*Chapter 26*
Bottle Cap walked with Dibs, too curious about their destination to recall the fact that she adored him. Dibs took his jolly good time, thinking it amusing that she cared so much. They walked through half of Brooklyn, it seemed, before one of them spoke.
"Wheah ya been?" Dibs inquired. Bottle Cap looked up at him blankly.
"What do you mean? I've been right here." She giggled, momentarily losing sight of what she longed to know.
"No, I mean...for da past eleven yeahs." He pried. Bottle Cap's memory was jolted. She wanted to say, "Well, eleven years ago I was home with my family...before things got screwed up." But instead, she smiled lightly.
"Around." She shrugged, hoping she wouldn't be urged to elaborate further.
"Around?" He repeated with a smile, "Well, in dat case, ya won't be to shocked at wheah I sell." Bottle Cap stopped walking and faced the tall boy, a very determined look on her face.
"Where do you sell?" She demanded, Spotlike features becoming clear. Dibs sighed and looked in the direction they had been walking.
"Well, see dat ol' buildin' down deah?" He pointed. Bottle Cap nodded hastily. "Dat's da place wheah a lot a guys go to be...entahtained. Dey usually buy papes from me." He concluded with a shrug. Bottle Cap was speechless. Not only was her guy selling at a whore house, but he had said that she wouldn't be shocked by it? That meant that he thought...
"Micah, I am not a whore. I didn't mean that when I said I was around!" She blurted, using the real name that she had given him without thought. Dibs stared at her, his eyes searching with confusion.
"How'd ya know dat?" He finally found his voice.
"Know what? That I wasn't a whore?" Katie shifted her wait, studying the tall, tan boy with her icy gaze.
"No, my name." He replied, a little uneasily, "I nevah tell no one dat."
"Oh." Bottle Cap bit her lip, wanting to smack herself. She began to play with her hair, her head searching for a believeable excuse. "I guessed?" She finally squeaked.
"You guessed." He restated, unbelieving. "Well, dat's one hell of a guess."
"Yeah, it's my specialty." She smiled, trying to soften his mood. "What can I say? Ya look like a Micah." She shrugged.
"Do I?" Dibs grinned back at her. "Well, we bettah git goin'..."
"Do ya think we can find a different selling spot?" She asked, looking toward the dank building. Dibs laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders.
"Ya don't think I'd make ya go in deah, do ya?" He began walking again. Bottle Cap didn't answer, she just forced a smile and walked. "Dough, we'd get a lot moah money if ya did go in." He chuckled, receiving an elbow in his ribs. To her relief, Dibs pulled her right past the building and to a little park where a handful of papers were disposed of rather quickly.
* * *
It wasn't long before the two were out of newspapers. In fact, it seemed like only minutes to Katie. She had spent the morning talking to the one guy that she had truly longed to talked to--finding out that he really was her Dibs because his personality was everything she had wished for.
"Heya Dibs." Someone suddenly appeared behind the two, causing Bottle Cap to jump a little in surprise. She turned to find a muscular boy that she'd never seen before. Blonde curls peeked out from under his gray cabby hat and his green eyes flashed yellow as he looked right back at her.
"Did I scare ya?" He laughed, receiving a light punch on the arm from Dibs.
"What a ya thinkin', Poppah?" Dibs grinned, "Ya almost gave 'er a heart attack."
"Jus' havin' some fun." He shrugged, still studying Bottle Cap contently.
"I'm fine." Bottle Cap assured the boys, feeling a bit uneasy at the new newsy's presence.
"An' who might you be?" Popper smirked as the three started walking toward the Lodging House again. Katie wasn't sure if his Brooklyn accent was fake or not, though she could almost swear she heard a distinct British tone in his voice.
"Dis heah's Bottle Cap." Dibs answered for her. Katie could sense a bit of tension between the two. "Spot's sistah, so I'd keep ya distance if I'se you." Popper smirked at Dibs' comment.
"Spot don't scare me...an' neithah do you." He retorted before heading off to take a swim, no longer interested in their company.
