Chapter Three
Spot and I were asleep on his bunk when suddenly, I heard a noise coming from outside. I sat up and the noise got louder. I shook Spot to wake him up. "Spot! Spot! Wake up!' I whispered.
"What is it?" he snapped quietly.
"Something or someone's outside."
"Probably just trash blowing against the window or something." he rolled on to his side and tried to go back to sleep. A hand smacked against the window.
"Spot!" I whispered louder.
"What?!"
"I saw a hand hit the window. Someone's out there!" I said.
"Okay, let's go check it out." Spot relented as he sat up.
We put our shoes on and crept out the door. We walked out the door and into the alley where I heard the noise. Spot took one side and I took the other. I walked over to the window where the noise was. I looked in and around and didn't see anyone. I saw Spot's bunk through the window. I was looking through it when someone slapped their hand over my mouth and trapped my arms against me with their other arm. "Hey there, sugarface!" a voice hissed. I immediately knew it was Oscar Delancey.
I struggled and kicked a garbage can over. That's what got Spot's attention. He started toward me when Morris hit him in the back of the head, which knocked him out. He crumpled to the ground. I struggled and struggled as Oscar pulled me farther down the alley. There was a wagon at the end of it. I saw Morris pick Spot up and thrash him over his shoulder and start to follow Oscar and me.
Oscar tossed me into the wagon, careful to keep his hand over my mouth. When Morris put Spot in the wagon, he grabbed a coil of rope and a handkerchief. I knew what it was for. Morris took the handkerchief and tied it on my mouth. They rolled me over and pinned my arms behind me to tie them. Then Morris tied my ankles together.
When they were done with me, they did the same to Spot. As they did, I started thinking. They made the noise to wake me up and Spot. They planned it all just to get us.
After they tied Spot up, they got in the driver's seat and we left the Lodging House, probably back to Manhattan.
When we arrived at our destination, a warehouse long since abandoned close to the Manhattan Lodging House. Oscar put me over his shoulder and Morris did the same with Spot and they brought us into the warehouse.
-
They propped us up against a wall and sat at a table, watching me. Eventually, they removed my gag and I barked, "Why the hell are we here?"
"'Cause I paid 'em," a voice said.
"Who the hell are you?" I snapped.
"You really don't know?" the voice asked, sitting down next to Morris at the table.
"Charlie Burke, now what are you doin' in New York?" I asked, accentuating my New York vernacular.
"So ya got an accent, have ya?" my drunk father slurred.
"Can we stop with the questions?" I asked.
"Yes, please," Oscar agreed. "Also, you owe us somethin'."
Charlie tossed Oscar a wad of money. He had paid them to kidnap us. That drunken bastard.
"You two gonna stick around?" he asked the Delanceys.
"Maybe for a while." Morris said, eyeing me. I mouthed the words, Go to hell.
Just then, I felt Spot moving. He was waking up. Oscar bent over me and replaced my gag. I really didn't care, I just cared about Spot. I nudged him and he looked at me once he opened his eyes.
"I forgot to ask, who is this boy?" Charlie asked. When Spot heard what referenced him, he jerked on his ropes.
"Your daughter's lover boy." Morris answered. Charlie walked over to Spot and slapped him. I struggled against my ropes and tried to speak, but I couldn't do anything. Then Charlie turned to me and grabbed me by my hair and pulled me into a standing position.
Right as he removed my gag, I snapped, "Don't you dare hurt him!"
"Why not?"
"Because I won't let it happen!" I replied.
"How will you stop me? You look a little tied up at the moment."
"I swear to God if you hurt him I'll kill you." I said through gritted teeth. He backhanded me and I hit the ground hard. He pulled me back up and threw me against the wall. My lip was bleeding and so was my head. He didn't care to say anything before he walked back over to Spot. "Leave him alone!" I screamed.
"Come here, sugarface!" Oscar said as he pulled me up and started kissing me. While that vile action was happening, Charlie was beating the hell out of Spot for no good reason. I pulled my head away from Oscar's and looked to him. He was bleeding and I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I wrenched free from Oscar's grip and jumped over to Charlie (my feet were still tied so I couldn't walk). I took a blow to the gut, which sent me down, incidently landing on Spot. I needed to get his gag off. I put my face up to his and pulled it off with my teeth. Charlie yanked me away and handed me to Morris.
"Get your hands off me!" I barked. Morris slapped me and I hit him in the face with my forehead. He let his grip loose and fell backwards onto the table. I fell but Oscar caught me and threw me on the ground next to Spot.
"How's about we leave you guys alone for a bit. Come on Morris." Oscar spat the words out.
"Fine, fine." Charlie dismissed. Once they were gone, he addressed me. "Juliana, how you've changed in two years."
"I'm a lot tougher than I used to be." I said.
"I'm not too sure."
"What do you want?" I growled.
"Where's the twerp you call your brother?"
"Dead. A week after we came to New York." I replied.
"My, my, how tragic..."
"Get to the point!" I snapped.
"Oh I will. Why did you and Markas leave?" he pressed.
"To get the hell away from you, you old, drunk bastard." That got me a slap in the face.
"Watch your mouth!" he scolded.
"What if I don't?" I asked.
"I'll shut you up for good."
"No you won't. You obviously need me for something. And you couldn't possibly want anything with Spot, so at least let him go." I pleaded.
"Not a chance, Arch. I'm not leavin' ya." Spot said.
"Ah, young love." Charlie chuckled. "Too bad you won't be able to move farther in that relationship,"
"And why is that?" Spot asked.
"You'll be dead before the week's out." he replied. He bent over us, tighened our gags over our mouths, and strode from the room. I suddenly felt exhuastion flood over me. I laid my head on Spot's shoulder to bring myself some comfort, hopefully for him too, before I drifted into a restless sleep.
