A/N: hello again! I realize that in the last chapter Aurora might have
seemed a little like a Mary-Sue. I apologize for that. I tried really
hard to prevent it but it just kinda happened. So what are the secret
bets? Well, you're just gonna have to find out! And, I wasn't planning of
putting Aurora's past in this early but I felt like things needed to be
cleared up a little. Alright, so the accent might have been a little
strong, I can never tell. Just tell me if you can't understand it(glares
at JustDuck who's bragging about the weather and then looks at the
thermometer which reads 34 and a chance of snow). I'm having so much fun
writing this and I hope you're having as much fun reading it. Just keep
those reviews coming! BTW- Capone is actually pronounced Caponi, just so
you know(it is actually how Al Capone's last name should be pronounced).
Enough with the random facts, on with the story!
CHAPTER SIX: A NEW UNDERSTANDING
The walk to the distribution wasn't as tense as Aurora and Spot expected it to be. The argument between the two teens had now turned into more of a game, bringing the level of severity down. However, tension was still present because they were two street kids, living without parents, which was a good sign that the had a past behind them they probably wanted to forget about. This challenge they had now created was threatening to put the past they struggled so hard to hide, so close to discovery.
Aurora opted not to speak with Spot on their journey, not only because she found nothing to talk about but because the bet had sparked a repressed memory that kept replaying in her mind. And those words. . . those words he had used, they both had used, echoed in her ears, tormenting her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aurora Capone made her way through the filthy streets of Brooklyn to an even filthier tenant. She entered the building and started to climb the flights of stairs, hopping over a sleeper on her way up to the apartment in which she lived. She refused to call the place home because home to her was a warm place where you always felt welcome and was with people who loved you and cared about you. The place she was headed for definitely did not meet those criteria. She finally reached her floor and using her key, opened the door to 9A slowly, so as not to reveal her presence. Deep down inside she prayed that no one was home but luck wasn't normally on her side and today was no different.
"Hello sweet cheeks" she heard the familiar oily voice purr as she closed the door behind her. She froze, standing ridged in her place as she watched her Uncle Giorgio step out from the kitchen, if one could call it that.
"Hello" she said with a swallow. She turned to walk away but he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back towards him, but not turning her towards him.
"Sing foah me sweet cheeks" he leered in her ear, pressing his stubbly cheek against her face. Aurora shivered uncontrollably as he stroked her cheek.
"No" she said firmly as she stood glued to the floor.
"C'mon" he purred again. "Jus one lil song foah yoah poor uncle."
"No" she repeated and brushed his hand away from her face. She pulled herself from his grip and turned to face him. "You'se may be my uncle by blood but yoah not my uncle in any othah way."
"Ya wanna know what happened ta yoah muddah?" he said coldly, grabbing her fiercely by the shoulders. She struggled to free herself from his grasp but his grip was too strong, so of course she had no luck doing so. "Yoah muddah died givin birth ta you'se. Yoah fathah, he didn't want ta take caeah of ya so he left you'se wit me and den he ran off. He didn't caeah about you'se, he didn't love you'se. I took ya in and raised ya from me own pay in my own home. I'm da only one you'se have, da only one who caeah's about ya."
"Da only thing ya caeah about is my body, not me" she snapped back, finally pulling away from him. "Yoah jus a sick asshole" she spat out. Without warning, Giorgio raised his hand and backhanded her across the face. Her cheek stung and she only stared at him.
"Yoah an unappreciative bitch" he growled.
"Good."
"Aw sweet cheeks" he said, his demeanor changing completely. Aurora shivered at the sound of the name. "Ya know I love ya."
"Well I don want ya to! She screamed at him and ran down the hall to the small bathroom. She barely had time to close the squeaky door before she vomited the entire contents of her stomach into the sink. It was the third that week she had vomited, but to her it wasn't strange. In fact, it was oddly normal. Aurora lifted her head out of the sink to look at herself in the cracked mirror. The area bellow her gray eyes looked a little green, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was a bit frizzy but besides for those aspects she looked alright. She turned on the sink and rinsed it out the best she could before splashing some cold water on her face. She took the ratty towel from the makeshift towel bar and patted her face dry, wiping away the water and the tears.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Aurora? Aurora?" the voice seemed faint and far away, yet it was strangely familiar. It blended in with the leering of her Uncle Giorgio in her ears, and his constant pleas of "sing foah me sweet cheeks."
"NO!" Aurora shouted, covering her ears with her hands and scrunching her eyes shut. "Don't call me dat!"
"Don't what?" Spot asked, looking at Aurora, who had stopped walking, in puzzlement. Aurora slowly opened the eyes she had closed tightly, surprised to see herself in front of a distribution office instead of inside that dirty apartment, and took her hands off her ears. She looked to her side, realizing Spot staring at her and became rigid.
"Nothing" she stammered weakly. She looked him in the eyes, the twinkle and defiance he was so used to seeing, missing from her eyes and in it's place was a new emotion, one Spot hadn't seen in her before, fear.
"Ah you'se ok?" he asked warily and with genuine concern.
"Jus fine" she said half-heartedly and unconvincingly.
"You look. . ." Spot struggled for a word. ". . . conflicted." Aurora blinked and caught his eyes again, receiving a look from Spot that was neither hostile or friendly but understanding.
"Jus livin in my own pain Spot" she replied, this time her voice was stronger and more solid.
"I live it all da time" he said, a corner of his lip slightly curving up in a half smile, that was more sad than happy. From that moment on, things between them changed. It would be an exaggeration to say that Spot and Aurora were now friends but one might say that they had gained something that day. They gained an understanding that connected them in the most bizarre of ways. The challenge no longer a determination of strength or a contest to show who was better but a game to bring back memories, so that they could learn and understand how to forget them.
CHAPTER SIX: A NEW UNDERSTANDING
The walk to the distribution wasn't as tense as Aurora and Spot expected it to be. The argument between the two teens had now turned into more of a game, bringing the level of severity down. However, tension was still present because they were two street kids, living without parents, which was a good sign that the had a past behind them they probably wanted to forget about. This challenge they had now created was threatening to put the past they struggled so hard to hide, so close to discovery.
Aurora opted not to speak with Spot on their journey, not only because she found nothing to talk about but because the bet had sparked a repressed memory that kept replaying in her mind. And those words. . . those words he had used, they both had used, echoed in her ears, tormenting her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aurora Capone made her way through the filthy streets of Brooklyn to an even filthier tenant. She entered the building and started to climb the flights of stairs, hopping over a sleeper on her way up to the apartment in which she lived. She refused to call the place home because home to her was a warm place where you always felt welcome and was with people who loved you and cared about you. The place she was headed for definitely did not meet those criteria. She finally reached her floor and using her key, opened the door to 9A slowly, so as not to reveal her presence. Deep down inside she prayed that no one was home but luck wasn't normally on her side and today was no different.
"Hello sweet cheeks" she heard the familiar oily voice purr as she closed the door behind her. She froze, standing ridged in her place as she watched her Uncle Giorgio step out from the kitchen, if one could call it that.
"Hello" she said with a swallow. She turned to walk away but he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back towards him, but not turning her towards him.
"Sing foah me sweet cheeks" he leered in her ear, pressing his stubbly cheek against her face. Aurora shivered uncontrollably as he stroked her cheek.
"No" she said firmly as she stood glued to the floor.
"C'mon" he purred again. "Jus one lil song foah yoah poor uncle."
"No" she repeated and brushed his hand away from her face. She pulled herself from his grip and turned to face him. "You'se may be my uncle by blood but yoah not my uncle in any othah way."
"Ya wanna know what happened ta yoah muddah?" he said coldly, grabbing her fiercely by the shoulders. She struggled to free herself from his grasp but his grip was too strong, so of course she had no luck doing so. "Yoah muddah died givin birth ta you'se. Yoah fathah, he didn't want ta take caeah of ya so he left you'se wit me and den he ran off. He didn't caeah about you'se, he didn't love you'se. I took ya in and raised ya from me own pay in my own home. I'm da only one you'se have, da only one who caeah's about ya."
"Da only thing ya caeah about is my body, not me" she snapped back, finally pulling away from him. "Yoah jus a sick asshole" she spat out. Without warning, Giorgio raised his hand and backhanded her across the face. Her cheek stung and she only stared at him.
"Yoah an unappreciative bitch" he growled.
"Good."
"Aw sweet cheeks" he said, his demeanor changing completely. Aurora shivered at the sound of the name. "Ya know I love ya."
"Well I don want ya to! She screamed at him and ran down the hall to the small bathroom. She barely had time to close the squeaky door before she vomited the entire contents of her stomach into the sink. It was the third that week she had vomited, but to her it wasn't strange. In fact, it was oddly normal. Aurora lifted her head out of the sink to look at herself in the cracked mirror. The area bellow her gray eyes looked a little green, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was a bit frizzy but besides for those aspects she looked alright. She turned on the sink and rinsed it out the best she could before splashing some cold water on her face. She took the ratty towel from the makeshift towel bar and patted her face dry, wiping away the water and the tears.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Aurora? Aurora?" the voice seemed faint and far away, yet it was strangely familiar. It blended in with the leering of her Uncle Giorgio in her ears, and his constant pleas of "sing foah me sweet cheeks."
"NO!" Aurora shouted, covering her ears with her hands and scrunching her eyes shut. "Don't call me dat!"
"Don't what?" Spot asked, looking at Aurora, who had stopped walking, in puzzlement. Aurora slowly opened the eyes she had closed tightly, surprised to see herself in front of a distribution office instead of inside that dirty apartment, and took her hands off her ears. She looked to her side, realizing Spot staring at her and became rigid.
"Nothing" she stammered weakly. She looked him in the eyes, the twinkle and defiance he was so used to seeing, missing from her eyes and in it's place was a new emotion, one Spot hadn't seen in her before, fear.
"Ah you'se ok?" he asked warily and with genuine concern.
"Jus fine" she said half-heartedly and unconvincingly.
"You look. . ." Spot struggled for a word. ". . . conflicted." Aurora blinked and caught his eyes again, receiving a look from Spot that was neither hostile or friendly but understanding.
"Jus livin in my own pain Spot" she replied, this time her voice was stronger and more solid.
"I live it all da time" he said, a corner of his lip slightly curving up in a half smile, that was more sad than happy. From that moment on, things between them changed. It would be an exaggeration to say that Spot and Aurora were now friends but one might say that they had gained something that day. They gained an understanding that connected them in the most bizarre of ways. The challenge no longer a determination of strength or a contest to show who was better but a game to bring back memories, so that they could learn and understand how to forget them.
