The Black Dress
By Katerina Lucero on Taps
Taps had seen the world.. well the United States but it was all the world she needed. he life was full of excitement, glamour and glory. but really she hated every second of it. Taps, Micah Webster, didn’t even know for sure what her real name was. she'd gotten the nick name in Boston. it was actually a rather interesting story to tell the truth.
She stepped into the bar eyeing the crowd. rich boys out for a cold one. "Perfect," she thought. She called out to the bartender and handed him her last nickel as he handed her drink over the bar. She gulped it down. It dripped down her throat so smoothly, so bitter and foul that drink was, she hated the taste. But loved the drink for all it would do for her. A man smiled from down the bar. She smiled back, offered a little wave and a wink. Within seconds he was at her side. Asking for a dance. She declined.This was going like clockwork. Same thing in every town. She watched as woman after woman was booed off the stage. Just like every other city she stopped in. smoothly. calmly and looking almost like ice despite her long dark hair and large brown eyes and pitch colorless black dress, she stepped up to the microphone. Men called out from the crowd. The same things all men said. "Hey good looking" and "hello gorgeous" oh how she hated men. She cued the pianist and began to sing. As she did the crowd stared up at her in awed silence. Her beautiful voice floating over the room like an angels. She started with a nice slow tune to get their attention and when she wasn’t booed off stage went on to pick up the pace in her second song. She stood up on that stage dancing with the beat then on the third song she kept the tempo up but hopped down from her perch to dance with the half drunk half tired from work men. This routine was getting dull but she put on a good show none the less dancing and singing. She made a point of switching partners every thirty seconds or so. That was all the time she ever needed. Then at the end of her third song, she'd step up to the bar where she left her bag, drop thirty or so wallets inside without anyone paying notice, and then head for the door. She waved goodnight and disappeared into the street. That particular night however something went a little differently.
She had thought it to be a particularly successful evening and was busy emptying wallets in an alley about three blocks from the bar she'd robbed blind. She grinned to herself as she counted up to two hundred dollars. Oh how she loved rich men for that. She dropped the last of thirty seven wallets into a trash can then set them ablaze. Once the fire was roaring high she sat down and began putting the money into her purse. A man grabbed her hand from behind however and held it tight.
"Well, well, what have we here?" He asked her as she turned to face him standing. He was tall, wore a black coat that fell down near his knees. He had a gray waist jacket on under it, a gun holster visible the gun loaded and on his left side, this was to her advantage, He was right handed and holding her arm in that exact hand, he wouldn’t be able to draw unless he let her go. His pants were gray also deeply creased and well taken care of. His hat, black, was a bowler, she wasn’t surprised, and a shiny ribbon ran around it at the base, his graying hair stuck out of the bottom only a little, he kept it well trimmed. She noticed all that in less than a second.
"Here we have a little girl who's just trying to get by!" she replied calmly looking up at him as if she'd done nothing wrong.
"Does this little girl have a name?" He asked her his grip not making the slightest of changes.
"She does, but she seems to have forgotten it. OOPS!" She said evenly although it wasn’t a total lie, she didn’t know for sure what her name was. It changed from time to time.
"Well then looks like you'll be Taps for the evening. I saw you at the bar. You’re a wonderful dancer. and not bad at singing either. But what I'm really interested in Taps is, who taught you to pull like that?" he asked taking the money from her with his left hand.
"Aint none of your business!" she replied flatly.
"I think it is. see I run this town, you're new to Boston, I'm sure I would have been told if a talent like you was running the streets. But I am not. I live here and have been making a good living for myself off of other peoples hard work. Now I have a proposition for you little lady....."
"I aint joinen no mob, dats what’s got me kicked outta every city from here to California! Thanks but no thanks!" She replied, taking her arm back to herself and shoving past him on the left side to get out of the alley. "You can keep the money." She headed away tucking his gun into her belt then pulling her shirt over top of it.
"Taps please hear me out. I’m the leaded of Boston’s largest gang and you would be in my highest ranks closest to me. You have real talent, I would hate to see it wasted. And such a pretty face. Nobody would ever suspect you to be behind anything!" He said, stepping out in front of her and laying his hands on her shoulders, "Please kid!" His right eye was lazy, she noticed.
"Don't call me Kid. The name's Taps and I don't like nobody calling me nothing else." She said calmly, removing his hands from her shoulders. "I'll give your little gang two weeks then I'm on me own again, on one condition." She told, him, staring him square in the eyes, Well, the left eye anyway, the right eye was wandering upward slightly.
"What’s that? I need you little lady." He smiled at her gratefully.
"Take that money and buy me the nicest dress in the city. I’m going dancing tomorrow night and I need to look presentable! This dress is torn and wont work!" She told him, indicating her dress, which was black. It had no sleeves and the top was close fitting over her form. The skirt had no crinoline underneath and fell flat, a slit had been torn in it in a fight, to high above her knees, and she loved the dress. How it made men so eager to dance with her, but it really wasn’t suitable.
Two weeks later she found herself on a train to New York City. This too was a usual thing for her, she carried with her only one dress besides the black one she wore and only enough money to pay for a drink at the bar she'd be working that evening. Lefty had begged her not to go but she'd kept her promise of two weeks. She'd work a few jobs, anything from pick-pocketing to gambling to grand theft even cleaning up a murder here and there, through her short life but she never stayed in one place more than two weeks, often because she didn’t have a choice, but mostly she just didn’t have that kind of time. And she couldn't get to know too many people. She liked it best when they had no idea who she was and neither did she. People usually kicked her out, and she was quite surprised when Lefty didn’t. She figured he likely would have had he known it was her that took his pistol that night.
She arrived in New York and headed to the bar dreading the thought of breaking the law again. That evening, things went the same as they always did. She was disappointed however when she only made twenty dollars. She decided the next night to try somewhere else and headed for Greenwich Village, where she curled up on a door step and fell asleep.
The next morning she was awoken quite earlier than she had planned by the door swinging open and hitting her back hard.
"What the?" She asked sleepily as an Irish boy tall and build, wearing dirty corduroy pants held up by gray suspenders, his chest was bare and his hair was a messy mop of brownish blonde, stepped out onto the door step looking down at her. She found him rather attractive, despite his more than rude entrance.
"Most people just ask for a bunk," he laughed.
"You laughing at me?" She asked standing slowly.
"No way, kid!" He threw his arms up to show he meant no harm.
"Don’t call me kid. Now what was you talkin about when youse said bout the bunks?"
"This is a lodging house, most newsies just come in and ask for a bunk to sleep in instead of settling for the doorstep. The names Thomas." His face reminded her a lot of a face she’d seen at the bar the night before, but she decided the bar was in Manhattan and there was no way it was the same person.
"Micah , um... Newsies?"
"Paper boys .. and girls"
"That good money?"
"Better than whatever your doing."
"Probably not, but where do I sign up?"
Not even a day had gone by when she met Johnny O ‘ Hera, the leader of a prominent gang in New York City. He stood across the road and watched her the whole day as she danced on the roadside to gather a crowd and couldn’t help but pick a few pockets between selling newspapers. He leaned against a tree on his left shoulder, his weight on his left foot, and his right foot crossed over the left, resting on the tip of his shiny black shoes. He wore black pants that had deep creases down the front. His jacket was hip length and also a deep black. His shirt however was white in deep contrast to the rest of his suit, she noticed his gun hung on his right side, he was left handed, she assumed. His hair was neatly trimmed, dark and didn’t stick out from under his hat much at all. His hat was a black bowler almost exactly like the one Lefty owned. She’d checked once in the garter on her leg for the gun she kept there and was glad to find it was still there. He knew who she was, and she knew it. In fact, she knew exactly what was on his mind as the day wore on. Time and time people would stop to talk to him and he would answer their hurried questions without removing his eyes from the girl, who pretended not to notice. His eyes stayed locked on her as she worked never once straying to something that might possibly be more interesting. Finally as the sun began to set Taps gathered her last two papers and headed over to him.
“You gunna buy a paper, or was you just interested in the show? Well either way you better pay up.” She said looking at him a paper held out to him. He took it and glanced at the page tossing her a dime.
“How are the headlines?” He pretended to be more interested in the headlines than her.
“Same as always.” He read the headlines written on the front page then folded the paper and tucked it under his arm.
“I know. I get the paper delivered and read it before I leave the house in the morning.” He replied gray eyes on Taps who acted like she got that a lot.
“You want change?” She asked fishing through her purse.
“No, but I’d like my wallet back.”
“Not many people notice that.” She said handing it back to him.
“I’m not many people. And the twenty dollars from inside, too please Taps.” She handed him the money as if it was nothing.
“No, you aint. Now lets just cut to the chase shall we? Lefty talked to you and you want my help. But I'M done with the whole business. I’m going straight. Thanks but no thanks.”
“Pull one job for me, and I’ll give you everything you could ever dream of. A car, a nice house in upstate. And the second the job is done and I pay up I’ll be out of your life forever, except of course you’ll be expecting a birthday present every year, no doubt, but you will never hear from me again. Come on, Taps what kind of girl passes up a beautiful house, a car, unlimited money, and jewelry that even the queen couldn’t afford?”
“What in the world is worth that much to you?”
“A girl.”
“No, no, no! I’m not a gangsters girl. I go for love and nothing else. I’m not going to be your little…”
“No you don’t understand. I hired a new guy couple of months ago. He was supposed to get a girl to meet me. I love that girl and want nothing but the best for her. She doesn’t even know who I am. It's probably for the better, but back to the story. Deakon was sent to get her to meet me. He raped her, she’s pregnant.”
“And you want him taken care of.”
“Exactly, Taps. I’ve heard nothing but good about you, and I want you to do this. I trust nobody else with the job.”
“Listen, I am a girl, and I’m only sixteen. I don’t do murders. I’ll clean up but…”
“Even for a lifetime of happiness?”
“What are my options?”
“Do it, or you’ve heard too much.” He replied shrugging a little and reaching for his gun.
“Has he got family? Friends? A girl? Anyone that will look for him?”
“No. He’s a drunkard nobody.”
“Bring him to me tomorrow. I’ll be at the same corner.” She turned and walked back to her lodging house.
The next day she met Deakon at noon. Johnny took them to lunch at a Chinese restaurant nearby. She hated Deakon from the moment she saw him. He was already drunk. What kind of moron gets drunk before noon? She thought. As they got to know each other better she made plans for his death and the clean up. This would be easy the way she planned it. She’d shoot him in the back, steal a carriage and then take the body to the harbor set it an a rowboat she'd set there ahead of time, soaked in gasoline and then set the whole thing ablaze, then set it afloat. The fire department would be there momentarily, she would be by that time on the way back to the park with the carriage, where she would ditch it in the lake “accidentally,” to get rid of blood stains and other such things. Then get away and head for upstate New York with Johnny.
Something went wrong however on the night that she had picked. As she followed Deakon from the bar to the park she made sure everything was were it should be. The carriage was at the gates to Central Park and the driver was nowhere in sight thanks in no small part to Johnny. Deakon wore old clothing too small and too dirty. Stained with beer and other alcohol from times he’d spilled it and not bothered to clean up. He was unshaven and hadn’t taken a shower in easily a week and a half. He reeked so badly a person without scent would have cringed at the stench. He staggered as he walked. She wore a red dress. Low cut in the front a corset top and a full length red skirt that had a single black embroidered vine running down the right side and coming to the center near the bottom. It twisted up and around her back and to end in a black embroidered flower just below her right shoulder on the front side. She noticed a girl on the park bench and knew she should wait until he’d passed her. He stopped however as he came to her and began to speak. Taps couldn’t hear for the distance she was away. Deakon pulled the girl to her feet and she retaliated with a knife. In no time, to Taps’ horror he lay dead in a rather large pool of his own blood. ‘This is not good. Now I’ll have to get the girl away them deal with all that blood too.’ She thought annoyed. The girl collapsed, and a man, indescribable in the dark, rushed to her side. She jumped and then relaxed as words were spoken. She pointed to the body. The boy looked then looked back at her and kissed her. Taps, being close to the road heard a car approach and hid in behind some brush silently. A boy stepped out and walked toward them she tried to focus but the night was dark and the clouds made the moon disappear which would have been her only source of light. He rushed to the pair and a hurried conversation was had between the two gentlemen as the girl fainted away. ‘Little baby,’ Taps muttered under her breath. The two boys picked up the body and started away with it, leaving the girl there. Taps followed close behind them, but far enough so they wouldn’t hear or feel her. One was used to doing things like this. The other was shaky. They tossed the limp body into the lake. The one filled his cap with water and they returned to the scene of the crime. The boy dropped the hat and tried to wipe the blood away. The second boy opened the fire hydrant and let the water spray all over the sidewalk. ‘Good move,’ she thought. The first boy took the girl and placed her in the back seat of the car then the two got in the front seats and disappeared. Taps wasted no time. She ran back to the carriage and took it to the lake. She grabbed the body which had floated to the top and placed it with some difficulty into the carriage being careful not to be seen. She got back onto the carriage and directed the horse to the harbor. She dropped the body into the boat pushed it out onto the ocean and tossed a match onto it and it instantly burst into flames. She got back into the carriage and rode back to the park. She drove the horses past the fire hydrant which sufficiently cleaned off the blood from inside the carriage and then left the carriage there. As she stepped out of the park however there stood the carriage driver pointing at her surrounded by several police officers. A whistle blew and she bolted.
They chased her a good few blocks before she was grabbed from behind and a hand slipped over her mouth. She struggled furiously and even tried to bite the hand that held her inside the courtyard. She heard the police run past the yard but couldn’t see them for the trees and bushes surrounding the yard.
A few moments later she found herself in the kitchen of the boys house. Keiran, lived alone except for his cousin who was laying on the couch looking rather sick to her stomach and Thomas who obviously didn’t live there. Thomas and the girl sat in the Living room having a quiet conversation and Taps felt slightly lost for the first time. She found she couldn’t keep from staring into Keiran's eyes. They seemed to capture her ever time she looked at him. Finally he said:
“Don’t hang your head, you're not inferior to me.” She gave him a half grin.
“I probably am, but that’s not the problem its your eyes. They’re incredible.” She said softly.
“Really?” the conversation that followed put her surprisingly at ease. When it came to a tense sort of silence she turned her head back to the floor and gently bit her lip.
“Oh, no I cant, you didn’t say I could!” Keiran said out of the blue striking Tap’s curiosity. He turned away swiftly.
“What? You cant what?” she asked looking up at him.
“Fall for you.”
“Oh..” she looked down again. “I didn’t realize you had to ask. .. well in that case, can I fall for you?” she asked turning her eyes back up to him.
“I.. oh.. you?” he stuttered blushing. She looked down biting her lip gently again. “You… don’t do that.” He said quietly.
“What? I’m sorry.” She said afraid of hurting him or doing something to make him mad.
“No, its okay its just… tempting.” He smiled. She couldn’t help but grin. She looked down again biting her lip softly for lack of anything else to do.
“Oh forget it!” He grabbed her and kissed her, scaring her at first but she settled into the kiss returning it and gently wrapping her arms around his neck. He softly held her around the waist kissing her like she’d never felt before. She’d been afraid of falling for him afraid of being hurt. She’d been hurt, only kissed by one other person who’d denied it in front of his friends. She’d cried about it. She hated crying. She had cried on Thomas’ shoulder. She hated that even more. She knew better than to trust anyone with her emotions. She had been afraid of Keiran stealing her heart, not only was she afraid of being hurt, she was afraid of him being hurt when he found out who she was, what she was. She had been afraid but she wasn’t , she was just glad to be held and happy. He pulled away slowly blushing. She grinned at him then he jumped away looking furious.
“Oh geez!” He said. Taps got ready to run, or hurt him. She was hurt deeply that he hadn’t liked that as much as she had.
“What?” she asked shortly.
“Oh Thomas scared me.” He said. Taps turned to see Thomas leaning on the door frame laughing a little.
“I see you two are getting along well.” He laughed stepping next to Taps who punched his shoulder hard.
“We didn’t do nothing wrong!” She defended herself as he rubbed the rising bruise on his shoulder. Moments later and after another quick kiss Taps rushed out into the early.. very early morning. She arrived at her lodging house in time for everyone else to wake up and head out to work. She collapsed on her bunk falling asleep before she even felt the pillow on her head.