"So you're Jack Kelly's girl, huh?" A newsie with cold gray eyes and frizzy dirty-blonde hair looked Elise over, her eyes lingering on the all-too-obvious protrusion of her belly. "Lucky you."
"That Jack, he's a real decent guy..." A dreamy-eyed brunette by the washtub sighed, causing Meanie McBitch, as Elise had decided her name was, to scoff and shake her head.
"Yeah, Whim." Whim. What an apt name for a girl who looked so whimsical as she. "So decent that he plants a baby in a girl and hocks her off to Spot Conlon. A real stand-up kinda guy, Mr. Kelly."
"Catch, you'se just sore 'cuz he kicked you to the curb after you pulled that stunt with Racetrack." And with that, Whim went back to scrubbing the sheets in the washtub.
"So, uh, why do they call you Catch?" Penny asked, desperate to make a friend in this new place.
"'Cuz the fellas 'round here think I am one," Catch rolled her eyes as if it were completely obvious, but, try as she might, Penny just couldn't see it. "Look, Ireland, don't expect us all to be your chums or whatever. You gotta work for your place in the ranks, and right now, you're at the bottom of the bin." Again, she flicked those steely eyes toward Elise. "And you gotta earn your keep around here no matter who you are, so don't think we'll be goin' easy on ya just 'cuz you'se in a family way."
"Catch, what'd I tell ya about playin' nice with the new girls?" Though his frame was small, Spot Conlon seemed to fill the doorway.
"I don't play nice with nobody, Spot," Catch spat back, taking purposeful strides towards the doorway. "'Specially not a couple'a high-an'-mighty Micks like them." She shot an icy glare over her shoulder as she shoved past Spot and stomped down the stairs.
"Catch," Spot sighed with an exasperated shake of the head. "Girl thinks she owns Brooklyn, nobody can touch her. All she needs is a good shiner to put 'er in her place." An easy grin broke over his face, spreading to all the other girls in the room. Spot Conlon, not unlike Jack, was comparable to the most addictive of drugs. "So, Ireland, is it?"
"That seems to be our collective name," Penny cocked an eyebrow and smirked.
"Well then, Ireland, those're your bunks over there," he pointed to a rather dilapidated set of beds shoved into the far corner of the room. "I know they're kinda shabby, but it's all we got open for now." His eyes wandered to Elise, and he seemed to chew over a thought for a few moments. "Uh... if there's any problem for Mama here," he said with a smile, "you let me know an' I'll see what I can do ta fix it." He looked around the dormitory, at the girls who occupied it, and raised his voice slightly. "You all'd better be headin' to bed soon, a little bird tol' me there was a big brawl in Central Park today. Get ready to work extra hard tomorrow."
As the girls settled down with the waning daylight, Penny and Elise slowly began to come to terms with their new home.
Or perhaps not. It was barely even dawn, and there were girls bustling about the dormitory and making an ungodly racket. Not a second went by that a crash wasn't heard, a toilet wasn't flushed, and arguments heated up.
A walking stick collided with the bedpost of Penny and Elise's bunks, making a loud and ultimately unpleasant cracking noise. "Wake up, Ireland." Catch's thick accent, rough with sleep, stirred them from any fleeting hopes of sleep. "It's a big day, an' a helluva walk to the dressmaker's from here."
If this was when and how every day was going to begin, it seemed Brooklyn would prove to be a very rocky, unpleasant ride.
A/N: Ugh. Okay, this chapter ended up being waaaaay shorter than my original intention. I had hoped for a big, whoppin' chapter, at least twice as long as this one, but apparently it just wasn't happening for me. I guess the tale of the dressmaker was tailored (ha, ha) for another day. I hope y'all liked this itsy-bitsy chapter anyway, and I mean you'd BETTER FREAKING LIKE IT because I risked getting eaten alive by a big, giant, ultra-scaryspider that was on my wall to write this story. I refused to budge! And so here you have it. I'm seriously disgusted with this chapter length, but there isn't a whole lot my writing genius will allow me to do about it. And yes, I am unnaturally cocky. I like it that way. Anyhow, you know the drill, R&R, have fun. I love you guys! -Layne