itey nodded, "The Hawks were all I had in Chicago, it was mainly me, Sly, Raider, LT, Maze, Snipes an' Lily, they were my family. Sly, Raids, LT, Maze an' Snipes an' me were a gang, an' ya could prolly say I was they're leadah." Slick looked at Raider for confirmation, he gave it nodding. "Yeah, Lily was Snipes' girl, we all loved her, she was street hardened but also a real friend, 'specially when we needed it, she wasn' a true Hawk, but ya couldda fooled most a the otha Hawks inta thinkin she was."
"She was a real sweet goil." Sly said quietly, "It ain't the same without her."
"But that article said you killed Logan Snipes an' Lily Morgan." Snitch broke in, his confusion was agreed to by everyone else.
"It said, 'eyewitness identified' me, but 'eyewitness' was Slider. But that's getting ahead a lil', Slider an' I got into a fight before the night they were murdered, two nights actually, that was when he had me beat enough ta mark me. See markin' is a big thing, each gang member has their own special mark that they mark on either buildings or poles when they claim it as theirs or on a person when they've beaten them, a person's left arm, it shows weakness."
"What's yer mark look like?" Skittery asked
Slick smirked, and untied the black bandanna that still covered her hair, she flipped it over to reveal her mark, the hieroglyphic and flame, in blood. Respect shown in Sly and Raider's eyes as they looked at it, also remembering when it was a symbol of power and fear.
"Whoa." Skitts said, his question answered.
"I managed ta mark Slider last night, an' repay him for this." Slick said touching her left arm tenderly as two pairs of Chicagoan eyes turned to her in surprise and even more respect. "Two nights later, I was out working in the streets when I was found by a number of Slider goons, they took me to a deserted area, an' it only took me a minute ta figure out why. Slider had kidnapped Snipes an' Lily. He had them there, I pleaded with him ta let them go." Tears were falling silently from Slick's eyes, "He wouldn't he told me that this was only the beginning of the torment he would put me through for screwing up one of his biggest ops. He had his goons hold me there, so many of them, I couldn't have possibly escaped. An' he an' Snake killed 'em both. He made me watch him an' Snake kill my friends, listen to their screams, listen to Lily beg for mercy, listen to Logan plead jus' ta let Lil go. He made me watch an' listen to it all as he slowly killed them."
Slick's voice broke, she couldn't look at her friends her gazed was fixed on the floor. "Slider placed their bodies in an alley offa Main lata that night, an' made it look like that was were it 'appened. I managed ta break away an' I jumped Snake, an' beat 'im almost ta death, the bastard shouldda been dead. Slider found 'im, an' went ta the cops ta tell 'im 'bout the murder an' the beatin, it was jus' another spice he could add to his work, he blamed it all on me. He went in diguise an' used a real name jus' ta make 'is story more believable, an' who wouldn' 'ave believed 'im? He was blamin' a ToC, an' one who had a record in the first place. So I ran, I left Chicago an' came back 'ere." Slick stopped an' finally looked up at the rest of the room, they were all regarding her in complete shock.
"Wow." Race breathed.
Slick looked at Jack an' Spot to see their reactions, she couldn't bring herself to look at Blink just yet. "'Ave ya eva killed someone though Slick?" Blink asked quietly almost dreading the answer to come.
Slick faltered for a moment and glanced at Sly and Raider, who looked just as uncomfortable as she felt, "Yeah."
Before anyone else could say a word, the bunk door opened again to reveal Kloppman, "'Ey! All youse, in bed, lights out now, youse still gotta getup in da mornin'!" No arguments were made as everyone climbed into bed in record time and quietness.
Blink couldn't sleep, too many thoughts were running through his mind, mostly about Slick and the quick view of her past she had just shared. It pained him to think of her going through it all, yet it was painful to think of how she kept it from everyone. He glanced over to the bottom bunk in the bunk beside his, Slick's bunk, just for a glimpse of his friend. It was empty.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: WOW, That's the end of Chap. 11 folks. So what didja think? I got one more chap ta go before I'm at a short stand still for this, read my next authors note and make sure ta tell me what ya think. Thank you all so much for reviewing. It makes my day jus that much better!
Chapter 11-At Long Last: A Confession and Explanation
PART ONE:
Sly knelt down beside Slick's crumpled form. "Slick." He whispered. She looked up, her silver eyes full of pain, he smiled sympathetically, and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Slick, what's going on." Jack said his voice even despite his slight anger. She looked away from Sly her eyes adapted a hard look as they looked at him.
"Is there somethin' ya wanna tell us 'bout Chicago?" Spot asked, his voice hard, and cool.
Her gazed shifted to Spot, a slight fear peaked in her, they knew something.
Sly looked between all the other boys and Slick, they were all regarding her with a weird look, that he couldn't quite place, then it dawn on him, they HAD read the article. "You read that article didn't you?" He accused coolly.
Slick's eyes snapped back to Sly, "What article?"
"The article about Snipes' an' Lily's murder in the Chicago pape, the one I have in my bag."
"You have that article?" Raider broke in.
"I had it from the day it came out, I don' get da papes much, but I did that day an' I guess I neva threw it away. I found it crumpled more, and stuffed in my bag when we got back from suppah, I didn' think much of it, but da way yer all actin, I can tell yall read it, didn' ya?" Sly directed his last comment towards the rest of the bunkroom.
"Yeah, we did" Blink said quietly.
Slick's eyes grew to the size of saucers, and her skin paled another couple of shades. "But that means....you think....oh."
"Would ya care ta explain it?" Jack asked.
Slick's eyes were hard, as was her face, she looked at Sly then at Raider, who nodded slightly. Taking a deep breath she began, "Alright, I'm sure that Raider an' Sly 'ave already some what explained to ya that we're part of what's known as The ToC. Am I right?" Nods resounded from all corners of the room. "There are three gangs that make up The ToC, The Hawks, The Sliders, an' The Blades. The three of us were part of The Hawks, our leader was Razz Collins, he took ova when our former leader, Hawk, was killed in a fight."
"A fight with Slider." Sly put in.
"Yeah, a fight with Slider. The Sliders are notorious for their extensive smuggling and underground operations. The Hawks, for their incredible thieving and conning abilities. And The Blades for their unbeatable skill with weapons, but also for their own underground operations an' also thieving and conning, they're a mix, which makes them one of the best."
"An' dese are all teenagers?!" Bumlets cried incredulously.
Raider smirked, "Yeah, the gangs are mainly made of teens, but we often mix with adults ta get our jobs done." There was a brief shifting in the room, which caused both Sly and Slick to smirk as well from their seats on the floor.
"What does dis all hafta do with Slider bein' afta ya?" Jack asked.
Slick looked at him coolly, "Jus chill out an' I'll get there, ya've waited 3 weeks ya can sure wait another couplea minutes." Sly and Raider snickered, they loved it when Slick spoke with such authority to other leaders, they found it amusing, especially when she got the glares back, such as the one she was getting from Jack now. Slick smirked again. "Where was I?"
"Explainin' what we're all good at."
"Oh yeah. Slider an' Blade each run their own namesakes, as I'm sure ya've figured out. The feeling is "to each gang his own" we stick with our own an' avoid the others 'sept when we need ta."
"Yeah, 'sept when it comes ta you an' Blade." Raider muttered. Slick glared at him and Sly sent a warning look to them both, now was NOT the time to be getting into THAT argument.
"Yeah, 'sept when it comes me an' Blade." Slick agreed. Eyebrows raised all around the room. "NOT LIKE THAT!" Slick yelled seeing their thought process, "Blade an' I are good friends, we respect each other." She defended herself. "See, The Hawks aren't quite as strong as when Hawk was the leader, we've kinda split into our gangs inside our main gang. Take me, Sly an' Raider here, we're our own gang, along with Maze an' LT." At the mention of Lil' Thief (LT) a small blush rose in Sly's cheeks. "No way Sly!" Slick cried seeing her friend's look in response to the name of the Irish girl. "You an' LT?! Why didn' ya tell me earlier?"
"Slick, back ta the story, don' embarrass Sly any more." Raider said trying to sound like he was sticking up for his friend if it wouldn't have been contrasted by the grin on his face.
"Alright, spoil my fun." Slick grinned at the boy sitting next to her who was trying to regain his cool outward appearance. "Ok, so as I was sayin' we stay ta our own gangs, when it comes ta that though, it's mainly The Blades an' The Sliders that have the most tension between them since The Blades are a mixed group. The Blades an' The Hawks are on the same side when it comes ta hating The Sliders, but The Hawks hate both The Blades an' The Sliders, The Blades hate us, an' The Sliders couldn' give a shit 'bout us, since we don' usually do business tagetha."
"You jus' said 'us'." Blink broke in quietly, "Ya were associatin' yerself with 'em"
Slick faltered for a second, "Yeah I guess I did, but I've been one of 'em for the past 6 years, it's a hard habit ta break."
"Whose Snake?" Boots suddenly broke in.
"Slider's side-kick an' right hand man." Slick said coldly
"So ya say that Da Sliders couldn' give a shit 'bout ya, but why den is Slider afta ya?" Spot asked studying Slick closely.
Slick's blood ran cold, it wasn't something she really wanted to get into, because it would lead her thoughts back to.....that night.... "Uhm...I messed up some business a his." Both Sly and Raider shifted uncomfortably, which did not go unnoticed.
Spot studied her closer, she was uncomfortable, as where her two Chicago companions, "Care ta elaborate?"
"Not especially." Slick said shifting under the glares she was getting.
Lucky for her, there was a knock on the door a second later, "Uh, come in." Jack said getting to his feet.
The door opened to reveal Kloopman, "Heyya boys, I got anotha one 'ere." He said looking couriously around at the boys sitting around the bunkroom quietly as if listening to a story, he then saw Slick sitting on the floor, "How ya feelin' Slick?"
"Good, thanks."
"Anotha one Kloppman?" Jack broke in, earning an annoyed glare from Slick.
"Yeah." Kloppman turned and motioned for someone behind him to come forward.
If Sly wouldn't have reached out and grabbed Slick's arm as fast as he did, the figure framed in the doorway would have been dead quicker than the eye could see. "YOU!!" She screamed, trying to break from Sly's grip, but was only held back more as Raider raced over to grab her other arm.
"Heyya Brooklyn, Sly, Raider, how's it goin'?"
******************
§ sHoUt OuTs §
CHACHI: Thanx! An' yeah I will keep e-mailin ya if it keeps ya comin back I'll do jus 'bout anythin'
RAIDER: Cliffy's are a BLAST to write! An' I know I'm bein hard on all the Newsies, ::races around hugging them all!:: but I'm afraid their surprises ain't ova yet!
KTSTAR: My fav. Reviewer!! Ya get anotha prize for comin back AGAIN!!! An' like I said ta Raider, I'm sorry for bein hard on the Newsies!!
TIGER: Yeah I know I'm a poopy head again...
STRIPES MCKEE: So how are Cliff Hanger and Slick Floor doin this time?! LOLOL
SPLASH: Me LOVE caffeine!! An' yes I KNOW I'm being mean to all the Newsies, but.....but...uhm... it works so well in the story!! I SORRY!
RUMOR: Slick's doin' some 'splanin', but the rest WILL come, me PROMISE!! An' sry ta say, yer jus gonna hafta wait for more scerets!! I hope ya got the Snipes thing, but if ya didn' well I'll 'splain eventually!!
WILLOW: I know, Slider and Snake are REALLY cruel, an' sry ta say, you don' know the half of it yet!! Blink an' Slick? Nah, I thought about it once upon a time, but yeah they make better friends than a couple. I know, I kinda like Slick as her own person, not having to rely on anyone else, and that includes boyfriends (and girlfriends) and yes, as I'm sure you figured, Lil' Thief or LT is a girl Chicago Hawk member. The other 4 I named are guy.
STYMIE: I take that as a complement!!! I did review more on "Unless.." It's really good! I want you to keep it up, an' if ya do, I'll keep this story up k?
EMU:!! My fellow Iowan!!! How's it goin!? Sry, it's still strange to think we live in the same state, even if that state happens to suck ass, anyway....THANK YOU!!!
SPLASH #2: Thank ya!
PURE-PRINCESS888: I LOVE holding peoples in suspense!!! It's soooooo much fun!! Here's yer update, next one will hopefully be soon!!
***********
AUTHOR'S NOTE: An' here is PART TWO!!!
PART TWO:
"What are you doing here?!" Slick screamed again.
"Jus' comin in ta check on yall an' oh, is that poor Snipes?" Came the mocking voice of a tall dark-hair and eyed boy. The last comment caused the rest of the bunkroom to look at the stranger with more contempt. "Slider would be 'ere ta do it himself, but I'm afraid 'e's still in some pain."
"Good." Slick spat, still pulling at her restraints.
"Such a tempah Brooklyn, one wouldda thought ya woulda learned."
"Me? Lose my tempah, yeah right. 'Ave ya so innocently informed the cops yet?"
"Nah, thought I'd leave that 'till mornin', I was hoping ta leave a body ta go with my story, but since yer lil' Snipes is back 'ere I may jus hafta go work someone else ova."
"That was low, beatin' up Snipes, Snake."
Snake smirked. "I don' think so, I jus wanted ta remind ya of yer last night in Chicago."
"If ya wanted ta revisit that night, why didn' ya jus' ask me ta beat ya ta bloody 'ell again Justin?"
Snake's face darkened at the mention of his real name. "That part of the night was an accident."
"Only cause ya didn' have enough bodyguards."
"I will remind ya Brooklyn, that what happened ta Snipes an' Lily, could easily happen again, Slider's not gonna forget last night or any other that involves you, he's on a blood mission Brooklyn, an' it's yer blood he wants 'e won' rest 'til he gets it." With having the final word, Snake turned and strode from the room.
As soon as the door was safely shut, Sly and Raider released their iron wrought grips on Slick's arm, she jumped towards the door, and ran into Jack and Spot. "What was that all about?" Jack asked slowly, holding a shaking Slick in his arms.
Slick pulled back and went back to her place on the floor beside Sly and Raider, who each put a protective arm around their friend and associate leader. Slick looked back up at Jack and Spot who walked back to the bunk they were previously sitting on. She sighed, getting into the memories of that night were painful.
"They deserve to know, especially after Snake's comment, we both know, as does Sly, they wont jus' walk away with out hurting you more, an' they have all these weapons to use against ya." Raider said quietly looking around at all the Newsies.
Slick nodded and started back in, "I said that we, uh, mainly I messed up some business with Slider an' his gang. It was an underground op., smuggling actually, I got a Job, a con, I wont go into what the smuggle was, but my employer had an enemy who was a regular of Slider's, it was my job to get what was smuggled to my employer's enemy back to my employer. Unfortunately, thing didn' go so smoothly, an' a couple of Slider's guys were shot down, along with a couple of his regular's and a couple of my employer's. Slider ain't stupid, he knew there was someone workin' on the inside ta get the Job as far a long as it'd come, he made a couplea inquiries an' discovered I was one a the people behind the Job. Things started ta get ugly from there, since we didn' have a nice relationship ta start with, in fact, we'd messed up business with each other in the past. But for him, he decided ta get rid a me." Slick stopped for a second, and closed her eyes tightly.
"What 'appened?" Mush asked
Slick looked at Mush an' gave a sad smile. "Slider don' jus' go after you, 'specially if he really hates ya, 'e goes afta yer family, 'e was smart enough ta stay away from most of the Hawks, knowing, he didn' wanna start a full fledged gang war."
"Family, da Hawks?" Itey looked at Slick confused.
"Yeah, dese guys 'ere are like yer family ain't they?" Slick asked the curly-hared boy. Itey nodded, "The Hawks were all I had in Chicago, it was mainly me, Sly, Raider, LT, Maze, Snipes an' Lily, they were my family. Sly, Raids, LT, Maze an' Snipes an' me were a gang, an' ya could prolly say I was they're leadah." Slick looked at Raider for confirmation, he gave it nodding. "Yeah, Lily was Snipes' girl, we all loved her, she was street hardened but also a real friend, 'specially when we needed it, she wasn' a true Hawk, but ya couldda fooled most a the otha Hawks inta thinkin she was."
"She was a real sweet goil." Sly said quietly, "It ain't the same without her."
"But that article said you killed Logan Snipes an' Lily Morgan." Snitch broke in, his confusion was agreed to by everyone else.
"It said, 'eyewitness identified' me, but 'eyewitness' was Slider. But that's getting ahead a lil', Slider an' I got into a fight before the night they were murdered, two nights actually, that was when he had me beat enough ta mark me. See markin' is a big thing, each gang member has their own special mark that they mark on either buildings or poles when they claim it as theirs or on a person when they've beaten them, a person's left arm, it shows weakness."
"What's yer mark look like?" Skittery asked
Slick smirked, and untied the black bandanna that still covered her hair, she flipped it over to reveal her mark, the hieroglyphic and flame, in blood. Respect shown in Sly and Raider's eyes as they looked at it, also remembering when it was a symbol of power and fear.
"Whoa." Skitts said, his question answered.
"I managed ta mark Slider last night, an' repay him for this." Slick said touching her left arm tenderly as two pairs of Chicagoan eyes turned to her in surprise and even more respect. "Two nights later, I was out working in the streets when I was found by a number of Slider goons, they took me to a deserted area, an' it only took me a minute ta figure out why. Slider had kidnapped Snipes an' Lily. He had them there, I pleaded with him ta let them go." Tears were falling silently from Slick's eyes, "He wouldn't he told me that this was only the beginning of the torment he would put me through for screwing up one of his biggest ops. He had his goons hold me there, so many of them, I couldn't have possibly escaped. An' he an' Snake killed 'em both. He made me watch him an' Snake kill my friends, listen to their screams, listen to Lily beg for mercy, listen to Logan plead jus' ta let Lil go. He made me watch an' listen to it all as he slowly killed them."
Slick's voice broke, she couldn't look at her friends her gazed was fixed on the floor. "Slider placed their bodies in an alley offa Main lata that night, an' made it look like that was were it 'appened. I managed ta break away an' I jumped Snake, an' beat 'im almost ta death, the bastard shouldda been dead. Slider found 'im, an' went ta the cops ta tell 'im 'bout the murder an' the beatin, it was jus' another spice he could add to his work, he blamed it all on me. He went in diguise an' used a real name jus' ta make 'is story more believable, an' who wouldn' 'ave believed 'im? He was blamin' a ToC, an' one who had a record in the first place. So I ran, I left Chicago an' came back 'ere." Slick stopped an' finally looked up at the rest of the room, they were all regarding her in complete shock.
"Wow." Race breathed.
Slick looked at Jack an' Spot to see their reactions, she couldn't bring herself to look at Blink just yet. "'Ave ya eva killed someone though Slick?" Blink asked quietly almost dreading the answer to come.
Slick faltered for a moment and glanced at Sly and Raider, who looked just as uncomfortable as she felt, "Yeah."
Before anyone else could say a word, the bunk door opened again to reveal Kloppman, "'Ey! All youse, in bed, lights out now, youse still gotta getup in da mornin'!" No arguments were made as everyone climbed into bed in record time and quietness.
Blink couldn't sleep, too many thoughts were running through his mind, mostly about Slick and the quick view of her past she had just shared. It pained him to think of her going through it all, yet it was painful to think of how she kept it from everyone. He glanced over to the bottom bunk in the bunk beside his, Slick's bunk, just for a glimpse of his friend. It was empty.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: WOW, That's the end of Chap. 11 folks. So what didja think? I got one more chap ta go before I'm at a short stand still for this, read my next authors note and make sure ta tell me what ya think. Thank you all so much for reviewing. It makes my day jus that much better!