"You think they'll just let us stay there?" asked Charlotte.
Spot smirked at her. "Of course. Think about who you're with."
Charlotte grinned as Spot squeezed her hand.
"Here it is," said Spot, walking up to a rundown building. Charlotte looked up at the building apprehensively. He opened the door to the basement and led her down.
"You live here?" she whispered.
"Used to," said Spot. "But don't worry - I'll stay here with you."
Charlotte tightened her grip on his hand.
"Don't worry - these fellas are harmless. Aide stayed here for about six months before the strike."
Charlotte squinted around as they reached the basement. Mattresses lined the basement, and several tables sat in the middle. Some had playing cards spread out. Some had drug paraphernalia on them.
"These fellas really made the place their own," Spot muttered to himself as he looked around.
"Ah, the prodigal son returns," Blade smirked as he reclined in one of the chairs, his feet up on one of the tables.
"I was never any son of yours," Spot rolled his eyes.
"What brings you back around?"
"Char and I need a place to stay for a little while."
Charlotte swallowed hard as she looked around. She began to second guess her decision to stay in Brooklyn with Spot. But where else would she stay? Anywhere else would require money, and she had none. When she'd left the apartment the night of the fire, she took nothing with her except the clothes she had been wearing.
"Yeah?" Blade looked Charlotte up and down. "We'll let you stay here."
"Great."
"For a price."
Spot rolled his eyes. "A price?"
"Mm-hmm." Blade continued to look Charlotte up and down.
Spot stepped in front of Charlotte, blocking her from Blade's view. "I ain't payin' you a dime. And if you got a problem with that, I can get Slugger and Ice down here real quick."
Blade clenched his jaw. "Fine. You two can stay in Ralphie's old area." He smirked. "Hopefully you two are quieter than Ralphie and Addie were."
Spot rolled his eyes and walked past Blade, dragging Charlotte with him. He walked to the corner and pushed the sheet aside, allowing Charlotte to enter.
"Is this place safe?" Charlotte whispered.
"Yeah." Spot nodded, turning toward her. "Don't worry about the guys. They won't touch you."
"You said Aide stayed here for six months?"
Spot nodded.
"And nothing happened to her?"
Spot hesitated. "Nothing that could hurt you."
Charlotte furrowed her brow.
Spot shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We'll just be sleeping here anyway. Tomorrow we'll sell."
"Once I get some money, I can stay at a girls lodging house," said Charlotte. "I saw one on our way here."
Spot hesitated. There was only one girls' house in north Brooklyn, and Violet stayed there. He shrugged. "Or we'll just see how things go around here."
Charlotte hesitated. "Okay."
Spot sat down on the mattress and took his shoes off.
"So…we're gonna sleep…in the same bed?"
Spot looked up at her. "Oh…uh, we don't have to. There are two mattresses here, we can sleep apart."
Charlotte bit her lip, weighing her options.
Charlotte rolled onto her back, sore from spending the night on a thin mattress on a hard dirt floor. She shivered, feeling the cold coming up through her mattress and all around her. She pulled the thin blanket up around her neck.
"Mornin'," said Spot behind her. She felt his breath on the back of her neck and was aware of his arm draped around her waist.
"Good morning," said Charlotte, sitting up.
"Sleep well?"
"Not particularly," she said, stretching. "You?"
Spot shrugged. "I've slept worse places."
"Really? You didn't always stay here or at the Lodging House?"
"Not after I first ran away," he said. "I spent my fair share of nights on benches and in alleys."
Charlotte was silent for a few moments. "I wish you had come to me back then. Mama and Papa would've helped you out."
Spot sat up, resting his forearms on his knees. He was quiet for a few moments, as if he was going to say something, but in the end, he turned and put his shoes back on. Charlotte watched him.
He stood up and walked around to her and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's go find breakfast."
Spot and Charlotte sat outside at a café sharing a plate of eggs and bacon. Normally Spot wouldn't have splurged on such a breakfast, but he knew Charlotte needed easing into the street life. The sun rose over Long Island.
In the cold light of morning, Charlotte began to realize that the runaway life wasn't as glamorous as she had first thought. Sure, she'd wanted excitement and adventure, but she hadn't planned on dark basements and freezing night as part of that adventure. As they ate, Charlotte began to second-guess her choice of running away with Spot. She realized she would have to sell papes to survive, she'd have to survive on maybe one semi-decent meal a day, and she couldn't go back to school, which meant saying goodbye to her dream of being a nurse. Her future was…nothing. There was nothing in her future except sleeping in a cold, dirty basement next to Spot. As much as she loved Spot, she wasn't sure if that was enough to keep her on the street.
"Charlotte?" Spot waved a hand in front of her face. "Charlotte?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, what?" Charlotte snapped out of her thoughts.
"I asked if you wanted to sell papes or try and get another job?"
"Oh," said Charlotte, "I-I don't care."
Spot watched her for a few beats. "You okay?" he asked, putting his arm around her.
Charlotte gave him a smile and nodded. Her smile disappeared when thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Come on, let's get our papes before it starts raining," said Spot, standing up. "We'll stick around the vaudeville halls and sell under their marquee. Lots of customers, plus we can stay dry."
Together, Spot and Charlotte sold the morning edition, and while they were waiting for the afternoon edition to get off the presses, they snuck into the back of a vaudeville hall and caught a show.
