Chapter 7- The Narrows
Jerome's fifteenth birthday went by unnoticed, not that he cared about that, but his birthday did indicate the Circus's imminent annual visit to Gotham, something that Jerome had learnt to look forward to each year. The obvious break from his mother as she disappeared into the city to party was always welcome but each year had brought another gift from the dank city. The Circus had kept a PO box with the Gotham Mail room for decades, each year the Ringmaster would retrieve a sack of backlogged mail for the members of the Circus something of no interest to Jerome until the Gotham stay after his eleventh birthday.
The day after their arrival to Gotham just after his eleventh birthday Mary Lloyd, Sadie's cousin had found Jerome with a pink envelope addressed to him, he had recognised the hand writing immediately, inside had been a handmade birthday card with a drawn picture of a clown with an arrow gruesomely impaling it's head. Sadie had inscribed a short letter in multicoloured pens, vague, no details of her whereabouts or clues just inconsequential information about TV shows she had watched, books she had read and music she had heard but Jerome read that card a hundred times. Each year since a single handmade birthday card with a similar picture of some sort of comical clown death and letter update had arrived much to Jerome's delight.
Now fifteen Jerome was doing his usual set up for the Gotham run, securing the animal pens and stocking up the feed stores, he worked fast as he had watched the Ringmaster lug the mail sack into his trailer earlier that day and was eagerly awaiting his annual card from Sadie.
Mary appears through the curtain leading out to the ring, she is already dressed in her clown costume ready for the first afternoon performance, Jerome pretends not to notice her but secretly he has already seen that she has no card in her hands and his stomach starts to fill with disappointment. The older pretty teenager comes to lean against a post near where Jerome moves hay with a pitchfork.
"I saw you the other night you know? I came back for my prop bag and I saw you." Jerome ignores her accusing tones continuing to move large chunks of hay into the elephant food trough, "You're bloody good you know, is it just the knives you do? You are an amazing shot, much better than that poor excuse for a magician they've been paying."
"Knives, axe, tried some shitty magic tricks but mostly boring apart from the escape stuff, think that might come in useful one day ya know?" Jerome gives Mary a cheeky wink.
"Oh yeah? You expecting to be locked up at some point? Well I thought you were good, you should audition for a spot in the show." Mary un tucks an envelope from the back of her waist band handing it to Jerome, he stops shovelling and moves a little too close to Mary his face just inches away from hers as he clutches one side of the envelope.
"Not in it for the spotlight...Mary...not yet anyway, so maybe keep my hobbies to yourself yeah?" Jerome's manner is strangely threatening even with the Cheshire cat grin he is beaming at Mary, he snaps the card from her grip making her jump back with a squeak.
"Whatever Jerome, who am I going to tell anyway, do what you want." Mary shuffles out swiftly, Jerome remains static holding his card until she has completely disappeared. Only then does he run to his usual corner under the lamp sitting himself cross legged on the floor, he tears away the envelope and laughs loudly at the very artistic illustration of a fat clown being set alight with gasoline on the from a hose held by a skinny clown, Sadie's drawings have become very skilful and increasingly sadistic over the years, something Jerome alone would appreciate.
Inside is the usual multicoloured letter, this year it seems Sadie had been mostly into death metal and obscure electro and her fondness for horror films had continued. Jerome absorbs the information as he reads it through a few more times but something sets a bad taste in his mouth, something is wrong. Jerome looks at the page, it screams back at him, something is different, firstly there are three spelling mistakes, Sadie was smart, almost as smart as him and she never made mistakes, not in four years of letters had there been one grammatical error. Also the page just looked wrong, it reminded Jerome of one of Jeremiah's mazes for some reason, like something was out of place.
Jerome stares at the words, looks at the form of each word and the mistakes, there must be something he isn't seeing as his brain itches and jumps unsatisfied. That's it, the three mistakes spell out the word 'Red'. At this prompt Jerome's quick brain instantly reads the letter differently, only reading the letters written in red ink ignoring all other elements with ease.
LAST SHOW COME GET ME NARROWS FIND PENNY PIECE
Jerome made sure he had deciphered the coded message correctly reading it again and again, but it was the same each time, clever little Sadie. He thought about the instructions and made sure he had it clear in his mind before noting it down in his journal. It seemed clear enough, on the last Gotham show he would go to the Narrows in Gotham and find Penny Piece, whatever that meant, and he would find Sadie.
The Gotham run had been the longest three weeks of Jerome's life, he had felt the letter burning in his back pocket everyday as he had agonisingly waited for the final day of shows. He had even managed to avoid provoking Lila leaving her to her comedown preferring to plan for his trip to the Narrows. Jerome had heard about this infamous area of Gotham City, a place of slums and depraved dregs of society, dangerous and unforgiving. He therefore thought it a good idea to be prepared, he had practiced with his knives and packed up a few to take with him along with some of his other tricks, just in case.
Finally the final show day had arrived, the Circus was a commotion, take-down had already began as the Circus was due in the next city the following day meaning a night move was needed, most things were already packed up and loaded as the final crowd was bustled into the big top tent. Jerome was able to sneak out easily mingling through the crowds.
Jerome headed straight for the bus station as the sun began to set, he accosted a large man with a moustache and blue bus drivers uniform when he arrived.
"Hey, which bus goes to the Narrows? I can't find it." Jerome asks slightly frustrated.
"Ha ha ha." The driver laughs a hearty guffaw, "Son, the buses don't go to that shit hole, they'd come back with no tyres, ha ha ha." The man continues to laugh much to Jerome's annoyance.
"Well I need to get there." Jerome's anger seethes just below the surface, but he just manages to remain calm waiting for a response as the man calms himself down.
"Well lad, you'll have to walk it, take this main street for ten blocks and then left on seventh, follow that all the way down till you see the power plant and the Narrows sits next to the dumping ground, but take it from me it's not worth the visit." The man walks off still chuckling to himself.
The walk doesn't bother Jerome, he takes the opportunity to examine the buildings and different areas of Gotham, he can't help but enjoy the sense of depravation the city exudes, dirty streets and sorrowful faces around every corner.
He can sense that he is approaching the Narrows, he can feel the desperation in the air as more and more buildings are boarded up and a greater number of the people that pass him are either homeless or drug addled. He passes the power station holding his breath past the stench of the waste dump, he turns into a main looking street, the dirty buildings are run down and crumbling and the street littered with garbage but there seems to be a number of bars and the odd shop, mainly pawn and gun shops with iron bars cladding the exteriors. Jerome walks slowly, not sure what he is looking for, Penny Piece, could be a shop, a road name, a bar or anything, so he keeps his eyes peeled. He asks a few people if they know of a Penny Piece but is mostly ignored or told to get lost.
He walks past a bar, The Old Duke, just as a man is thrust out of the door by a huge thug sporting a wealth of prison tattoos and an eyebrow ring. The ejected man is obviously drunk and rolls around on the floor outside laughing as the door slams closed. Jerome walks over to stand above the man, he is unshaven, a layer of grime on his skin from a prolonged period of not washing, his clothes are torn and filthy and he has quite obviously urinated all over himself adding to a pre-existing stench.
"What you looking at kid." The man spits a little blood from his mouth and tries to get up falling back down hard.
Jerome helps him to a sitting position, "You know what Penny Piece is?" Jerome asks hopeful.
"What you want her for?" The man pulls out a crumpled cigarette from his jacket pocket and feebly tries to light it but gives up.
"She's a person? Where is she?" Jerome takes the lighter and lights the cigarette for the man "I really need to know."
"She'll be down on the corner of Olga square, you know with the other whores" The man snickers and coughs through cigarette smoke pointing down the road, "Think you might be a bit young for her though lad, but you know what they say, good old Penny, anyone can have a piece for a penny."
"Thanks." Jerome leaves the man in his own filth and heads in the direction he indicated.
The road leads down past more run down bars, the ghostly faces of the homeless huddle around trashcan fires as the cold of the night starts to set in. The street opens out into an old square, the centre seems to be some sort of communal fly tip with huge piles of garbage and old shopping trolleys dumped carelessly. Shady characters skulk in the shadows and Jerome is offered drugs multiple times as he works his way around the outer edge of the square. Across the square a group of women are gathered, all scantily clad in miniskirts and fishnets, each tottering around on battered stripper heels tattered hair extensions tangling in the breeze, Jerome watches as they wave at passing cars and lean into windows as different men pull up.
Jerome is not threatened by the prostitutes, he has always been quite confident around women and the thought of sex doesn't embarrass him, his mother's promiscuity knocked that out of him years ago. He walks straight up to a group of three women, two older more haggard looking and one only a year or so his senior, they all wear thick black eyeliner and crimson red lipstick, they have the odour of cheap perfume and cigarettes.
"Well hello handsome." One of the two older women lurches towards him with a sway, Jerome can smell the liquor and rot on her breath "You looking for some sugar baby? Momma can take care of you." She reaches out a nicotine stained finger tipped with a broken false nail and strokes it gently down his freckled cheek. Jerome smiles his most charming grin, meeting the woman's hazy eyes with false warmth.
"I'm sure you could, but I'm looking for someone in particular tonight, do you know Penny?" He holds his charismatic grin drawing the woman into his gaze.
She huffs taking back her claw with a shoulder shrug.
"Penny Piece? What ya want that no good piece of trash for?" The woman lights a cigarette and stomps away "You got no taste."
"Penny aint welcome on the corner no more." The younger girl half whispers to Jerome, she seems meek compared to the other girls, slim, pale somewhat shy.
"You know where she is?" Jerome asks.
The young girl grips his arm and pulls him over to a mesh fence out of ear shot of the other women; Jerome can see the sadness in her eyes, the make-up fails to disguise it. "Why do you want her? You don't seem like you are here for the usual reasons, don't think you need to be. Is it her girl?"
Jerome feels a sudden surge of excitement, a girl, could it be Sadie? His reaction must have been obvious as the girl smiles a little at him and takes him by the arm again and leads him quickly down an alleyway. She doesn't stop until they are out of site of the corner and completely alone.
"Are you going to help her?" She looks pleadingly at Jerome.
"Yeah, I think I am, where are they?" Jerome tries to look confident.
"Young girls don't stay young girls very long in the Narrows, you should get her out of here. I seen Penny working Jepson last week, it's down there two blocks, most of the girls that work that corner stay in the old factory building down there, it's Ziggy's patch and he's a nasty piece of work so watch out." The girl looks sheepish but puts her hand out, she puts her head down looking awkward "Well you gotta give me something, I can't take a guy down an alley and come back empty handed."
Jerome rifles through his pockets and hands her a wad of notes, she nods and leaves him in darkness.