Chapter 10
Monday morning dawn sunny and bright. Ok, scratch that. This is more like it: I opened my eyes and saw that my clock read 12:01. I sat bolt up right and my head swam from the sudden motion. Shit! I had missed most of school. My alarm hadn't gone off. Jack was going to be pissed. I decided to get dressed and try to sneak out. I would just go to school even though it was almost over.
But the first thing I saw when I left my room was Baby sitting on the couch watching TV. I looked at her quizzically.
"Jack wanted to let you sleep in," she said and then went back to watching TV.
I scratched my head and walked into the kitchen. Jack was sitting at the table reading the paper.
"When you did you become Mr. Current Events?" I asked mockingly as I sat down across from him.
He looked up and glared and me. Then folded up the paper, "I was just seeing if they had anything else about Spot in it today. There wasn't." But then he smiled at me, "So how you feeling, Sleeping Beauty. I thought since it was going to be a big day I might as well let you sleep in."
By 11 o'clock that night everyone was at our house. The sick feeling the fight had given me yesterday was now replaced with a fierce excitement. I was so anxious to get out of the house and cream some East Siders.
We got to the park with 5 minutes to spare. Travis Sparks and his gang were already there. Him and Jack shook hands. I nodded to a couple of them. All together we made about 15, not counting the girls. Jack still wasn't fully comfortable with the idea of them fighting. He had told them to wait in the trees off to the side. They had gone reluctantly, but I wasn't sure how long that was going to last.
The cars rolled up about 5 minutes late. They filed out and I noticed they had a few mores guys than us, but nothing we couldn't handle. One car still had people in it. It was the three East Side girls. Probably there for a quick getaway if the guys needed it.
The custom in a rumble is to have each gang line up across from each other. Then the leaders from each side come out and shake hands. Travis and Jack walked into the middle and Mush and Bumlets stepped out. Jack shook with Mush, but Travis faked it and punched Bumlets in the nose.
"Shit," I whispered to myself.
Bumlets jumped on Travis, but Travis stood up in time so that Bumlets rolled off his back onto the soft, muddy, ground. I would have kept watching their fight had a random East Sider not jumped on my back.
The guy was so heavy I swear I could feel myself sink into the muddy ground. I couldn't see in the dark and the ground was so muddy that I slipped. The next thing I knew my face was being ground in the mud by some invisible person. I was in so deep that I couldn't breathe and all I tasted was mud. But then he was gone.
I looked up and to my surprise saw Milkshake sitting on top of him grounding mud into his eyes. I noticed that I was near the trees and the girls had had a perfect view of me. Thank god. Sparrow and Baby were off beating up some other guy. I didn't want to interrupt; they seemed to be handling themselves quite well.
Jack was still fighting Mush. They seemed pretty equal in every way all the way down to the amount of bruises. Blink was close by them beating the East Sider Skittery to a pulp. Skittery was blindly punching, blood dripped down his face. Crutchy was actually doing pretty well for himself against one East Sider.Then I turned to Spot. He seemed to be doing pretty well. But for some reason that I couldn't even tell you now he stopped for a second. The guy hit him so hard he spun and fell.
It was as if the whole West Side sensed it. Everything stopped. Everyone just stared at Spot lying in a heap on the ground. The silence pressed in on my ears. The next thing I knew Spot had leapt up and his blade was out. Then a stream of blood came from the guy's arm. He yelled like nothing you ever heard, and I knew the cut had gone through muscle. Spot then hit him hard in the back of the head and the East Sider crumpled to the ground.
Now everyone knew we had broken the no weapons rule. But all the East Siders had brought blades too. I knew they would.
I turned and found an East Sider right in my face, his blade out. I quickly pulled mine out of my back pocket. The metal gleamed in the moonlight. But I didn't have time to admire it. The guy punched with one arm and swung the blade with the other. I got hit with the first but ducked under the next. As I crouched down I stabbed his leg. He grabbed it with both hands and fell. I kicked him in the gut and he curled up. I could have gone on but I heard a scream a little way off.
I whipped around to see Bumlets holding Baby around the stomach. I won't mention what he was trying to do, but when I saw him take out his blade I ran over. I don't think he even noticed me before I had my knife at his throat. He threw Baby to the ground, but I kept my blade where it was.
"Don't you dare touch my sister," I snarled through clenched teeth. When he didn't respond I thought I had him. But that is when I notice the cold metal touch my temple. I heard a click and out of the corner of my eye I saw a gun in his hand. My hand fell from his throat and I dropped the blade.
No one noticed. Everyone was still off fighting. It was as if the whole world had stopped. You know when they saw before you die your life flashes before your eyes. Well it doesn't. It stops right where it is and you can only watch the stillness. Baby staring at me with her eyes open in shock. Jack and Blink pummeling some guys into the wet ground. Sparrow and Milkshake doing there best against everyone who challenged them. Crutchy catching his breath for a moment. I just stood there, helpless.
The only thing I could hear was the trigger being pulled back. I was going to die and I knew it. Then it felt like I was being shoved and I heard the shot go off. I fell to the ground and I knew I was dead. I knew it was all over for me.
Then I felt someone turning me. Maybe I wasn't dead. Bumlets had missed. It would all be okay. But as I opened my eyes I knew I was wrong. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Spot lay with his knees curled up against him. He had noticed. He had pushed me out of the way. He had taken the bullet meant to kill me.
No one was moving, not even the East Siders. I noticed Baby had been the one to turn me over. She had her arms around me. Sparrow came running out of the crowd. She knelt beside him. He was still alive.
"Spot," I heard her say in a forced calm, "come on. We're going to take you down to the hospital." She tried putting his arm around her shoulder and lifting. The moment he moved he moaned loudly. She dropped him and collapsed next to him. He tried to say something but blood came out instead. "Shhh...don't talk," she said. I could she the tears coming down her cheek now, but her faced showed no sign that they should be there. Spot put a hand up to her cheek and she held it there. For a moment they looked into each other's eyes. Then his hand fell and all was quiet and motionless.
After a moment Sparrow angrily wiped at her face and got to her feet. She lunged at Bumlets who stood there like a deer in the headlights. Sparrow punched him in the jaw and he fell. She punched his face till Jack finally came and picked her up off him. Bumlets got up and his face was unrecognizable. It was a red purple with blood everywhere. I could swear to you that his jaw was hanging way to low from his face to be normal.
The East Siders got him into the car and drove off. We didn't bother to stop any of them. Travis Sparks put his hand sympathetically on Jack's shoulder. Then he and his gang left too.
All I could do was hug Baby to myself. I could feel her tears, or maybe they were mine. I didn't know. Sparrow had finally collapsed into Jack's arms. Blink was trying to get Milkshake to stop crying. And Crutchy was just staring with tears fall down his face.
A week later there was an article in the paper on Dave's recovery. Another article about Bumlets being tried for murder, but getting off on self-defense. And finally there was a paragraph in the obituaries for a troubled boy named Spot Conlon.
Shout Outs:
Padfootismyhero: ok so here is the big rumble.....i hope it was as awesome as you hoped Thank You so much for reading!!!!!
Va-finest-harley: I was happy to use minx...I love her.....yea I liked the end of last chapter too (.......hoped this last chapter was to your liking...thanks for everything
Ireland O'Reily: hey most of those sharks on west side story look like they're wearing a lot of make up...you could play anita that way lol...but I hoped you liked the story and thanks for reading
Moonlights Sundance: I hope that was enough Sparrow/ Spot stuff there for you....geez I'm even still getting over what I wrote (.....but thanks for reading and I hope to see your cc next time I get a new story up
Ducks-go-quack-00: glad you like everything so much......thanks for reading...oh yea I love the fight scenes too.....
Nicole: thanks so much....mmm specialness
So that's the end. Thank you all for your characters. I hope you enjoyed my story.
Sincerely Yours,
Cat
Monday morning dawn sunny and bright. Ok, scratch that. This is more like it: I opened my eyes and saw that my clock read 12:01. I sat bolt up right and my head swam from the sudden motion. Shit! I had missed most of school. My alarm hadn't gone off. Jack was going to be pissed. I decided to get dressed and try to sneak out. I would just go to school even though it was almost over.
But the first thing I saw when I left my room was Baby sitting on the couch watching TV. I looked at her quizzically.
"Jack wanted to let you sleep in," she said and then went back to watching TV.
I scratched my head and walked into the kitchen. Jack was sitting at the table reading the paper.
"When you did you become Mr. Current Events?" I asked mockingly as I sat down across from him.
He looked up and glared and me. Then folded up the paper, "I was just seeing if they had anything else about Spot in it today. There wasn't." But then he smiled at me, "So how you feeling, Sleeping Beauty. I thought since it was going to be a big day I might as well let you sleep in."
By 11 o'clock that night everyone was at our house. The sick feeling the fight had given me yesterday was now replaced with a fierce excitement. I was so anxious to get out of the house and cream some East Siders.
We got to the park with 5 minutes to spare. Travis Sparks and his gang were already there. Him and Jack shook hands. I nodded to a couple of them. All together we made about 15, not counting the girls. Jack still wasn't fully comfortable with the idea of them fighting. He had told them to wait in the trees off to the side. They had gone reluctantly, but I wasn't sure how long that was going to last.
The cars rolled up about 5 minutes late. They filed out and I noticed they had a few mores guys than us, but nothing we couldn't handle. One car still had people in it. It was the three East Side girls. Probably there for a quick getaway if the guys needed it.
The custom in a rumble is to have each gang line up across from each other. Then the leaders from each side come out and shake hands. Travis and Jack walked into the middle and Mush and Bumlets stepped out. Jack shook with Mush, but Travis faked it and punched Bumlets in the nose.
"Shit," I whispered to myself.
Bumlets jumped on Travis, but Travis stood up in time so that Bumlets rolled off his back onto the soft, muddy, ground. I would have kept watching their fight had a random East Sider not jumped on my back.
The guy was so heavy I swear I could feel myself sink into the muddy ground. I couldn't see in the dark and the ground was so muddy that I slipped. The next thing I knew my face was being ground in the mud by some invisible person. I was in so deep that I couldn't breathe and all I tasted was mud. But then he was gone.
I looked up and to my surprise saw Milkshake sitting on top of him grounding mud into his eyes. I noticed that I was near the trees and the girls had had a perfect view of me. Thank god. Sparrow and Baby were off beating up some other guy. I didn't want to interrupt; they seemed to be handling themselves quite well.
Jack was still fighting Mush. They seemed pretty equal in every way all the way down to the amount of bruises. Blink was close by them beating the East Sider Skittery to a pulp. Skittery was blindly punching, blood dripped down his face. Crutchy was actually doing pretty well for himself against one East Sider.Then I turned to Spot. He seemed to be doing pretty well. But for some reason that I couldn't even tell you now he stopped for a second. The guy hit him so hard he spun and fell.
It was as if the whole West Side sensed it. Everything stopped. Everyone just stared at Spot lying in a heap on the ground. The silence pressed in on my ears. The next thing I knew Spot had leapt up and his blade was out. Then a stream of blood came from the guy's arm. He yelled like nothing you ever heard, and I knew the cut had gone through muscle. Spot then hit him hard in the back of the head and the East Sider crumpled to the ground.
Now everyone knew we had broken the no weapons rule. But all the East Siders had brought blades too. I knew they would.
I turned and found an East Sider right in my face, his blade out. I quickly pulled mine out of my back pocket. The metal gleamed in the moonlight. But I didn't have time to admire it. The guy punched with one arm and swung the blade with the other. I got hit with the first but ducked under the next. As I crouched down I stabbed his leg. He grabbed it with both hands and fell. I kicked him in the gut and he curled up. I could have gone on but I heard a scream a little way off.
I whipped around to see Bumlets holding Baby around the stomach. I won't mention what he was trying to do, but when I saw him take out his blade I ran over. I don't think he even noticed me before I had my knife at his throat. He threw Baby to the ground, but I kept my blade where it was.
"Don't you dare touch my sister," I snarled through clenched teeth. When he didn't respond I thought I had him. But that is when I notice the cold metal touch my temple. I heard a click and out of the corner of my eye I saw a gun in his hand. My hand fell from his throat and I dropped the blade.
No one noticed. Everyone was still off fighting. It was as if the whole world had stopped. You know when they saw before you die your life flashes before your eyes. Well it doesn't. It stops right where it is and you can only watch the stillness. Baby staring at me with her eyes open in shock. Jack and Blink pummeling some guys into the wet ground. Sparrow and Milkshake doing there best against everyone who challenged them. Crutchy catching his breath for a moment. I just stood there, helpless.
The only thing I could hear was the trigger being pulled back. I was going to die and I knew it. Then it felt like I was being shoved and I heard the shot go off. I fell to the ground and I knew I was dead. I knew it was all over for me.
Then I felt someone turning me. Maybe I wasn't dead. Bumlets had missed. It would all be okay. But as I opened my eyes I knew I was wrong. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Spot lay with his knees curled up against him. He had noticed. He had pushed me out of the way. He had taken the bullet meant to kill me.
No one was moving, not even the East Siders. I noticed Baby had been the one to turn me over. She had her arms around me. Sparrow came running out of the crowd. She knelt beside him. He was still alive.
"Spot," I heard her say in a forced calm, "come on. We're going to take you down to the hospital." She tried putting his arm around her shoulder and lifting. The moment he moved he moaned loudly. She dropped him and collapsed next to him. He tried to say something but blood came out instead. "Shhh...don't talk," she said. I could she the tears coming down her cheek now, but her faced showed no sign that they should be there. Spot put a hand up to her cheek and she held it there. For a moment they looked into each other's eyes. Then his hand fell and all was quiet and motionless.
After a moment Sparrow angrily wiped at her face and got to her feet. She lunged at Bumlets who stood there like a deer in the headlights. Sparrow punched him in the jaw and he fell. She punched his face till Jack finally came and picked her up off him. Bumlets got up and his face was unrecognizable. It was a red purple with blood everywhere. I could swear to you that his jaw was hanging way to low from his face to be normal.
The East Siders got him into the car and drove off. We didn't bother to stop any of them. Travis Sparks put his hand sympathetically on Jack's shoulder. Then he and his gang left too.
All I could do was hug Baby to myself. I could feel her tears, or maybe they were mine. I didn't know. Sparrow had finally collapsed into Jack's arms. Blink was trying to get Milkshake to stop crying. And Crutchy was just staring with tears fall down his face.
A week later there was an article in the paper on Dave's recovery. Another article about Bumlets being tried for murder, but getting off on self-defense. And finally there was a paragraph in the obituaries for a troubled boy named Spot Conlon.
Shout Outs:
Padfootismyhero: ok so here is the big rumble.....i hope it was as awesome as you hoped Thank You so much for reading!!!!!
Va-finest-harley: I was happy to use minx...I love her.....yea I liked the end of last chapter too (.......hoped this last chapter was to your liking...thanks for everything
Ireland O'Reily: hey most of those sharks on west side story look like they're wearing a lot of make up...you could play anita that way lol...but I hoped you liked the story and thanks for reading
Moonlights Sundance: I hope that was enough Sparrow/ Spot stuff there for you....geez I'm even still getting over what I wrote (.....but thanks for reading and I hope to see your cc next time I get a new story up
Ducks-go-quack-00: glad you like everything so much......thanks for reading...oh yea I love the fight scenes too.....
Nicole: thanks so much....mmm specialness
So that's the end. Thank you all for your characters. I hope you enjoyed my story.
Sincerely Yours,
Cat