Spot shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around him. He ran his thumb over the fresh notches in the bed frame. If his count was right, he'd been in the Refuge for 48 days. He wondered if Charlotte was okay. Was she still in the basement? Had she been wise enough to get out of there and get back to the Jacobs'? Did she know why he hadn't come back?
For as much trouble as Spot consistently got in to, he had never actually been arrested, and had certainly never gotten put into the Refuge. He hated it. His smart mouth had gotten him in trouble on the first day. That had earned him a club to the back of the knees and several body shots before the guards let him be. He just stayed in his bunk after that. Unfortunately, the guards had destroyed his reputation within the jail, so no one was afraid of him in there.
He hated it in the refuge. Teddy Roosevelt may have visited Mahattan's refuge and demanded reforms, but none of those made it across the river. The Brooklyn warden was just another greedy son of a bitch who lined his pockets with the money the city sent to feed and clothe the boys.
To get his mind off his current situation, he turned his thoughts toward Charlotte. He hadn't realized how much he really cared about her until she came back to Brooklyn. He knew every day - every minute - she spent in Brooklyn with him was a sacrifice. She was used to nicer things - three full meals a day, a warm bed to sleep in, spending her days reading or doing studies.
The sound of his name snapped Spot out of his thoughts.
"Conlon? Yeah, he's here," said a voice across the room. Spot didn't even bother looking up. He was vaguely aware when someone came over to his bunk. "Spot, there's some girl on the fire escape wantin' to see you."
Spot glanced towards the window and saw Adelaide crouched on the fire escape, holding onto the bars.
"Aide?" he furrowed his brow. He hopped off his bunk and walked over to the window. "What are you doin' here?"
Adelaide looked him up and down. He could tell how bad he looked by her expression. "What happened in here?" she asked.
"Don't give me that look, Aide."
Adelaide blinked. "What look?"
"Pity."
"You look awful."
"You're not lookin' so great yourself."
Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Very funny."
"How's Charlotte?" he asked.
Adelaide bit her lip. Spot didn't like the way she hesitated. "Blade got her on opium."
Spot closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the bars.
"We got her out of the basement. She's with the Jacobs now."
Spot sighed. "I should be with her."
Adelaide winced slightly. "It's probably best you're not. David and his family are pretty angry with you. They seem to think you convinced her to run away to Brooklyn. And look what happened to her here. I'm pretty sure they will never let you see her again."
"This is bullshit," Spot muttered.
"Once she gets better, she'll tell them all the truth. She'll tell them she ran away to Brooklyn with you on her own free will. She'll tell them that you wanted her to go back and stay in school. She'll tell them about Blade."
"Not like it will do any good." Spot sighed. If he hadn't been giving all of his money to Violet, he would have never stolen food, and he wouldn't be in the refuge. He couldn't believe Charlotte had stayed in the basement with the boys—
Spot's head snapped up. "Blade. What did he do to her?"
Adelaide shook her head. "Nothing. We got a doctor to come and he did a…full check up."
Spot exhaled, relieved. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to live with himself if she'd endured that on his watch.
Adelaide didn't say anything. She looked over his shoulder into the room, then off to the side.
Spot watched her and frowned. "What aren't you telling me?"
Adelaide hesitated before looking him in the eye.
"When we got her out of the basement…Skitts and I didn't know what to do. We weren't sure if the Jacobs could afford a doctor, so I got the only person I knew who knew how to deal with…this stuff."
Spot's face fell. "No."
Adelaide swallowed and nodded.
Spot sighed and banged his head against the bars again, closing his eyes.
"So Char knows?"
Adelaide furrowed her brow. "Knows what?"
Spot looked up at her, trying to read her face. Did Adelaide know Violet was pregnant?
"How…was Violet?"
Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "Her usual, cheery self."
Spot swallowed and nodded. So she didn't know. Spot furrowed his brow. "Wait…did Violet know who she was helping when you got her?"
Adelaide nodded.
"And she came anyway?"
Adelaide nodded again.
"Wow…"
Adelaide shrugged. "You said it yourself. She's a good girl."
Spot nodded.
"There's one more thing," she continued.
"More?"
"Fire and Blade soaked Snipes pretty good," she said. "He took Tumbler and Emma back to the old neighborhood."
"He did WHAT?"
"I know. I took care of it. But that's not the problem." Adelaide swallowed. She lowered her voice. "Fire and Blade were sayin' that I killed Ralphie."
Spot rolled his eyes. "They don't know anything."
"Are you sure?"
Spot nodded. "They find someone they think might've killed Ralphie, they'll hang onto it for a while before moving on."
"Okay," said Adelaide, unsure.
"Just tell the kids not to go anywhere alone, and stay on your own turf," said Spot. "It wouldn't hurt to keep Skitts with you most of the time too."
Adelaide nodded. "He's up on the roof."
"Good. If you told me you came here at night on your own, I woulda killed you myself."
Adelaide smirked.
Spot was quiet for a moment.
"I should get goin' before the guards hear something."
Spot grabbed Adelaide's wrist through the bars. "You gotta give her a message from me."
Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "To Violet or Charlotte?"
"Charlotte."
Adelaide gave him a pity-filled look. "I'll try. But she's goin' through hell right now. She's got a fever, and she's not really…there most of the time."
"I don't care. Every time you see her, you tell her that I'm gonna get outta here and I'm gonna take care of her."
"Spot…"
"Tell her. Tell her every time you see her. And when she gets better, you keep tellin' her."
Adelaide sighed softly. "I will."
Spot nodded. He was glad that in a world that was dead set against him, he always had Adelaide in his corner.
"And Violet? Any message for her?"
Spot looked past Adelaide over the rooftops of Brooklyn for a few beats. "Same message."
Adelaide rolled her eyes. "You better pray they extend your sentence, coz when you get out, you got one big mess to clean up."
"I know."
"So how long did it get you?" Adelaide asked.
Spot shrugged. "I wasn't even listening. I don't care."
"You been in here, what, two months already? Probably another couple months."
"How're the boys?"
"They're fine. As hard as it is for you to believe, they can manage without you." She grinned and winked at him.
