King of the City (Bellarke Edition)

Chapter 2

They had a few more blocks of walking, Clarke was getting tired, hell Murphy was getting tired. He kept conversation going allowing her to work on her voice change. By now he was satisfied with her masquerade. She looked and sounded like a boy, a very polite one. Murphy corrected her on it a few times and she was becoming decent at hiding the proper way she spoke. He was confident he could pass her off as his younger cousin. They turned the last corner together. A pair of guys walking towards them.

"Murphy, you are a far way from home" Miller addressed him suspiciously.

"Miller...Nyko, what are you the welcoming committee" he nodded to the guys eyeing him up and glancing at Clarke.

"Got a name?" Miller asked making eye contact with her.

"Clarke" she surprised herself on how different her voice sounded and how they seemed to carry on, never noticing she was a girl.

"Well Clarke, your company isn't the best, whats your connection, I've never seen Murphy have friends"

"He's my younger cousin." Murphy replied.

"Oh lucky you, Murphy as a role model, you should go far" Nyko laughed.

"Speaking of going, why don't you? Go, get lost, you aren't welcome here or in Brooklyn" Miller stated.

"Not so fast, I'm here to see Blake, and I don't take orders from you"

Clarke watched the interaction, it was clear John wasn't their favorite person and whoever Blake is, must be someone they respect as the two turned away and started walking.

"Let's go, quicker we show you to him, quicker he can tell you to leave" Miller called. They walked a quick pace, they traveled through a busy square, down an alley and over to the boarding house.

"Blake, you got a visitor" Miller called up the stairs. Clarke stuck close to Murphy, he felt her arm bump his a few times.

"John Murphy, everytime I see you I hope it's the last and yet here you are...again" The deep voice echoed down the stairs as he descended. Clarke wanted to grab Murphy's arm, anything to make her feel safe. She kept her self together, knowing if she couldn't pull this off then that would be it. She would end up back where she had finally escaped from. That nightmare of a home.

"Bellamy Blake you missed me, don't deny it" Murphy had a snarky tone to his voice, Clarke glanced at the man coming down the steps. He wore a sarcastic smirk, she relaxed a little seeing him.

She couldn't help but notice his features. He had a rugged look to him, unruly dark hair. A tan complexion and a passel of freckles dusting his cheeks. His eyes were the darkest brown she had ever seen, she would have swore they were black if she didnt know better. Just as she snapped out of her daze she noticed him eyeing her.

"And you are?"

"Clarke" she replied.

"Well Clarke you gonna head up with us" She nodded noticing Murphy was missing.

"Uh yeah, sorry. We walked for awhile, A little out of it I guess"

"That's Understandable" he smiled. Waiting for her to walk infront of him.

They sat at a table in the middle of the bunkroom. She started to cross her legs receiving a bump from Murphys foot. She cleared her throat and moved to mirror the way he was sitting. Bellamy watched her closely.

"Alright Murphy, what is it you want?" He asked. John glanced to make sure they were alone. Nyko and Miller had stayed downstairs.

"We want to stay here, sell here."

"Why? You had one of the most profitable areas in N.J."

"Yeah, wasn't bad"

"And you left it to share territory with us? You can see why I don't understand ? "

"Clarke, couldn't be there."

"You in trouble?" Bellamy asked her.

"Uh, Sort of" she replied.

"I want to know whats going on, now. I can't help if you dont tell me, I can see you've taken a hit, couldnt hide that shiner if you had too."

"We got in a fight on the way here."

"Can you speak? Or does he just talk for you?" Bellamy looked to her.

"I can talk, he's telling the truth, met some bad people on the walk over"

"So someone looking for you?"

"Yeah, sort of, and I'd rather not be found"

"Okay well, you can stay as long as Murphy does, which hopefully isn't long, whatever your outrunning, if it starts to catch you, move on. I don't need my boys going down for you or him. And don't lie to me, It will turn me into someone you will not want to know. Ask Murphy, hes been on the wrong side of that too many times." Bellamy stated standing.

"The bunk next to the window is open, keeps you two close where I can keep an eye on you. " he motioned towards the bed. Murphy threw his bag on the bottom and took Clarkes from her throwing it on the top.

"Thanks Blake"

"We greatly appreciate it" Clarke stated, instantly receiving a look from Murphy. Bellamy looked at her questioningly.

" You been to school, yeah?"

"Uh, yeah"

" Good, someone with some smarts could be helpful. The younger ones could use help with letters and reading at night." Clarke nodded acknowledging she heard him. She let out the breath she held, relieved it wasn't a problem.

She followed Murphy out of the building.

"Alright so we won't sell today, but we will walk around, Ill help you find a spot to sell."

"Murphy I don't need to sell, I cleaned out my account. It's in my bag and a few dollars in my pocket. "

"Well you are going to have to take on at least 20 papers a day, otherwise the boys will question where you are getting your money. "

"I can take care of you too, you don't need to sell much" He glanced up at her reaching out running a thumb across her cheek briefly.

"I got it, don't worry about me. I could survive on nothing. That's not why I helped you. I don't want anything from you. " He smiled.

Bellamy watched the exchange from the window. He assumed Murphy being family must be true, as he has never seen him care about anyone but himself.

There was something about the whole situation that made Bellamy uneasy. There was something they were leaving out, something he was missing

He let out a sigh as he leaned on the window sill.

Until that secret came out he wouldn't jump to conclusions. He would find out what was going on eventually, whether they wanted it to be kept a secret or not.