Chapter 2: America
A/N: Ok, so I changed up the summary a little bit, it's all in the first chapter. And I changed the title a little bit too ^-^ So I guess this story is a bit of a parody edging on the side of burlesque. (not the movie…) Well I'm just having fun writing this so I hope yall enjoy reading!
John crept quietly around the crowded tavern toward a table in the back. The Social Call was a tavern that he frequented quite often, if not for the brandy, then for the rowdy fights that always seemed to break loose. He glanced around and saw the locals generously enjoying their drinks and laughing easily.
"You gonna order anything or just stand there lookin' pretty?" A young bar maid was leaned casually against the same pillar John was propped up against.
John took a seat at the table. "As long as I'm still breathing and in the upright position, stuck I might add in this gangrenous sphere of a bar, I might as well have some whiskey."
"Coming right up," she said as she began walking back toward the bar. She glanced back and saw John watching her, "You can stop staring at my ass now."
John smirked but continued to watch as she walked away and then called after her, "And keep the whiskey coming." Just as that first sip made its way to his lips, a slew of police officers stormed into the bar.
The Captain stormed his way through the crowd which silenced and parted for him. He stood in the middle of the bar looking around the room. His eyes met each and every patrons'. "You," he said pointing to one of the men in the bar, "tell me your name."
"The name's Jack," the man slurred and stood up from his chair. "What's it to you?"
The Captain raised his baton and smacked Jack across the side of his temple. Jack instantly fell backwards and collapsed into a huddled position on the floor.
"Hey!" The bar owner stormed out from behind the bar and made her way to the Captain, "What is the meaning of this? You can't just march into my bar and start knocking out patrons!"
The Captain put his baton back in its holster and turned toward the bar owner. "Elizabeth, nice to see you again," he said.
"The pleasure is not mutual." She eyed the Captain. "Now will somebody please tell me what is going on?" Elizabeth turned toward the other officers who stood there awaiting orders.
Captain Cragen took his hat off and turned towards the men in the bar. "The man, passed out on this here floor, was a thief." He waited and let his words rest upon the men. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Keep your hands off the officers' things." Without any more words, the Captain and his men stormed out of the bar and back into the night."
The patrons just went on as usual, ignoring the man that had been left unconscious on the floor.
Several hours later, John found himself passed out with his head resting on his left arm. The maid from earlier gently roused him. "Hey, time to get on your way," she said.
John sat up slowly and blinked back the fuzzy blur. "You know, you're a nice gal . . . what'd you say your name was again?"
She smiled at him; at least he wasn't an angry drunk. "Call me Monique, now shoo before Elizabeth literally kicks you out."
John glanced around the now quiet and empty room. Maids were beginning to sweep and mop. He almost made it to the door when he saw the man from earlier still passed out on the floor. He made his way over and stooped down. He flipped the man over and grimaced at the rancid smell of brandy, sewer, and filth.
"There goes one more paying man's dollars." Elizabeth had made her way over toward John as she wiped out the inside of a glass with a still dirty rag. "At least I got what was owed tonight."
John looked down at the man's trousers whose pockets were now inside out. Yes the bar owner did get her money for that night and perhaps a bit more. "I suppose this is what you get for trying to take down a corrupt government…."
"In this town we're all thieves. Most of us are just smart enough not to get caught." Elizabeth sat the glass down on a tray and picked up another.
"I know someone who can take care of this for you."
Elizabeth sat the glass down next to the other one on the same tray and eyed him closely. "What's in it for me?"
John shrugged, "Three dollars."
"Make it five and you got yourself a deal."
John stuck out his hand and she accepted it with a quick shake. It was business as usual, and off into the night he went.
*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/
Horse hoofs plodded loudly down the cobblestone street. Police officers trod down the streets and stopped at store fronts and handed out flyers. "Have you seen this boy or this girl?" One of them asked a gentleman.
"No, sorry," he said and continued on his way.
Alexandra and Fin quickly hid behind some crates in a nearby alley. "How did they get here so fast?" Alexandra swiftly turned to face Fin and her eyes showed her worry.
"I don't know." He stuck his head around the corner. "One of the maids must have seen me. Stay here," he said as he quickly darted out from behind the crates. When the officers had passed, he walked up to a sign and read one of them. Then he ran back to Alexandra. "They know we've got the money. They think I kidnapped you and want to hang me." He fumbled around in his shabby waistcoat and lifted out a wad of cash. "I didn't know how much to take so I just took it all. Here," he said as he shoved it into her hands.
She looked down at the pile he had just handed over. "There has to be over two thousand dollars here! No wonder they're looking for us!" She lifted her petticoat and hid the money in the only place she could.
"Look, we need to change identities and get out of this country fast."
Alexandra looked around the alley and spotted a clothes line hanging out to dry in the tenant window above the tailors shop. Without hesitation, she hefted herself up on top of the crates and pulled down the clothing. It all fell and landed in the alley way. "These will have to do."
Fin grabbed a new pair of trousers and a top coat. "These are all boys clothing."
Alex slipped on a pair of trousers underneath her weighty dress and then turned away from him as she slipped the dress over her head and pulled a shirt and a vest on over it. Then she turned around to look at Fin. "Give me your hat."
He handed it over.
She tucked her blonde hair up and pulled the hat down low.
"I guess I'll just call you Alex now," he said as he looked her over, "but you need a bit more gruff". He bent down and gathered some dirt in his hands and then quickly smeared it across Alex's face.
"What the hell was that for!" Alex asked astonished.
After approving of his work and looking her up and down he gave a slight nod of his head. "You were still too pretty to be a boy."
"So a little dirt and I'm no longer pretty?" Alex said now teasingly.
"Heh," he said and turned to head out of the alley, "now that I didn't say."
"Wait," Alex called after him. "I need a new last name, there's no way they would let me board a ship with the last name McCoy."
Fin looked up and down the street. He spied a bakery and pointed it out to her. "Cabot's Bakery . . . you could be a Cabot."
"Alex Cabot it is then," she said.
The two of them continued on their way towards the docks. They kept their heads down and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Within the hour they were aboard a ship and bound for America.
*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/
"Damn it Elliot!" Olivia yelled once she and her mother caught up to him miles down the road.
He was sitting on a rock while he waited for them to catch up.
"You and your temper . . . we might could have worked something out if you hadn't hit an officer." Their mother still swaggered in her footing. She decided it was time for her to rest and took a seat down next to Elliot on the rock.
"Nah, you saw the looks in their eyes. They would have tumbled the house regardless." He said and jumped off the rock. He kicked a clod of dirt and watched as the clay flew into the air and separated.
Olivia was just as exhausted after having to help her mother walk the two miles to their current location. She collapsed on the dirt with her back up against the rock. "He's right mother. They would have tumbled it."
"But I could have worked something out with officer Hollister . . ." Their mother tried to claim.
"Do you want to tell us what that's all about?" Olivia asked and looked over at her mother.
Elliot stood there with his arms crossed watching their mom. He had heard what she said too about a 'special agreement' of sorts. Was that why they hadn't been evicted months or even years ago?
Their mother dismissed their questions with a wave of her hand and stood up again. "It doesn't concern you."
"So what are we supposed to do or go now huh?" Elliot asked.
"I'd been waiting to share this information," Olivia began, "But I think I've managed to save up enough money to get us all on a boat to America."
Both Elliot and Serena looked at her like she was crazy.
"Now tell me where you stole that money from girl," Serena demanded. "Because if you took that from someone you weren't supposed to, we could all end up dead and not just homeless."
Olivia nodded her head, "thanks for the confidence mother. I put away a little bit of money after each time you got paid so you wouldn't squander it all away on booze."
Serena looked her daughter up and down. "How much you got?"
"Enough." Olivia said knowing the question she really wanted to ask was 'do you have enough for three trips to America and a bottle of whiskey'. "So maybe now we can go find father in America."
Serena threw her head back and laughed. "Yeah, good luck with that one."
Elliot scowled. "You said father was in America. Can't we just go to New York and find him?"
Serena looked between her children and sighed. Reluctantly she stood and they continued down the pathway to the Warf. They were three miles away and if they wanted to make the last ship bound for America, they had to get going.
*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/
John made his way down some back alleys before he stepped into an open field. It was too dark to see anything. The moons way was blocked by clouds and the stars gave him very little light. He made his way by memory through the tall grasses. When he almost ran into the side of a barn, he stopped and realized he had made it.
A small light flickered in the hay loft and he climbed the steep latter. "I got another one for you tonight Malinda," he said to the girl who was lying on her stomach diligently reading a medical book.
She knew there wasn't much hope for her, a young black woman, to ever make it in the medical field, but there was an innate need for knowledge that she had ingrained in her being. Ever since she had found a copy of Grey's Anatomy as a girl she had been enthralled with the body and its function, but the closest she ever got to medical practice was when she watched the college professors examine the recently deceased body of a victim after she delivered one. It was a risky job- body snatching, but she loved the thrill and the medical students at the university had to learn somehow right?
"Good," she said and sat up from her position. She shoved her beloved book under a crate and blew the candle out as she followed John down the stairs and back into the night.
*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/
Elizabeth had shooed away all the maids for the night. She alone was left to finish sweeping up for the night before she retired to her bed above.
John and Malinda knocked on the back door of the bar.
Quickly Elizabeth let them in and led Malinda to the body.
"We'll need to strip him of his clothes," Malinda said. "You have a fireplace?"
"I do. Why?" asked Elizabeth.
"Because," Malinda said as she bent down and began to undress the body, "if I get caught with a dead body, it's only a day in the stocks, but get caught with a dead persons things, and it'll be a month before I see the light of day."
John rolled out a large plastic sheet and the slid the body onto it carefully before wrapping it up tightly. They hefted the body up and they both began to head out the door.
"You know, I think I could use your services more often," Elizabeth said when they had made it to the door.
"I hope it's not because you spike the whiskey?" John asked sarcastically.
"Not that I can recall." Elizabeth said slightly distraught. "How could I find you again?"
John looked at Malinda who gave only a slight raise of a brow. "We could use a new place to stay. Lease us an upstairs room and you'll always be able to find us."
Elizabeth scowled and looked between the two. She treasured her time spent alone. She single handedly ran this bar and enjoyed the fact that she had done it on her own. She didn't necessarily need the extra money to keep the bar going, but when she saw an opportunity, she didn't pass it up. That was how she became so successful in the first place. "Fine," she said, "it's ten dollars a month, EACH. And, I want five dollars after each body is delivered."
"Make it ten dollars total and the five for each db and you'll have yourself a deal," Malinda spoke.
Elizabeth once again eyed the two who stood there holding a naked dead body wrapped in a plastic sheet. Yes, this could very well work out nicely. "Deal," she said and let the door slam behind them as they walked the back alleys toward the office of the medical examiner.
A/N: yay! Reviews loved! If anyone would like to see another character let me know- good guy or bad guy/gal. This could get interesting ^-^