Chapter 28: A Living Hell

A/N: And yet another familiar character joins the party. For the record Bet doesn't talk much in this chapter because whenever she's played by anybody I've ever seen she always has that sort of head-in-the-clouds quality and she doesn't talk a lot. So that's how I've portrayed her here. R&R! Enjoy m'dears.

Warning: Contains a sad Nancy, some intense words exchanged, and a new girl.

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"I win again," Dodger cried triumphantly as Nancy finished putting her lipstick on. She batted her eyes at herself in the bit of glass that served as her mirror, it was good practice. She could hear Charley groan and give Dodge a shove. The two of them had become thick as the thieves they were over the past week. It was Dodger and Charley, Charley and Dodge. The names were synonymous and the two were inseparable. Needless to say Dodger had found the laughing new kid to be his new partner before long at all. They came back with the best picks and once again Fagin praised Nancy for her genius in bringing the child back. And, while Charley's knack for hitting the bottle had leveled out considerably, he had been known to get in trouble for it on occasion. Even when the evening hours fell Charley slept across Dodger's feet at the end of his bed, finding it shockingly more comfortable then the floor.

"Playin' cards are we Dodge?" she laughed as she combed out her hair, uselessly in her opinion.

"Winnin' at cards," Charley corrected with a chuckle. If there was one thing that kid was, it was happy. He couldn't even be decently mad at somebody no matter how hard he tried.

"Goin' out for the evening Nance?" Dodge asked as Nancy grabbed her shawl and headed for the door.

"Aren't I usually Dodge?" She may not have been okay with her profession now, but she was certainly a bit less ashamed of it. A bit, being meant to mean that she could now at least have it mentioned without wanting to go bury her head in the sand.

"Going out a bit early this evening aren't we my dear?" Fagin asked curiously. He was bent over his books, ink stains covering his hands and much of the page.

"New girl Clara wants me to train," Nancy said. The idea of it made her sick. Train. As if this new girl was some dog being taught to do a trick. As if this wasn't going to be some desperate young woman with nowhere else to turn for income. Some broken shell of a girl she was going to have to put the finishing touches on. The fact of the matter was it wasn't as though she would be teaching Bulls-Eye a new trick. The only thing Nancy would be teaching this girl how to do would be a profession that had brought Nancy to hate herself. And now she was passing that self hate on to somebody else. Charming, no?

"See you when you get back my dear," Fagin replied with an understanding nod. Nancy bid goodbye to the boys and headed out the door towards the tavern.

It was a particularly cold night tonight, good for business. She wondered who all would show up tonight. It seemed the strangest characters came out of the woodwork in the winter. Some of them became regulars at the tavern only to turn about and disappear as soon as the weather got warm again. Nancy sighed as she entered the tavern and headed upstairs to Clara's room. It was where most of the girls got ready before the job. That was the scene Nancy entered to when she arrived at the tavern around ten that evening. Instantly she had to gag, the place wreaked of cheep perfume. Not that she didn't wear the same stuff, but it seemed it was continually being sprayed in here. Girls were fighting over mirrors and brushes. Grabbing this lipstick and that, reaching for the mascara. It was not the most sanitary place in the world.

"Nance!" Clara called in that annoyingly high pitched voice of hers. Nancy gritted her teeth and forced a fake smile onto her face as she walked towards her "mentor" in the establishment where she found herself employed.

"Clara," she returned with her painfully fake smile. "Where is she?" There was nothing happy in her voice as she asked that question, Nancy did not want to have to do this at all.

"In a good mood tonight Nance?" Clara joked. Nancy's face was so absolutely morbid that the laughter died in Clara's throat. "She's this way."

Clara led Nancy to the far back wall of the room. A young girl was standing there with her face towards the corner, trying to get some fresh air and away from the perfume no doubt. She was not completely unfortunate looking, in fact, she was quite pretty. The girl was probably two years younger then Nancy, easily far too young to be doing this kind of thing. She had blond hair that was in desperate need of a combing and it hung clear down her back. Her eyes were blue, but it was a thin watery kind of blue. They were piercing though, the kind of thing that really could break your heart if they shed a tear. Luckily for Nancy the girl was smiling, one of the most dazzling and purely happy smiles that Nancy had ever witnessed. That too was enough to break Nancy's heart, because she knew the poor thing wouldn't be smiling much longer. At least, not that kind of smile. If she chose to smile at all it would be a fake smile just like the rest of them wore. One she put on to keep from falling apart completely.

"Bet?" Clara said. It was tone Nancy had never before heard Clara use, it was soft, compassionate. As if she was speaking to a little girl just waking up from her nap. Bet, as the girl's name turned out to be, looked over at Clara with wide eyes. "This is Nancy, the girl I was telling you about remember?" Bet nodded, she was not exactly one for words, but she seemed nice enough. Nancy's guess was the poor thing was shy. Shy, a prostitute! Nancy couldn't even imagine.

"Hello there Bet," Nancy said with the kindest smile she could manage.

"Clara says you'll get me ready," Bet said. Her voice had a bell tone to it, it was truly gorgeous. Nancy wondered why she didn't speak more often with a voice like that.

"That's right, you and I are gonna get along jus' great," Nancy said smiling. "Come on, 'ow about a dress for ya, huh? A real pretty one with lace?"

With that Bet was led off to another room where Nancy showed her how to dress and taught the young girl the right things to say. It was wrong, so wrong seeing a girl this young stuck in the trade. Bet nodded quietly and smiled politely, speaking only to inform Nancy she could skip the more intimate details because she already knew about all that. She was a real sweetheart, which was making Nancy feel all the worse for her. The smile stayed plastered on the young girl's face the whole time. It was only when Nancy was ready to go downstairs with the girl that the smile faltered if only for a second. Nancy was holding the door open waiting for the girl to go first, but Bet seemed frozen in place.

"Nancy," she whispered quietly. "Can you be honest with me for a second?"

"Course," Nancy replied shutting the door to block out the noise of the tavern. It was hard enough to hear the girl's strangled whispers as it was.

"What's it like?" Bet whispered. "What you do for a living, what's it like?" Despite the noise pouring from downstairs and the laughter in the next room over, it was dead silent where the two of them were. So quiet that you could've heard the both of their hearts beat without having to strain your ears. Nancy looked close to tears as she whispered her reply.

"It's hell," she choked. There were no other words for it, what Nancy did was her own living hell. "Bet," she said suddenly, her voice earnest. "If you 'ave another option, any other choice at all, don't follow me downstairs. Don't do this unless you're going to starve to death without it." Her voice was grave before she continued with macabre laughter "No I take it back, go starve. It'd be better then what you're about to do." Nancy yanked open the door, her heart heavy with sorrow when Bet's soft little voice rang behind her, clear as a bell.

"Thank you."

Nancy nodded before opening the door and heading downstairs. Moments later, she saw Bet descend the stairs, and head off towards a likely customer.