The Rose of Manhattan

The Girl Who Saved Me

Jack's POV

"Morning' boys!" I greeted as I fixed my hat.

"Hi Jack!" I laughed as Les ran over and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Hey, kid." I said taking off his hat and messing with his hair.

After the day sellin' papes, the boys and I decided to get dinner at our usual spot.

"So, Race how was the track?" I asked taking a sip of my water with my feet up on the table.

"You know that hot tip I had?" I nodded waiting for him to continue. "No one told the horse," he mumbled making us all laugh. Annoyed, he grabbed the bowl of nuts and started throwing them at all of us.

Suddenly I stopped laughing when I saw the girl from the Refuge outside. "Jack? You okay?" Davey said, trying to get my attention.

I watched as she fixed her cardigan and she started to walk across the street. "Hmm?"

"Yo, what's wrong with yous Kelly?" Romeo chuckled.

"Why are you staring at that girl outside?" Les asked, causing everyone else to look towards the window.

"Wow!" Albert laughed. "Who is that and can you introduce me to her?" I pushed him making him fall off the stool. I froze when she walked in.

"Oh," she gasped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. . . " she stopped talking when she noticed me. "You," she smiled.

"Hello again," I smirked. She adjusted her cardigan again and walked to the counter. "I don't think we have properly been introduced. The names Jack Kelly. And I believe you are Rose. So, what brings a lady like yourself to a dive like this? Are you followin' me?"

"Oh umm," she said clearing her throat. "Just. . . Just getting some dinner."

"Oh! Dinner huh? Is there a lucky guy joining you for dinner? And if not, I wouldn't mind joining." Nico said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No," she stuttered. "Just umm. . . Just. . . It's for my boss."

"Who do you work for?" Davey asked.

She mumbled something but we couldn't hear. I already knew the answer and I already knew the boys weren't going to like it. "Who?" Race asked.

She looked down at her hands and played with the sleeves of her sweater. "Snyder." As she said his name, the whole room froze.

"Snyder?" Romeo asked through clenched teeth.

When she nodded, the boys jumped up and started yelling things at her. I watched as she backed up, pressing her back to the counter. I narrowed my eyes as I watched her eyes watered as the boys continued to yell about how awful Snyder is as they started to walk towards her.

"Boys! That's enough!" I said stepping between her and the boys. "Yous don't understand."

"Don't understand?" Albert yelled.

"She works for Snyder the Spyder!" Race added.

"She helped me escape!" I interrupted. This made the boys stop yelling and listen. "When I escaped the Refuge the other day, she helped me. And I'm pretty sure she paid for it." I turned towards her and crossed my arms.

The way she was avoiding my gaze gave me all the confirmation I needed. I stepped towards her and, to my surprise, she allowed me to gently remove her cardigan. My eyes widened when I saw the bruises and dried blood up and down her arms.

"Oh no," Les gasped under his breath.

"Snyder did this to you?" Davey gasped taking a step towards her causing her to quickly put her cardigan back on.

"It wasn't just him," she said softly.

"Who else hurt you?" I asked forcefully feeling guilty when I saw her jump slightly. "Rose," I said softening my voice. I covered the gasp that escaped my lips as her eyes started to water.

"Morris and Oscar Delancy." It was like the air got sucked out of the room as she named off those two fellas. The two worse fellas she could add into this conversation.

"Oh hello Rose! You here for Snyder's order? Here it is."

"Thank you," she smiled as she quickly grabbed the food. She turned to walk out, but I stopped her.

"The Delancys are the ones who helped him hurt ya?" I said through gritted teeth. I tried to calm down as she nodded with tears in her eyes. "I'm going to kill those two."

"I really should get back. Snyder. . . Snyder's going to be wantin' his dinner." Before I could stop her, she quickly left.

We were all quiet as we watched her walk briskly down the street. "She really helped you escape?" Crutchie said softly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I said still looking the direction Rose had left. "She caught me sneaking out the window, but didn't stop me. She actually gave me advice on how to avoid him. And he hit her because of that. I knew Snyder was terrible, but I didn't know he was that. . . I didn't now he was capable of doing. . .that."

"Well, what do we do to help her? We gotta help her. . . Right?" Les asked, turning towards his brother.

"There's not much we can do, Les." Davey sighed wrapping his arm around Les' shoulder.

"There's nothin' any of us can do." Crutchie sighed.

I clenched my jaw as I tightened my fists. "Never say nothin'."