Whiskey then turned to look how Bitter was doing. Bitter's body twitched with anticipation as she motioned for him to lunge at her and stepped lightly, ready for him to strike. He took a step towards her and she barely flinched, her eyes taking in his every movement and her body tensed ready for anything. He lunged but she dodged it quickly and as he spun to strike again, she stabbed him easily in the arm. He cursed and the look of pain on his face quickly turned to menace as he faked to her right and as she dodged the knife, he caught her off balance and pinned her up against the wall. He was quicker than she thought and she cursed at her carelessness.
Trick pushed the knife against her neck and glared into her eyes. "Give me one reason I shouldn't take yer life right heah," he said roughly. Bitter could hear Whiskey gasp and turned her head slightly, but when she turned around again she felt her body hit the wall hard and the question repeated.
Whiskey's demeaning comments were interrupted as she spotted Bitter getting thrown against a wall. The brown haired boy took advantage of her distracted state and kicked one of her legs out from under her, hoisting her up by the front of her dress and throwing her harshly against the wall he had previously been pressed up against. Whiskey's vision blurred as the base of her skull struck a brick that was protruding sharply from the rest of the wall. She exhaled deeply as the switchblade dropped from her hands. "Fuck me," she murmured in disbelief.
"Ya nevah know, maybe dat'll be a possibility befoh da night is through," the boy stated as he twisted her arm at an unnatural angle causing her to sharply inhale. "Oh no, now it's time foh you ta scream foh me," he growled through clenched teeth as he continued to put stress the arm until Whiskey felt a pop and cried out sharply.
Bitter's eyes glazed over with anger and she looked straight into Trick's icy blue eyes that stayed focused on her. "You'll be dead within de week if you or yer friend dere decide to lay a fingah on us," she spat out.
Trick laughed, "An' why would dat be?" he asked, "Yer friend ova dere gonna come afta me?"
Bitter's eyes narrowed dangerously and her eyes flickered to see how Whiskey was doing. She had progressed from being pinned against the wall to being crumpled on the ground, the boy standing over her and kicking her side hard as she silently endured the beating. "All a' Brooklyn'll be afta ya, me boy'll be mighty mad when he finds yer sorry ass," Bitter sputtered, her temper growing with the moment.
"Oh really an' what is dis poor guy's name?" he asked, laughing wickedly.
"Spot Conlon," Bitter said, glaring at him as he laughed. He stopped his light laughing as she spoke that name and his eyes flickered as he took in whom she was. "Oh really," he said with a smirk. "Hey Switch, we got a pair a' important goils heah, Mr. Conlon's goil Bittah an' her best friend Whiskey," he yelled over to the boy who was slowly reviving the unconscious Whiskey, no doubt to inflict some other pain on her.
The boy smiled, "What we gonna do wit dem boss?" he asked.
Trick smirked and brought the knife up to Bitter's cheek, cutting through it deeply. She let out a little cry, trying not to let tears come to her eyes as the pain overwhelmed her face.
"Well, we could let ol' Spottie know we mean business," Trick said, half-laughing, "Maybe a kidnappin' an' a murder will make him hand Brooklyn ovah ta me."
Bitter's eyes widened as she took in what he had just said. The brown-haired boy smiled and dragged Whiskey up from the ground by her hair. "Can I do what I want wit her before I'se hafta kill her?" he asked, smiling cruelly at the dizzy girl he held before him.
Trick smiled, "Go right ahead," he said, "Jist meet me back in Harlem before dark." The boy nodded and Trick started to drag Bitter out of the alley. She struggled and found herself wriggling free to her delight. She felt herself drop to the ground and then started to run towards the boy who was fervently kissing Whiskey's neck as she dazedly tried to get free of him. 'Christ if I only had me switchblade…and I wasn't seein' triples of everytin',' she thought as she tried to wrench her hands out of his grasp in an earnest attempt to bat away his harsh lips, finding her left arm pretty much useless.
Trick shook his head and took off after Bitter as she neared Whiskey's struggling form, tackling her roughly to the ground. "Sorry sweetie, yer comin' wid me," he said, taking his knife and stabbing it deep into her fighting arm. She let out a yelp and could not help the tears streaming down her face. He pulled out the bloody knife and then dragged her up to a standing position.
She spat at him. "Fuck off," she muttered, defiantly struggling to get back to help her friend.
He smirked viciously and spoke roughly to her. "You bettah watch yer mannah's or you'll soon find out how many more ways a guy can hoit a girl," he said and gripped her wounded arm, dragging her towards the other end of the alley.
"Mayor seen skinny dippin' in da nude!" a voice shouted loudly.
"Wife disconsolate over discovery of da presence of a 'thoid party'!" a second voice joined in, echoing down the alley.
Whiskey's head cleared for a moment as she processed the sounds. Disconsolate? The only poison who would use that word was Specs…Her chest puffed up with courage at this new discovery, and with a low growl she stomped on the foot of her attacker and screamed.
"SPECS! JA…" she managed before a callused hand clamped down over her mouth. She licked his palm and felt him instantly recoil just a little. Taking advantage of that reaction she wrenching her head free from Switch's grasp and let out a gritty, blood-curdling scream.
Trick dragged a stubborn Bitter to the other side of the alley, obscenities coursing out of her mouth a mile a minute as she slowed him as much as she could.
Upon hearing Whiskey's unwavering declaration that help might be on the way, she bit Trick's hand as it followed Switch's example and attempted to clamp itself over her mouth.
"You whore! You'll pay foh dat!" he screamed harshly as dug the knife into the same wound he'd already created and examined his bloodied hand. Bitter crumpled under the searing heat as he twisted the knife in the same wound, and went slack for a moment in his arms.
The voices hawking headlines grew nearer and Bitter did the only thing that processed through the pain she felt and yelled. "Specs! Jack! Help!" she screamed gravely, feeling the back of Trick's hand connect with her temple and the world go in and out of focus.
Meanwhile, Whiskey had managed to wriggle free of most of the pressure Switch was applying to her arm and threw herself backwards, knocking her attacker against the wall. She heard his head hit the bricks with a sickening cracking sound and his hand lose its grasp on her mouth.
"SPECS!" she screamed once more, aware that he had realize who the desperate voice belonged to and come running.
Sure enough two newsies blocked the filter of sunlight in the alley moments later, dropping their unsold papers at their feet when they saw the sight that lay before them. Whiskey was pressed face first against the brick wall, her hair held harshly in the hands of a dangerous looking brown haired boy who had retrieved her switchblade the last time she had tried to escape and was trailing it slowly up and down the side of her face as she had done to him earlier.
Specs' eyes grew wide with indignation at the sight and he ran towards the boy, knocking the knife from his hand and ripping him off of Whiskey. "You doity, no good sonnova bitch! I'll teach ya ta evah treat a woman like dat again!" Specs screamed with rage as Switch crumpled under the force of the blow Specs dealt him. He fell to his knees, promptly earning himself a swift kick to the ribs by Specs and then Whiskey, before she swooned. She grasped the onto alley wall to keep herself from collapsing. Specs was distracted for a moment and as he caught her arm, allowing Switch to stumble off the same way he had come, but with a mess of bruises and cuts.
"Another step and the broad gets it!" Trick stated evenly and dangerously, his cold blue eyes icing over as he pressed the knife against the side of Bitter's throat as he saw his friend go down and Jack edging closer and closer to Bitter. Bitter had other plans in mind though as she snarled and twisted free of Trick's grasp, earning her a small gash on the side of her throat. Jack pulled Bitter behind him and eyed Trick coolly. "Ya bettah watch yer step Trick, ya mess wit Brooklyn, ya won't have no one on yer side," he stated. Trick smiled grimly and disappeared into the shadows and down the other side of the alley.
"What the fuck took ya so long ya lousy sonnova bitch!?" Bitter asked enraged as she tended the nick she had just received as she leaned against Jack's form. "Any latah and I woulda been sleepin' wit da fishes ovah in Harlem aftah getting fucked by most likely every damn doity newsie dere, ya god damn worthless fuck!" she screamed taking all of the pent up aggression over Trick and turning it in Jack's direction causing him to stammer a reply and blush at her use of language. "Do I look like shark bait ta you?" she continued, raging, shaking her fist warily at the poor boy, "If I weren't so beat up I'd soak ya so bad, you'd wish you'd be dead, ya lousy no good sewer trash. An' let me tell ya Spot ain't gonna be too happy when he finds how hoit I am, an' he'll show you, you good for nothing king of de bastard scum."
Specs looked humorously over at Bitter, who was in the process of chewing out Jack before turning his attention back to Whiskey. "Damn Whisk, ya look like shit," he stated with a small smile as he held her back a bit and examined the cut that trailed down her neck and to her collarbone.
"Thanks Specs," she chuckled deeply then grimaced as pain coursed up her left side from where she'd been kicked repeatedly. "Ya still remembah how ta set a couple a ribs?" she asked jokingly. "Because I think yer gonna have a yer work cut out foh ya tonight."
"Coise I do," he replied sweeping Whiskey gently into his arms and kissing her tenderly.
"Aw, enough wit da mush stuff, we'se got ta get back ta Brooklyn!" Bitter stated as she limped over to where Specs and Whiskey were single-mindedly absorbed in one another, using Jack as a crutch.
She cursed the whole way, mumbling about how mad Spot was going to be and comically enough, Jack looked quite concerned about this whole matter. When they reached the Brooklyn LH he stalled for a few minutes, looking nervously at the building. Bitter pushed Jack out of her way and walked cautiously into the LH, hoping not to be seen by Spot until she got upstairs.