"Get in here!" Misery yanked Pistol into her apartment, almost causing the girl to topple over. Pistol snorted at her friend's enthusiasm and straightened her shirt, this time a light blue. Misery pulled Pistol into her cramped living room by her hands and practically flung her onto the small sofa.
"So, how did last night go?" Misery lit a cigarette and exhaled, her eyes searching Pistol's face anxiously. Pistol took a deep breath, opened her mouth to speak, and then felt her face crumple and tears spill from her eyes. Misery stared in shock as her normally tough, short friend broke down.
"Oh Jesus, Pistol what happened?" Pistol took a deep breath and wiped her running nose on the back of her already dirty hand. She couldn't seem to get herself together and so she cried more, letting her eyes swell and her tears leak hot and salty down her cheeks. Finally, after Misery released her from her stout embrace, Pistol's ears echoing with Gaelic endearments, she sniffed and lit a cigarette.
"He...he kissed me. Well, I got him to kiss me. And Misery, I gotta tell ya it was like everything I guess I hoped it would be once we got to that point. But then I got scared and ran away and I haven't been able to face him since." Misery called her a silly, sweet girl in Gaelic and smoothed away the hair that was stuck to Pistol's tear-stained cheeks before answering.
"Were you scared because this is what you've wanted and you finally realized it?" With a miserable look, Pistol nodded and exhaled, dangling her small hands in between her knees, shoulders slumped. It hurt Misery to see her friend so shaken like this. The small girl's normally buoyant attitude and quick wit was dampened horrendously.
"Sweetie, this isn't the end of the world, ya know! Blink is goddamned crazy about you, I don't think you need to worry about him not feeling the same way." Pistol's cheeks flushed before she stubbornly jutted out her lower lip and frowned, face turning mutinous.
"Not when he's all over Hebrew's sister Ruth! And why shouldn't he like her, she wears dresses and is pretty and doesn't swear or spit or probably even smoke. Me'n'Blink, we've been like brother and sister for so long I think that he probably thinks it's weird I like him like I do." Grasping her head in her hands she gave an exasperated growl.
"Pistol, I think you need to talk to Blink about how he feels. Running out on him after you two kiss each other probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, although I understand why you did it completely." Pistol lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. She couldn't damn well figure out what she was so scared of. This was Blink she had feelings for, the same Blink she'd known practically her whole life. He wouldn't laugh at her or ignore her if she went and talked to him, he couldn't because she'd kick his shins off if he tried. Deep down she knew that he wouldn't though.
Squaring her shoulders, she looked at Misery, the petite, small girl rising and lifting Joshua out of his basket by the window and rocking him, twisting her body to and fro. A soft, lilting lullaby escaped her lips as she gently swayed him back to sleep, the baby having awoken due to mild colic.
"Thanks Misery," Pistol said quietly. Misery gave the other girl one of her rare smiles and Pistol sat back on the sofa, closing her eyes and listening to Misery sing. She must have fallen asleep, because when she awoke the sunlight that slanted in through the windows was a dusky gold and the sky outside was the deep golden-blue of early afternoon.
Cracking her eyelids open a tad further she blushed for the second time that day when she saw Race and Misery entangled in an embrace through the doorway that led into the small kitchen. Clamping her lids shut tight, she feigned slumber for another ten or fifteen minutes until she heard pots clanging around and Racetrack singing a boisterous song in Italian, Joshua's giggles echoing in the small apartment.
Standing up and stretching, she sauntered into the kitchen. After taking the day off from selling, she was going to definitely need to hit them up for dinner or else she'd go to bed hungry and wake up a very cranky Pistol in the morning. THAT was nothing anyone ever needed to experience if she could help it. Flopping down at their rickety table, she patted her tummy and gave Misery puppy-dog eyes as the girl sliced up bits of meat and tossed them into a pot that was bubbling on the stovetop.
Misery laughed, her face flushed from the heat in the kitchen, hazel eyes dancing with amusement. Racetrack placed Joshua into another basket that lay on the floor of the kitchen close enough to the stove for heat, but far away enough that they didn't have to worry about him climbing up and burning himself. Joshua wasn't even old enough to walk yet, he was just barely able to lift his head and flop over onto his stomach or back. It wouldn't be long before he was crawling.
There was a banging at the door then, and when Racetrack answered it, a disgruntled looking Spot was standing there, his cane slung over his shoulder; blue eyes narrowed and fixed on Pistol. Pistol was leaning back in her chair; face tired, eyes wide as Spot pointed his cane at her, and growled like a feral dog.
"The next time you take off into Brooklyn, BY YOURSELF, let someone know who can tell Blink that you'll be alright so he's not beating down my door and harassing my newsies for hours on end." A pissed off looking Blink shouldered his way into the apartment after Spot, arms crossed over his broad chest, one blue eye glowering at Pistol. Pistol thumped her chair down onto the kitchen floor, a guilty look flitting onto her face.
Misery shooed Spot into the kitchen and set a plate of a thin soup in front of him, then Pistol, then Race, and finally Blink. Pistol felt guilty all over again when she heard Misery's ladle scrape bottom as the girl emptied the pot into her own dish. Pushing her bowl aside, she waved it away nonchalantly nudging the rim of Misery's dish with her own.
"Here, I'm not hungry." Misery shot her a glare and shoved the plate back, thrusting a spoon into Pistol's face.
"Eat."
"I said I was fine..."
"EAT IT." The only noise in the apartment for approximately ten minutes was the clinking of spoons against already chipped porcelain and slurping. When they all finished, the sound of matches rasping against paper was heard as all of them lit cigarettes, Misery rising to open a window. Racetrack coughed, the sound rattling throughout the kitchen, and Misery watched him with a worried frown.
Pistol darted nervous looks in Blink's direction, only to find him watching her, his face unreadable. Blushing furiously, she finally stopped looking at him as Spot began to ask Racetrack how business at Sheepshead was going. The two chatted, finally easy with each other after the tension of the triangle between Race, Spot and Misery. Pistol looked over to see Misery giving her a sympathetic look, and almost jumped out of her skin when Blink put his hand over hers and stood up.
"Well I should be getting her back, it's getting late and Jack don't like stragglers coming in keeping the youngest kids awake at night." Indeed, the light was growing dim in the kitchen and Misery lit a gas lamp, before hugging Pistol good-bye. Spot apparently was going to stay and talk longer, and Pistol and Blink left the three of them in the kitchen talking.
Neither of them said a word as they walked through the streets of Brooklyn, keeping close to the sidewalk, not straying into the shadows. They were lucky to be street kids and look it, but unlucky to be so young and not in their own territory. Any of Spot's kids wouldn't harm them, but there were plenty of others who might.
"Emotions said her and Wolf were gonna stop by to see ya tomorrow after they were done sellin'. I told them I'd let you know." Pistol nodded absently and lit a cigarette, drawing deep on it, the end glowing like a rose in the darkness. Blink's voice sounded scratchy and she looked over at him, as he took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair. Smiling evilly she made snipping motions with her hand at him.
"Time for another haircut soon, I think." Blink laughed outright, and darted away from her slightly.
"Never again, little girl." They reached the Manhattan Lodging House, not talking again, although not as uncomfortable with each other. Pistol was taken aback to see Ruth, Hebrew's sister sitting outside on the front stoop, her cheeks stained with tears. Blink immediately began asking her what was wrong, and Pistol stomped inside, only to be cornered by Jack.
"Ruth is stayin' here for a week or two, Pistol." Pistol's mouth dropped open, and she gave Jack a look so shocked that he thought she might drop due to heart failure. Opening and closing her mouth a few times, she failed to speak, and shoulders slumping, just turned around silently and started walking up the stairs. Mush, who was coming downstairs, made as if to stop her, and she just elbowed him aside and ran the rest of the way.
Flinging herself onto her bunk, she blinked back the hot tears that threatened to spill, cursing under her breath. The younger girls in the room vacated the premises, and the older ones ignored her. She hated it here sometimes; none of her close girl friends lived in Manhattan anymore. She wished for Misery, or Bourbon, or Emotions.
Angrily, she flung her switchblade into the wall next to her bed, again and again, aiming for a target she had drawn onto the flimsy wood with chalk. Hearing the bed on the other side of her creak, she rolled over only to come face to face with Ruth herself. The willowy girl with the nice figure's eyes were swollen yet cold as she looked Pistol over and apparently finding her lacking, lay on her side so that her back was facing the other girl.
Fuming, Pistol was about to call her on it, when Jack appeared in the doorway, his eyes warning her to behave, yet holding a tinge of pity in them. Giving him the finger with a vicious sneer spread on her thin face, she shot to her feet and made her way to the fire escape. Screw all of 'em, she'd spend the night on the roof if she had to.
Anything would be better than sleeping next to that hoity toity bitch down there. Wrapping her arms around herself, she gazed up at the sky, looking for the patterns that the stars made, remembering when she had learned about them from one of her governess's who had taken a liking to the odd child so long ago. She couldn't understand why her life seemed to suddenly be spiraling out of control. What had she done to make this happen and so fast? Misery would say that it was because she was getting older, and when one got older one faced new challenges every time they got out of bed in the morning.
Well if that was the case, then Pistol would stay IN bed, just to avoid it. Snorting softly she couldn't help but laugh. She'd be tossed out onto her behind so fast her head would spin if she did that. Sighing heavily, she prepared herself for a long night in the cool New York City air. There was not a chance in Hell she was going back inside. Leaning up against the low wall, she began to count stars, eyes squinted slightly. Something was better than nothing if it distracted her. Even if it wasn't much of anything at all.
Shout Outs!!
Smiley Cad -- :::looks at the chapter::: Uhm...there was no more kissing...::looks again:: and nothing got fixed....::tiptoes off to hide:: ;D
Pokey – Yes they did! Now let's see if they do it again...
Blink: Well we damned well better!
NadaZimri -- ::Begins a complicated tap-dance number:: Updaaaate your story....updaaaaate your story....ha-cha cha cha... I'm glad the last chapter didn't suck, this one does, so bad! Hehee...
Kays14 – More evil Ruth!! She is SO not gone, she has a purpose...::laughs manically::
Pistol:: Make a note...no sugar for Misery before bedtime...
Erin Go Bragh – They definitely should get together. If only I was a NICE person and would just let them do that...
My Dog Ate My Penname -- ::dances around with Spitball hanging onto her ankle::
They'll kiss again I promise...::looks around...see's Spot::: Shake your tushie for her!!
Spot: ::shakes tush::
Ahh..destraction...Anywho... ;D I love Pistol too, she's awesome. Don't worry things will look up for her and Blink, eventually.
Jaws – I hate it too, trust me. That's sort of how I'm basing this fic on is my feelings towards two boys who made me feel the way Blink makes Pistol feel. Girly stuff is crap...::stubborn pout::
JamieBell – Thank you, I thought the ending was lame myself. Maybe I'll fix it, or leave it to remind me. Hah yes Pistol is the master of confusion and double standards.. Poor chick. Oh well, hope you liked this chapter!