Note: Well, look at that. A third chapter. And, if you're reading this, then you realize that the rating as finally been changed and it is (deservedly so) in the M section of the site. I hope you guys like this chapter and please make sure that you do review it. Bittah and Stress are total attention whores – it does them good to get their daily dosage of ego boosting. And, we also want to encourage you guys to make predictions as to what you think is going on… Hehe.
Disclaimer: The movie characters highlighted in this awesome piece of work, unfortunately, do not belong to us. They are owned by Disney (© 1992-) and appear here because we made them. But we're not making any money off of them, so it's all good. The original characters included were donated generously because their creator's had no idea what they were in for.
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These Brutal Streets
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PART THREE
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David looked upwards at the brick building and sighed one last time before trudging inside, his feet dragging more with each step. He rubbed his eyes and read each room's number carefully, looking from the crumpled sheet in his hand to each door. After a half a dozen doors, he stood before the one he would spend the next several hours in.
Shrugging the pack of books from one shoulder to another, he folded the sheet carefully and stepped inside. When he looked up at the teacher, his jaw set and his body tense, all she did was silently point to an empty seat.
Following the path of her finger, he found his eyes locking onto a pair of dark green ones, sparkling and attached to the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The girl's eyes were set perfectly apart on her pale, freckled face, her nose small and cute. Her lips were crimson and slightly apart as if she wished to say something to him. That's when his eyes fell on the curves of her body; she was utter perfection.
His breath caught in his throat and he moved forward as if being pulled along by an imaginary rope. Unprepared, he stood in front of her, his cheeks turning slowly to a deep shade of crimson before the teacher interrupted his embarrassing display of interest.
"Mr. Jacobs would you please have a seat so I can start class?" the old, crass woman said, her hands on her hips and her glare even as he turned to meet it.
The teacher wouldn't have been bad looking if she had been younger. Her hair was slowly graying from its strawberry blonde color and her eyes were something else, even hidden behind the glasses she wore: sparkling blue and piercing. There were lines of aging spread generously across her face, but her skin would have been soft and smooth without them. David also noticed that she was not badly shaped for a woman of her age.
David finally took his seat, side-glancing at the girl next to him. He noticed her wealthy way of dressing, layers of skirts and an obvious corset beneath her top dress, her breasts quite noticeable in the way they were pushed upwards. Only when she glanced back at him could he tear his eyes away from her, the reddening of his cheeks a sign that she had caught him staring at her.
It was quite a challenge to keep his eyes trained forward during the hours of school, shifting nervously as his mind failed to grasp any of the ideas that the teacher was trying to embed in her students' minds. The school day seemed strenuous, David dazing in and out of daydreams, constantly shaking his head as if to knock some sense back into himself. Alas, he didn't learn a thing. Well he learned that he could harbor an insane amount of attraction for the young lady next to him, and that he was willing to risk talking to her after class. He didn't decide that last part until five minutes before school was dismissed; when he decided that he could muster the courage to speak to her, even if he indeed did make a complete fool out of himself.
Luckily, he did not have to make the first move. The young woman was out of her seat and stepping towards him before he even had a chance to shove his books into his bag. He stood up clumsily, almost knocking the whole desk over as he tried to seem the least bit composed.
"I'm Amalia…" she introduced herself with a small curtsy. "Amalia Palmer."
"I'm David," he stammered, his hand twitching to shoot out for a handshake as he tried to remember what proper etiquette was. "David Jacobs," he added a moment later, at a loss for what to do. He stood nervously, shifting from one foot to another.
"You… um…" the girl started, pushing her fingers through her crimson hair nervously. "Would you like to accompany me home? I only live a few blocks down and my mum told me to ask a nice boy to walk me there because no one could come and get me…" the words were out of her mouth in a flurry, her cheeks reddening and her eyes training downwards to the floor.
David stared at her for a moment, nodding and choking out a reply of 'yes' before springing into action. He quickly gathered his things, his cheeks flushing at the idea of guiding her home. On one hand, he couldn't believe his good fortune; Amalia wished for him to walk her home that day. He had not said one word to her and still she asked for his company.
David felt like dancing and probably would have if she hadn't been standing diligently behind him, her hands clasped together on the bag in front of her. Her eyes were bright and wide when he turned back to her. "Shall we?" she asked, obviously embarrassed that she had been so forward.
Nodding, David followed her out of the classroom silently and down the hall. Neither said a word until they were outside. Amalia had paused and turned to him, her gaze forcing him to nervously slide a hand through his curly tresses.
"Which way?" he asked when she did not speak.
"That way…" Amalia responded, pointing absentmindedly as she studied him. Unsure of what had attracted her to him, she found herself scrutinizing his appearance from his curly hair to his small eyes and finally his barely average physique.
David managed to trace a bit of manners from his memory and offered her his arm. A smile fell across her beautiful features, her teeth sparkling in the sunlight, lined perfectly like a set of expensive pearls.
Amalia wrapped her arm in his, pulling herself closer to his body as they began to walk. "Do you live nearby?" she inquired of him, her voice soft and sweet.
He looked at her with a small smile, trying his damnedest not to stare down her dress and at her prominent bosom. "A few blocks the opposite way, but I was heading this way anyways…" he said, and upon seeing her questioning look he continued. "I, uh, sell newspapers after school," he explained to her.
Her eyes widened in delight. "Oh you must know that Jack Kelly character than, the one that was in the paper… Oh my lord! You were in it too, weeks ago, in that picture with all the boys!" she exclaimed with surprise, just realizing now why she had recognized him.
"Oh, you read that did you?" David asked, blushing once again. "Jack Kelly's a good friend of mine, even courting my sister." He didn't know why he had said that last phrase, shaking his head slightly.
"He is?" she asked, her mouth agape, showing a cute little tongue among her pearly whites.
David looked away from her for a moment. "Yeah, it's quite interesting…" he said.
"I bet! I mean, he seems like a great person and such a leader!" The words burned at him for a reason he knew not. "She must be the happiest girl alive!" she added, not sensing him flinching besides her.
"That's what I'm worried about," he mumbled under his breath, an indistinguishable slur of words.
"Sorry, I didn't catch what you said," Amalia said politely, glancing at him curiously.
"It's of no importance," he commented, forcing a smile. "What about your family?" he asked, overly ready to change the subject.
"Oh I just have my mum and pa, only child. They treat me like a boy sometimes and like a girl at others. They really are odd. They want me to be educated and maybe go to college but then they talk of marriage and all these dresses I'm forced to wear…" she trailed off, noticing she was rambling on about it. "So sorry," she said apologetically.
"Nothing to be sorry about," David commented sincerely.
Amalia stopped abruptly in front of a fairly wealthy looking home and pulled away from him. She looked up at him abashedly and blushed as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for walking me home," she said, turning on her heel and hurrying up the stairs before he could react.
David stood there for a few minutes, his hand pressed to his cheek with a loopy grin on his face, just watching her house. Shaking his head, he finally turned and strode down the street towards the Manhattan Lodging House. What a day… he thought.
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The scene before David could be called comical, at best. The first thing he had noticed was a pair of girls, giggling and pointing from their position on the couch. He didn't know who they were, but seemed entranced by their demeanor all the same. The first was of normal build and height, with striking blue eyes and light red hair that went all the way down to the middle of her back. Unbeknown to him, her name was Trouble. The second girl was an average girl with chestnut colored hair, the red in it sparkling in the sunshine as he took a closer look. Freckles were splattered across her nose and her eyes were a lovely blue-green color, but David was fixed on her lips, her laughing, trembling lips. Her name was Gimmick, and her arm was extended and pointing at the ruckus on the other end of the room.
His eyes slowly following the direction her arm was pointing in, he found something he did not expect. Jack Kelly was looming over a girl of average height, her fists balled at her sides and her body tense in front of him. David noticed her trembling bottom lip, but there was anything but fear in her fierce emerald eyes as Jack tried to bully her from her firm stance. Her eyes remained wide and piercing as his hand shot out and knocked the grey cap from her head. David watched the cap fall to the ground, looking up the moment it hit to see her dirty blonde hair billow out around her chin.
"Get out of my lodging house!" Jack said fiercely, crossing his arms and glaring down to meet her eyes. Their gaze seemed more potent now, even from across the room, no longer hidden beneath the shadow of her cap. She didn't move.
Well, not until Jack unfolded his hands, and that's when she swung her right fist upwards, connecting with his cheek as the other was thrown hard into his stomach. He was on his knees, gasping for air when she kneed him hard under the chin, making him fall backwards, his hands flailing to catch himself.
She spat at him defiantly, glaring around the room before returning to look at the boy she had just grounded. "Fuck you and your fucking ego, I should've never set a foot near you, you bloody rat bastard. If I ever see your bloody face again I'll wipe the floor with your blood, Jack Kelly…" the words were harsh, spoken in a rough, yet melodically feminine voice. She turned on her heel and strode out of the lodging house seconds later, the door slamming behind her as if announcing the finality of her exit.
David watched as the girl left, his mouth agape at what had just happened, his feet glued to the ground. There was another girl behind Jack, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, biting her nails and shaking her head worriedly. Her brown and blonde curls bounced across her back as she rushed past in a deadly sprint, her green eyes wide with concern. "Bittah!" she called after the girl as she reached the door, throwing it open and rushing out into the sunlight.
Jack pushed himself to his feet, spitting the blood from his mouth onto the floor and shaking his head. He trudged towards the kitchen for some ice, packing it in a kitchen towel and pressing it to his cheek where it seared in pain. A few of the guys followed him, shaking their heads. "What a dame…" one of them commented and another responded with something more crude.
Jack grinned lopsidedly at David, who followed them wordlessly, still in shock of what he had just seen. "All I did was some innocent flirting, she's worse off for not taking me up on my offer…" he joked, getting all the young men around him laughing heartily.
"Why Jack, she sure didn't seem to appreciate what you had said to her…" Racetrack said, his tone one of amusement.
"Nah, girls like that need to fight to get the hormones going," he said the words, bringing a smirk to his face. "I figure she'll be back tonight for a little one on one time…"
That set off another round of crude comments and suggestions and before David knew it Jack was shouting about going off to Medda's place. A throng of young men followed after him, rambunctious. The only thing David could do was follow along, and that he did.
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When David came home, he was dead tired. A night out with the boys could be quite the energy killer and he'd need all his energy to make it through school tomorrow. He planned on seeing her again, the lovely Miss Amalia Palmer. His head was in the clouds as he sunk into the worn mattress, pulling the quilts up around him. Turning on his side, he found it odd that the bed next to him was empty. Shaking the thought out of his head, he yawned, closed his eyes, and was asleep within minutes, not giving a second thought to Sarah's empty bed.
The next morning he awoke with screams filling his ears. He woke up in a sweat, wiping his forehead of the beads and throwing the quilts aside. On his feet, he followed the sound of the cries out to the small balcony (if one could even call it that) and down the steps of the fire escape.
He stopped not three steps down and gaped at the lifeless form lying at the bottom of the stairs, his parents sobbing and Les's face buried protectively in his mother's bosom. The plain brown hair of his sister's body was fanned out on the ground. He only saw her for a moment before a coroner slid a sheet over her body, shaking his head. "To die so young…" he heard the man say.
