A Criminal's Woman (Charley (The Butcher Gang) x Reader)

Ch. 13: Another New Plan

After getting Carley from the women's prison, you've all decided to head for the theater. You're there right now and you're looking at the screen. There's a Goldilocks and the Three Bears cartoon on right now. One that was just recently released. It's just called The Three Bears and it's new.

(The year is 1935, so that's when this cartoon was released.)

Carley's leaning forward, resting her arms on the back of the seat in front of her. She says, "Man, this is just the relief I need from bein' locked up in prison. Granted, I at least got a radio in my cell. They gave us that." You're eating popcorn. 

She looks over at you and says, "Ey, girlie. Gimme some, would ya?" You hold the bag over and she reaches in, taking a good handful. She shoves the popcorn in her mouth and eats it. She sighs and she smiles saying, "Good ol' luxury compared to prison." 

You see a scene where Goldilocks finds three radios of different size and she turns them on. They each play Three Blind Mice and she dances to it. You do a little bit, as well. You say, "Oh, that reminds me. The Three Stooges is supposed to be coming on shortly after this cartoon." Edgar says, "Ya think so?" You say, "I know so. Everyone loves them. They're hilarious." 

And sure enough after a few moments of the cartoon, The Three Stooges comes on the screen. You all stare at the screen. You grin and you say, "Here we go." Barley says, "Yarr. Look at that. You were right, young lassie." Carley grins and says, "Yeah. Good ol' comedy trio besides the Marx Brothers." 

You all watch The Three Stooges and you all laugh. Carley says, "Ahh, good to see this once again and not just listen to them on the radio. Good ol' technology of this time. The actual screen where you actually see 'em. Wish we had these in our homes one day." You say, "You said it." 

(Little did Carley know about twenty or thirty years from then.)

You feel yourself get pulled back and you gasp. Turns out, Charley pulled you back. You look at him and he smirks. You smile and you say, "Charley.~" He grins and he says, "Hey, kid.~" You both lean in to kiss each other.

Carley sees this and she raises a brow. She smirks and says, "Ahh. So ya's got together, huh? You and the big boss." You pull away and you look at her saying, "From the beginning, Carley. I'll tell you about it, later." Carley says, "I mean, you's pretty enough to land any man." You say, "Oh... I don't brag about looks." 

Rebecca says, "For me, that's both a compliment and NOT a compliment. You really are pretty, (Y/N). Too pretty for anyone to leave roaming around alone in the city. There are creeps about, (Y/N). They see you, God knows what will happen to you. Stick with us." You say, "Yeah, okay." 

You look at the screen and you watch The Three Stooges. You laugh at the funny parts. Edgar says, "Man, Curly's gotta be my favorite one." Charley says, "I'd say Moe." Edgar looks at him and says, "Yeah. Cause he's considered a boss like you are... boss." 

You say, "The Little Rascals, too." Edgar says, "Man, that teacher of theirs is a real treat. What was her name? She was a cutie." He grins. You say, "Miss. Crabtree." Edgar says, "Yeah. That's her. Man, I had a crush on her." Rebecca says, "Yeah. June Marlowe is who plays her." 

Carley looks at you and says, "You got a purpose besides bein' Miss Rebecca's younger sis and Charley's wanton?" You say, "I guess I'm... the deceiver." She says, "Explain." You say, "One night, the guys broke into a pub to steal some booze and a keg from the bar. I had the patrons distracted by dancing in an evening dress." 

Barley says, "Yarr. She be right, Carley lass. Those men had all eyes on 'er. They dare not touch her, though. Miss. Rebecca was on watch ta make sure of it." Carley smirks and says, "Nice. You're alright, (Y/N)." You smile. You all watch the show the rest of the time.

************************************************************

Later on, you're all back at the warehouse. You've made dinner and you're all sitting down and eating it. Carley's devouring hers like she hasn't eaten in years. You made navy bean and ham soup and cornbread.

Carley says, "Mm mm. Finally, some good stuff. The cornbread is so moist." She keeps eating. Charley says, "Yes. (Y/N) knows how to cook for sure." You say, "At least I try. I've learned from reading recipes from cookbooks and newspapers." Edgar says, "The radio, too?" 

You say, "As much as I cherish my radio, I feel learning how to cook by hearing it on the radio is too fast. Reading it and going over it from newspapers and cookbooks is easier to memorize in my head." 

Carley says, "Smart move, girlie. Either way, your food is the best I had in years. Or... ever. My deadbeat ma and pa couldn't even boil water for shit... That or they just hated me." She continues eating her dinner. 

You smile and you say, "Thank you. It's the best I can do for these stupid times. Everyone out of jobs. The depression. Good thing we're criminals, right?" Barley says, "Argh. Even non-criminals steal sometimes, sweetheart. It's life. All of us have been strugglin' fer six years so far." Rebecca says, "This is all going to go on until the 40s, for sure." 

Edgar says, "Ey, boss. Any plans for a heist?" Charley says, "Hmm..." He sighs and says, "Crap on a platter. I can't think of one right now." Barley says, "Yarr. You of all criminals? Boy, you're the professional at this." Charley says, "I guess even the best criminals lose their train of thought."

Then you think of something because you saw it in the newspaper right after you got back from the cinema. You say, "There's a circus going on, tomorrow." They all look at you. Rebecca says, "Are you getting to something, (Y/N)?" 

You say, "Yeah." Edgar says, "How did ya find out about a circus?" You say, "The newspaper." He says, "Oh... Right." You say, "Anyways, it's happening tomorrow. I know it sounds kind of... stupid. But we are in the depression, aren't we? We could, ooh I don't know... try and steal anything from there? Or check out the freakshow?" 

Carley grins and says, "Hey, yeah. The sideshow freaks. I did always wanna see the lady that's over nine-hundred pounds." Edgar says, "The giant man." Barley says, "The limbless man they call the Worm Boy." 

Charley says, "The half-man, half-woman." Edgar says, "The two-feet guy the size of a toddler when he's about thirty years old." Rebecca says, "The bearded lady." You say, "The snake charmer." Rebecca says, "(Y/N) and I saw the movie Freaks in theaters three years ago." Edgar says, "I wanted to, but we was in jail." 

(This was all back when sideshow freaks were still a thing. Before they realized they were judging humans that were born different. It was still acceptable in the 1930s.)

Charley looks at you. You look at him. He says, "You had the right idea, kid. We'll steal whatever we want from there and check out the sideshows." You grin. Carley chants, "Sideshows. Sideshows." Charley says, "Fellas. Ladies... We're going to the circus, tomorrow."