Chapter 2

Slick was sitting on the floor of the bunkroom playing Solitaire. She was alone in the room. She had almost beaten herself at the game when abruptly the door flew open. She looked up to see none other then her brother Wilhelm standing before her. He stood so tall. He was a few inches over six feet. His blonde hair was matted to his head and his cold blue eyes pierced through Slick's. He wiped some drool from his mouth and came barreling towards her. The small girl screamed as she was lifted off the ground by her right arm. Wilhelm pulled her up towards him, "Wheah you been you stupid little rat?!" He slurred. He wreaked of whiskey. Slick tried frantically to free herself from his grasp. That only made him tighten his grip and smack her hard across her mouth with his free hand, "You stupid bitch!! You ran away from us! I ain't makin near da money I should be!" He commensed to drag her towards the door. The hysterical girl kicked Wilhelm in his shin as hard as she could and began to whirl her little fists towards him. Her brother in return punched her in the jaw and dropped her to the ground, "Fine you wench! We'll do dis da hard way!" He then grabbed her by her curly hair and began to drag her out by it.

Spot shook Slick lightly. She always had these nightmares. Tornado was more then sick of it. He said if he was woken up one more time by it he'd take matters into his own hands. Spot didn't like the sound of that at all. He whispered, "Slick wake up! It's a dream." She jerked out of her sleep and saw Spot. She sighed relieved, "I didn't scream dis time did I?" He shook his head, "Naw I think I caught ya in time. If I would've waited any longah doah ya would've been screamin awright." She nodded, "Thanks." Spot frowned, "Ya ain't gonna tell me what it was 'bout are ya?" Slick shook her head, "Nope." She laid back down and pulled the covers up, "Night." He sighed, "Night." He walked back over to his bunk.

She had been at the Brooklyn lodging house for about a year now. She'd told Spot about her past, most of it at least. Yet, Slick still tried to be as vague as possible. She'd only tell him something after much prodding. Tonight Spot was too exhausted to pry.

*~~~~~~~~~*

The next evening the newsies were hanging out in the bunkroom playing poker and other assorted games. Slick was playing jacks in the far corner of the room. She still secluded herself from the other newsies most of the time. She watched them all out of the corner of her eye. Spot was at the table playing poker with his buddies. Many of them with cigarettes in hand, blowing smoke around the room.

Tornado entered the room loudly. His sadistic smirk was very evident on his face tonight. More then usual. It made Slick's skin crawl. This was no normal smirk. Something had to have happened in his favor. Something big. He sauntered over to the table. All the boys sat at attention. They knew that their leader was going to disclose something to them. Tornado grinned widely, "Guess who was at the shipyards this evening?" Eyes widened across the room. They all knew what went on at the shipyards, but none more then Slick. She continued to play jacks as if nothing was going on but she kept her ears alert. The boys started in, "What happened Tornado? What'd ya do?" Tornado quieted them with a raising of his hand. They all promptly shut their mouths and waited in eager anticipation.

He began, "Tonight boys is da night dat Tornado Manadrelli became a man." He beamed, "I went down ta wheah dat guy Konrad sells his whores. I picked none uddah den one a his very own sistahs." Spot immediately turned his head to Slick in the corner. He sure hoped that she wasn't hearing any of this. She was still playing jacks and seemed unaffected. He assumed that she hadn't heard. Which was of course a good thing.

Slick shuddered slightly hearing about her sisters. She'd always disliked Tornado from day one. Now it was personal. She continued to play jacks but kept listening. Tornado went into great detail about how this girl looked. No feature was left out. He began to go into even more detail about the evening's events. Slick could take no more of it and she headed towards the window. She had to get out of that room. She slid through the window and up the escape.

Spot saw her and inwardly groaned. She had heard. He began to walk towards the window to talk to her. Tornado stopped him, "Don't ya wanna heah da rest a me story Spot?" Spot turned around, "Uh yeah shoah I do. It's jist dat I think sum a da things ya said might've upset Slick a little. She is a goil. Dey don't like ta heah bout dis sort a thing." Tornado laughed, "So what? You gonna go be a goil too and join her up dere? Am I leavin da leadaship a Brooklyn ta a sissy boy?" The other boys began to laugh along with Tornado. Spot was so conflicted now. If he went up the escape he'd be thought of as a wuss. If he stayed down in the bunkroom he'd be letting Slick be upset alone. He thought for a moment. Tornado mocked, "Go on Spot. Go play wit da goils. Maybe tamorrow ya can borrow a dress from her." That made the boys go into hysterics. Spot blushed a deep red. Maybe it was best to stay downstairs. After all, Slick knew her sisters were whores. She had to be used to it by now. He shook his head, "Naw she'll be fine. I'll stay heah." He stayed and listened to every disgusting detail.

More to come soon.............