But We Could Get By

Chapter 7

Nellie watched as Pirelli walked upstairs. She then turned to the young boy. "What's your name, dear?" She asked. "Toby." The boy replied. "Nice to meet you, Toby." Nellie said. "Nice to meet you." Toby replied. "And nice to meet you as well." He said, looking at Johanna. "What's your name?" "I'm Johanna." Johanna said with a smile. "Are you alright?" She then asked. "We saw what Pirelli did to you earlier." "I'll be fine. I'm used to it." Toby responded. "Poor thing." Nellie muttered. "That's some nice hair you've got." She then said. "If I'm being honest..." Toby paused as he took off the wig he was wearing. "It gets kinda hot." "If you'd like to get away from Pirelli, you can stay here with us." Nellie said with a smile. "Really?" Toby asked. "Of course." Nellie replied. Toby smiled. "Thank you so much!" He exclaimed. Nellie didn't respond. She just continued to smile, thinking about how nice it was to see this kid so happy, especially after all he's been through.
   The nice moment was suddenly ruined when she heard a thud. "What the-?" She muttered. "What was that?" Toby asked. "I'm not sure." Nellie replied. "Maybe one of them tripped and fell." She said, walking towards the stairs. She knew that probably wasn't the case, but she had no idea what else to tell the kids. She felt more and more nervous as she walked up the stairs. She recalled Sweeney hinting at his murderous tendencies. "Oh god, he killed him, didn't he?" She thought to herself. She finally reached the door, and walked in. "I heard a noise. What happened?" She asked. She looked around. "Where's Pirelli?" She continued to look around, until she noticed a hand sticking out of the trunk in the corner. She rushed over to it, and lifted the lid a little. "Mr. T, you didn't!" She whisper-shouted. "You're barking mad! Killing a man who's done you no harm." "He was going to blackmail me. Half my earnings." Sweeney responded. Nellie sighed with relief. "Oh. Well that's a different matter then. For a moment there, I thought you lost your marbles."
   She glanced at the body again. "So much blood." She mumbled, moving Pirelli's hand so it wouldn't be noticeable. "Excuse me." She then heard a voice say. She quickly turned around, and there she saw Judge Turpin. "Is this Sweeney Todd's shop?" He asked. "Yes." Sweeney replied. "I think I'll go. I've gotta open up my own shop." Nellie said, leaving the room.
   She walked downstairs, and noticed a horrified look on Johanna's face. "Are you alright?" She asked. "The Judge." Johanna muttered. "He tried talking to me. At first he was just introducing himself, but then he kissed my hand. I know some men do that to be polite, but it just felt so wrong coming from him, knowing what he did to my family. That's not even the gross part though." Johanna began to explain. "He then said I was as beautiful as my mother, and he ran his hands through my hair. I pushed him away, and Toby told him to stop. He looked angry, but he didn't say anything. He just stared at us, then left." "Oh my god!" Nellie exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! I should've been down here to stop him!" "It's not your fault, you didn't know. You were busy seeing where that noise came from." Johanna said. "I wish I was here to stop him." Nellie replied.
   "Where's Pirelli?" Toby asked, deciding to switch the subject. "Oh no." Nellie thought to herself. What was she going to tell him? What would make Pirelli's sudden disappearance seem less suspicious? "He went out the back door." She said, saying the first lie she could think of. "There's a back door upstairs?" Toby asked. "Yeah." Nellie replied. Her nervousness faded away once she remembered that there was, in fact, a back door upstairs. "It's got a real nice balcony." She said.
   She heard the door open, and looked over to see who it was. A young man walked in. He looked a little familiar, but she wasn't sure where she could've seen him. "Hello, Mrs. Lovett. Been a while since I've seen you or this place." The young man said. "Where's Johanna?" He then asked. Suddenly, she remembered who he was. Before she could say a word, she saw Johanna run to him.
   "Anthony!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. "You're finally back!" Anthony hugged her. "I missed you too." He said. "Who's that?" Toby asked. Johanna let go of Anthony, and turned to face him. "This is my friend Anthony." She said. "Anthony, this is Toby." Anthony shook Toby's hand. "Nice to meet you." He said. "What was it like out at sea? Where all did you go?" Johanna asked. "I've traveled to many places, too many to name right now. I've seen so many beautiful sights, but I sure am happy to be home." Anthony responded. He looked around. "I heard Mr. Todd's got a barber shop here now." He said. "You know Mr. Todd?" Nellie asked. "Yeah. He sailed back to England with me." Anthony replied. "You know him?" He asked. "I mean, that makes sense, since he's residing here." "Yeah, he's an old friend of mine." Nellie said. Anthony nodded. "I've actually got a question for him." He said, walking towards the stairs. "I don't think now's a good time. He's got a customer." Nellie responded.
   She didn't hear a response from Anthony, and noticed that he had already walked upstairs. She sighed. "Poor boy's gonna be traumatized if he sees the Judge dead." She thought. Her eyes widened. "Oh no, I gotta tell Mr. T not to hurt him!" Before she could even begin to walk upstairs, she saw Anthony run down, followed by the Judge. The Judge looked mad. He yelled at Anthony, then stormed out.
   "What the-?" She muttered. "I didn't know the Judge was here." Anthony said. "Why was he mad at you?" Toby asked. "I briefly met him yesterday. I found myself talking about this girl..." His voice trailed off and his face turned red. "Anyway, I guess talking about her made him mad. He and the Beadle beat me up pretty badly." He explained. "They hurt you?" Johanna asked. "Don't worry, I'm fine now." Anthony replied. "I'm gonna go check on Mr. Todd." Nellie said, rushing up the stairs. She could only imagine how upset he was after losing his chance at revenge. She opened the door, and walked in.
   "What happened?" She asked. "I had him." Sweeney muttered. "The sailor busted in, I know. And then I saw them both running down the stairs." Nellie said. "I had him!" Sweeney repeated, shouting this time. She flinched a little. She had never seen him so angry before. He was usually never the type to lash out, but right now, he looked as if he was ready to kill everything in sight. He truly was much different than he used to be. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to calm him down this time. "Hush, love. It'll be alright." She said softly. "He'll never come again!" He shouted. Nellie could do nothing but watch as he let out all the anger that had probably been bubbling inside of him all those years he was in prison. She stood back as he lashed out at the world, and listened as he ranted about how everyone deserved to die. It was no longer just the Judge and the Beadle he was targeting, it was everyone.

Nellie walked downstairs along with Sweeney after finally getting him to calm down a little. "Is everything alright?" Toby asked. "I can imagine it being rough to lose a customer like that. Someone in power who could draw attention to your business." He added. Sweeney didn't respond. "Everything's fine. The Judge will be back, I'm sure of it." Nellie said. "When he does come back though, I suggest you stay in your rooms. He may help Mr. T with his business, but that doesn't make him any less of a creep." The three kids nodded. Johanna looked over at Toby. "I'll show you around the place." She said with a smile. "Okay." Toby replied, smiling back at her. Johanna walked to another room, followed by Toby and Anthony. Nellie waited until they were out of sight, then turned to Sweeney.
   "So what are we gonna do about the Italian?" She asked. "When it gets dark, I'll find a place to bury him." Sweeney responded. Nellie nodded. "I suppose you could do that." She said. The idea was logical. Of course that's what you'd do if you had to hide a body. But what if the burial sight was discovered? What if they were able to trace it back to Sweeney? Maybe Pirelli had relatives out there looking for him. Maybe people saw him enter, and never saw him leave. Nellie was good at not showing it, but she was panicking. She couldn't let him get caught. She couldn't lose him again. Suddenly, she got an idea. It was an idea that once disgusted her to even think about, but she couldn't deny that this idea would be helpful. Not only would it keep him from getting caught, it would also help her business out a little.
   "I think I've got a better idea." She said. "What is it?" Sweeney asked. "Well, you've got a body on your hands that needs hiding, you mentioned targeting everyone, and I've got a failing business. Maybe instead of burying Pirelli and whoever else you end up..." She did a throat slit hand motion. "I could use them to help my business a little." Sweeney looked confused. "You know how meat is so expensive nowadays?" She asked. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Sweeney asked. "Mrs. Mooney's business was doing great with those cat pies, but those won't stand a chance against what I've got in mind." Nellie said. "And, of course, it'll guarantee you won't get caught." She added.
   For the first time in a long time, she saw him smile. It had been forever since she last saw that beautiful smile of his. He did smile at Johanna when they reunited, but this time, he was smiling at her. She felt as if her heart had melted. "What a charming notion." She heard him mutter. "So you like my idea?" She asked. Sweeney nodded. "You are absolutely brilliant." He said, walking over to her. "How I've lived without you all these years, I'll never know." He pulled her close. Her heart skipped a beat. She wrapped her arms around him, and the two began to dance across the pie shop, laughing and joking about the thought of baking people into meat pies.
   Nellie never thought she'd one day be joking about something like that, but at that moment, she didn't care about how incredibly messed up it was. In fact, it felt like everything else had completely faded away. It was just them dancing across the shop without a care in the world. She held him tighter, and for a moment, they stopped dancing, and just stood there, holding each other. He quickly let go of her, though she wished he hadn't. She reluctantly let go of him as well. "So..." Her voice trailed off. "I suppose we're literal partners in crime now." She said. "I suppose we are." Sweeney replied.