Keeping it Safe
Chapter Four: Welcome to the Madhouse
"You have to clean up that glass out there… the stuff from the mirror," I told Pie, who sat comfortably in Kloppman's old chair. "It's going to hurt someone."
"Yeah, I'll sweep it out later. But that's not why you're here. Last night."
"Last night," I repeated. "Something happened, I could hear it - unless I was dreaming." I studied his face closely.
"You weren't dreaming, no. I came in late last night-"
"Yeah, I know." I remembered Jacklyn. "Actually, about that-"
"No, never mind that. Anyway, it was my fault. I wasn't really on my guard. Someone - Bumlets - jumped me at the door."
"If Bumlets jumped you, then why is he worn down and you're hear without a scratch?" I frowned at Pie, then sat back. "Oh. Swifty."
"Yeah, Swifty."
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I could hear the steady ticking from Kloppman's old wall clock and resisted the sudden urge to get up and smash it to bits. Pie shifted in his chair and began to write something down. How could Swifty set him up and save his skin in the same night? Nothing made sense anymore.
"Tell me about her," I said finally. "Your mystery girl."
"What?" Pie looked up, laughing an embarrassing laugh. "Mystery girl? What are you talking about?"
"Your Jacklyn," I persisted. "How is she? Come on, now!" I slid a smile onto my face and hoped my eyes didn't look too worried. A playful punch to the arm and suggestively raised eyebrows on my part got him talking.
"She's perfect," he said seriously. "I mean it."
"You see her a lot?"
"Yeah. Now go away."
"What?! No way! Keep going. What's she look like?" Maybe I was wrong. My assumptions, my worries, suspicions, everything - Jacklyn was a fairly common name, right?
"Jacklyn? Aw, gee… she's… well, she's got this black hair, long and straight. Green eyes. Slight thing, really, almost like I could break her in half."
I laughed good naturedly, remembering when I had thought the same thing. My head started to hurt. Pie had a dreamy look on his face, and I struggled with the thought that I might be the one to take that away.
"Sounds nice," I said softly. Pie caught my eye.
"You'll find her," he said. "You know. 'Her.'" He smiled. "And I can only hope you'll feel the same way that I do about her."
It was too much, I stood up. "Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, and backed toward the door. "Afternoon edition, I'll see you tonight."
He looked slightly worried, but shrugged. "See ya."
I closed the door and swore violently. Outside it started to snow.
I made a lethal mistake that night, forgetting one of winter's trademarks… an early nightfall. I lingered too long at a bar with Jake and refused accompaniment home. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts as I walked so I could hopefully figure everything out by the time I arrived back at the Lodging House. Unfortunately, this mindset was playing right into their hands.
They didn't even have to take the trouble to drag me into some alleyway, it was cold and dark and nobody was out on the streets, not even the much traveled avenue that I was trudging down. Something hard hit the back of my knees and sent me crashing to the cobblestones, and before I could roll over to get up, Bumlets planted his knees on my chest and pinned me down.
I looked up into hate filled Spanish eyes and cringed. From the corner of my eye I saw Snitch watching carefully. He carried a bat.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I think we already discussed that," Bumlets said. "But here's a problem. I haven't gotten what I want. In fact, all I'm gotten is a DAMN," he accented this word with a punch to my face. "BROKEN," another, my jaw. "NOSE!" He raised his hand to strike again but with a surge of strength I didn't know I had I forced myself into a sort of a roll, causing him to topple to the ground. I stood up quickly and wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, it came away decorated with a smear of blood. Bumlets stood as well and Snitch took a step closer. I tried my best to ignore him.
"Why'd you do it, Pie?" Bumlets asked, and my mode switched from 'wary' to 'confused.'
"What? Do what?" I said, speaking so quickly that my words all blended together.
"You refused my offer," Bumlets said. "Sure. But that doesn't give you the right to spill to Swifty!" If it was possible, he seemed to be getting himself even more angry.
"I haven't talked to Swifty!" I said, and it was the truth. "Or Pie! I never mentioned anything!" Snitch and his bat were beginning to make me nervous, and my voice panicked.
Bumlets didn't buy it, and lurched forward. I stumbled back in surprise and was once again taken down by Bumlets, who followed up with a quick succession of punches.
I closed my mouth and gave up protesting, Bumlets had gone mad and there was no way he would listen anymore. Not to something he didn't want to hear.
"Give me this," I heard him order Snitch and a second later there was a terrific crash as he brought the bat down and smashed it inches from my head. The loose end skittered away and hit a trashcan, and I could feel myself shaking visibly.
Bumlets buried his boot in my ribcage and I curled up with a groan.
"Next time, I don't plan on missing," he said, and he and Snitch disappeared. For a few minutes I was alone with my own labored breathing, then the sounds of mindless chatter and laughter drifted my way, and a few people came around the block. They reached me and I was pulled up roughly. I mumbled something incoherent.
"Holy Mary," an amused voice said. "Mother of God." Of course. Swifty, how convenient.
"Lemme go," I grumbled.
"Shit!" Pie-eater's joined Swifty and took one arm so I was slung between the two. I noticed they were looking nice, as well as their smartly dressed female companions.
"I can walk!" I said, and yanked my hands from their grasp. A nearby stoop looked inviting, so I stumbled over and sat on it with my head in my hands. Pie sat silently beside me.
"Who did it?" He asked quietly. I could hear Swifty begin to engage the ladies in conversation once more.
"Can't tell," I said, and my voice was muffled. "If I do I'll have a bat buried in my brain come morning."
Pie sighed. "Jack was at the Lodging House when we left, with Mush too," he said. "So why did Bumlets come after you?"
"Good question."
"You seriously don't know?"
"He thought -- thinks -- that I told you something that I shouldn't have. Well, I should have, but in his view I shouldn't have, and… anyway, I didn't, see. Never got the chance."
Pie let me babble on before he spoke next. "Well? May as well tell me now."
"Nothing big, you must already know. He tried to buy me into betraying you is all. He thinks I tipped off you or Swifty so that his attack lat night wasn't a surprise. But I never talked to Swifty about it, so… wait… how did Swifty know?"
"I see," Pie said, and ignored my last question. Maybe he just didn't hear me, but either way, he fell completely silent. I lifted my head up, but he was just staring out into space, thoughtful.
"Want to meet Jacklyn?" He asked suddenly.
I blinked. "Uh… sure?"
"Great! Come on." We got up and rejoined Swifty.
If Jacklyn -- and it was her -- recognized me, she never showed it. She looked beautiful, but that wasn't what worried me… no, it was the expression of pure awe and love that Pie-eater regarded her with. He had fallen. Hard. I stood next to Swifty and looked her in the eyes as she looked up shyly. Pie placed a gentle arm around her waist and nodded to me.
"Jacklyn, we call this bum Snoddy… Snoddy, Jacklyn," he said with a smile.
I bowed, kissed her hand, and she giggled. Pie was absolutely beaming.
"And this is my girl Liz," Swifty said, and a bored looking brunette gave me a quick -- false -- smile of her own.
"Well kids, have fun," I said, and began to walk away. "I'm going to get me some sleep."
"Sure you want to do that?" Swifty asked. I stopped.
"What?" My head hurt.
"We're gone for the night, man. And the only people in the Lodging House right now are the ones looking to fix you good." He had been slowly approaching me as he spoke and now the sound of his hushed voice was bare inches from my ear. "I don't care how jealous you may be. It makes sense to stay with us." My eyes widened. Is that that he thought? Hell, was that what Pie thought? That I was jealous?! I spun to face him.
"Jealous?!" I sputtered. "Try concerned for a friend! Did you even - does she - he - does he know?!"
Swifty frowned. "Know what?" I wasn't sure if his confusion was genuine or not until he spoke again after studying my face. "Oh. Ohh," he chucked. "That. Nah, he doesn't know. Why should he? The boy's happy, she's happy-"
"Oh, I'm sure she's happy with what you must be paying her."
Swifty laughed again but his eyes had turned cold. "Don't insult me again unless you want a knife in your skull," he said between chuckles. I shivered.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Let it go, Snoddy." He wasn't even pretending to laugh now. "And keep it away from Pie. Has has enough to worry about."
I couldn't talk, my anger had built up so much. But there was nothing I could do. I turned and walked away.
Swifty was laughing.
My night alone in the Lodging House was surprisingly uneventful. I paid Jack a little extra to let me in, cleaned myself up and went to bed, no questions asked. I avoided Bumlets, and he me. No one bothered me, hell, even talked to me. I woke up to the pouring rain. What an omen it would turn out to be.
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Author's Note: Well, that's a short chapter, but I hope you kids enjoyed it anyway. Goodness me, I love evil Swifty so much. Only one more week of school, guys! Keep reading, keep reviewing, thanks! WOO!
Love to reviewers!
Omni: Ohh, we read To Kill A Mockingbird in the beginning of the year, so I feel your essay writing stress. I can definitely see Pie as Atticus, however, so you aren't all that crazy. And… uh… we'll just leave the rest of the review to speak for itself.
BrokenShells: Thank you very much! I'm really glad you like it. 'Brilliant' is a fandamntastic word anyway.
B: Here's a short chapter for you. Hee hee. Snoddy IS lickable though. But not as much as evil Swifty. Yum. Yeah, Pie definitely has the tendency to be a bit creepy…
ershey: Woo! Yeah, I think I need to use Race more in this story. Although, he does/will come into play more later on, promise. Gotta love leader!Pie.
Falco: Nah, it's no gruesome or anything, and I know what it means it just could possibly take awhile to explain. Ah, the dream… Actually, when I was re-reading this story before writing the third chapter (because up until the third chapter it had all been handwritten months before) I came to the dream part and was reading it and had FORGOTTEN that it was a dream and I was panicking because I had no idea what was going on. Then… yeah, I just felt really stupid. Sigh.
Thistle: I WAS on a good updating spree, then I had to sit down and do some actual writing (during geometry class, no less). Oh well, here's another chapter anyway, but no Jack. I like bastard Jack too! He's so much fun to harass. You have many questions, none of which I will answer because that would ruin it all. But I'm glad you guys like Race. I do too.
Shade: Hmm, you can borrow him for a night or two. But really, what everything comes down to this is: the Turk, or evil Swifty? Nah, I wouldn't make you choose (because I couldn't either). Thanks!