Chpt. 5

 

 

I just sold papers and avoided Belle’s questions about Spit’s younger sister. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel for the younger girl but I had to take care of me and my family before I started worrying about being a bleeding heart. Then strangely I hated myself a little for my feelings, what if Silk and Satin had felt the same way? I’d be dead by now if that was the case.

Sighing I threw the few papers I had left into a gutter and walked back home. I had about an hour and a half before the second whistle blew to signal me to get my afternoon papers and I just wanted to go relax after this morning’s craziness. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and I was exhausted. Unsurprisingly, I found Jesse reclining in the sun on the front steps. I gave him a slightly worried smile as I approached. It took Belle about three seconds after she saw him to run straight to him and leap onto his stomach. I heard his muffled grunt that preceded his warm smile. Sitting her on his forearm, Jesse struggled up one-handed to his feet; all the while Belle’s tiny arms were wrapped around his neck. Smiling at him he held out his hand for me to take. I shook it but didn’t hold onto it as I wanted to, we were two "boys" standing in the middle of the street, we’d both have been beaten within an inch of our lives and I didn’t know what they would do to my Belle so I didn’t take that risk.

I saw he looked a little hurt at this but seemed to keep it in check.

"Are you sure it’s safe for you to be here?" I asked him softly, "what about Jet?" he shrugged and tickled Belle’s chin.

"I figured if it was safe for you then it’ll be safe enough for me." he gave me that boyish grin that told me he had no idea how much real danger he could be in by entering the Treasure Chest again, but I would never ban him from here because he wanted to see Belle and it was good for her. (Besides I wasn’t sure I wanted to give him up yet) Jet was a powerful woman who held even more powerful men "in the palm of her hand" and I lay my life on the line every time I can home from selling.

"I take it you wanna come in?" I sighed a little,

"It’d be nice." Was his answer. I lead the way up the front steps and into the dim theater. Candles hidden by dirty glass holders lit the dingy, burgundy painted walls and the whole hallway looked frightening and dark. Jesse seemed on edge and he held Belle closer to him and watched the men and women passing us with a combination of distrust and fascination. I smiled or nodded my head at a few of the ladies (and one or two of the men) that I’d known for years. Once we passed the sapphire colored curtains to the stage area, Jesse’s jaw hit the burgundy carpet when he caught sight of the portraits of the girls staring at him from either fake jeweled frames or the ones draped wit fabrics. (The jewels and fabrics coincided with the girls "name")

"They’re not real jewels," I hissed to him, "now you have got to keep quiet from here on in. Jet could be anywhere." Jesse nodded that he understood and even put one finger on Belle’s lips and shook his head even though Belle had lived here for her entire life, she knew what to do. But my little girl nodded solemnly and kept her mouth closed as we snuck around tables and seats filled with many men and a few well-to-do women. Jesse paused, eyes fixed on stage, I crept back to him and followed his eyes up to the lightened stage.

Upon it was one of the younger girls, she called herself Songbird and clad herself in a brown dress with a red skirt that ruffled around her feet. She put up a nice front as a singer and I had to admit she was good. (Yes I suppose that she’s sort of pretty too but ya won’t hear me sayin’ it.) I elbowed Jesse and gestured to the door,

"Who is that?" he asked me. I felt a bit of sick jealousy in my chest and stomach at the tone of his voice and the look on his face as he watched her prance along on stage. "Songbird. She’s usually upstairs or in that back ‘entertaining’, but she loves to get up on stage too." I tried to keep the scorn out of my voice, but he didn’t seem too much care. I shrugged and crawled through the door, Jesse was close behind me.

"So you know that girl?" I nodded mutely, I didn’t mind him talking as we were in one of the back hallways, but I was trying to quell this line of questioning. I didn’t,

"How?" a small sigh escaped my lips.

"Our birthdays are within the same week and we’re the same age as well."

"But I thought you didn’t know that stuff about yerself?"

"I don’t. Satin gave them to me. Songbird’s mother lived here too, arrived soon after Songbird was born." I trailed off here hoping he would understand; instead he just gave me that clueless, supportive grin, waiting for me to continue. With another sigh I did, "Because we both turned 13 at the same time, we were both given our first customers the same night. Three men came in and they all wanted Songbird, she took them all that very night. You were sent to me." I said that last part with no scorn or resentment (I knew that I’d never be that great of a w***e) but he still looked more then a little guilty, "She constantly scorned me after I got pregnant," here I stroked my sleepy baby’s hair, "Satin’s found Songbird is barren, or course she may be a little jealous of me. But we’d fallen out years before that.

"She was wonderful at Silk’s ‘lessons’ and always excelled in physical things, but everyone seemed to like me a little better. I was quieter and helpful, compassionate I suppose; I was always helping Satin patch the girl’s up and such. I’d sit with them and listen to their stories of customers they’d had or their lives before they walked through those doors." I turned and looked at him, "You may not realize it but these girls had dreams, some of the younger ones still do. Dreams that one customer will fall madly in love with them, pay Jet and take them away. They’ll have children and grow old, never having to entertain another man but the one who loves them again. But of course, it’s never happened." I saw he was smiling at me,

"What?"

"Are all of you girls such romantics?" I shrugged,

"Jesse, there is no way you can tell me that ya’ve never had some kinda dream er nuttin." I saw him start to shake his head, "What do you wanna have happen ta ya when yer older?" here he shrugged and swung Belle up into his arms as she started to fall asleep.

"I dunno, I suppose I want what most guys really want, not that most’ll tell ya, ya know?" I shook my head at him,

"No, Jesse I don’t know. Come on, please tell me?" I turned on all of my newsie charm and looked at my pathetically, he laughed.

"Alright! Alright! I wanna get ‘n apartment I suppose…nice wife, couple kids, ya know? Decent job, the usual." I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining Jesse as an older man, coming home from a factory job to two kids throwing their tiny arms around his legs as he kissed a faceless woman in a skirt and apron. The thought silently broke my heart. Because I knew how slim the chances were that I’d marry. It may not later be so for Belle, but it was for me.

We’d reached the almost safety of Satin’s small room. Here I paused and knocked on the door, Satin opened it and her eyes sparkled to see me with Belle in my arms and Jesse at my side.

"Come in! Please come in. It’s a mess in here, I was just napping when I heard you knock." She took a squirming Belle from me and took both me and Jesse into her warm smile. "I never thought we’d see you around here again young man, not after what happened with Jet." Jesse shrugged and returned her smile.

"I hate to ask, Satin, but could you watch Belle for the night? Jesse has something he wants to tell me." Satin gave Jesse a slight look, but he didn’t catch it, she smiled at Belle.

"You know I love watching your little girl, Velvet."

"Satin!" Belle chirped, Satin laughed as Belle threw her arms around her neck.

"Go ahead, and be careful." Satin’s eyes flashed to Jesse again, but again he didn’t notice, "Jet could be anywhere and I think you two should steer clear of her for now." She covered for herself, and it really was good advice. I smiled back and her and hugged her and then my Belle, also giving Belle her kiss goodnight.

"I’ll come back for her later Satin." She laughed and waved us on,

"No worries, take your time. Be young for a little while. Lord knows you both deserve it."

I was silent as I lead the way back to my room, even Jesse didn’t speak. I knew he knew what I wanted from him. I wanted his story. He had mine, I wanted the same courtesy. He sat at the head of mine and Belle’s cot, back in the corner of the hard-packet dirt walls, sneakers pressed into the material of our blanket. I sat at the foot, my back also pressed against the wall, my eyes fixed on the door, my mind fixed on him.

"Where’d ya come from Jesse?" he sighed a little as if I’d asked him to slice off his hand. "It ain’t half as interesting as where ya did."

"Don’t matter, I still wanna know." I could tell he was trying to get out of it.

"I don’t know Vel…"

"Isn’t Belle gonna wanna know someday? Might wanna get it right now." He caved, I could almost see his defenses and excused crumble before my eyes.

"Oh… alright… you win… I was living in Vermont, that’s where my family was, ‘n’ that’s where I worked as a stable boy... My family wasn’t great off, but who is really? We had five kids including me, ‘n’ my ma ‘n’ pop. My sister Hallie was married ‘n’ outta da house; my older brother Jack was workin’ on being a carpenter wit my ol’ man, ‘n’ Sally ‘n’ Ryan were too little ta do nutin. So the logical thin’ fer me ta do was ta go find a job. So I did. "I found a big place, lots a land ‘n’ horses ‘nd got myself hired as a stable boy. Dere was a huge mansion inna valley wit huge mountains all around, mountains covered wit trees. Big green pastures that seemed ta go on forever. I swear da stables were a quarter mile long ‘n’ two stalls deep. An’ da horses! A regular equine rainbow! But ‘nyways, dare was dis head groom, new guy ya know? Real jackass if ya’ll pardon my language in front of a lady. ‘round ‘bout 24, brown hair, almost black eyes dat could burn holes in ya if ya screwed up. Scary guy, slick as grease ‘n’ charmin’ as a snake. "So, one day we’re all goin’ down ta sleep in onna the empty box stalls towards the end, ‘bout six er seven boys ta a stall. ‘cept Markus. He got his own. Right next ta ours ‘n’ my place was right next to the wall that separated them. I got up after all the boys were asleep cause I had ta check the dressing on a horse’s leg cause he’d hurt it earlier in the day. So ‘m sneakin’ back so I don’t wake up ‘ny of the other boys, an’ as ‘m getting close ta my stall ‘m hearin’ voices from Markus’s stall. Bein’ the curious little bugger I am I peeked my face around the corner ‘n’ really wished I hadn’t. Da Boss’s pretty young wife ‘s rollin’ round in da hay wit Markus, dey wasn’t wearin’ a stitch between um. "Thing that scared me the most was that the Boss’s wife rolled over and just looked at me. My breath caught in my chest as she smiled, Markus looked fit ta be tied. She laughed this little bell-like laugh ‘n’ crooked her finger at my suggestively, ‘You’re sort of a cute one aren’t you? Want to join us?’ it didn’t really seem ta me that it was a request but I shook my head ‘nyways. She didn’t look happy but laughed anyway, ‘fine then. I will see you later on then Markus…maybe.’ She then got up, slipped on her fancy nightdress, and left. Markus lay there for a few seconds, staring after her stupidly, then he turned those black eyes on me, I froze like a rabbit instead a runnin’ like a fool, which I should have done. He leapt up out of the hay, eyes on fire as he snatched at my throat, holding it tightly, he glowered down at me as I shook in fear.

‘Tell anyone what happened here ‘n’ ‘ll kill ya, ya understand?’ I started ta nod as best I could. He still glared down at me, I’d so hoped he’d let me go, his hands were starting to cut off my air. ‘lets see if she still wants ya after ‘m done wit ya, ya little whelp.’ Without another second’s hesitation Markus threw me to the ground and I was too scared to even move, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me into an empty birthing stall. There he lashed my hands and feet to the walls, slack so I still lay, but I was so petrified the leather seemed ta be biting into my skin. Next he just disappeared for a few minutes, I had broken out in a cold sweat, I didn’t know what he was going to do. Finally he came back, his trousers in place, a long riding whip in his hand.

Next he relieved me of my clothes as best he could without unbinding me, he also slipped a strap of leather in my mouth saying that if I knew what was good for me I’d bite down on it. In horror I watched him draw back one of those powerful arms, the one with the whip tight in its grip, it finally dawned on me what he meant to do. He meant to scar me and scar me good, to pay for my curiosity. My eyes were squeezed tight shut to hold back tears the whole time the braided leather bit into my flesh, mostly the tenderest parts. I had tried my hardest not to cry out, but I’m sure a few times a cry or whimper issued from my throat. After what seemed like an hour, I swear I couldn’t take anymore pain or I felt I’d die, he stopped. I slit open my eyes and watched him, still glaring at my now bruised and bleeding body, then he just walked away. I lay there a while longer, waiting for a little of the pain to ebb away, then I pulled one of my arms down close to my mouth and did my best to untie it. Thankfully it seemed my thrashing had loosened Markus’s knots and I slipped my wrists out with no further difficulty other then the few drops of blood on my right wrist where my bonds had sliced my skin.

Painfully pulling up my pants and settling my shirt back into place. The coarse fabric felt like sandpaper rubbing against my tender, bleeding flesh, but I got up anyway. I started walking. I walked past everything. I ended up not stopping for days, finally I passed out from pain and exhaustion, I hunted for food and water, I slept in the deep roots of a tree for days, trying to regain my strength.

"Finally, I made my way into New York City. I found some boys who took me in, taught me the newsie ropes and finally ended up seeing the scars on my chest and stomach and guessing that they went all the way down. Now that I think about it, he might have been the one who scraped up enough money to pay Jet for you. I remember what you looked like, ya had this thin little dress on, it was the color of a new peach in summer, I remember it was fuzzy to, prolly had ta do wit yer name huh? Yer hair was all curled and pretty ‘n’ ya had some funny stuff all over yer face. Ya gave me this big-eyed look as if ya’d had no idea why I was there. I just held tight ta the advice my friend had given me. I pushed ya gently in the direction of the bed, looking scared and defeated, ya sat down on the edge, then lay down on yer back, while I pulled off my shirt and was starting in my trousers. Then, pulling yer pretty skirt up ta yer waist an’ laid down on top of ya. Then I deflowered ya ‘n’ followed the little tip I’d picked up and my friend’s motto, ‘if it feels good, do it’. I just had lay my head down on yer tiny chest, my eyes closed. Finally I was finished and I looked up at yer face. I pulled away and half wrapped myself in a blanket, there were tears streamin’ down yer face ‘n’ it made me feel horrible. Even though for a split second I thought ya were crying because of how clumsy I was, scars and all, but then some little thing in yer face ‘n’ the way ya flinched away from me that ya were in pain... Wholly ashamed of myself, I pulled back on my clothes and covered ya wit a blanket as I left; I didn’t know what else ta do. Silently, I knew I wouldn’t be able ta do that again, not when I had yer tearstained cheeks burned into my memory. So I never did, I never subjected ‘nybody ta my scarred body again…" with a sigh Jesse leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. I looked at him with a pair of new eyes, eyes that remembered how he’d looked four years ago. Nervous, jerky movements as he’d lowered the lamp almost completely so I could barely see him. I remembered gripping the coverlet in pain, and trying just to think about it being over. Vaguely I remembered something raised against the inside of my thighs, those scars?

Curious, but unwilling to put him through anything else, I settled for sitting quietly, trying to keep my heart from singing that he hadn’t slept with anyone else either, because it was a painful reason why. Emotionally exhausted Jesse leaned back against the wall, I just watched him. His eyes were closed and I took this chance to better inspect his skin, at least the little not covered by all his clothes. Just jutting out of the collar of his shirt was a small lash mark that I’d never noticed before. Without thinking I reached out my hand and started to trace it. I gasped when one of his hands came up and latched onto my small wrist,

"Do us both a favor, don’t." he said, tone flat… dead. I sighed and pulled back my hand. Not completely trusting my own voice I whispered,

"Thank you Jesse. I’m sorry." He gave a sharp snort of almost humorless laughter.

"What the hell are ya thankin’ me fer?" I half shook my head as I started to think of a proper answer to that, finally settling for,

"For trusting me." He gave another bit of that humorless laugh and just poked me in the side of the stomach. I jumped and squeaked a little, then slapped my hands over my mouth in embarrassment. Jesse opened his eyes and tilted his head back down to stare at me. I felt the blush rush to my cheeks, staining them a deep red. A slow smile appeared on Jesse’s face, he poked me again, again I squeaked. His forlorn look turned into one of delightful curiosity, he tickled me, I let out a breathy laugh. Jesse half tackled me and started tickling me furiously, I laughed, hard. I’d never realized it before; I’m really ticklish, to the point where I was screeching breathlessly within minutes.

"Jesse stop! Please!" he laughed, starting to get out of breath himself,

"Nope!" he cried loudly. All of a sudden the plank door of my room smashed open, standing there in her dark, foreboding glory, stood Jet, blond hair in perfect order, black eyes blazing at us both.

"Little b***h! Ungrateful little w***e child! How dare you spit my offer of work back in my face, then barely a few years later bring customers into my own basement!" my lungs seized up as they always had when I was small, I shrunk back and somehow pulled myself out from under Jesse.

"J-j-jet… I-I-I n-never…"

"Don’t lie to me! Ever! Get out you little b***h! Get out of my house!" my muscles were weak, but I went and gathered my few things and shoved them in the old sack I had. Without warning a felt a deep rage boil up in my chest, all my weak muscles were suddenly wire tight,

"Stop screaming at me you poisonous w***e! I never did anything but try to please you! Then the one SECOND that I don’t you hate me for the rest of my life! So you know what? GO TAKE IT OUT ON ONE OR YOUR COSTOMERS BECAUSE I’M THROUGH!"

 

For the rest of the day

Reviews

[Brette Medb]

Wow. Jet is definitely a b***h. I loved this chapter... there is one thing though, halfway through Jesse's story you put the end in the middle. Other than that fantastic chapter!

Brette

[Corey Lunare-]

This was an extremely intese chapter. Poor Jesse...you did a great job of showing the pain he went through when hewas whipped alon with the pain he felt when he had sex with Vel...I have a feeing that this i going o start getting tougher for Vel and belle. I can't help but be afraid of what the next couple chapters may tell me. Shivers down my spine tell me things will go downhill (if thatseven possibl considering her situation). You've done a marvelous job on this chapter Dream! And as always i cnnot wait to read the next insallment!