Keeping it Safe
Chapter Two: Playing the Deck
"Bust."
I sighed and slid my cards back over to Racetrack. He held out his hand and cleared his throat expectantly and I obliged with a few pennies as well. I didn't know why I always played with him. Race wasn't exactly good at cards, but he was a fantastic cheater, making winning near impossible. I placed another bet out of sheer boredom, Bumlets, Dutchy, and Jake followed suit. Specs watched the game over Dutchy's shoulder. Things were quiet in the bunkroom after a tiring day of selling - at least for a time.
Jack hadn't showed up yet, so with no one to start the trouble we were all just relaxing before bed, careful not to mention the situation at hand.
I could see Pie-eater in the corner explaining what had happened to Kloppman ("We buried him last night," he had reminded me quietly) to the younger kids, the older ones knew well enough that it wasn't wise to ask questions. Racetrack dealt me two more cards and I picked them up reluctantly and made a face.
"Why, again, do we let him deal?"
The other grumbled in agreement.
"Blackjack," Racetrack said with a toothy smile. The rest of us threw in our cards and walked away. "Hey! HEY! Fellas, your bets… come on, now!"
"I'm ready to turn in," Specs said with a yawn.
"I'm staying up a little longer," Bumlets said with narrowed eyes. "Who knows, maybe Jack is planning to murder us all in bed when he returns."
Specs halted mid yawn. "Thanks for that cheery thought."
Bumlets laughed, but it was a hollow sound. "Anytime," he said.
I went to bed with the rest of them, though I stayed awake for awhile, staring at the ceiling. I was awake enough to hear the wet slap of footsteps outside, and therefore wasn't surprised from my slumber when a loud banging knock sounded at the front door. I heard a few others wake with gasps our stifled cries, only Pie-eater rose silently. He met my eyes over the tops of the bunks between us. He had locked the door earlier - now it seemed like Jack was finally back, at whatever ungodly hour it happened to be.
Pie seemed to be looking to me for a decision. I shrugged and then slipped to the floor. Swifty and Race were up and Pie joined us, several other must have been awake, but no others volunteered.
The knocks came again. Pie sighed and led the way downstairs, we didn't try to muffle the creaky steps - everyone was probably awake now, and would be awake to witness whatever scene unfolded. I hoped nothing too drastic would be done.
Pie-eater unlocked the door and opened it as we reached the entry, but didn't move from the frame, thus successfully blocking whoever was outside from entering.
And it was Jack, dirty, drunk, and all scuffed up. Pie looked at him with disgust, like Jack was a bug he had just stepped on. Jack stared in for a second, then blinked and stared at Pie, looking confused. His eyes were glassy, one of them black and blue, and he sported a fair number of other cuts and scrapes with dust and grime trapped in the grease of his hair. I could hear Swifty scoff behind me and I inwardly rolled my eyes as well. So, this was the great leader he wanted us to have? Maybe it would be better if everyone say him like this. Saw that he wasn't always the hero. Pie-eater seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Come on in, Jack," he said, no questions asked. "I'll get the door. Let's get you up to bed." Pie closed and locked the door while Swifty took one of Jack's arms and began hauling him up the stairs. I expected Racetrack to pitch in and help, but the smaller boy shied away from his touch, a hard frown on his face and contempt in his eyes.
We got Jack up eventually and all murmuring and muttering in the bunkroom ceased as we opened the door.
Swifty pushed Jack off his shoulder, leaving him to stagger into the middle of the room and then promptly collapse.
"Oh, you bastard," Swifty hissed, and moved to kick his limp form, but Pie drew him back.
"You don't need to set an example too," he told him softly. Swifty grumbled but stayed put./ To my surprise, it was Racetrack who spoke first.
"So," he said loudly, clearly, and everyone sat up in their beds. "This… this is the leader we were promised. Here he is, ready to take charge of the lodging house and its boarders - us." He walked over and turned Jack on his back with his foot, then quickly backed up. Jack was already asleep, drooling, with a few of his cuts bleeding again and a fresh bruise on his shoulder. Another murmur went through those assembled, even a few sniggers.
"Take a good look at him now," Racetrack continued. "Cause in the morning, he'll be ugly."
Once again Bumlets was the only one to laugh, a loud, hearty sound that made me shiver.
"Let's go back to bed," Pie said into my ear. I nodded and made my way to my bunk. Racetrack did too, though not until he could pass by Jack again and spit in his form. I noticed that Swifty "accidentally" stepped on the cowboy on the way by as well. I found myself smirking under my covers and sickly realized I sounded a lot like when I thought: "Serves the bastard right."
+
The next day dawned brighter than usual, and I was mildly surprised to find Jack gone from the floor. Kid Blink had probably moved him, the doting fool. Pie-eater's head appeared at the side of my bed.
"You up?" I nodded, and he moved on. Pie had taken on the task of waking us all up in time to get a hold of the morning edition. I admired him for volunteering for so much responsibility without ever being asked and had decided days ago that he was the best and obvious choice for landlord. Unfortunately, the others, self absorbed and focused on 'power,' failed to see this logic. I could only hope they'd eventually come around.
I splashed my face with freezing water from the tub and looked up at my reflection. Brooding eyes under a mop of auburn hair, rosy cheeks and thoughtful expression. I looked older than I was, and much older than I felt. I continued to stare at myself, watching droplets of water drip off my eyes and chin, never really feeling them. I couldn't stay in this 'business' much longer - I was getting to be too old, to grow bored of the same routine. I was near time to leave and become tired of a new routine. Maybe now would be the perfect time, with the chaos that reigned, changing the lodging house from it's former position of safe haven to place of flaring tempers and manipulative teenagers…
I shook the rest of the water off my face and clomped downstairs to begin the walk to the distribution center and the start of my day.
I didn't see Jack at the center, or out selling, and no one I talked to seemed to either. It wasn't until I got back to the lodging house mid-evening that I discovered why.
I entered the house as usual and was about to head upstairs when someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.
"You trying to get away without paying?" Jack's voice sneered into my ear.
"What are you talking about?" We hadn't had to sign in and pay up since Kloppman had fallen sick. Kid Blink came forward and shrugged, holding the ledger out to me.
"Look, you want a bed or not?"
I hadn't been expecting this, not at all, and I had spent any money I wouldn't use tomorrow on a decent meal. I rolled my eyes and pushed through the two.
"Oh, give it a rest," I said, but then Mush appeared to block the staircase. He had his sleeves rolled up and looked at me without emotion.
"Pay up," he echoed coldly.
"No way," I said, more in disbelief than refusal. Mush took a step forward, balling his fists.
"Then leave!"
I looked at the three in turn, then went back the way I came and slammed the door behind me. My feet slipped and slid on the frost encrusted cobblestones and I felt a burning hatred for those who thought they could take our leadership by force - no, who could take it, without anyone to say otherwise. I knew that staying outside meant freezing to death, so I hung around the door, sure there was some other way.
To my relief, Swifty was the next person to come around.
"What are you doing hanging around out here?" He asked with a frown.
"Go in," I said dully, my teeth chattering like mad. "You'll see."
He frowned again, then shrugged and stepped inside. I sniggered under my breath. Swifty would teach them.
"You're WHAT?!" He yelled from inside. There was a crash, then more sounds of scuffling from inside, and at last a form hit the door and then Swifty came stumbling out. I winced.
"Was that you?"
He stood to his full height and cast a glare back at the building. "What, the door? Nah, that was Blink. But I figured I'd better leave before things got rough. You don't have to be Racetrack to know bad odds." I nodded and resumed my shivering. "You're going to die out here," Swifty told me. "Come stay with me tonight. I'm sure Pie will have it all sorted out by the morning."
"Was he in there?"
"He must be - he had a feeling Jack would try and pull something, so he stopped selling early."
"Well, he should have told the rest of us," I grumbled as I followed Swifty away.
We ended up in the same alley I had gone to before, but it seemed to take much less time to get there. I figured that maybe I was just delirious from the cold.
Swifty ushered me in and closed the door firmly behind, then turned to a burly, thug-like man near the door and motioned to me.
"He has to stay here tonight. I'll cover any cost - just make sure he has a decent bed."
The man shrugged and turned to speak to someone behind him. Swifty led me deeper into the room.
"Drink?" He asked, taking a dirty mug for himself. I declined, looking uneasily about me. There were more people than in the previous night, betting loudly and drinking proudly like before. The same small blonde girl ran up to Swifty and buried her head in his chest. I hadn't realized how slight she was, she looked prone to breaking in half at a moment's notice.
"I missed you last night," she said breathlessly. Swifty pushed her away in favor of his mug.
"I doubt that," he growled. The girl looked shocked, then embarrassed, and disappeared into the shadows near the right wall. A few minutes later I saw her being fondled by some other card player and turned back to Swifty to block the sight. He didn't seem to have noticed - or at least he didn't show it.
"You're welcome to go right up to sleep," he said to me. "Of course, you can stay down here and get yourself into some trouble, if you're willing."
I hesitated, and he laughed. "Ok, I see your answer. Stay down for a bit. Go ahead and wander, but…" He frowned, casting a glance around the room. "You may want to stick with me." I nodded, that had been my plan. I had horrible visions of straying off and getting beaten up, or who knows what. At least Swifty seemed to command some sort of respect. I briefly wondered why - he wasn't very old, and hell, he worked as a newsboy most of the time. But I wasn't about to go digging in whatever mystery surrounded him. I could never get used to Swifty, unpredictable and ruthless as he was. I was constantly on my guard around him.
Swifty sat me down hard, then pulled a chair for himself and threw a few quarters on the table.
"Deal us in."
Someone slid me two cards and I groaned before I even checked their value.
"You have no idea, I'm horrible at Blackj-"
Swifty had flipped my other card over. An ace and a king.
"Blackjack," he said with a cheery smile, and collected the money on the table. He dropped half of it into my hands. I didn't press for the other half, instead I pocketed the change and stood up.
"So soon? Hows 'bout one more hand?" the dealer asked around his cigar. I shook my head.
"I'll never trust whatever luck I have," I told him and then turned to Swifty. "I really am tired. Thanks for taking me in, at least."
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure," he said. "Here, Jacklyn will show you up." He motioned to a girl that had been hovering near the table. "Find a bed for him, Jackie."
"What, mine?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. Swifty paused and looked to me. I shook my head, eyes down and cheeks burning.
"Nope," he answered with another small smile. "But something nice."
"Nice?" She scoffed. Swifty flipped her a coin, which she caught and hid faster than the eye could follow. "I have just the place," she told me. Swifty grinned, slapped me on the back, and turned back to the game.
Jacklyn led me through the smoke to a door in the corner. She has barely closed it when I heard a roar and the smash of a table. Jacklyn didn't even blink.
"Not again," she sighed.
I followed her up a narrow staircase, the close pressing walls and stench of confinement making me feel nauseous. At last we reached a dim and equally narrow hallway, and she pushed open a door a few feet down and to the right. She held it open and entered after me, then lit a lamp at the opposite end. She turned around and I took a step back in surprise. What a different that one feeble light could create. I saw a weary woman looking back at me, not a sultry girl. Her green eyes were tired, not bright. Her black hair was worn and frizzy, not smooth.
She caught me staring and raised an eyebrow once again. My blush deepened and I cast my eyes down.
"Thanks," I said.
"Of course," she answered automatically, but didn't move her gaze. I could feel it burning into my forehead.
Suddenly she recrossed the room and tilted my chin up with the cold tips of her fingers.
"Why so shy?" She asked softly. "There's no need to be afraid."
I was too much of a novice with women to know if this was genuine concern or not. I decided to play it safe and assume that she was asking for something. So I didn't answer, only moved away to the bed.
"You should probably get back down now," I mumbled. "Someone must be waiting for you." I kept my eyes down. I didn't want to have to look into her haunting eyes again.
"Well," she said, playing with a lock of her hair. "Maybe you're right. We all have to work to earn our beds, don't we?"
So with a swish of skirts and black hair, she was gone. I remained sitting on the bed, staring at the door for some time. I wondered who she was 'working to earn' her stay with, then shook the thought from my head. It was none of my business.
It seemed like I had just rested my head on the moth-eaten pillow when I heard someone trying to break the door in. I jumped up, immediately on guard - but it was only Swifty.
"UP YET?!" He bellowed. "HURRY UP IF YOU WANT YOUR PAPES!"
I quickly opened the door and almost got a fist in my face. Swifty recovered and smiled briefly.
"Good. Ready to head out?"
"Only if you can show me the way."
"So," he began as we walked down the street. "How was Jackie last night?"
"Hmm?" I met his eyes. "Oh… she was… uhh… nice?"
Swifty seemed to have a sudden coughing problem. "What?! "Nice?" What's that supposed to mean!" We had stopped in the middle of the road now. I shrugged.
"She was nice. I guess."
"You guess? Boy, you're a harsh judge."
And then it dawned on me. "Oh! No. No, no. She just showed me to my room. That's all."
Swifty still refused to start walking again.
"That's all?! Jesus Christ, you sure know how to let a good opportunity slip through your fingers." He moved away and I jogged to catch up. He was in such a good mood… I decided to try my luck with something that had been bothering me. I remembered Jacklyn's eyes.
"She's not an object, you know."
Swifty didn't falter. "Hmm?"
"Those girls. You treat them like… like meat!"
Swifty just shrugged. "In a way, that's what they are," he said somberly. "Meat, I mean."
"But… they're people!"
He shook his head. "To be a person, you have to have a soul," he said, and left it at that. I couldn't help but think to myself that if what he said was true, Swifty was farther from being a real person than all those girls combined.
"Don't worry about It," he said after a few moments. "They get what comes to them. What they deserve." A chill ran down my spine and I knew that it wasn't from the cold outside. The rest of the walk was in silence.
"Just in time," Swifty said, following me to the end of the line at the Distribution Office. "Tell Pie I'll meet up with him at twelve noon, like yesterday."
I nodded obediently and joined Snipeshooter to wait for my papers.
"Where were you last night?" He asked immediately after Swifty was gone from sight. I wasn't the only one made uneasy by that boy.
"No money," I said with a shrug. "Had to find a different place to stay."
"Where? When? With who? Why, again?"
I had just settled on ignoring him when Pie came to meet me. He was carrying a large stack of papers, and he promptly gave a chunk of them to me.
"You can come back tonight," he told me as I stepped out of line and rifled through a paper. "I talked to Jack and everyone. We're going to have a final discussion about the leadership tonight."
I looked up from the papers. "Good." Then, "Swifty said for you to meet him at noon 'like yesterday.'"
"Ok," Pie nodded, then looked a little surprised. "So, is that where you were last night? With Swifty?"
"Yup. Strange, I know, he offered - he didn't want to pay Jack, and the only money I had was for this morning's papers. Oh yeah, let me pay you for these…" I started digging around in my pockets, but Pie just brushed me off absentmindedly. He had all of the sudden become very distracted.
"Don't worry about it," he murmured. We started to walk away. No more was said on the matter.
Selling was no easy task that day. Besides it being a freezing, windy day, the headline was only mediocre and I found it hard to keep concentrated on selling when truly my mind was going over and over the events that had shaped the previous night, and those that could unroll on the one approaching. The fact that Pie, whom I sold with until around quarter to twelve, looked constantly troubled, did nothing to ease my worry. When it came time to head home I ended up selling the bulk of my papers back and walked home with very little change in my pockets. It had been a bad day, and the coming night was not looking anymore promising.
-
Author's Note: How's that for promptness? Woo. Man, I love evil Swifty so much. If you enjoy him as well - and, yes this is a plug - go read "The Rake" which is one of the stories in the "One Night Stand" collection of mine. You'll like it.
THANK YOU REVIEWERS!
Shade: Good, I'm glad.
Gothitica: I'm a big fan of Gangs (Henry Thomas and Daniel Day-Lewis! -worships-) and Gladiator too. But it's 'woo' not 'woot.' Tsk tsk. We will not have a 't' in my presence!
Omni: You are the most sense-makingish person I've ever met in my whole life. Savvy?
Shortie: Loves! -doesn't know what else to say-
Glim: Yay AoN! I want two chapters before Christmas break, chop chop! Yes, perhaps the characterizations are a bit different than what you usually see. That's good though. I do like my Swifty the Rake. -beams-
Wings: Why thank you! Yes, the whole thing really is quite amusing. The plot is a little mockingly melodramatic, but the actual story is sort of serious. I guess I'm cool like that. Heh heh. Weird, really.
Tabs: You sick child… kids these days, all they think about is sex. Necrophilia. Hah. No, darling, that was not involved. -grin- And HEY don't beat up on evil Swifty. He's my favorite. Next to Pie.
Amy: I'm really REALLY hoping that your review had one major typo. For 'socks.' Although it WOULD be extremely amusing to see someone with multiple… ah… genitalia?
ershey: Yes, you make perfect sense. Truly. And thanks, I try.
Thistle: Jack isn't really liked by me, that's the problem! -cackles- He's been such a bastard in all my recent fics. Whoops! Yes, poor Jack.
Falco: I do love your use of spacing. Keep it up, team! I'll explain 'the rake thing' later. Don't forget to water that brownie mix down!
Oh reviewers, how I worship you, please, please, please review and grace me with your presence once more. -bow-