Humbling Spot Conlon (A Spot Conlon Love Story)

Ch. 27: The Best Thing To Happen In This Place

Nicky's POV

There wasn't a rule that I hadn't broken by the time a week had passed. I had already made several escape attempts. They were fairly good ones, but not quite good enough. I'd only ever made it so far as crossing the street before Miss Tattershall sent someone to drag me back. It was like the woman had eyes and ears everywhere. 

The punishments were horrible and often excruciatingly painful. The punishment I most often received was the belt. I used to cry out when I was hit, but she seemed to enjoy the sound of pain so she would only hit me harder. A couple scars had begun to form on my back, where I'd been hit so many times I didn't think the pain would ever go away. 

Ms. Tattershall didn't take well to any sort of back talk. That was the most common reason for me to get in trouble. I simply couldn't help myself. But I was starting to understand not to. I was beginning to lose myself. 

The girls here all hated each other. Understandably, because they were all brats. But the worst of all was a girl named Mabel Beckwith. I hated her with a passion. She was the biggest suckup I'd ever met. She was Ms. Tattershall's favorite. 

And unfortunately, Ms. Tattershall didn't allow me to write to anyone. It was miserable. I missed the newsies. I missed Spot. I was fairly certain that the boys had probably lost Elsie or something. 

Of all the horrible things, my least favorite thing about this place was that every day was exactly the same. There were no surprises. 

Now, some people would find comfort in this. I thought I was one of those people. I always thought it would be nice to know what would come next. But now that it was my reality, I realized how boring it really was. 

For example, every morning, as the sun started to come up, Ms. Tattershall would come to my room and get a particular girl, a small and clumsy little one, to make breakfast. Except for one particular morning. 

I was already awake when Ms. Tattershall came in. I was used to waking up early. Ms. Tattershall slammed the door open. I hurriedly tried to get into a position that looked like I could've possibly been asleep. "Nichole?" She loudly called into the room. 

I sat up. "Yes?" I grumbled. 

"What have I said about mumbling, Nichole?" 

I stared at the ground. I knew if I spoke I'd say something I shouldn't. That was something I learned here, it was better to say nothing. 

"Kitchen. I want you making breakfast. You too, Mabel." I looked around, seeing that Mabel was sitting up as well. She looked at me like she wanted me dead, as she always did, then she quickly stood up and plastered on a smile. 

"Of course, Ms. Tattershall," She said, "I'd be happy to." 

Ms. Tattershall smiled. At least, I think it was a smile. It looked an awful lot like she was baring her teeth at us. "Wonderful. Now go. Quickly." 

I forced myself to stand, dragging my feet as I made my way to the kitchen. Mabel walked swiftly in front of me. I watched her dark brown ponytail whip back and forth as she practically skipped down the hall. I felt a great temptation to yank a chunk of hair out of her head. 

Getting to the kitchen Mabel immediately got to work. And she was working fast. "Are you gonna help me or what? You can't be so useless that you can't even make something as simple as oatmeal." 

"I ain't listenin' to a word you say." 

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Have fun never leaving this place." I flipped my finger up with a smirk. Mabel sent me a disgusted look before turning back around to work on the food. 

"You know that listenin' ta every word that witch says ain't gonna get ya outta here any faster, right?" I remarked after watching her work for a couple minutes. 

"Of course I know that. But at least if I listen I won't get beatings everyday like you do. How's your back, by the way?" 

I stared at her, hoping daggers would come out of my eyes. Sadly, it didn't happen, but I was in a kitchen. There would certainly be something to whack her over the head with in here. 

I found many things that I could hit her with. But nothing was as tempting as the thing that shined in the corner of my eyes. I crept toward the knives, taking one eagerly into my hand. 

Don't worry, it was not my intention to hurt her. Well, not physically at least. I was simply going to see how she'd feel with a wonderful new haircut. 

Mabel took great pride in her hair. Actually, she took great pride in how much longer and better her hair was than everyone else's. Especially mine. This was going to be the best thing that was ever going to happen in this place. 

I snuck through the room, the closer I got to her, the more excited I was for this. I gripped the knife tightly in my hand, and stood just within reach of her. 

I gently held a large section of her hair, hoping she couldn't feel it. As carefully as I could, I slid the knife back and forth on her hair. The more I sliced, the more I wanted to cut off. 

Soon I held a detached chunk of hair. A smile spread across my face as I stared at it. I was surprised that she didn't seem to have felt anything. "That felt good," I said. 

Mabel whipped around. "What are you-" She trailed off, seeing me with a knife in one hand and hair in the other. "Is that my hair?" 

"I mean, it could be. It does look similar." 

She frantically felt around at her hair. Suddenly she froze and let out a sharp and shrill cry, which sent a ringing through my ears. "What did you do?" She screeched so loudly that someone could hear her from Brooklyn. 

After the ringing stopped, I smirked. "What? Yer always talking 'bout how long your hair is. I thought you were complainin'," I said, taking pleasure in the pure rage on her face. "I figured you'd like it." 

"How could you do this?" 

"I've been wantin' to for a long time," I said truthfully, "Yer lucky I did it with a knife. I was just gonna yank some out. You got the painless version." 

Her jaw dropped and her face turned a lovely crimson color. "Why are you such a bitch?" 

"I treat others how they treat me, Mabel. You brought this upon yourself," I said, waving her hair around, "It could've been worse. I heard some other girls planning to put spiders in your bed. You got off easy if you ask me." 

"You are so dead, Nichole," She cried, storming off. 

"As if you could come close to hurting me. Wait, are ya gonna help me make breakfast or-" She slammed the door behind her. "I guess not then." Well, I was stuck making breakfast on my own now. I wondered if it would be too much to put her hair in the food. 

*** 

Hi 

I greatly apologize for the lack of publishing I've been doing for the past three, almost four months. I completely lost interest in this story for a little bit but then randomly one day I myself was wondering how it ends so yeah, here ya go, I'm gonna keep going 

Anyhow, have a glorious day/night 

<3