Part II, Chapter XIII
April 13, 1902
Brooklyn, New York
The sun had yet to rise but Bolt had a feeling it wouldn't at all that morning--he had been staring out the window the entire night. There hadn't been stars or a moon. It had been cloudy but refused to rain, and for a strange reason, it unnerved him. He rested his chin on the windowsill and sighed uneasily.
Eyes hadn't come back to the apartment that evening and it worried Bolt. He didn't want everyone else to disown Eyes only because he was staying with them in the same apartment he had set up for Emma, before she broke free and decided to do things her way. Bolt shook his head and buried his face in his arms as he sat in a ball next to the window. The only question plaguing him, after having replayed the string of events in his mind, was What have I done?
Moments later, the doorknob turned and the door crept open. Bolt, the only person who was in the apartment for the night, stood slowly and cautiously.
"Eyes…Favorite food pickles," panted Eyes as he walked in.
"Where ya been?"
"Well, do I got a story fer you…"
Eyes limped across the room and picked up the kerosene lamp on the way. He crashed onto his mattress and light to flood the corner of the room. He noticed Eyes's rough appearance: his shirt had been torn at the collar and sleeve, his lip was fat and bleeding, and his right eye was swollen half-way shut and colored purple and red. Sweat beaded at his forehead and lip, and trickled down to his heaving chest. Bolt saw the hints of more bruises and scrapes from the holes in his shirt.
"What happened?" inquired Bolt.
"A'right, so last night…I was in the bunkroom…we was just sittin' 'round, drinkin', playin' cards…real calm, nothing' goin' on…All 'a sudden this rock comes crashin' in from the window, hit me in the shoulder…so I pick it up, has a note taped to it. So Conlon marches over an' takes it form my hands."
"What'd it say?" pressed Bolt.
"Couldn't read it well, handwritin' was all messy, but Conlon read it to 'imself and jus' said, Crown Heights, so we'se all take off to run after 'em. Conlon gave back all they weapons last night, too, so they took 'em 'an we ran. First guys out ran the fastest an' I think they shot one 'a the guys runnin' away. But when we get there, they was waitin' for us. So the guys in front stopped real short and we all gathered up behind a building to make sure everythin' was all clear fer us to go in there. One 'a the kids backed into an alley and got grabbed from behind, so a few of us get in there to help 'im but Crown Heights, they was ready fer us, they were packed into the fuckin' alley and got two more of our guys…Couldn't believe it, we was so off-guard, they almost ambushed us!"
"Did they get hold of any more?"
"I think maybe they did…I mean, I can barely remembah, it's such a fuckin' blur right now…I can't even…we was so off-guard, Bolt, I'm ashamed…I don' even remembah seein' Conlon there, but I don' know if that's 'cause I was fightin' off these punks er what. Seriously, those Crown Heights boys are fuckin' crazy…they fight dirty, an' even they leadah was goin' right in there and roughin' up some 'a the younger fellas. It was awful…An' the worst part is we had to bail! They was pullin' out broken wood pieces, chains, anything they could get their hands on."
Eyes shook his head and wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Bolt was speechless. He stared at the wall and let all the information spin around in circles in his mind. What bothered him most about Eyes' story was that he had no recollection of Spot being present.
"Shit, I almost forgot the worst part…They got hold 'a Johnny from the closet and took 'im back."
"What?"
"Yeah! We all ran back to the lodgin' house and Clemens was cleanin' up a bunch 'a broken glass downstairs and the bunkroom was a mess, all the mattresses cut up and bunks turned over and shit. Utility closet was open and no Johnny. Musta had a few boys stick 'round in hiding to take 'im back…Goddamn, we were so fuckin' unprepared, Bolt!"
Eyes got to his feet angrily and kicked at the wall. Bolt remained still and stared at the ground.
"I don' get that shit! Where the fuck was Conlon? He wasn't back at the lodgin' house when we got back."
Eyes angrily kicked at the wall. Bolt turned around and offered a sliver of hope, "Maybe he went uptown, talk to the boys ovah there."
"That's bullshit an' you know it, Bolt. Don't lie fer him. You know I think he's wrong but Conlon thinks you took the money an' kicked you out -- don't lie fer 'im when he betrayed you like that."
Bolt turned around at the accusation. He was ready to defend himself, to tell Eyes the real story, but he couldn't. He turned back around and shook his head. He felt his jaws clench and let the pain of his teeth crushing together envelope him. He grabbed the roots of his hair angrily until it hurt enough to let go. He exhaled a heavy breath and crawled over to the other side of the room to fall asleep without saying another word. Was this really his punishment? If only he had not tried protecting Emma and Spot from each other...Bolt shook his head. If only, if only...
Super short but I had to get back into this story somehow. More to come soon. Apologies for the absence.
