Part II, Chapter XI
April 12, 1902
Brooklyn, New York
"Where the hell's Bolt?" asked Spot.
Twist shrugged. "I ain't seen 'im all morning."
"Yeah, me neither. He's actin' all weird, he's up to something'. I can feel it."
Spot smacked the restroom stall door. The boy inside flinched audibly and Spot said to him, "Johnny, hurry up in there, I don't wanna stand heah all day!"
Johnny said nothing but flushed the toilet. He crept out of the stall and Spot grabbed the back of his collar, walking him back into the closet.
"Got a little visit from yer friends today! Fer some reason, they miss you ovah in the Heights," said Spot.
Johnny perked up at the mention of Crown Heights, and asked, "What'd they say?"
"Well, they ain't too happy about yer vacation in Brooklyn, let's just put it that way. But I don't plan on sending you away anytime soon. I'm still not ovah the fact you snitched."
"I didn't snitch!" cried Johnny exhaustedly as Spot slammed the door closed.
Twist sighed and shook his head. He and Spot took a seat outside the closet and returned to their conversation.
"So Bolt's been actin' up, has he? I kinda noticed too. He ain't been around heah er the docks a whole lot. I don't even think he's been sellin' any papes. Have you seen 'im?"
Spot shook his head and replied, "Not really. I can't imagine this whole Crown Heights thing's been what's drivin' him crazy, ya know? I mean, does he even know about Crown Heights comin' down to the docks? I doubt it! He's second-in-command 'a Brooklyn, does he know what that means, Twist? Jesus. I don't even know what to think."
There was silence for a few, long moments. Then suddenly, a muffled voice broke it.
"Why don't'cha ask Emma?"
Spot stared at the closet door.
"What?" he asked slowly.
"That girl who tried sneakin' in the other night. She said she knows you, why don't'cha ask her?"
Spot stood up slowly, his eyes now glaring at the door. He opened it and stared at the meek form of Johnny, who looked up at Spot through squinted eyes. His jaw unhinged and closed again, searching for words in his racing mind.
"How d'you…What…" stuttered Spot, his heart starting to beat faster, his breath growing shorter with every passing second. "What're ya talkin' about?"
Johnny gave Spot a puzzled look and couldn't figure out why the Brooklyn leader was acting with such vivid emotion, that his stoic façade was suddenly shattered with the mere mention of Emma.
"Why did you say her name?" demanded Spot suddenly. His voice had jumped octaves and startled Johnny and Twist.
"I--I--I met Emma, she was in heah last night. Bolt brought 'er heah when everyone else left--"
"Bolt?!"
"Yeah! Eyes came an' picked 'er up! That's all I know!"
Johnny slinked back further into the corner of the closet, fearing the possible repercussions of such knowledge. Spot's face twisted into a combination of confusion and anger, and his clenched fist shook at his side while his eyes searched around the room aimlessly.
"Conlon?" asked Twist. "Ya a'right?"
"This is…I can't even…" panted Spot. "I gotta find Bolt."
Spot sprinted out of the bunkroom and bounded outside. He roamed the street frantically, thinking of any place Bolt might be located. All the while, he asked himself questions he couldn't imagine the answers to. What was Emma doing in the closet last night? Had she really tried to sneak in? Had Bolt known something about it? Why would he keep it from him?
Spot found Bolt walking out of Eyes's apartment building. He turned and saw Spot stomping toward him fast, with a stern, malicious expression taking over his entire face.
"Conlon--"
SMACK.
Bolt reeled backward and stumbled to the ground after Spot delivered an unexpected yet brutal punch to his nose. With no time to pause and question him, Bolt rolled over to dodge another hit. He jumped to his feet and tasted the blood dripping onto his lips. Spot charged at him once more and Bolt knocked him in the jaw. Bolt's balled up fists shook as Spot swiftly retrieved his slingshot and fastened it with a marble, the band stretched taut and merely inches from Bolt's face. The second-in-command gulped and glared at his opponent.
"Gonna shoot me, Conlon?"
"You know 'bout Emma?" demanded Spot.
Bolt's face fell, his shoulders slumping, his neck shifting downward.
"What--the hell--is goin' on?" shouted Spot. "Answer me, Bolt!"
"First of all," started Bolt, and he quickly knocked the slingshot out of Spot's hands before he could let go of the marble. "Don't point that shit in me."
"Swear to God, I'll load up another one 'less ya tell me what's goin' on!"
"A'right, what've you heard?"
Spot fumbled to get another marble, but within seconds he had his arm outstretched once more directed at Bolt.
"Johnny says she tried sneakin' in and you had Eyes take care of her. That true?"
"Yeah but--"
"It is true! Why didn't you tell me? What is she back for?"
Bolt eyed the slingshot and replied, "I ain't sayin' another world till you get that outta my face!"
The two boys remained still, the Brooklyn leader starting to tremble at the realization of it all. He lowered his weapon but glared icily at Bolt, his jaw clenched and stinging from the hit, and heart racing wildly.
"Look," started Bolt, "Emma came back an' she's a huge mess. She's got this marriage problem back in Philly, an' when I first saw 'er she just started cryin' real hard, didn't know why she was back. We talked the next day and she said her plan was to come back heah and talk to you…"
"Marriage?"
"Yeah but she didn't say yes, er some shit. Anyway, I didn't think her walkin' back in heah unannounced without any real plan was a good idea, so I was hidin' her with Eyes an' Thompson. I was gonna tell you, I just had to find the right time but--"
"What the fu--"
"--but apparently she don't want my help anymore. I was just up there checkin' on her and I found a note sayin' she's doing things her way now. It's all messed up, I don't even know where she is now…This is what I didn't want happening…"
"Jesus, Bolt…What, you didn't think I could handle it?"
"No, Conlon, as a matter 'a fact, I didn't! You didn't see the guy I saw when Emma left that day, you didn't see the pieces she left you in! Hell, just the mention 'a her name makes you point a goddamn slingshot in my face!"
"I did that 'cause you lied to me, Bolt! You kept her from me! That's why I almost shot you, 'cause you'se a traitor to me now!"
"Traitor, Conlon? That's what I am?"
"Yes! You'se dead to me, Bolt. Suppose it was you, then, who took the money from Clemens?"
Bolt sighed and looked down.
"That's what I thought. Had a feelin' but I tried to convince myself Bolt would nevah do a thing like that. Obviously I was wrong." Spot spat at the ground near Bolt's feet. "Don't bother comin' back to the lodgin' house, don't bother sellin' papes, don't even act like you know me or any 'a the guys! You'se a traitor, Bolt, an' you'se no part 'a Brooklyn anymore."
Spot turned on his heels and started trudging back toward the lodging house.
"Conlon, don't turn yer back on me like that! Think about who you're doin' that too!"
But Spot kept walking. He didn't break stride and he didn't look back. Bolt watched until he was completely out of sight until he turned his own back and walked away.
