Keeping it Safe
Chapter Three: Promises Kept
Either I was late, or they were all early. In any way, everyone was seated around a common area when I came into the bunkroom. Nothing official seemed to have started, but I knew they weren't waiting for me… so what was the hold up? A fast glance around the room and to Pie and his quickly darting eyes told me all I needed to know - Swifty wasn't present. I felt a twinge of doubt in the pit of my own stomach. I knew Pie needed Swifty to intimidate those that may oppose him. Any level headed, clear minded soul could see that Pie was the best choice, but there were a fair number of self centered minds that would rather relocate than see someone other than themselves - a peer - in charge of their living. And with about half a older dozen boys of the same age still hanging around the Lodging House, things promised to get messy.
I could see now that Pie was trying to stall the rest of them without saying why. So far he seemed like he had been successful, though Jack was beginning to become antsy.
I nodded a greeting to those assembled and settled myself on the floor beside Specs, who had his head bent in discussion with Dutchy. What's new? I noticed then that even the youngest boys were in the room and awake, though sitting more to the back.
"What do you think?" I whispered to Jake, behind me again.
"Why are you whispering?" He asked in return. I paused.
"Sorry. But I'm nervous."
He shrugged. "Not me. Someone will get it, of course. I'm sure once they're settled in we'll all be fine."
I wished I could share his indifference, but it wasn't so. I was at the point now where I thought that if Pie didn't win, I may not be able to stay.
"I think Pie-eater would be the best choice," I told him casually.
"Yeah, me too."
And then Swifty entered. He took a seat next to Pie, where the two immediately began a rapidly paced conversation. A moment later Swifty got up and disappeared again. For some reason I had a feeling it was to cover the door.
"Hey, didn't we agree to do this thing tonight?" Mush's voice cut through and silenced the side discussions and murmurs. He was glaring at Pie, who shrugged.
"Well, yeah. I was just waiting up for all of you."
"Let's get started, then." Jack stood up. "Everyone interested in being landlord will present their case." It was plain that this speech had been practiced. Jack wasn't a big talker. "And we'll talk it out and vote for the right one." He sure seemed civil that night. I wondered if Pie had said anything to him beforehand.
"Present their case?" Bumlets' scornful voice immediately made itself known. "Jack, we all know each other here, maybe know each other too well. Nothing anyone says is going to change a vote."
Jack faltered, then shrugged. "Ok, then. Who's counting the votes?"
"How about Snoddy?" Mush suggested. Damn! I just shrugged, inclined my head.
"Sure," I agreed.
"Ok, then," Jack nodded as well. His gaze lingered on mine.
Blink had torn paper squares from a stray newspaper, and promptly passed them around. Surprisingly, it was quiet Specs who rose a complaint.
"What about the boys?"
Blink turned to face him. "What?"
"The boys. The kids, the little ones. Why are they here, you didn't give them any slips."
Blink now spun to Jack, at a loss for words. Jack looked puzzled as well.
"Give them some paper, Blink," Pie said. "They live here too."
"Easy for you to agree," Bumlets scowled. Of course. While Pie was popular with the smaller boys, Bumlets was in more of a position of fear. He made them uneasy, and had never done anything to dispel these feelings. Now it would come back and slap him in the face.
"Why should they get a whole vote?" He continued. "They don't even understand what's going on!"
"Don't be stupid, of course they do." Pie met his eyes. I heard a creak from the stairs. "Besides, who's going to be in this place longer, us or them?"
"Who knows." Bumlets' raised an eyebrow, a gesture that suggested indifference and challenge, but I knew he was scared now. "It's a tough world. Besides, who knows better, older or younger-"
"-hard to tell sometimes," Race muttered from his corner.
"-who has more experience? They don't know what they're doing, what the consequences will be. They couldn't pick a suitable leader from a pigeon."
"Well, then it's a good thing you don't have feathers, Bumlets." Pie's eyes narrowed. "You forget yourself. You forget that you were in their position once, not exactly, but yes, you were that age. And you weren't stupid."
I hated to interrupt Pie, but - "What do they think?" I asked quietly.
"Good question," he sighed, and heads craned to face the trembling group in the back. A nervous looking Snipeshooter stepped out.
"We want to vote," he said simply.
"Jesus, let them vote," Jack said, the first time he had spoken since the whole thing had started.
"Of course. Half of them still worship him," Jake snickered into my ear.
Ah, right. The strike. Damn him!
Bumlets retreated, defeated but not willing to say so. Kid Blink reluctantly stood up again and gave each of the younger boys a piece of newspaper. We waited and took turns using a few chunks of charcoal. All of the smudged pieces were passed to me, and I started to go downstairs to count them in private. Dutchy accompanied me as a witness, and to help count.
Swifty put a hand out to stop me before I went down, then he soundlessly passed me a square of his own. Dutchy and I proceeded.
We sat behind Kloppman's old desk and counted what we had silently.
"A lot of people voting for Bumlets," Dutchy commented after a few minutes. He sounded slightly surprised. "Same with Jack."
"What about Racetrack?" I hadn't seen any.
"A few. But I didn't think he was really interested anymore."
"The majority is definitely going to Pie," I said, and couldn't keep the relief from my voice. Dutchy smiled.
"Yeah. Whew."
We both finished at roughly the same time and exchanged glances.
"Count 'em up," Dutchy said softly, and pushed over his tallies. I took them wordlessly and struggled with the equations, going over the math three times in my head to make sure that I had it right. I wrote down the sums and stoof.
"Let's go up."
Dutchy didn't press me about the answers. Swifty opened the door before my hand even touched the knob, and a silent bunkroom greeted me. I checked the answers I had written a few more times. I spoke quietly, but I knew every person there could hear the words.
"Pie-eater, you may want to gather your stuff."
A few people applauded, some even cheered, and of course Jack and Bumlets looked angry - Racetrack had an unrecognizable expression on his own face. But Pie only looked more worried, and for a second I wondered if he had understood.
"You're in, Pie," I said. He nodded slightly. Bumlets, who had been fuming quietly on the floor suddenly leapt to his feet and came striding towards me, his face contorted with fury. His fist was raised, and I took an involuntary step backwards.
"I knew this would happen, you dirty, cheating, sonuva-"
Swifty smoothly moved in front of me and grabbed the Hispanic's fist, yanked it back, and buried a knee into his stomach. He let Bumlets slide to the floor a groaning mess, then turned coldly to the rest of the Lodging House's inhabitants.
"I don't see any real point to challenging our new authority," he said calmly. "How 'bout you, Snoddy?"
I shook my head fiercely, knees shaking. "He won, it was fair, I swear. We have to accept it now," I said.
"It was fair," Dutchy echoed.
"I agree, it must be accepted," Pie said clearly. Finally. I smiled weakly at him. "You've all decided where your loyalties lie, there's no use looking back at the voting."
"Loyalties lie," Swifty chuckled quietly from behind me. My head whipped around to face him, but he was busy inspecting his nails.
"I decided where my loyalties lay before the vote even took place," Bumlets spat, eyes burning. He had just gotten up.
"If you don't like it, why are you here?" Swifty asked.
"Good question," Bumlets said. He surveyed the room once, then strode out without looking back. I noticed someone else skitter from the shadows to join him, but I couldn't tell who it was.
"Well, there's one," Pie said calmly. "Anyone else that unhappy?"
Jack exchanged glances with a few others, but no one else moved an inch.
"Good," Pie murmured, looking about him. "I'll occupy Kloppman's old office, then. The boarding fee will be set at what it used to be, signing in is required. My rule will be Kloppman's. Think of me and treat me as you would him. We'll adjust because we have to." Pie stood, his speech apparently over. He then gathered up his clothes and other small items and left without another word.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm wiped out," Specs said, if only to break the awkward silence that had taken hold.
"I guess I'll hit the sack too," Racetrack said. Murmurs of agreement were heard. I put the votes in a box near my own bunk and settled in, ready to drift off to a nice, peaceful, painless sleep when-
Bang!
I jumped up, startled, and found myself on the street in front of the Lodging House before I had even registered what had happened.
There were others, many others, down there as well. I joined a circle centered around something - no, someone. I peeked through the crowd and then gasped in spite of myself… in horror. Bumlets lay in a misshapen mass on the cobblestones, multiple holes in his stomach and legs, a gunshot wound to his head. Blood was pooling in the cracks between the stones and trickling down to my feet. I took a few steps forward, my feet making sick splashing sounds in the mess.
The culprit, who had been hidden before by those gathered now faced me head on. Pie-eater stood blood flecked and gun in hand, at Bumlets' side. A crimson soaked knife was at his feet. I felt like throwing up, but could barely breathe. No one spoke, and I could find only one intelligible word come to my mind. I directed it towards Pie, whose head was down.
"Why?"
Pie looked up and I took a step back as his eyes bored in to mine.
"It was necessary," he said in a detached voice.
"What?!"
"He was an enemy. He posed a threat. Now he can do no harm."
"Well I'll say!" I was almost hysterical now. "But - wait - who… how - who gave you the gun? The knife? Where did you get them?"
He nodded in the opposite directions, to Bumlets' feet, and I looked over to face Swifty, smiling one of his smug smiles. I must have had an accusing look, for he shrugged.
"Hey, he asked," he said, as if that explained everything. "You think his corruption is my fault?" And he laughed. Off in the distance I heard a voice yelling.
"Aw, great - it's the bulls! Let's go, wake up!" Racetrack yelled, then sprinted away into the darkness. I stood still, now alone but confused. Why would the bulls be yelling about getting up to sell?
"Let's GO! I know how long you boys take in the washroom, we should be getting up two hours before usual! Hey, Snoddy, are you dead?"
I blinked. "Pie?"
"Uh… yeah. Yoi ok?" He peered up but I immediately recoiled away.
"Just fine," I said weakly. "Uhm. Do we know where Bumlets is?"
"Oh, him, right. He crawled back in here late last night. I should probably wake the scum up." And then he was off. That was that.
I still felt uneasy. I dropped to the floor and almost killed myself on my blankets - they had apparently fallen during the night. That could explain why I couldn't feel my feet or fingers. I replaced them in a heap, ran a hand through my hair, and made my way to the washroom.
I took Racetrack's razor blade and was soon sucked into the usual dance of a morning routine; grab a towel here, dodge a rushing boy and a jet of water there. Commands were shouted across the room in a way that almost resembled a rhythm, and some truly fancy footwork was performed by those crazy enough to get in one another's way.
We poured out onto the street like a flood and I'll readily admit that it was weird not to see Pie amongst the laughing, jeering boys assembled. I looked back one and saw him standing in the doorway, watching over us all with was seemed like a fond, fatherly expression. Like we were his children - which, in a way, I guess we now were.
Later that evening I sat with Pie as he went over some papers he had found in Kloppman - no, his now - office.
"So, how did Swifty help anyway?" I asked. We had been talking about the whole voting ordeal and other people in general.
"Connections," Pie said, then laughed. He was in a good mood since his first day had passed so smoothly. "Hah. Nah, Swifty's just a good person to have on your side, you know?" I knew. "Sure, he's got connections for whatever you may end up needing, but he's also good at that intimidation factor. Not afraid to pick a fight or piss someone off. You can tell."
"Yeah."
"I don't pay him or anything, he thought I should be landlord, and therefore helped… stubborn bastard. But I think a lot of it is because he hates Jack so much. Sometime I'd like to see them meet each other, alone, in a dark alley."
"Ha! Don't embarrass Jack, though. I think we both know he'd just run."
"You're probably right. Anyway, Swifty's keeping an eye on him and his gang for a little longer… if only to make sure they aren't scheming anything. You know."
"I do." A pause. "But what else? You were always hooking up or talking about something. Are you two going steady?"
Pie cracked a grin. "Nah. Mainly it was just us discussing what Jack and company were up to, that kind of stuff. You know, he tried to corner me and get me to leave/"
"Who? Jack?"
"The very one. Seal this for me? Anyway, Swifty had barely showed his face when they fled."
I kept pressing. "There must be more."
Pie blushed and bent his head over his work. "Go to bed, pest."
"Ohh, there's more! Tell me about her -- I mean, it." I was enjoying myself immensely.
"Well… Swifty introduced us, of course." He hesitated. "She's beautiful… and actually has some wit about her too. Jackie -- I mean -- Jacklyn."
I swear my heart stopped for a few seconds.
"Sounds familiar," I finally choked out. Pie didn't notice.
"She's great," he said. "Listened to me and even answers back." He seemed to be off in his own world. "Of course, we only met a few weeks ago, but…"
"Where does she live?" I asked. Didn't he know?
"Lower East Side, I think. Makes dresses, and you can tell, too. Such lovely, deft hands…"
Pie kept talking but all I could hear was Jacklyn's voice in my head, almost mockingly now, "We all have to work to earn our beds."
I felt sick. What game was Swifty playing? And hell, what was Jacklyn doing? I stood up abruptly and almost knocked my chair down in my haste to get away before I let slip anything I'd regret.
"Where is Swifty?" I asked as casually as possible.
"Eh, at that hideout of his, I think. You ok?"
"Fine, just tired," I said. "Uhm… see you in the morning, then?"
"Night."
I lay awake for what seemed like hours, afraid to sleep lest I was visited by mire dreams, thought the thoughts now occupying my head were even worse. I fancied I could see the sun rising when I finally drifted off into a heavy, dreamless sleep.
Pie's way too cheery voice cut and butchered my sleep again and I was halfway through the process of rolling out of my bed when I remembered that I was sleeping on a top bunk. I recovered in time to swing safely down and jam a foot in Snipeshooter's stomach. I apologized profusely and stumbled into the washroom, my thoughts still groggy. Then I splashed water on my face and it all came back to me, everything that Pie and I had discussed the previous night. I felt a feeling of guiltiness that had no reason to be mine wash over me, and decided to confront Pie about it that night.
Once again my selling suffered due to my distractions. I was convinced that I had to talk to Pie, but I had no idea what I would say. Around noon Bumlets casually approached the corner I had staked out and waited by my side until there was a dull moment.
"How goes it?" He asked.
"Alright," I said. "I'm about half done. Nice day."
"Yeah," he agreed, and continued to stand in silence. I sold a few more papers and then turned back.
"What do you want?" I asked, trying not to sound annoyed. Apparently he had been waiting for this.
"A lot of things," he admitted. "The Lodging House… Pie out… and you."
This didn't look good.
"Why me?" I asked cautiously.
"Because. You know Pie better than I do-"
"You can't ask me to betray him."
"Who says I was?" He paused. "Ok, well, I guess I am."
I shook my head and turned away, feeling quite righteous. "I won't do it."
Now it was Bumlets' turn to look annoyed.
"Come on, now. You know I'd be better to run the House. I'll give you a discount for board… and more. I do reward my friends."
"And Pie is my friend," I reminded him.
"Pie guards himself so closely… it would take a friend to… get through to him." Bumlets swiped a hand past my vision as he talked and I caught the flash of coin and turned my eyes hungrily upon it. He pocketed the money and studied me closely. "Who says crime doesn't pay?" He said softly.
"Boy - excuse me, boy?"
A haughty voice from behind snapped me back to reality. I sold another paper and stayed with my back towards Bumlets - and temptation. A few moments later I heard him leave and breathed a sigh of relief.
Great. This gave me another thing to talk to Pie about, and I had a feeling that Bumlets would be keeping a close watch on me from now on.
Pie wasn't around when I got back to the Lodging House, but Swifty was, playing cards with a smug smile. I went to him immediately.
"Where's Pie? I really need to talk to him."
He shrugged and met my eyes over his cards. "How should I know?"
"Who else would know?" I ignored the glares from the game's other participants.
"He's on a date," Racetrack said. "Swifty's in charge, he's collecting board."
"Yeah, pay up." Swifty chuckled and held out a hand. My eyes narrowed by I dropped my dues into his waiting palm. His smile widened and he turned back to the game with a wink in my direction. My stomach churned… I already knew the answer, but asked anyway.
"Who's he seeing?"
No one said anything. I turned away to walk to my bunk and heard clinking sounds as my money joined Swifty's bet.
I was half asleep by the time pie returned, conscious enough to hear the scuffle downstairs but unable to control enough of my limbs to move out of bed. I knew nothing until the next morning, when Pie woke me up, himself still cheery among many weary faces. He said that if I came back at lunch he'd explain.
The only noise to accompany our usually rowdy start to the day was Bumlets' yell as Jake set his broken nose back in place. Without realizing it, we had all become doubly cautious. I kicked myself for believing that everything would have died down once Pie took his position, and kept as far away from Bumlets as I possibly could. On the way out of the door I noticed that the right wall's mirror was broken, nearly shattered, its pieces still littering the rough wooden floor. It crunched beneath my feet. And Swifty was nowhere to be seen.
"What are you going to do?"
I looked at my nails. Most of them were almost black with grime. Disgusting. "What, now? Tomorrow? What are you talking about?" I was walking away from the Distribution Offices with Specs and Dutchy, and it was Dutchy who had ventured the question.
"No, I mean… like… well, after you're done being a newsie and all. In a few years."
I sighed. "Years? Maybe for you guys, but I'll be lucky to get away with months. Look at me. I shouldn't be doing this anymore."
"As long as you can sell, you sell," Specs quoted. I remembered Jack saying this, awhile ago. Crutchy had broken his good leg, and had no idea what he would do, depressed about being cooped up in the Lodging House with no work. So Jack had set him up on a street corner with that advice and one hundred papers. Down with two bad legs and looking even more hopeless than usual, Crutchy had sold them all. Later that night he was killed before someone could help him back to the Lodging House.
"I don't think I'll be able to for much longer, I'm scraping by as we speak," I said. "I should be doing something else, something worthwhile, but this… this is all I know."
We walked in silence.
"I always wanted to be a lawyer," Dutchy said wistfully. We laughed at that, at the sheer impossibility of it.
"A doctor," Specs said with a grin. It was my turn… but I had nothing.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know."
I decided to sell alone that day.
"Alright, let's hear it," I said, slamming the Lodging House's office door behind me. Pie and Swifty looked up from their conversation, startled. Swifty raised an eyebrow.
"Shit… forgot you were coming by, Snoddy," Pie flushed. "Hold on a minute, will you?"
"Sure," I said. My feet seemed to be rooted in place.
"Snoddy?" Swifty was still looking at me.
"Yeah?"
"Leave."
"I… uh… right," I said, and left quietly. I sat on the stairs with a sigh and recounted the morning's profit, which was slim. I had sold most of my papers back again. I had to get out of this trap, I was too old.
Swifty came out and made for the door, then stopped, hesitated, and turned back to face me.
"Tonight," he said. "You should come out with us tonight."
I stood. "Who's 'us?'"
"Me, Pie, my girl and… I think he's bringing Jacklyn." He grinned and left before I could even open my mouth.
"Any day now, Snoddy," Pie called from the office.
I had to get out of this trap.
-
Author's Note: Oh thank GOD all of my transcribing is done! I'm not a big fan of reading my own handwriting, and it seems to have been especially bad during July. From here on out everything is completely new and was probably written during my geometry, English, health, and physics classes. The last page or so of this was! Reviewers, I love you, keep doing what you do best and click that friendly little button.
I love you guys "THIS" much!
Falco: No way is that wrong! Woo. -fans self- I'm quite fond of him myself. 'Rake' is a sort of slang term. I'll explain it to you later.
Shade: Wickedness in general IS sexy though! Yum. -makes more soup for sick!shade-
Crunch: Yay! And I love you. And, another 'yay!' I was hoping I wasn't crazy with that take on it (the melodramatic-but-not piece).
ershey: That's the purpose! It's been much fun to write characters so differently. And Mr. Jack here is full of surprises.
Thistle: Thank you! Actually, I think Jack's a good guy in the movie, and I LOVE Christian Bale, but in all my newish I've been writing Jack off as sort of a bastard… and truly, I'm not too sure why. Most people don't write him like that, but I enjoy it.
Raeghann: Glad you like it. -beams- I'm not sure Swifty is as much 'human' as 'monster' here though.
Tabloid: We can't help it, somehow he's so lovable! Ahh! He's manipulating us all!
Omni: That sounds awesome. I can always go for more crazy Omni reviews.
Gothitica: Yes, very happy. -chuckles- Pie says woo! Haha, 'precious,' never thought I'd hear that and 'evil Swifty' in the same sentence! Hee hee. Yeah, poor Snoddy. -pets-
B: They're all a little scary, yes. Not the kind of friend's you'd really want to have. Hope you have more spare time at work to read more. -grin-