"Oh my gosh! It's you! Torii! How wonderful!"
Red looked at the young lady with doubt in her eyes. She recognized her as a young woman she had often seen on the streets while selling, frequently wondering if that girl was her stepsister. As she studied the girl, she finally recognized her. Her eyes widened. "Dominique! When'djya get heah?"
Dominique smiled at her, while stepping forward to wrap her arms around the older girl. "We've been living here a good six months. I cannot believe I've found you!"
Red stepped away from her embrace. "Wait…we? Is Henrietta heah?"
Nikki, what Red had always called her, nodded solemnly. "I know she wants to see you, though. Do you want to come with me?"
"Lemme think." She stood for quite a while. Hen's always hated me. But she seems so convincing. Maybe she's nicer. It has been…let's see…almost six years. On the other hand, "…a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:18) But…oh well, I can always run away again if she's like she was…
Red finally spit in her hand. "Alright. I'll come." Nikki, ignoring the proffered hand, rushed forward and squeezed her once again, squealing in delight. Red, in turn, disentangled herself from her sister's clingyness and clapped her hands over her ears, in the process giving herself a wet willy. She quickly shushed her half-sister, furiously scratching her ear. "I gotta go tell the gu…people I'm stayin' wit where I'm goin' so dey won't worry 'bout me." She hesitated telling her about the newsboys. Nikki agreed.
"Sure. I'd love to meet them and thank them for taking care of you. Where are they?" Red inwardly groaned. She really, really didn't want her friends taken in by Nikki's worldly charms.
"Uh, jist in heah. I'll jist pop in an' get right on out heah, no need ta come inside, Nicks." She frantically tried to stop her from coming in.
Nikki smiled. "Oh, it won't take long for me just to say hello!" and she took Red's wrist, pushing the door open. The bell tinkled pleasantly. Red's attitude, on the other hand, wasn't. Faces turned at the sound of the bell, and mouths dropped open at the sight of a classy girl gripping Red's arm. Nikki jerked her arm so that Red's head was near her ear. "Why didn't you warn me?" she hissed.
All the newsies in the joint were looking at the odd couple. Red's close friends had looked like they'd just been hit with a Winchester .44. Blink's mouth half dropped open. She openly groaned this time, loudly sighing.
"Hey, all, dis heah's my half-sista, Dominique."
Nikki pulled away from Red as if she had been the one dragging her in there, not the other way around. She took a step forward, her beaming smile encompassing all in the room. "Torii calls me Nikki."
The boys watched the exchange with some interest. They never knew about Red's family. There were a lot of things they didn't know, Red realized. She flushed. "I'll jist be at me step-muddah's house. I'll be back by tanight, fellas."
Jack spoke from the back of the room. "Alright. We'll wait fo' ya." His tone told her she would have a lot of explaining to do. Nikki grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door, once again emerging into stinging sunlight.
- - - - - - - -
As soon as the two girls stepped around the corner, Red jerked her arm away from Nikki. "What were ya doin' in dere?"
Nikki openly ignored her question. "Momma and I live just a few blocks down." Red rolled her eyes.
They reached a middle-income part of town. Bigger houses, but nothing like a mansion. Nikki led Red into a servant's door on the side of a large, white house. Two floors, she noted, four windows on each side…the Fury has been doing well for herself. She snorted. Must be all the business she's getting.
Nikki led her into a large parlor. Its cream walls accentuated the beige carpet. Two horsehair chairs sat in front of a fireplace with a gold mantel, along with a couch. As they approached the chairs, a graying head was visible above the top of the chair. Red only had to look at the way the hair was rigorously starched and tightly drawn up into a bun to know who it was. She quickly whipped her hat off, wiping a smudge off her cheek. She looked down and grimaced. Bare feet would never do in the Gorgon's household.
Nikki quickly left Red's side and went around to the front of the chair. Dropping a curtsey, she quietly said, "Mother, I brought someone to see you."
A hand appeared from the side of the chair, elegantly waving Red forward. To be inspected, no doubt.
Red quickly rounded the chair. The face was exactly as she remembered. It was set in stone, a sharp nose and consistently down-turned lips accentuating the cold features. Cold, grey eyes filled two hollows above her rigorous cheekbones. Still, it was strangely beautiful, when she commanded it to be. One hand rested, fiercely polite, in her lap. The other held one of those stems to hold a cigarette in.
The woman thoroughly studied Red, making her squirm and fidget. A small upturning of her left lip corner, looking more like a grimace than a grin, showed Henrietta's pleasure at the girl's discomfort. She stiffly rose from her seat, holding a hand out. Red took a step forward.
The Fury's lip instantly turned back down, and the welcoming hand instantly became a finger, still outstretched, pointing to the floor. Red instantly hit the ground on all fours, her forehead digging into the carpet.
Henrietta sat back down, satisfied. Both corners of her mouth moved a centimeter. She was most definitely pleased.
"Theresa. How nice for you to come."
A low mumbling came from the mouth securely fastened to the floor. Henrietta frowned even more than possible. "Speak up child. It is no good for you to be talking to the floor."
The girl lifted her head as much as she knew was allowable. "It's good ta be heah, Henrietta."
The Gorgon lifted the chin of the girl bowing on the carpet. "Now, now dear. Address me as Mother or Mrs. O'Bryan."
A muscle jumped imperceptibly in her jaw. "Yes, miss."
"Very well." Henrietta leaned back in her chair. Her hands gripped the armrests. "You may begin work on Monday. By then I trust all your things will be moved into the third room on the right of the attic. You know the rules." Her voice snapped the air like a whip. Even so, Red became defiant. She stood, trembling.
"What makes ya so sho' dat I'll be woiking fo' you?" Her eyes flashed fire as her words moved past her lips as arrows. But The Fury had a bow also. And this one was flaming.
"You do realize, my dear Theresa, that I have high connections. I can hand you over to that poor, kind Mister Snyder with a single word. I can turn in your little street rat friends as well. And where would your fine housemaster go after that? As you can see, my little runt, I can change the course of your life in an instant. You only have to defy me." By now the Gorgon had stood, her grey dress shouting insults to the girl quivering, kneeling on the floor. Through her entire discourse, her eyes hadn't blinked once. The silence in the air was as a death knell.
The girl cowering near the couch bowed her head in shame. "Yes, miss."
Henrietta quickly sat back down. "I'm glad you've remembered, my little moppet. I'll see you Monday. Make sure that you are in a suitable dress," here she curled her lip in disgust, "and not these rags. And if your so-called friends come here, I know just what to do with them. You shall pay dearly for their kindness."
The girl stood again, still shaking, but only showing a mask of calm that unnerved Henrietta. The older woman pointed a finger to the door and spat. "Get out."
The girl ran as if being chased by wolves.
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Thank you to those who reviewed, SilverConlon, madmbutterfly, and Garen (if those aren't right, srry!)