Free Companies Inc. Presents:
Brooklyn: One Rainy Day
A Newsies fic by Keza: Queen of Procrastination
AN: Ark! It's been more than a month… I had the biggest writer's block. Chapter six is finally here though… Please review! They help a lot. Thanks to Falco for beating me on the head with a keyboard… Wait… Huh? Oh well, at least it made me write.
AN2: Oh, and Callie and Spin are the same person. I just use her real name a lot in this chapter. Spin is her nickname. Yeah.
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"Are you mad?!" Callie's eyes flashed angrily. "Surely your work is getting easier, if anything!" The nurse, an old broad of sixty or so, looked down her nose at the girl.
"Young lady, it would be best for you to keep in mind the scarcity of willing nurses and-"
"Is that a threat?" The nurse's eyes snapped open and her gaze sharpened considerably. She opened her mouth to speak, but was again interrupted – this time by a slamming door. She began to move, but was called back by a feeble voice from the adjacent room. Her face softened slightly, and she returned to tend to her patient.
Callie carefully counted out the nurse's wages and laid them neatly on the table outside of the door. The nerve of the woman! To raise her wages when she knew quite well that Callie was working numerous jobs in an attempt to support her mother? Callie sighed. Money was disappearing even faster now. It had been months since she had received money from Robert, her older brother who had ventured off west in search of his fortune.
Pulling her brown hair back with a tie, Callie mentally reviewed the day's schedule. The Motel until 11:30. Grimaldi's until 7:00. Pick up that parcel by 8:00… Her face brightened with this last thought. She slipped on her heavy coat and stepped out onto the street, humming a song she had heard recently and moving her feet to the beat. Her mother's old friend Frieda apparently had something she wanted Callie to deliver. Callie was constantly in awe of the old woman, who was formally a professional dancer.
"'Ey Spin!" a cheery voice greeted Callie as she neared the motel. She turned, answering to her nickname automatically.
"Hey Sling. How's Katie?" the said boy flushed a few shades darker and quickly darted away. Callie laughed – ah, the joys of adolescence…
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The motel had been hell.
Her least favorite job, luckily it was only two days a week. Callie released a huge sigh as she stepped into Grimaldi's, where everyone was just setting up for the day.
"Hey," another worked by the name of Sandy passed by and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. Callie smiled weakly and dropped her coat in the back room. She fixed her hair and tried on a smile… It didn't fit quite right, but it would work. She returned to her accustomed place at the front of the restaurant and fiddled with a few menus idly. Outside she could see Ruin selling his papers, and a genuine smile rose to her face. This meant he'd be coming in today… She hadn't seen him in awhile. Then a customer came in and she went to work…
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"Hey Spin," Ruin greeted her as he came in, a large bundle of papers still under his arm. Headline must not be too good.
"Hello Peter," she answered mockingly.
"Pardon me! I guess it's Callie here, eh? Hard to keep track of your jobs. How's your mother?" Callie sighed and shook her head.
"Alright, I suppose. The nurse is convinced she needs to raise her rates," she made a face, remembering the morning's ordeal.
"That's not good," Ruin stated, holding her gaze steadily. Callie flushed.
"Not at all. Here… Grab a seat, I'll be with you in a sec," she said quickly, nodding to the couple behind him. He found the nearest table to her and dropped his papers in one of the chairs, then sat back to go through one of them. Callie found a table for the couple and turned back to Ruin.
"Just grab me a slice?" he pushed a few coins across the table. Callie looked down, then shook her head slightly and put the money back where it came from.
"It's on the house," she said quietly, then added "We both know you're worse off than anyone in here." She winced inwardly as she said this last comment and hurried away. Stupid! She could feel Ruin's gaze glaring at her back as she left – she should've known not to say something stupid like that…
"Hey!" Callie finished relaying the order and glanced back at the voice. Two crude men waited near the door. Probably drunk, despite it being barely past noon. Callie returned to her post and raised an eyebrow at them.
"You can… Seat yourselves," she reminded them, handing out menus. One grunted something and they found another table near the door, close to Ruin. She brought Ruin's pizza out, seeing his troubled look and smiling as if to reassure him… But of what?
"Hey Sweets, get us a few slices, will ya?" one of the men barked. Callie ignored his wandering gaze and retrieved their order. She slid the slices onto the table, trying to stay as far away from the disgusting men as possible. The second one caught her hand as she turned, and finally brought his eyes to her face.
"Thanks…" Callie heard Ruin make some sort of strangled growl and groaned inwardly. She slipped her hand from the stranger's grip and glanced over her shoulder at Ruin, hoping he wasn't doing anything stupid. Unfortunately, the stranger followed her gaze. He smirked. "Uh huh… And who's this? A little competition?" Ruin was boiling now. Callie swept over to him and made sure he stayed in his seat.
"Don't get yourself into any trouble!" she hissed, glaring at him. "I can handle this!" She moved away and took another order, grateful for the excuse to disappear into the kitchen. Too… Much… Stress…
"Stay outta it, kid," she heard the voice faintly come from the dining area, and turned to see what was happening. A man blocked her view – he grabbed her arm and forced her back around and towards the exit in the back. His other hand quickly stifled her protests. Callie's eyes widened and she struggled valiantly, but his grip was strong and she soon found herself being dragged along. Muffled voices sounded from beyond her vision, Callie tuned them out and braced herself for what was to come next. But what would happen now?
The stranger pulled her through the mysteriously empty kitchen and out the rarely used exit in the back. He shoved her roughly against a wall in the desolate alley. She stumbled over some loose trash and tried to make herself a small as possible as he looked her over hungrily. Callie tried to hold back a whimper and failed, feeling ashamed as she cried softly. The man just smirked. Inside the restaurant she could hear faint shouts, crashes, the bell on the door ringing furiously. A shot was fired, and there was a moment of utter silence before the screaming started. One of the back cooks burst out into the alley, panicked, and started babbling as he ran towards Callie. She found she couldn't speak, couldn't get a word of warning out before the stranger smashed the back of his head. The cook collapsed instantly, and then the stranger was there, this time picking her up and carrying her farther into the maze of streets.
A thousand emotions clouded her mind, fear, pain, worry… She was beginning to feel nauseous as the stranger's hand inched farther up her skirt than was needed to carry her. Twisting viciously, she elbowed him as hard as she could behind his ear and was rewarded with a curse and the cold pavement as he dropped her. Callie quickly rolled away and stood shakily, meeting his glare for a second.
In the distance a door slammed, and footsteps were heard sprinting towards them. The stranger's eyes widened, and for the first time Callie felt a twinge of hope.
It began to rain.
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Callie's heart was crushed - along with her chances of escaping - as the footsteps revealed themselves to be the stranger's friend. In one hand he carried a gun. Callie remembered the shot, then remembered Ruin and his temper. She squeezed her eyes shut. The two men held a muttered conversation while fearful sobs wracked her body. A few moments later she was grabbed roughly by the arm. Callie forced herself to open her eyes, and studied her captors. Probably late 20s, early 30s. Unshaven, smelly, utterly repulsive. Studying her right back. She was all too aware of what the rain was doing to her thin clothing.
The now steady rain failed to muffle the sound of the back door slamming, and Callie again found herself being dragged along through the alleys. The gathered clouds had allowed for a premature darkness, and Callie could only pray that the approaching noise was salvation…
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Running full out now, hair plastered down, sharp pains present at his side. Ruin rounded a corner, thinking to take a short cut through the nearest alley. As he reached the mouth and looked in, however, his surprised feet skidded to a stop and almost toppled him over.
At the far end of the alley, a street lamp held three silhouettes. Two larger forms standing on either side of a smaller, struggling form. Ruin opened his mouth to shout her name, but silenced himself as the shadows moved.
Shadows don't move.
Deep into the alley, several figures surrounded a smaller boy, who was crouched against a wall. A faint light glinted dully off of the blade belonging to the boy closest to Ruin. Muttered voices were talking, the actual words indiscernible. But then a clear voice, from a different source, rang out.
"The same goes for you."
Ruin searched around him wildly, saw nothing and looked up.
Someone was on the roof…