Hey again, guys! Welcome to the fourth chapter. Sorry I took longer in updating then I usually do! If I get two more reviews, this story will be my most reviewed story ever! I'm excited, hehe!
Chelci – Thanks for your review! If you think Sugar is mean now.. just wait! I'm so glad you like my story! The really weird thing is Selece says something very similar to your "Sweet mother of Jesus!" in this chapter. And I wrote it before I saw your review! Haha, anyways, thanks for the review!
Kaylee – Pretty soon you're going to start saying "uhm" every other word! Hehe, just kidding. Oh and don't worry, no one does walk in on them! Thanks for the review!
Broadway – Glad you liked the chapter. Spot was being really nice but.. hmm, I wonder how long it will last? Hehe, thanks for the review.
Kate – Yeah, that was a little weird. Sorry! I'm glad you liked it, though. Thanks for the review!
And now.. on with the story! Enjoy!
New York City
Brooklyn
October 10th
1900
Selece slowly opened her eyes. The sunlight beamed in through the window making her jerk back with a wince as it went into her eyes. That's when she heard a 'plop' as something hit the water she was sitting in. Her eyes went wide and she had to bite down her tongue to keep from screaming. She was still in the bathtub! And because of her sudden movement, Spot's head was now under water! He must have been leaning on her shoulder!
"Sweet Mother of God," she whispered through clenched teeth. The only relief was that Spot was dead asleep. Slowly the girl pulled herself from the tub and wrapped the nearest towel around her. She crept around the bathroom, gathering up her pajamas. The other newsies would be up soon. She had to get changed or else she knew Sugar would murder her. "Oh, shit," seems she wasn't so shy when she was by herself. Selece had just realized she had left Spot's head in the water. She dashed over, pulling the boys head up by his hair. "I didn't kill him, did I?" she questioned herself, putting her ear to his mouth to catch his breathing. "Phew," nope. She didn't. With that worry resolved, the girl dashed into the stall. Just in time, too.
"Get up, ya lousy bums!" came the thunderous voice of Daggert, the man who watched after the newsies. As Selece quickly got dressed into pajamas (grumbling about how pruny she was) she could hear the newsies yelping every time Daggert hit them. "Time ta sell some papes! You wanna sleep all day? Den get outta 'ere, ya bums!"
Selece darted from the stall and dashed to Spot. She gave him a couple harsh kicks in the side before racing to the bedroom. The girl skidded into the room, hair soaking wet and looking like a human prune. At the surprised glances of the fellow newsies, the girl shrugged, "Uhm, I was going to the bathroom. Sorry," Selece winced as the room erupted into laughter and went to get her street clothes.
Spot woke up, groggy as usual. He could vaguely remember someone kicking him and seeing Selece run out. He'd kill whoever kicked him until he realized it was probably Selece. That girl. She had no idea what his reputation was.
He took notice that his hair was wet. A lecherous grin slid across his face as he thought of all the ways it could have gotten wet. Then quickly, he shook it off. She didn't affect him that way. She was more of a kid then a womyn, right? Right?
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The Brooklyn newsies scurried around the streets, scrounging around for breakfast. They didn't get nuns like Manhattan. The church was too scared for the nuns' lives to send them to Brooklyn. That made Brooklyn pretty damn proud. They were so tough, even God couldn't touch them.
Spot walked slowly, looking around for strawberries and cream.. strawberries and cream. He wanted to talk to her. After remembering their conversation that night, Spot had an idea.
"Hey, Spot, where we sellin' today?" came Sugar's voice as she stepped up behind him. She draped an arm around him, watching the rest of the newsies with a smirk.
"Suga, I dun think I'mma gonna sell today," Spot said, still searching.
"Why?"
"Dun wanna."
"But, Sp-ot," Sugar began but the look in his eyes made her stop. She may be friends with him but he was still pretty scary. "Oh, all right. I'll go sell with Snorks."
Sugar brushed past him, catching up to Snorks. Spot watched the two of them, wondering how they could have become such good friends after that incident with the 'gift'. But somehow they did.
There she was! Spot perked up, catching sight of those wavy strands of silk. He raced over to Selece but then remembering just who he was, slowed down and took his dandy old time. He greeted the girl with a soft punch to her shoulder. "Heyas, Uhm."
"Spot!" Selece exclaimed, eyes widening.
He loved the way she had stopped using mister and sir with his name.
"What are you doing? I thought you sell with Sugar," Selece began, searching around for the aforementioned womyn. She shifted her small stack of papes uneasily.
"Yeah, usually do but today I deeeeecided to do it wit' you," Spot said, grinning. He stretched his words to let her know just how privileged she was.
"Oh, uhm, I usually sell by myself."
"Damnit, yer selling wit' me!" he shouted, grabbing her arm. He then stormed down the streets, shoving past random people. Spot ignored their shouts of anger but Selece, who was being dragged, tried her hardest to say sorry to every single one.
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"Extry extry! Plague comin' to city!"
"Extra extra! October: Prime Time for colds!"
Spot watched the interested buyers turn away. He looked over at Selece, jaw hanging open. His eyes were nearly bulging out of his head as he slowly and manically stomped over to her.
"What are you DOING?!" he screamed into her ear making the girl jump.
"Uhm, selling my papes?" Selece said, turning the statement into a question. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer since he seemed mad and all.
"You lost da costumers!" he whacked her over the head. "You can go ahead and tell da true headlines but not right afta I improve it!"
"Oh, I did that? So sorry!" Selece hurriedly said. Spot narrowed his eyes, unsure of whether or not she was being sarcastic.
"Do you know who I am?" Spot growled. He dropped his papes to the ground, crossing his arms. He had a feeling this was going to be a hilarious answer.
"You're, you're, uhm, Spot Conlon, uhm, right?"
He nodded.
"Leader of the Brooklyn newsies and co-leader of the Strike of 1899."
"Good, yer learning. So den why do you act so.. so.. so," Spot struggled to find the word.
"Disrespectful?"
"YEAH!"
"Oh. I never knew I was."
"Doh," Spot smacked his head with the palm of his hand. "Do you got no brains?"
"Yeah, and more then just halfa one."
Spot froze, hearing his own words coming from her mouth. He raised an eyebrow.
"I always watched the Brooklyn boys swim," Selece admitted, her face turning crimson. "I was there when you were talking to Jack Kelley of the Manhattan newsies."
"Yer a stalker!" Spot gasped dramatically.
"No! No! I swear! I just always thought it would be fun to be a newsie!"
"So, you stalked me?!"
"Did I say 'I always watched you swim'? How do you know I wasn't stalking.. oh, say Snorks."
"Yer still a stalker den!"
"Doh," Selece repeated Spot's previous movement, smacking her own forehead.
"Why?" Spot hissed out, leaning in close.
"I just, I just always wanted to be a newsie. It seemed really fun."
"Uh huh, uh huh," Spot nodded.
"So, I'd watch them all the time then play 'Make-Believe' as if I really was one."
"Yer strange."
"At least I'm not full of myself."
"What?"
"Nothing!"
The two stood there silently. Would-be customers passed by, staring at them strangely. They were unsure if the newsies would sell them the papers or not.
"Hey, you know what?"
"What?"
"You've been wearin' dat outfit since you foist came. Let's go get some new ones."
"Uhm, where?" Selece stared at him like he was a moron. And perhaps he was. But of course, she'd never say that aloud for although he was acting nice now, you don't get his reputation by just being nice.
"Yer place."
Her blood ran cold as she backed away from him. "Spot, you aren't serious, are you? I mean, yeah my clothes are there but.." she trailed off, looking away.
"But what? My mudda always told me. She'd say, 'Spot, you must face down the things that intimidate you or you'll never get past them.' She was a mighty smart womyn. So, you hafta go back to yer place."
"How am I facing things down?"
"Yer getting ova it!" He grabbed her arm, ready to drag her again.
"No, I'm not!" she yanked her arm out of his grasp. "But I do need the clothes." And with that final statement, the girl began to move in the direction of the apartment she and her mother had shared for years.
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"Deep breaths, deep breaths," Selece murmured, over and over as she slowly walked up the steps. Spot walked after her, every once and awhile banging into her as she paused to think her actions over.
"Will you keep walkin' and stop talkin' to youself?!" he grumbled, tapping his foot as she stood frozen on the second to the top stair.
"I don't think I can do this. It was so recent. What if.. what if she's still there?" Selece suddenly spoke, this time not to herself. She whirled on her heels and tried to shove her way past Spot who had been standing on the step below her.
"You gotta get ova it, otherwise yer gonna have it hauntin' ya. Dat's not good fer a newsie. Newsies just gotta live for da day," Spot whispered, no tint of anger left in his voice. He then wrapped his arms around the thin form of the girl and flung her over his shoulder. The male then walked up the two remaining steps and paused at the landing. "Left or right?"
"Right," mumbled Selece. "I can walk on my own."
"I know ya can. But I wanna get dere before 1987," Spot retorted. Selece sighed then relaxed in his grip. She closed her eyes, her head lying on his back. "Room 57, right?" Spot questioned as he turned the knob to the aforementioned room. He felt her head move in a nod and grinned.
Spot stepped into the dark room. The door had been unlocked like he had expected but he hadn't expected any of the possessions of Selece and her mother to still be there. He shrugged then shoved the girl from his back and closed the door so no one would see them and think they were stealing things. Or to have the landlord see Selece was back and demand rent or some crazy thing like that.
THUD. Selece hit the ground like a rock
"Ow!"
"Oh, whoops. Go get da clothes," Spot said in reply to her yell of pain. Selece stood up, staring wide-eyed into the darkness. "Well?"
"I.. I.. I can't go," she began, backing up.
Spot grumbled, stopping her. "Just go before dis gets old."
Selece gulped but his mother's words were taking their effect on her. Slowly, the girl stepped through the darkness. She felt around the room expecting at any moment to feel the cold body of her mother.
"Got no lights in 'ere?"
"No, the electrical bill was due yesterday," Selece murmured. She nearly broke down right then and there. "That was why she did it. She never worked on certain days but we needed, we needed to pay the bill so, so she worked that day."
Spot remained silent. He wasn't used to comforting people. All the other newsies he was with never said anything about their pasts. He was sure they were all as sad as Selece. But none had the courage like Selece to reopen wounds.
Selece found her way to the dresser she and her mother shared. She counted to the third drawer and then pulled it open. Slowly, the girl stroked the clothes her mother always wore. They were skimpy and sometimes embarrassing but they were her mothers. Selece pulled a few items out, taking a long deep breath while she held them to her mouth. They still smelled of the cheap perfume her mother had worked so hard to buy.
She then moved to the second drawer and pulled that one open. Her clothes. The clothes her mother had bought her after a few wild nights. She pulled some out, not knowing which ones for the blinds were also closed.
"I guess I can try to change in the dark," she murmured, heading to the small closet. Even though it was pitch black in the room, she still felt a little nervous about changing in front of Spot. She turned the knob, opening the closet that usually held nothing in it. Whenever she was little, Selece would sometimes hide in there while her mother was busy.
Spot heard a scream and he dashed to where he was certain Selece was.
"G.. get it off me!" Selece screamed, her voice choking with tears.
Spot's eyes went wide as he realized Selece was down on the ground. His thoughts jumped around. Was it the man who had killed her mother? He let out a yell then shot his arm out to grab whoever was attacking her.
His hand clutched down on a cold, bare shoulder. A dead shoulder.
"Yer.. yer.." he stuttered, his hand still clasping the shoulder.
"My mother," whispered Selece. Spot knew she was sobbing though making no sounds. He pulled the dead body off of her, trying to find her as she got up in the darkness.
"I.. I'm sorry, Selece. I had no idea," he began. Although he had let go of the womyn, the coldness was still on his hand. He reached for Selece but she ran from his grasp.
"I can't stay here anymore!" she screamed, flinging open the door. She dashed down the stairs like lightning and Spot quickly chased after her.
But before he got to the second step, Spot stopped at the sound of laughter. Familiar laughter. He turned slowly around to see Sugar standing at the door of Selece's apartment. His anger boiled as he stormed for the girl.
"Did you put that body in the closet?!"
"No, I'm not that sick," Sugar replied, staring innocently at Spot. She then glanced into the room, the light of the hall now illuminating it. "Only a whore would choose to die naked."
Spot growled and before he knew what he was doing punched Sugar right in the face.
Where will Selece go?!
Will Spot ever realize he could have just opened the blinds?!
Will Sugar get a black eye?!
Find out next time in..
THE..
STORY..
OF..
UHM!!!!!!!
