Chapter 3
Kit leaves the bunkroom and every boy in the house turns to look at Spot.
"You know her Spot?" Tip, Spot's second in command, looks at Spot with admiration.
"Yeah, so do you'se all."
The whole room waits with raw suspense. Waiting for Spot to tell them who she is. Spot fingers the cane at his side and thinks for a minute; trying to decide whether or not to tell them everything he knows, "ya know da goil up at Tibby's in Man'attan?"
Tip nods, "Sweets, yeah why.? Wait.No way dat's Sweets. No way!"
Spot nods, "Da very one." At this moment Kit walks out of the washroom wearing the borrowed clothes, one suspender on her shoulder and the other hanging from her pants. Her shirt is tucked into the pants, the sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and the first four buttons are unbuttoned on the shirt. Her hair is still a bit damp so she has a towel in her hand drying the ends of the long tendrils.
Kit glares at Spot as she walks over to him, "t'anks Spot," are grumbled out before she turns to the room of boys all looking at her.
Tip steps forward and takes her hand and kisses the back of it, "Sweets, I almost didn't reco'nize ya."
Kit pulls her hand away and smiles at Tip, embracing him in a hug, "I didn't reco'nize you'se eidder, how long has it been since you'ses been at Tibby's? A year? You've gotten so tall."
She smiles as a few other boys walk up to her and introduce themselves. Spot watches the whole scene with fascination. Dis goil is enchantin' all my boys wit' on'y a few smiles and hand shakes. Why Spot becomes furious is beyond him. All he knows is that he doesn' want any other boys to have what he wants. Her.
Spot bounds across the room to stand next to Jess. He takes her elbow and whispers in her ear, "I need ta toilk to you'se now."
Kit looks at the boys watching Spot with question, "Does he always have ta get 'is way?"
After a moment of silence, Spot pulls her away and pushes her out a window that leads to the roof. She waits until he has climbed out of the window until she speaks to him. "What was all of dat about Spot Conlon? You don' own me."
"you'se are wearin' me clothes. If you want to keep them on your body I would suggest you hush." He smirks, "Just keep talkin' dollface, I wouldn' moind takin' 'dem back."
"If ya call me Dollface one more time, I swear dat I'll hit ya roight in da mouth."
"Jus' loik ya did da udder noight?" Laughs softly as her mouth drops open in horror.
She turns away blushing, remembering how much she had wanted him to keep kissing her. She had felt something when he touched her lips that she had never felt before. It was kind of shocking. She thought she was going to be able to just blow it off, like all the others, and knock the hell out of him for touching her but she didn't. She had wanted more. His expression was so serious and hard, that to see him so gentle with her was unnerving.
Spot is watching her with scrutinizing interest. He looks her up and down. Her profile set to a hard frown in the growing darkness, her heavy curtain of chocolate-brown hair reaching almost to her navel when she leans forward. And the way she wears her shirt, showing more skin then she probably realizes. The strength that radiates from her eyes is overwhelming.
Kit turns to Spot, watching him give her the once over. It was the same way Jack was looking at her a few mornings before, but this time it wasn't awkward. It seemed only natural that he should be looking at her that way. She stands on her tiptoes as he leans down, their lips meeting in a gentle caress. Just as Spot is about to pick her up and carry her back into the room, she stops him. Placing two fingers to his lips and silently walking to the window, climbing through, back to the bunkroom.
Spot watches her go then turns and leans on the railing that goes around the roof. He doesn't understand her but he has some idea of what was going on in that little head of hers. He lights a cigarette and take a long drag before going back inside.
***
Spot wakes her up the next morning. At first he just nudges her shoulder with his hand. But she just rolls over and pulls the blankets up to her neck. He groans and takes a hold of both of her shoulders and gives them a hard shake. To his surprise she reaches under her head, grabs the pillow she is sleeping on, and hits him hard in the head with it.
"Go away Jacky-boy. I'm not in da mood dis moinin'." She rolls over and turns her back to Spot.
Spot laughs out loud, bringing all the boys' attention to the sleeping girl in bed. "Dis ain't your Jacky-boy and I don' care whet'er you'se in da mood or not."
Kit rolls over to look at him, blue fire igniting in her sapphire eyes.
Spot suddenly grabs her arm and hauls her out of bed, holding her shoulders to make sure she doesn't fall.
"What da hell did ya do dat for?" she pushes him off of her and walks into the washroom. Her hair is curlier from the amount of rain it soaked up the previous night and her eyes are dark with sleep.
"Moinin' Sweets" Tip greets her with a rib breaking hug around the middle, lifting her off the ground, and a affectionate peck on the cheek,
"Moinin' to you too, Tip." She laughs out loud as many of the other boys come by and tell her good morning. She picks a little four year old that is standing in front of her, letting him kiss her cheek, and yells over her shoulder to Spot, "I'm beginning to love Brooklyn." ***
The boys in Brooklyn sure do know how to make a girl feel welcome. After leaving the lodging house, the boys surround her on all sides, chattering on about what she plans to do all day. Kit simply tells them that she is going to sell papes. Well this surprises them. Spot just smiles, links arms with her and walks her to distribution alley.
***
Kit is now at the distribution center and sitting, waiting for Spot to come back with her papes. She pulls a few hairpins from the pocket of her pants and smiles mischievously.
Spot walks back from getting Kit's papes and finds that she has disappeared. Spot sits down and thinks for a moment, where could she have gone? Maybe Tip is showin' her somethin'.At that moment Spot hears a familiar laugh. He looks over in the direction of the noise and sees Jess O'Connell standing with a bunch of his guys laughing at something. But it wasn't the Sweets all his boys knew. No it was a boy, with short dark brown hair, baggy pants held up by blue suspenders and a faded blue shirt.
Spot walks over to Kit and smiles. "Hey Kit, what brings ya ta Brooklyn, and can I please have a li'l chat wit ya?"
Katherine smiles oh so slightly as not to reveal her dimple to the other boys, "oh I'm jus' here checkin' up on Brooklyn, jus' seein' how t'ings are goin'. Sure." Kit turns to the group of boys she was talking to, "I better be goin' -- Spot and I are sellin' papes toget'er ta day." With this she tips her hat to the boys, takes her fifty papes from Spot and begins top walk in step with him. "Whatcha wanna toilk about?"
As soon as they get out of ear shot of the boys, Spot turns on her, "What are ya doin'?"
"Sellin' papes, been doin' it for da past eight years and I don' plan on stoppin' nows. EXTRY! EXTRY! READ ALL ABOUT IT! FIRE AT ELLIS ISLAND -- T'OUSANDS OF LIVES ENDANGERED! EXTRY! EXTRY!" hands out fives papes and shoves the money in her pocket, "ya gotta prob'em wit it?" Looks at Spot, his mouth hanging wide open. She snaps her fingers in front of his face a couple times, "Hey! Hey! You'se look sick or sumt'in." She puts the back of her hand to his forehead, "Well you'se ain't runnin' a feva'"
Spot closes his mouth and smiles at her, "I don' plan on makin' you stop anytime soon, don't woiry. You are too good." He pushes her hand away and looks at her with amusement, "I'm not sick. I jus' neva' seen Kit O'Connell in action before."
***
Kit sold all fifty of her papes in an hour and a half, Spot sold his hundred in three hours, and so they walked around until lunchtime.
Spot and Kit walk into Tibby's. It's lunchtime and Jess is starving. Spot watches her order a sandwich and a coke before ordering some food for him. Kit seems to be in a good mood taday. He smiles as she walks over to Mush, Race, and some other boys from Manhattan to say hello.
***
"Where were you'se las' noight Kit?" Mush asks in a worried tone of voice.
Kit takes a bite of her sandwich before answering the question. "Got caught in da storm and I was closa ta Brooklyn den' I was ta Man'attan." She just shrugs as if it's no big deal.
Race speaks up, "how many papes ya sell dis' moinin' Kit?"
"On'y fifty, Race. I was in Brooklyn, and you knows how defensive dey get if you'se are in dere ter'itory" she takes another bite of her sandwich, sneaks a glance at Spot talking with some of his Brooklyn buddies and then looks at who just walked in to the restaurant.
The gang from Queens was back and looking for Kit. Spot, Mush, Race and Blink all look at Jess worried. Kit stands up and walks up to the boys.
"Well lookie heah, if it ain't Kit O'connell, hisself."
Kit just glares at him, "Can I help you boys wit' sumt'in?"
"Yeah, we'se need to toilk to you'se outside."
Kit just nods and walks outside with the group of boys.
***
Kit walks out and the restaurant falls silent as they watch the conversation going on outside. Spot has his back turned, silently saying to himself that he doesn't care. Race and Blink exchange looks and then glance over at Spot, ignoring the entire thing. Supposedly. The whole restaurant is now staring out the window, wondering what is going to happen next. Spot hears the sound of flesh hitting flesh and stands up so quickly his chair falls over backwards. He turns and heads for the door just as Race and Blink Stop him.
"Spot, Kit has got it under control." Blink reassures him.
Spot looks at Blink puzzled, "are you'ses tellin' me dat you are going to stand here and let a goil get beat up."
Race interrupts him in mid-sentence, "Mos' o' dese boys don' know Kit is a.you knows."
Spot runs a hand over his eyes, "I forgot, but we can't jus' stand heah and watch dem."
Race points out the window just as Kit shoves the leader of the gang into the other boys and they run off, scared.
***
Kit stands out side on the sidewalk, her arms folded across her chest and her feet shoulder's width apart, "say what you need to say and then leave."
The leader steps forward and backhands her, "shut it bitch, I know who you'se are. Sweets." He sneers, "You made a fool out of me and now it's time to pay." He raises his hand to strike her again and just as his arm comes down, just inches from her face, she grabs his wrist and twists it backwards, making him yelp in pain.
Her voice is so low now that only the boy who is threatened can hear her, "It doesn' matta whet'er or not I'm a goil, I can still knock you'se inta next week if I wanted to." She shoves him in to the gang of boys cowering behind him and points away from the restaurant, "Leave, now." The boy's scurry away as quick as the cockroaches they are. Kit wipes the blood from her lip with the back of her hand and walks back inside.
Kit sits down back where she was and looks at Spot as Race tends to the forming bruise on her right cheek and her busted lip. Spot stands there with his arms crossed across his chest, his cold blue eyes making the hair on the back of Kit's neck stand on end.
Kit thanks Race when he's finished and stands up directly in front of Spot, "Mush, Race, and Blink, I want you'se t'ree to tell Jack that I'll be gone for awhile. I'm stayin' in Brooklyn for a few months. I need to get away from Man'attan where dey knows where I sleep. I have a strange feelin' dat boy will be back for me."
Kit leaves the bunkroom and every boy in the house turns to look at Spot.
"You know her Spot?" Tip, Spot's second in command, looks at Spot with admiration.
"Yeah, so do you'se all."
The whole room waits with raw suspense. Waiting for Spot to tell them who she is. Spot fingers the cane at his side and thinks for a minute; trying to decide whether or not to tell them everything he knows, "ya know da goil up at Tibby's in Man'attan?"
Tip nods, "Sweets, yeah why.? Wait.No way dat's Sweets. No way!"
Spot nods, "Da very one." At this moment Kit walks out of the washroom wearing the borrowed clothes, one suspender on her shoulder and the other hanging from her pants. Her shirt is tucked into the pants, the sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and the first four buttons are unbuttoned on the shirt. Her hair is still a bit damp so she has a towel in her hand drying the ends of the long tendrils.
Kit glares at Spot as she walks over to him, "t'anks Spot," are grumbled out before she turns to the room of boys all looking at her.
Tip steps forward and takes her hand and kisses the back of it, "Sweets, I almost didn't reco'nize ya."
Kit pulls her hand away and smiles at Tip, embracing him in a hug, "I didn't reco'nize you'se eidder, how long has it been since you'ses been at Tibby's? A year? You've gotten so tall."
She smiles as a few other boys walk up to her and introduce themselves. Spot watches the whole scene with fascination. Dis goil is enchantin' all my boys wit' on'y a few smiles and hand shakes. Why Spot becomes furious is beyond him. All he knows is that he doesn' want any other boys to have what he wants. Her.
Spot bounds across the room to stand next to Jess. He takes her elbow and whispers in her ear, "I need ta toilk to you'se now."
Kit looks at the boys watching Spot with question, "Does he always have ta get 'is way?"
After a moment of silence, Spot pulls her away and pushes her out a window that leads to the roof. She waits until he has climbed out of the window until she speaks to him. "What was all of dat about Spot Conlon? You don' own me."
"you'se are wearin' me clothes. If you want to keep them on your body I would suggest you hush." He smirks, "Just keep talkin' dollface, I wouldn' moind takin' 'dem back."
"If ya call me Dollface one more time, I swear dat I'll hit ya roight in da mouth."
"Jus' loik ya did da udder noight?" Laughs softly as her mouth drops open in horror.
She turns away blushing, remembering how much she had wanted him to keep kissing her. She had felt something when he touched her lips that she had never felt before. It was kind of shocking. She thought she was going to be able to just blow it off, like all the others, and knock the hell out of him for touching her but she didn't. She had wanted more. His expression was so serious and hard, that to see him so gentle with her was unnerving.
Spot is watching her with scrutinizing interest. He looks her up and down. Her profile set to a hard frown in the growing darkness, her heavy curtain of chocolate-brown hair reaching almost to her navel when she leans forward. And the way she wears her shirt, showing more skin then she probably realizes. The strength that radiates from her eyes is overwhelming.
Kit turns to Spot, watching him give her the once over. It was the same way Jack was looking at her a few mornings before, but this time it wasn't awkward. It seemed only natural that he should be looking at her that way. She stands on her tiptoes as he leans down, their lips meeting in a gentle caress. Just as Spot is about to pick her up and carry her back into the room, she stops him. Placing two fingers to his lips and silently walking to the window, climbing through, back to the bunkroom.
Spot watches her go then turns and leans on the railing that goes around the roof. He doesn't understand her but he has some idea of what was going on in that little head of hers. He lights a cigarette and take a long drag before going back inside.
***
Spot wakes her up the next morning. At first he just nudges her shoulder with his hand. But she just rolls over and pulls the blankets up to her neck. He groans and takes a hold of both of her shoulders and gives them a hard shake. To his surprise she reaches under her head, grabs the pillow she is sleeping on, and hits him hard in the head with it.
"Go away Jacky-boy. I'm not in da mood dis moinin'." She rolls over and turns her back to Spot.
Spot laughs out loud, bringing all the boys' attention to the sleeping girl in bed. "Dis ain't your Jacky-boy and I don' care whet'er you'se in da mood or not."
Kit rolls over to look at him, blue fire igniting in her sapphire eyes.
Spot suddenly grabs her arm and hauls her out of bed, holding her shoulders to make sure she doesn't fall.
"What da hell did ya do dat for?" she pushes him off of her and walks into the washroom. Her hair is curlier from the amount of rain it soaked up the previous night and her eyes are dark with sleep.
"Moinin' Sweets" Tip greets her with a rib breaking hug around the middle, lifting her off the ground, and a affectionate peck on the cheek,
"Moinin' to you too, Tip." She laughs out loud as many of the other boys come by and tell her good morning. She picks a little four year old that is standing in front of her, letting him kiss her cheek, and yells over her shoulder to Spot, "I'm beginning to love Brooklyn." ***
The boys in Brooklyn sure do know how to make a girl feel welcome. After leaving the lodging house, the boys surround her on all sides, chattering on about what she plans to do all day. Kit simply tells them that she is going to sell papes. Well this surprises them. Spot just smiles, links arms with her and walks her to distribution alley.
***
Kit is now at the distribution center and sitting, waiting for Spot to come back with her papes. She pulls a few hairpins from the pocket of her pants and smiles mischievously.
Spot walks back from getting Kit's papes and finds that she has disappeared. Spot sits down and thinks for a moment, where could she have gone? Maybe Tip is showin' her somethin'.At that moment Spot hears a familiar laugh. He looks over in the direction of the noise and sees Jess O'Connell standing with a bunch of his guys laughing at something. But it wasn't the Sweets all his boys knew. No it was a boy, with short dark brown hair, baggy pants held up by blue suspenders and a faded blue shirt.
Spot walks over to Kit and smiles. "Hey Kit, what brings ya ta Brooklyn, and can I please have a li'l chat wit ya?"
Katherine smiles oh so slightly as not to reveal her dimple to the other boys, "oh I'm jus' here checkin' up on Brooklyn, jus' seein' how t'ings are goin'. Sure." Kit turns to the group of boys she was talking to, "I better be goin' -- Spot and I are sellin' papes toget'er ta day." With this she tips her hat to the boys, takes her fifty papes from Spot and begins top walk in step with him. "Whatcha wanna toilk about?"
As soon as they get out of ear shot of the boys, Spot turns on her, "What are ya doin'?"
"Sellin' papes, been doin' it for da past eight years and I don' plan on stoppin' nows. EXTRY! EXTRY! READ ALL ABOUT IT! FIRE AT ELLIS ISLAND -- T'OUSANDS OF LIVES ENDANGERED! EXTRY! EXTRY!" hands out fives papes and shoves the money in her pocket, "ya gotta prob'em wit it?" Looks at Spot, his mouth hanging wide open. She snaps her fingers in front of his face a couple times, "Hey! Hey! You'se look sick or sumt'in." She puts the back of her hand to his forehead, "Well you'se ain't runnin' a feva'"
Spot closes his mouth and smiles at her, "I don' plan on makin' you stop anytime soon, don't woiry. You are too good." He pushes her hand away and looks at her with amusement, "I'm not sick. I jus' neva' seen Kit O'Connell in action before."
***
Kit sold all fifty of her papes in an hour and a half, Spot sold his hundred in three hours, and so they walked around until lunchtime.
Spot and Kit walk into Tibby's. It's lunchtime and Jess is starving. Spot watches her order a sandwich and a coke before ordering some food for him. Kit seems to be in a good mood taday. He smiles as she walks over to Mush, Race, and some other boys from Manhattan to say hello.
***
"Where were you'se las' noight Kit?" Mush asks in a worried tone of voice.
Kit takes a bite of her sandwich before answering the question. "Got caught in da storm and I was closa ta Brooklyn den' I was ta Man'attan." She just shrugs as if it's no big deal.
Race speaks up, "how many papes ya sell dis' moinin' Kit?"
"On'y fifty, Race. I was in Brooklyn, and you knows how defensive dey get if you'se are in dere ter'itory" she takes another bite of her sandwich, sneaks a glance at Spot talking with some of his Brooklyn buddies and then looks at who just walked in to the restaurant.
The gang from Queens was back and looking for Kit. Spot, Mush, Race and Blink all look at Jess worried. Kit stands up and walks up to the boys.
"Well lookie heah, if it ain't Kit O'connell, hisself."
Kit just glares at him, "Can I help you boys wit' sumt'in?"
"Yeah, we'se need to toilk to you'se outside."
Kit just nods and walks outside with the group of boys.
***
Kit walks out and the restaurant falls silent as they watch the conversation going on outside. Spot has his back turned, silently saying to himself that he doesn't care. Race and Blink exchange looks and then glance over at Spot, ignoring the entire thing. Supposedly. The whole restaurant is now staring out the window, wondering what is going to happen next. Spot hears the sound of flesh hitting flesh and stands up so quickly his chair falls over backwards. He turns and heads for the door just as Race and Blink Stop him.
"Spot, Kit has got it under control." Blink reassures him.
Spot looks at Blink puzzled, "are you'ses tellin' me dat you are going to stand here and let a goil get beat up."
Race interrupts him in mid-sentence, "Mos' o' dese boys don' know Kit is a.you knows."
Spot runs a hand over his eyes, "I forgot, but we can't jus' stand heah and watch dem."
Race points out the window just as Kit shoves the leader of the gang into the other boys and they run off, scared.
***
Kit stands out side on the sidewalk, her arms folded across her chest and her feet shoulder's width apart, "say what you need to say and then leave."
The leader steps forward and backhands her, "shut it bitch, I know who you'se are. Sweets." He sneers, "You made a fool out of me and now it's time to pay." He raises his hand to strike her again and just as his arm comes down, just inches from her face, she grabs his wrist and twists it backwards, making him yelp in pain.
Her voice is so low now that only the boy who is threatened can hear her, "It doesn' matta whet'er or not I'm a goil, I can still knock you'se inta next week if I wanted to." She shoves him in to the gang of boys cowering behind him and points away from the restaurant, "Leave, now." The boy's scurry away as quick as the cockroaches they are. Kit wipes the blood from her lip with the back of her hand and walks back inside.
Kit sits down back where she was and looks at Spot as Race tends to the forming bruise on her right cheek and her busted lip. Spot stands there with his arms crossed across his chest, his cold blue eyes making the hair on the back of Kit's neck stand on end.
Kit thanks Race when he's finished and stands up directly in front of Spot, "Mush, Race, and Blink, I want you'se t'ree to tell Jack that I'll be gone for awhile. I'm stayin' in Brooklyn for a few months. I need to get away from Man'attan where dey knows where I sleep. I have a strange feelin' dat boy will be back for me."