Hello my dear sweet wonderful readers! Please don't throw rotten fruit at me with perfect aim… I swear, you'll like this chapter! I know I took a long time to add this, but I had to give myself I a rest, I knew if I pushed it, the story would just come out awful.  The way I write is by feeling, I do it without knowing what I'm writing, only after do I know what I've done.  Well, some things are planned, but that's more like the plot, or certain dramatic situations, anyways, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me. 

Previously in Chapter 8:

"Well I'se thinking that I want to not break up wid hah, maybe tell her dat I'se love her you know, all dat romantic shit."

"Yes, romantic shit, right."

His lower lip came slightly out in a small pout, "Will you'se help me get da goil of mah dreams to be mine longer dan a measly two weeks?"

Well this was a hard decision, to help the guy I was in love with profess his love to another? Sure.  Piece of cake right?

Chapter 9:

Confusion that never stops

The closing walls and ticking clocks

Gonna come back and take you home

I could not stop, that you now know

"Would you just be straight with me for a second ok? What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want to shoah hah dat I'se loved hah since da day dat I'se laid eyes on hah.  Years ago."

My breath caught in my throat, wait, he'd only met Secret two weeks ago nearly.

I looked into his eyes unwillingly as he scooted towards me on the bed and lifted my chin.  "I don't understand." Was all I replied with.

"You'se don't have ta undastand everythin'. But maybe dis'll help you'se," he slowly moved his warm caressing hand from my chin to my neck, then subtly maneuvered it around my back and waist. 

Excruciatingly unhurried tugs brought me closer to him until I was only a scant inch away from my personal angel. 

"Jesse," I breathed.

"Yes?" he said, his breathe hot on my face.  A shiver ran down my spine at this, but as the humid air dissipated, so did my want for this. 

Not this.

Not now.

Not again.

Lights go out and I can't be saved

Tides that I tried to swim against

Have brought me down upon my knees

Oh I beg, I beg and plead… … …

Curse missed opportunities

Am I a part of the cure

Or am I part of the disease

"No," I barely whispered. 

I wasn't going to do this, if I did, I would be just like Sterly.  An evil stuck up whore who was used like a pair of rental shoes.

Confusion marred his features, "What's wrong?"

I figured if he was going to pretend he didn't know, so could I, "Nothings wrong Spot, I've just come up with a great plan though, you know for Secret, your current girl."

I could almost see the thoughts in his head through his eyes, his soul was bared, and I was throwing it back. From confusion to comprehension, I watched as he processed what I was saying.  He slowly pulled back, albeit reluctantly.

I prayed for the control I was going to have to use when I was around him now.  First things first though: remove the temptation from thine own sight.

Give me strength, reserve control

Give me heart and give me soul

Wounds that heal and cracks that fix

Oh Love, tell me your own politik

"Tell you what, how about I write it all down, and send it over tomorrow." I said hastily.

Heaving a defeated sigh, Spot looked me back into my eyes, "Whatevah you'se want Snaps, whatevah you'se wants," and under his breath he muttered, just loud enough that I could hear, "Anything you'se evah want."

Somehow, I knew he was trying to promise me something bigger than friendship.  Something he was not allowed to give.

"Well, I'll just head downstairs and kick Slick out of his bunk for the night," I said lightly, and slowly edging away from my true hearts desire.

As I turned my back, I held my breath, some irrational part of me wanting him to take me back into his arms, and demand that I stay even if he had a girlfriend, that I was his own, the only one he wanted.

But all my foolish desires were for naught.  He did not call out, or clutch me to himself, merely nodded a consent that I could not observe.

As soon as I shut the old door behind myself, I let out the breath I had been holding, and slowly made my way downstairs. Things had wound down—it was near midnight and most boys were already asleep. 

However, there were a few activities that never seemed to cease at the Brooklyn lodging house, normally nocturnal activities went on day or night, and this day was no exception.

One of the few guys awake was Slick; he didn't sleep much.  The only reason he had a bunk was because he saved it for me, well he used to. 

When I had lived in Brooklyn, another one of the boys I had been close with was Slick, and that's just what he was.  He was notorious around the lodging house for his capabilities of getting a free meal or so.  He was one of the few friends I made when I was in Brooklyn before I went to Manhattan with Jack. 

We would stay up late at night, talking about the world and how we thought we fit.  He said I didn't fit, I didn't belong here.  I understood what he meant and I knew he was right. 

We were always truthful to each other, and it did not require a genius to figure out we were not romantically involved—we just… … …fit. Not in a more than platonic relationship but that is how it was—we fit together.

We meshed.

His parents were long dead, long before I could pick up a spoon he was working on the streets. Yet, he was only two more years older than I was.

I remember how he would let me lay on his bunk while we talked, any thing and every thing subject to discussion, and due to our common disturbance, Slick gained himself a personal room; that he never used.

I worried about him; he never seemed to find himself a girl to bond with.  He never connected really well with most people; in fact, it had been a few long weeks when I first came before he even said a word to me. 

Being the persistent person I am though, I made sure to smile at him every time I saw him.  He was quiet and withdrawn from the other newsboys.  I suppose it was the silence in the air that hung around him like a cloak that in fact drew me to him in the first place.

He had the intellect to match most scholars, and if he had gone to school, I could bet that he would be a professor or doctor of something.

As it were though, he was a below the poverty line newsboy, who found his only intellectual conversations could be found in a person younger than him, a girl for that matter.

He seemed to accept an equal in intelligence with good grace though, and from the first 'hello' to our last 'goodbye', we had been as close as we would get as friends. 

Slick was nowhere near unattractive, however his soft good-looking features had never drawn a girl to him that was acceptable. Slick was rather meticulous on who he chose to have relationships with, and this certainly applied to anyone he would choose to court.

He had a good body structure to be sure; carefully toned muscles were easily seen behind the flimsy fabric of the few shirts he possessed.  His frame was on the taller side, but he was no giant; he had a light tan that accentuated his physique perfectly.  Long dark eyelashes framed deep-set black eyes that showed the acumen glaring inside them. Full pouty pink lips that rarely formed a smile were always deliciously curved into a small smirk.   His dark brown hair was fine, and always hung delicately just below his well formed eyebrows. To conclude, he was breathtaking, but hard to notice. 

His preference was to always be in the shadows, so unless you knew Slick was there, or you were looking for him, you would not notice him. This was a good thing for Slick, as he was quite the eavesdropper, and as previously mentioned, a thief.

As I entered the bunking room, I made my way to the back where a wooden door was next to the washroom, Slicks' room.  Softly stepping across the floor, I knocked as lightly as possible on his door, I had learned a long time ago to not to enter rooms with the doors shut, you lost your virgin eyes quick that way in this place.

A muffled, "Come in," was heard and I again trod carefully and walked inside his small room. His surprised face put a smile on mine, and soon I was swept into welcoming familiar arms.

"I've missed you so much Jade," came a slightly distorted voice that was currently buried in my shoulder. I rubbed his back, "I missed you too Slick."

He pulled back to look me in the eyes, as soon as I glanced away, he demanded I tell him 'what the hell I was doing in this dump'.

I shut the door gently behind me and let him lead me to his bed.  He took a stool from next to the window and set it down in front of the bunk.  I folded my legs comfortably beneath me and waited for him to begin the conversation I knew at one point would render me in tears for the second or third time that day. 

In five words, he explained the rules, "Tell me everything, no lies."

And in the hours of the early morning as I told my story, my heart bled again. 

Wow, alright well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. What did ya'll think of Slick? Do you like his character?

Love and inspiration,

~Jade Shintz