Sell Some Lives

Disrespect

10 Years Later

No I didn't go back to the cotton mill. The others were too afraid of me to work with me. I started working at the coal mines instead. I woke up before the sun, ate disgusting gruel at the workhouse, and went to the coal mines. Life was so routinely boring. Léontine died long ago from infection at the hospital, ten days after we went to visit her. The day it happened I had a terrible nervous breakdown. There was also a collapse at the mines and both my legs were crushed so I had to stay away for a few months. This made Mr. Buscarino very angry as all the money I earned went to him. I earned better than I would have earned at the factory so he was happy. Still was, ten years later. I was fourteen, still working at the coal mines, living at the workhouse at night. I hadn't seen the sun for months. It was pitch black in the mines unless somebody brought a candle and we had to wale up early to start work.

At first I used to crawl in the deepest tunnels, dragging carts of coal behind me with a chain to my belt.

Then I just separated the coal in the coal breaker. I broke it into pieces and sorted them by size, sometimes playing they were soldiers if I wasn't too tired and irritable and ready to break them all into pieces and throw them away. I did that once and got severely beaten with the wooden stick.

We always sat on the wooden benches over the conveyor belt. Well I did. Some of the others, especially the boys, hovered on top of the chute to stop the coal with their boots going into the stream of coal beneath. They picked out the dirt too. Eliot always made us laugh when he did this, because he knew some cool tricks like making the coal disappear and reappear in somebody's underwear. He was funny, interesting, good looking and the only one rich enough to have a candle because he still lives with his family and they can afford candles. Everyone loved Eliot. He taught us to read and write whenever he could and cuddled the little ones. He cuddled me a lot too, because I was his girlfriend! He said the stories I wrote were better than anything he'd ever read and wanted me to get out of the coal mines and do something with my life.

"I'm going to be your editor one day, Tali... unless I don't get crushed in the mines or explode first." There were many explosions. My friend Yvonne had died from a gas explosion only last month. 

"You will live until we see the sun, silly!" I said and kissed him. We never saw the sun anymore.

We'd been together nearly six years now. He always walked me home. Well he sometimes carried me home because my whole body ached. Sometimes I carried him too when he was too tired to take a single step.

He looked especially tired now, as he ate red herring and potatoes from a clay pot wrapped in a dirty grey rag. I ate my own bran soup and rye bread in silence. Then we got to the good part.

"Do you want some of my whiskey?" I whispered. 

Eliot gasped as he saw the flask. 

"Where did you get it from?" He hissed, snatching it and uncorking it to take a long drink. He was often drunk and hungover when I saw him.

"Moni had some back at the workhouse. She let me have a puff of her tobacco too. We're not really allowed cigarettes in there but who cares!" I said, taking a sip of the hot liquid too.

"Simone is a bad influence on you. You need me." Eliot said, shaking his head. I knew he was jealous because he'd seen me kiss Moni once. He'd be even more jealous if he knew what else we'd done together. 

"She isn't babe. She cares about me a lot." I said dismissively. 

"Tali... Are you a tribade?" He whispered so the others wouldn't hear.

I was stumped. "A what?"

"Do you like girls? Sexually? Or otherwise."

"I like everyone." I said, wondering why he was asking me this. He'd seen me kiss Yvonne, Harry, Rose, Andre, Anthea, Frank, Sylvie and Manon together. I wasn't a cheater, we both knew I loved kissing people. Kisses were my biggest turn on.

"But why?" What a stupid question. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Boys are so dumb. Shut up and kiss me." I said and sat on his lap. He let out a yelp as I smashed our lips together. His were cold and rough, but tasted strangely sweet. When I forced my tongue inside his mouth I could taste the herring he had for lunch and the potatoes. I sucked on his tongue while he moaned in my mouth and protested. I could hear wolf whistling from the others. I felt the boy's dirty cold hands slapping at my ass and patting Eliot all over too. But then they started getting more and more excited. One pulled me off Eliot and kissed me himself! I felt him rip open my shirt with one hand and grope my chest.

"Hey! Get off! Get off my girlfriend now, you fucking bastard!" Eliot screamed, attempting to pull him off, pushing and shoving, screaming and swearing. The others pulled him back and held onto him as Baltasaar — the one who groped me — pinned me down on the ground and pulled up my skirt and down my underwear. I tried to wiggle away from him, and reach Eliot who was still fighting against the others. But it was like time had slowed right down and I couldn't think properly. I just felt sensations. Painful, tearing, stretching...

✧☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧15 minutes later☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧☆✧✧☆✧

It was finally over. 

Baltasar used a rusty safety pin to tuck my shirt into place and then i heard him beginning to walk away.

"BALTASAR! WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, PSYCHO? YOU SEX CRIMINAL!" 

Baltasar only stopped walking for a second and then there was a scratching sound.

"I got caught up in the moment." He whispered.

The silence all around was unbearable — then Eliot started shouting again. 

"WHAT?! ARE YOU DUMB? You hurt my girlfriend because you got 'caught up in the moment'??" They finally let him go and he whirled around, wobbling wildly and then started banging on the rocky walls, his back to everyone. Crying and banging. 

"Cut it out Eliot, you'll bury us in here!" Baltasar warned. He sounded completely unapologetic. As if he'd done this many times before...

I began crawling towards Eliot, slowly, painfully, as blood dripped at turbo speed.

B3fore i could get to him, we all heard a strange "tup" sound like the roof was caving in. There was a loud rumble, crash, and then lots of screaming. This time it wasn't just Eliot doing the screaming.