The Celts (West Side Story: Riff X Reader)

Chapter 7

When Riff had left the alleyway, I slid out from underneath the tarp and figure out a way I could get a view of what was to come. Much to my pleasure, I was successful. The end of the alleyway was partially shrouded in an old, brick wall, so I knelt down behind it and peeked through a chink in the crumbling bricks.

I saw Riff walking confidently back across the street to where a cluster of Jets awaited. Mouthpiece showed him a bloodied knuckle, which made me realize that Clanner's face probably inflicted that damage. Much sooner than I had expected, I saw all seven Celtic guys march into my small line of sight. Ronan walked right up to Riff, who obviously did not shy away from the Irish breath that was now in his face. When the entire group had gathered, I saw a speck of color amongst the dapple of browns and grays. They brought Nettie along with them. She was wearing a lavender purple dress and her dark auburn hair was frizzy and fluffed out at her shoulders. She was looking around with wide, gray-ish blue eyes, without a doubt trying to spot my dark blue dress. I thought I'd made eye-contact through the chink in the wall, but she looked away as soon as our eyes met. Saucy was holding her wrist tightly as though someone could snatch her away at any second. 

"Your guy was on our terf again, Ronan." Riff said in a fed up voice. 

"You and I both know that ain't why we're here." Ronan said in a lower pitched tone. His accent was much thicker than mine and Nettie's.

"Bring me up to speed." Riff said, though his voice had more of an edge to it this time he spoke. "Because the way I remember it, two of your people came into our space and challenged us. We put them in their place. It ain't our responsibility to keep track of runaways."

"You kept her here and drove me out." Clanner said, spitting on the ground in anguish. "You were the last person to see her. So where is she?" 

"Why don't you go and find her?" Riff asked. "She clearly ain't with us."

"Damn you." Ronan spat. Without another word, he wound up and punched Riff in the jaw. I didn't expect it—Ronan was always a very peaceful person—and I let out a squeak of shock that was barely audible. There was no way she could have heard me, but Nettie looked my way again. If my eyes weren't glued to Riff and Ronan, I would have seen my little sister whisper in Saucy's ear and leave his side holding his dagger. I didn't. Instead, I watched as Riff socked Ronan right in the face. At that, the rest of the guys that were gathered around began to fight.

"Why are you hiding?" I heard somebody say. I quickly turned and saw that it was my sister, who was standing behind me with confusion drawn across her face. 

"I'm not hiding." I fibbed. 

"You are obviously hiding." Nettie said, sitting down on the ground next to me. "What's going on?"

"I ran away from the fight and hid over here." I said. My heart twisted in my chest when a wave of relief washing over my sister's face. 

"Well, come on." Nettie said, grabbing my hand and moving to pull me up. I tore my eyes away from the scene that I was seeing through the chink in the wall. 

"I can't go." I said with a quick shake of my head.

"Why not?" My little sister asked, auburn brows furrowing in confusion.

"Because if they know that I'm just sitting here and watching them fight, it's all for naught." I said. "I promise I'll go back to the building before tonight."

"Oh," Nettie said. She looked away and thought for a moment. "Do you have anything to protect yourself with?"

"I do." I nodded, showing her my dagger. 

"Good, these Jets are really dangerous." She said with a halfhearted smile.

"I'll see you tonight." I said, giving my sister a quick hug. She then left and stood beside a wall, quite a distance away from the fight. Eventually, Celts broke off from the squabble and stepped away, laden with bruises. I shamefully realized that the gang I was native to was incredibly weak. At the end of the fight, the Celts were far more damaged than the Jets. I noticed that Riff had a purpling bruise on his jaw, where Ronan had dealt this first blow, which proved to have really been the only powerful hit. A few more of the Jets suffered minor injuries: Mouthpiece had a trickle of blood dripping from both his nose and mouth, A-Rod had a bloodied gash above his eyebrow, Ice had bruised knuckles and a red face, and Tiger's collarbone was dark red after having been bashed by Ray. 

The Celts left and the Jets collected themselves. Riff returned to the alley to retrieve me.

"I hope you can fight better than your friends can." He said with a breathless smile. I laughed and followed him out to the rest of the Jets.