Chapter 11
Ma Graves house, Upstairs
Robin slipped through the window, and found he was in what probably passed for a bedroom, two mattresses, a lamp. A small pile of clothes, a battered looking tape deck, and a few books and comics were the only signs of habitation. Such wallpaper as there was was peeling off the walls.
The door was ajar and he peered through it. The room beyond was larger and in it he could see three boys and a girl sitting together, discussing something in urgent tones. Another couple, a boy and a girl, were off to one side, smoking something and giggling slightly, listening to a battered music box play a nursery rhyme, that Dick absently identified as "Ring a Ring a Rosies", slightly off key.
There was one door, a couple of cheap looking throw cushions, and only one light bulb, mounted in an old fashioned ceiling fan that span slowly.
He listened more closely.
"… might be dead."
"Don't say that! No, I still say he took his chance and split."
"He'd be a fool if he did. Besides Ma would have found him by now and we'd all know about it. She's kept us all in tonight, and she's never done that before. She's worried about something. Marcus don't like runners. You remember what he did to you when you tried?"
The other speakerss tone became defensive "I healed didn't I? And Brad's smarter than me, he could have talked his john into giving him a lift to the bus station or something."
"Sh'yeah,, right. You ever yet met a john who'd do you a favour? Most of them are to scared to even look me in the eye when they're doing me, never mind giving me a lift afterwards… 'side's he didn't have nowhere to run to."
Robin felt it was time to make his presence known. He eased the door open and spoke from the doorway, keeping his voice soft.
"I'm afraid Brad didn't run anywhere."
They reacted with shock, well, most of them, the two who were smoking just stared and then started giggling again.
He tried to size the group up. They were a mixed bunch, mostly his age, though one of the girls might be about two years younger (she used make-up to try and look older but it wasn't hard to see through) and one of the boys looked a little older, maybe sixteen. It was hard to tell, their faces shared an empty look, with old, old eyes.
Even their body language was wrong for children their age. The youngest boy sat swathed in a shapeless sweater, knees pulled up tight in front of him, presenting the smallest possible target. He had a large bruise across one side of his face. The giggling girl also had bruises on her arms.
The oldest looking kid, tall and dark skinned stepped forward, he seemed to be the group leader. Alpha male, he'll be the first to speak, and the one to address in return Robin decided.
"An just who the hell are you supposed to be? Colourful Kid? And what do you know about Brad?"
"I'm Robin."
He saw two pairs of eyes widen, but not much recognition. He sighed a little, sometimes a low profile was a burden.
"Robin? I work with Batman. You know? Tall guy? Pointy ears? Wrath of god in a cape?"
THAT got a reaction all right. Robin was very glad he'd talked Batman out of coming in here first, if his name caused terror like this, then the man himself would probably have had them scrabbling to hide under the nearest bed.
The tall kid tried to bluff it out "Says you? You could be anyone."
Robin cocked his head at him, "Yes, says me. Says the guy who just got into this place through a barred second storey window without setting off the alarm or tipping you guys off I was doing it. That should be a bit of a clue, no?"
The older kid sized him up again, before speaking, trying to spot any signs of deception. Clearly Robin passed some sort of test because when the boy spoke again it was to introduce himself "I'm Paul, I look after things " He added this last almost as an afterthought but Robin nodded in acknowledgement.
"And the rest of you are…?"
Paul swivelled round so was at the front of the group again, protecting his own; "That's Jewel, Carlos and Franklin. The happy couple over there are Bobby and Samantha."
Robin nodded to each of them. The pair on the floor waved back, grinning broadly.
"So what were you saying about Brad. What do you know about what happened to him? Did Batman arrest him or something?"
Robin steeled himself, there was no easy way to do this. "No, he didn't. I'm really sorry to be the one to tell you, but Brad is dead. He was killed last night."
Paul didn't look totally surprised, so clearly some rumours had reached him, if not the others. Robin hated to be the one to have to confirm his fears.
"LIAR!"
Jewel sprang at him suddenly, lashing out with her hands and feet, red hair whipping from side to side as she thrashed about. Robin simply held her off whilst she yelled. "He's NOT dead, he's NOT. He wouldn't leave me alone like that. He promised!" She dissolved into tears.
Robin leaned over and took her hands and repeated something he'd heard Commissioner Gordon say more times than he liked to think. "I'm sorry for you loss."
It sounded hollow as he said it, but it seemed to strike a chord in her as she relaxed slightly in his hands. Her head still fell forward, but she nodded numbly.
Paul came over and took Jewel by the hand. Robin let go, this kid knew her better and would be more comfort.
"Jewel and Brad were close." was all Paul said.
Finally Jewel spoke in a whisper, breaking a painful silence. "What happened to him?"
Robin decided that all-out honesty would not help the situation with her there. "Well, we're still putting that together. I'll need to ask you to tell me everything you can about Brad. We don't know very much and it might help us."
"You said he was killed, was he hit by a car or something?"
Robin nodded, but glanced at Jewel before looking straight at Paul as he spoke again
"Yes. It was quick at least."
Paul read the lie in his eyes, but understood.
"Does anyone know what his surname was? No one we've spoken to can tell us."
Jewel looked up with red, swollen eyes "Castle. His name was Brad Castle. He was from Illinois. That's all he'd ever tell me."
"Thank you Jewel. That will help us a lot. Now, we're trying to find the last guy to see Brad. Did anyone see who he left with last night."
The smallest boy, Franklin, looked up, "I saw him go, but I can't remember what the john looked like, and I had my own customers to look out for. We all have to pay rent here." As he spoke he pushed the shapeless sleeves off his hands and absently rubbed his wrists. Robin saw that there were fresh marks on his arms. Rope burns?
Seeing those, and hearing a boy of this age discussing selling himself in such a matter of fact way made Robin both angry and faintly nauseous, but he controlled his stomach and his expression, he was here on a mission.
"Please, it's important, anything you can remember about him. Even little details could help."
"Hey, don't push me! I really don't remember!"
Paul took a step forward as if to warn Robin off pressing further. Robin stepped back, no sense in causing a fight here.
Behind Paul, Franklin kept talking. "It's weird too, 'cause I'm normally good at that stuff, remembering people faces…" He paused for a moment, frowning as he continued "I think I might have dreamed about the man last night, but it wasn't a good dream, so I don't wanna remember it."
"That's okay" The kid was too young to be of much use anyway. He paused and wondered how often other people had said the same about him.
"I should tell you all something. I didn't come here alone."
Instantly the children looked round in terror, as if expecting Batman to materialise from nowhere, just like all the stories said he could.
"No, not up here. Batman's downstairs with Ma. She's going out of business tonight, and it isn't going to be pretty for her."
Their reaction was, perhaps, surprising to Robin. Some of the faces looked shocked. "But what about us?"
"You'll be found other places to live. Better places than this."
A wry "Wanna bet?" came from Carlos.
"They WILL be better than this. You can't have enjoyed doing what she had you do, can you?"
"No, but what makes you think where we'd end up would be any better? Have you ever spent any time in Gotham's Welfare?"
Yes, thought Robin, I have, but I can't let you know that. Besides, he told himself, Bruce had gone to some lengths in using his influence to improve the quality of the Child Welfare Services since Dick had told him the appalling stories about even his brief visit there. Grants had suddenly become available, grants with quality standards attached to them. Certain staff members found themselves suddenly unemployed, and in a couple of cases completely unemployable in any area involving children.
"It can't be as bad as this place."
"Riiiight. At least here I had privacy."
"Privacy?"
"A room of my own?"
Robin looked around him, "Which side of the door is the bolt on? Your side, or hers?"
When he got no answer he pressed on, "And a room Ma Graves wanted rent money you could only get one way, and I'll bet she kept her own set of keys, no? You really believe that this sort of life is better than the Home can give you?"
Paul glared at him furiously, "You don't know anything about this, or about me. I hate what I do, I hate having old guys feel me up and…never mind, but the alternative was being at home and having my m…" the boy stopped short, realising what he was saying and overriding his anger with effort.
Robin took his shoulders and looked him in the eye, the mask didn't help, but there wasn't anything he could do about that, "No, you're right, I don't know anything about you, but I do know that what is going on here is wrong, and at least somewhere else you have a chance."
"Please, all I ask is that you wait here tonight. Batman and I will make sure that Ma Graves can't hurt you, and we'll do everything we can to make sure that things go right for you. We have a LOT of influence."
Robin moved to the room's main door, and after finding it locked set about picking the lock with the tools in his belt. It was a new lock, rather than the rusty old thing he might have expected in a house like this, but then he recalled the gleaming new razor wire on the walls. He was just using a collapsible pry bar to lever the deadbolt on the other side up when he heard a faint scream from downstairs, a female scream.
"I have to go check in with Batman, it sounds like he's finishing up with Ma. Stay here and I'll be back in a minute." He caught Paul making a move to follow him and shook his head.
"Stay here with them Paul. Batman should have handled everything but I'd rather we had someone here keeping an eye on things."
To the surprise of both of them, Paul stepped back and nodded.
Robin muttered to himself as he left the room "The Boy Wonder giving orders and they get followed? How often will THAT ever happen?"
Ma Graves house, Upstairs
Robin slipped through the window, and found he was in what probably passed for a bedroom, two mattresses, a lamp. A small pile of clothes, a battered looking tape deck, and a few books and comics were the only signs of habitation. Such wallpaper as there was was peeling off the walls.
The door was ajar and he peered through it. The room beyond was larger and in it he could see three boys and a girl sitting together, discussing something in urgent tones. Another couple, a boy and a girl, were off to one side, smoking something and giggling slightly, listening to a battered music box play a nursery rhyme, that Dick absently identified as "Ring a Ring a Rosies", slightly off key.
There was one door, a couple of cheap looking throw cushions, and only one light bulb, mounted in an old fashioned ceiling fan that span slowly.
He listened more closely.
"… might be dead."
"Don't say that! No, I still say he took his chance and split."
"He'd be a fool if he did. Besides Ma would have found him by now and we'd all know about it. She's kept us all in tonight, and she's never done that before. She's worried about something. Marcus don't like runners. You remember what he did to you when you tried?"
The other speakerss tone became defensive "I healed didn't I? And Brad's smarter than me, he could have talked his john into giving him a lift to the bus station or something."
"Sh'yeah,, right. You ever yet met a john who'd do you a favour? Most of them are to scared to even look me in the eye when they're doing me, never mind giving me a lift afterwards… 'side's he didn't have nowhere to run to."
Robin felt it was time to make his presence known. He eased the door open and spoke from the doorway, keeping his voice soft.
"I'm afraid Brad didn't run anywhere."
They reacted with shock, well, most of them, the two who were smoking just stared and then started giggling again.
He tried to size the group up. They were a mixed bunch, mostly his age, though one of the girls might be about two years younger (she used make-up to try and look older but it wasn't hard to see through) and one of the boys looked a little older, maybe sixteen. It was hard to tell, their faces shared an empty look, with old, old eyes.
Even their body language was wrong for children their age. The youngest boy sat swathed in a shapeless sweater, knees pulled up tight in front of him, presenting the smallest possible target. He had a large bruise across one side of his face. The giggling girl also had bruises on her arms.
The oldest looking kid, tall and dark skinned stepped forward, he seemed to be the group leader. Alpha male, he'll be the first to speak, and the one to address in return Robin decided.
"An just who the hell are you supposed to be? Colourful Kid? And what do you know about Brad?"
"I'm Robin."
He saw two pairs of eyes widen, but not much recognition. He sighed a little, sometimes a low profile was a burden.
"Robin? I work with Batman. You know? Tall guy? Pointy ears? Wrath of god in a cape?"
THAT got a reaction all right. Robin was very glad he'd talked Batman out of coming in here first, if his name caused terror like this, then the man himself would probably have had them scrabbling to hide under the nearest bed.
The tall kid tried to bluff it out "Says you? You could be anyone."
Robin cocked his head at him, "Yes, says me. Says the guy who just got into this place through a barred second storey window without setting off the alarm or tipping you guys off I was doing it. That should be a bit of a clue, no?"
The older kid sized him up again, before speaking, trying to spot any signs of deception. Clearly Robin passed some sort of test because when the boy spoke again it was to introduce himself "I'm Paul, I look after things " He added this last almost as an afterthought but Robin nodded in acknowledgement.
"And the rest of you are…?"
Paul swivelled round so was at the front of the group again, protecting his own; "That's Jewel, Carlos and Franklin. The happy couple over there are Bobby and Samantha."
Robin nodded to each of them. The pair on the floor waved back, grinning broadly.
"So what were you saying about Brad. What do you know about what happened to him? Did Batman arrest him or something?"
Robin steeled himself, there was no easy way to do this. "No, he didn't. I'm really sorry to be the one to tell you, but Brad is dead. He was killed last night."
Paul didn't look totally surprised, so clearly some rumours had reached him, if not the others. Robin hated to be the one to have to confirm his fears.
"LIAR!"
Jewel sprang at him suddenly, lashing out with her hands and feet, red hair whipping from side to side as she thrashed about. Robin simply held her off whilst she yelled. "He's NOT dead, he's NOT. He wouldn't leave me alone like that. He promised!" She dissolved into tears.
Robin leaned over and took her hands and repeated something he'd heard Commissioner Gordon say more times than he liked to think. "I'm sorry for you loss."
It sounded hollow as he said it, but it seemed to strike a chord in her as she relaxed slightly in his hands. Her head still fell forward, but she nodded numbly.
Paul came over and took Jewel by the hand. Robin let go, this kid knew her better and would be more comfort.
"Jewel and Brad were close." was all Paul said.
Finally Jewel spoke in a whisper, breaking a painful silence. "What happened to him?"
Robin decided that all-out honesty would not help the situation with her there. "Well, we're still putting that together. I'll need to ask you to tell me everything you can about Brad. We don't know very much and it might help us."
"You said he was killed, was he hit by a car or something?"
Robin nodded, but glanced at Jewel before looking straight at Paul as he spoke again
"Yes. It was quick at least."
Paul read the lie in his eyes, but understood.
"Does anyone know what his surname was? No one we've spoken to can tell us."
Jewel looked up with red, swollen eyes "Castle. His name was Brad Castle. He was from Illinois. That's all he'd ever tell me."
"Thank you Jewel. That will help us a lot. Now, we're trying to find the last guy to see Brad. Did anyone see who he left with last night."
The smallest boy, Franklin, looked up, "I saw him go, but I can't remember what the john looked like, and I had my own customers to look out for. We all have to pay rent here." As he spoke he pushed the shapeless sleeves off his hands and absently rubbed his wrists. Robin saw that there were fresh marks on his arms. Rope burns?
Seeing those, and hearing a boy of this age discussing selling himself in such a matter of fact way made Robin both angry and faintly nauseous, but he controlled his stomach and his expression, he was here on a mission.
"Please, it's important, anything you can remember about him. Even little details could help."
"Hey, don't push me! I really don't remember!"
Paul took a step forward as if to warn Robin off pressing further. Robin stepped back, no sense in causing a fight here.
Behind Paul, Franklin kept talking. "It's weird too, 'cause I'm normally good at that stuff, remembering people faces…" He paused for a moment, frowning as he continued "I think I might have dreamed about the man last night, but it wasn't a good dream, so I don't wanna remember it."
"That's okay" The kid was too young to be of much use anyway. He paused and wondered how often other people had said the same about him.
"I should tell you all something. I didn't come here alone."
Instantly the children looked round in terror, as if expecting Batman to materialise from nowhere, just like all the stories said he could.
"No, not up here. Batman's downstairs with Ma. She's going out of business tonight, and it isn't going to be pretty for her."
Their reaction was, perhaps, surprising to Robin. Some of the faces looked shocked. "But what about us?"
"You'll be found other places to live. Better places than this."
A wry "Wanna bet?" came from Carlos.
"They WILL be better than this. You can't have enjoyed doing what she had you do, can you?"
"No, but what makes you think where we'd end up would be any better? Have you ever spent any time in Gotham's Welfare?"
Yes, thought Robin, I have, but I can't let you know that. Besides, he told himself, Bruce had gone to some lengths in using his influence to improve the quality of the Child Welfare Services since Dick had told him the appalling stories about even his brief visit there. Grants had suddenly become available, grants with quality standards attached to them. Certain staff members found themselves suddenly unemployed, and in a couple of cases completely unemployable in any area involving children.
"It can't be as bad as this place."
"Riiiight. At least here I had privacy."
"Privacy?"
"A room of my own?"
Robin looked around him, "Which side of the door is the bolt on? Your side, or hers?"
When he got no answer he pressed on, "And a room Ma Graves wanted rent money you could only get one way, and I'll bet she kept her own set of keys, no? You really believe that this sort of life is better than the Home can give you?"
Paul glared at him furiously, "You don't know anything about this, or about me. I hate what I do, I hate having old guys feel me up and…never mind, but the alternative was being at home and having my m…" the boy stopped short, realising what he was saying and overriding his anger with effort.
Robin took his shoulders and looked him in the eye, the mask didn't help, but there wasn't anything he could do about that, "No, you're right, I don't know anything about you, but I do know that what is going on here is wrong, and at least somewhere else you have a chance."
"Please, all I ask is that you wait here tonight. Batman and I will make sure that Ma Graves can't hurt you, and we'll do everything we can to make sure that things go right for you. We have a LOT of influence."
Robin moved to the room's main door, and after finding it locked set about picking the lock with the tools in his belt. It was a new lock, rather than the rusty old thing he might have expected in a house like this, but then he recalled the gleaming new razor wire on the walls. He was just using a collapsible pry bar to lever the deadbolt on the other side up when he heard a faint scream from downstairs, a female scream.
"I have to go check in with Batman, it sounds like he's finishing up with Ma. Stay here and I'll be back in a minute." He caught Paul making a move to follow him and shook his head.
"Stay here with them Paul. Batman should have handled everything but I'd rather we had someone here keeping an eye on things."
To the surprise of both of them, Paul stepped back and nodded.
Robin muttered to himself as he left the room "The Boy Wonder giving orders and they get followed? How often will THAT ever happen?"