Charlotte McAllen let out a shriek of dismay as the blue cookie tin tumbled from her fingers onto the floor of the Harlem newsgirls' lodging house kitchen. The rectangular container bounced once on the table before landing on its side and spraying a rain of brown crumbs across the wood floor. "Damn," she muttered, bending to gingerly pick up the tin and place it back on the table. Peering inside, she noted with annoyance that the remaining cookies had been reduced to crumbly shards in the bottom of the container. "Argh..." Flash scowled and jammed the lid back on the tin.
One floor up, Sticks O'Leary poked his brown-haired head into the open window of the Harlem newsgirls' bunkroom. "H'lo?" he ventured, craning his neck to gaze into the apparently empty room. His voice was swallowed up and whisked away as an unseasonably cool August wind blew through the window. "Hellloo?" He leaned his thin upper body into the room. The question hung in the air then died away. He continued to hover, half in, half out, of the window for several seconds, before deciding to wriggle his body the rest of the way through the opening. Softly, Sticks walked down the aisle of empty bunks; there really was no one in the room. He sighed in frustration, dropping down onto Blue Skies' bunk, the only one in the place he would dare sit on.
The quiet swish of water filled up the kitchen as Flash rinsed her hands, dotted with cookie crumbs, under the whitish stream. She eyed the floor in dismay-so many crumbs. The table top had also managed to get a dusting in the spill, but she had brushed those crumbs onto the floor. No sense in wiping them up twice, she reasoned, eyes darting around the room for a broom or mop.
After remaining on Skies' bunk for several minutes in the hopes of either being struck by inspiration or by the entrance of a fellow Harlemite, Sticks rose from his position and crossed the room, exiting through the window he entered. His footfalls seemed to echo against the metal fire escape particularly loudly as he climbed back down to the first floor and then jumped nimbly to the ground, dirt and grit crunching in a satisfying manner under the soles of his boots. He strolled around the side of the red brick building, past several ground-floor windows. A tickle in his peripheral vision caused his steps to come shuffling to a halt and he carefully retraced them, until he was standing at the kitchen window, watching Flash dispose of cookie crumbs in the sink.
Flash had been blithely humming to herself over the spray of the water when she became aware of a very familiar pair of green eyes watching her through the glass. Her dark lashed eyes widened momentarily, and she hastily turned off the water. Whirling around, back now to the window, she uncapped the cookie tin and helped herself to a cookie shard. At the rapping of knuckle against glass, she threw a brown-haired head over her shoulder and snapped, "Whaddyou want?"
Though he couldn't quite make out Flash's words through the glass, the look on her face was enough for Sticks to get the gist of Flash's response. Smiling out of the side of his mouth, he replied, "Kin I come in?"
Flash shrugged. "I don't own 'da place. Do whatevah yah want," she replied flippantly.
Sticks broke out into a smile (after all, this was the most positive response he could have hoped for from her) and disappeared from view, circling to the front of the building and entering from the front door. Stepping down from the foyer into the parlor, he made his way past a worn sofa and set of chairs and into the kitchen, where Flash sat, nonchalantly munching on an oatmeal raisin cookie.
"Want--uh--some cookie parts?" she offered as he stepped into the room.
"Cookie...parts?" He raised an eyebrow at her, a smile playing at his lips.
"'Dey'se... uh...all busted up." She shrugged a little and picked the cookie tin off the table. "See?" She held it out towards him.
He tilted his head towards the offering and was met with a scenic view of cookie bits awash in a sea of crumbs and the occasional errant raisin. He laughed, dipping a hand into the tin. "Thanks." He smiled and pulled up a chair, fully aware Flash would never bother to offer it.
"Well, somebody must've dropped 'em." She eyed the sink. "Crumbs went ev'ryplace."
He smirked a little. "Somebody, eh?" He raised a cookie piece to his lips.
"Yeah, somebody. Why d'yah ask?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
He shrugged, chewing. "Oatmeal raisin," he mused. He studied the cookie in his hand. "Who made dese?"
She shrugged again, eyes elsewhere. "Somebody. Bay, maybe." Her chestnut eyes flicked to the tin absently.
He nodded. "Dey'se good." He choked down a rising feeling of panic in his chest; he was rapidly running out of viable conversation topics.
She nodded, rising abruptly to return the cookie tin to the counter. Her chair wobbled as she brushed past, threatening to topple. Instinctively, he lunged forward, reaching out a hand to steady the chair, but the chair managed to do a fine job steadying itself, and he was left, arms flapping in the air, teetering on the edge of his own seat.
"Losin' yah balance?" she inquired, turning back from the counter.
He flapped his arms a little more before regaining his equilibrium, face red. "Um…"
"Eh?" She grinned a little, rinsing her fingers in the sink.
He flashed her a toothy grin before self-consciously returning to his oatmeal raisin cookie.
"Well," she said, returning to her seat, "What're yah doin' heah 'sides eatin'?"
The cookie went dry in his mouth. "Jus'…" he rearranged the crumbs in his mouth and forced an arid swallow. "Jus' lookin' fer people…" He looked at her apologetically, swallowing a second time. "You got anythin' ta drink?"
"Watah?" She wrinkled her nose. "Somebody mighta made coffee…" she trailed off.
"Coffee would be nice." He flashed her a slightly nervous smile.
Flash rose from her seat to get the pot. "It ain't hot." She peered at the brown liquid, swirling it around a little. "Ac'shully, I don't t'ink you want 'dis."
Sticks stood, and looked over Flash's shoulder into the pitcher. He could feel the heat of her body from his vantage point a few inches away. "Well," he pretended to study the coffee, but he thoughts lay elsewhere, "Maybe jus' watah, 'den." He tilted his head and smiled at her.
"I can get chu' some-" she paused to glance over her shoulder. "What da hell?" she snapped, ducking away from Sticks, her hand shooting out to grab a glass. "Heah." She shoved the glass in his face, a dark expression in her eyes. "Get 'cha own. Dere's a sink right dere." She indicated with an extended index finger.
Sticks frowned, taken aback. He stared at her outstretched hand for what seemed like an interminable second before reluctantly accepting the glass. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning to the sink and pouring a glass. He watched the bubbles rise to the surface at an angle until they peeked over the rim of the glass, hovering there in anticipation of toppling onto his fingers. He shut off the tap and brought the glass to his lips. Gazing out the window, he continued to sip from the glass, his back still turned to her.
Flash studied him for a few seconds. He was wearing a checked shirt which was probably once brown but had faded over time to a camel shade. Flicking her gaze downward, she turned away, relegating herself to stand in the doorway of the room.
Sticks set the glass down with an audible clink. The remaining water swished violently before quivering into a calm surface. He turned to face her, a strange expression painted on his face. Exhaling out his nose, he scrutinized the impassive mask that had formed over her features. She merely blinked her brown eyes at him in return. He sighed and averted his eyes momentarily, before bringing them back to Flash. "What… Why are you…?" Sticks frowned, searching for the words. "Why are yah…like 'dis," at this point his shot her a pointed look, "'round me."
Flash raised an eyebrow, her brown eyes blandly indicating a disinterested sort of shock. "What're you talkin' 'bout?" She blinked. "I don't act no diff'rent 'round you…"
Sticks gritted his teeth, lips forming a tight line. He narrowed his eyes, shoulders sagging. Why did he even bother… "Fine," he snapped, severely agitated. "Ferget it." He shook his head in disgust and took a step toward the door to leave.
Flash rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, absently. "'Kay. I will," she replied.
He nearly growled as he stopped at the doorway, his face inches from hers. He glared at her hard out of his green eyes. But behind the anger lay hurt. Could she tell just from looking? he wondered.
She scowled back at him, dark eyebrows knit, and added, a little coldly, "What, am I in yer way?"
Sticks tilted his back a little, the glare fading away to an expression difficult to decipher. He looked at her, almost sadly now. "G'bye, Flash." He turned away, walking out of the room and out of the lodging house.
"Uh…bye," she answered offhand with a touch of confusion in her still-bored voice.
"Hey."
Blue Skies Costello blinked in surprise as an eight-pound package known as the head of Knuckles Callahan landed in her lap. The body followed likewise along the length of the sofa in the Harlem Newsgirls' Lodging House parlor.
He flashed her a glimpse of white teeth, eyebrows raised.
Pursing her lips, Blue Skies shut her book and placed on the small end table. "Hey," she said, shifting her position on the sofa slightly.
Knuckles propped his feet up on the end of the sofa so that he was now fully reclined. "Whaddya wanna do tanight?" He reached up a large hand and slipped it around her wrist.
She shrugged, lacing her fingers with his. "I dunno. Whaddya you wanna do?" She swung their hands back and forth, waving them like a see-saw.
Knuckles grinned at her for a moment, but upon seeing the vacant look in her eyes, his smile quickly melted away, and he sat up, still gripping her hand. "Don'cha wanna go out?" Skies blinked her large blue eyes at him. "'Course I do!" she insisted, punctuating her comment with an emphatic nod.
Knuckles frowned, forehead wrinkling. "You sure?" His hazel eyes peeked out at her from under dark knit brows.
"Yes. Whaddya wanna do?" She nodded and smiled at him. It was a little forced, despite her best efforts.
Knuckles broke into a grin, squeezing her hand. "Millinger's?"
Millinger's?! C'mon, he knows I don't like ta drink much. 'Sides, 'dat's where Joel goes… I don't wanna see Joel. Skies frowned slightly. "Millingers?" She bit her lip.
The grin slid down a little before falling completely off the boy's chiseled face. "What's wrong wit Millinger's?" A twinge of defensiveness slipped into his tone without his knowing it.
Skies blinked, an irritated expression coming over her features. "Nothin'. I jus' don't like tah drink much. You know 'dat." She winced inwardly. It sounded accusing. Well… She reflected. It was.
Knuckles scowled a little. "Sorry, I jus' t'ought…"
Skies waved a hand in dismissal. "Ferget it. Let's jus' go tah Millinger's." Her blue eyes were narrowed in annoyance.
"Now jus' wait a minute," Knuckles interjected, shifting on the sofa so he could look directly into Blue's face. "If you don't wanna go tah Millinger's, we ain't gonna go tah Millinger's."
She blinked at him in exasperation. "Look, I said I'd go. What's 'da big deal?"
Knuckles stared at her, lost. She stared back. Both were glaring slightly. Finally Knuckles rolled his eyes and flopped back against the sofa, arms crossed. He spoke in low tones. "You'se actin' like yah don't wanna go tah Millinger's. So wouldja mind tellin' me where you'd like tah go?"
"I…" She sighed. "Spreckler's."
Spreckler's?! He screwed up his face. She knows I can't eat ice cream!.
Blue rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. You'se allergic tah milk." She sighed and flopped back on the sofa herself.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't help 'dat-"
Skies turned to face him, ebony hair flicking over her shoulder. "Yah don't have tah order ice cream when yah's there, yah know."
"Yeah… well… I know…" He blinked, his voice taking on a whiney tone.
She rolled her eyes. They'd been through this a hundred times. It's always, "Yeah… well… I know… But." She waited for it.
"But…" he wheedled, looking at her with a pained expression.
She pursed her lips. "Let's jus' stay in tanight."
Stay tuned! More to come!
