Trapped Where There Ain't No Future

6

"I'm thinkin' if Spot wasn't asking for his cane to be stolen, he wouldn't've been sleepin' on the job!" I defended myself.

"Ya still mad at me?" I asked my brother, a smile on my face as I quoted his own words back to him.
"Nah. I couldn't be mad at ya foah long. Jest... think next time, a'right?"

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I rolled out of my bed the next morning happy. Mush'd gotten into his bed last night with disastrous results; hopefully that would stop all flirting attempts. And I had another free day today.

"So, Red, whatcha gonna steal today?" Race asked me, running a comb through his hair. "Spot's slingshot?"

"Nah, reckon I'll go after the Delancy's." I joked. "Mebbe grab a set of brass knuckles."

"Stay away from da Delancy's." Blink warned. "Dey're serious, Eva."

"A'right, a'right." I agreed. I had no wish to tangle with the brothers, even though they had calmed down considerably since the strike.

"An' while youse at it, stay 'way from Brooklyn too." My brother added.

"A'right!" I repeated, rolling my eyes and tucking Spot's cane into my pants. "Now go sell some papes." I smiled at Liam.

"Yes ma'am." He saluted jokingly, and I saw him straighten his eye patch in the mirror before leaving. Interesting...

"Hey Race, you seein' Jocelyn today?" I called across the room.

"I ain't bringin' her 'round heah 'gain, if dat's what youse askin'." He retorted.

"Good! Don't wanna see somethin' like that again for the rest of my life!" I said back, sticking my tongue out.

"Ah knock it off youse two." Crutchy brushed past on his way out, and the rest of the Newsies slowly dispersed as well.

Now, what was I going to do today? I had no desire to return to Brooklyn, and I wasn't about to go pick a fight with the Delancy brothers.

"Mebbe I'll just go look around the city." I said to myself. "Yeah, that sounds good." I hesitated before tucking my hair into the same cap I had used yesterday. Wouldn't hurt.

I left the Lodging House with a couple pennies in my pocket for lunch, and began exploring the streets of New York. I was aiming for Central Park, but before I got there something happened.

As I turned down a smaller street to take a shortcut, a hand shot out of an alleyway and pulled me in. My heartbeat sped up as the person slammed my wrists above my head against the brick of the building.

"Looky here, Ise caught a little thief." Spot Conlon looked down at me, one hand pinning my wrists to the wall.
I squirmed in his grip, trying to break the hold he had on me, but all I succeeded in was scraping my hands up. Spot reached down and tried to take the cane from my pants, but I had put it in backwards and it wouldn't come out. He made an annoyed noise in the back of his throat and flipped me around so I was facing the wall. While he did so, my cap fell off and my hair tumbled down.

My breath caught. Would he recognize me?
"What da..." Spot said, taking back his cane and flipping me around again so I faced him. I looked down, not meeting his gaze. He tilted my chin up with the very same cane that had been in my possession a few moments ago, until I was forced to look him in the eye. "Red?"

"Hey, Spot." I swallowed. "How've ya been?"

Spot didn't let go of my hands or move back at all. I looked into his steel blue eyes and tried to remain focused.

"Fine, until someone stole my cane." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Know anythin' 'bout dat, Red?"

"All I know is that most times I see you you seem to be sleepin'." I tried to shrug, but my hands were still above my head. Spot's face remained stoic, but his eyes displayed a tiny flash of amusement. His gaze swept up and down my body, and my spine tingled a little.

"Youse still wearin' da same clothes." he observed.

"Why's it matter ta you?" I asked. "And besides, dressing like this when I walk around is easier." I tried to shrug again. Spot smirked at my attempt and shifted his stance, sliding his stick back to his side and then putting his now free hand on the wall to the side of my face. He let go of my wrists and put that hand on the wall on the other side of my face as I brought my hands down from above my head, rubbing my sore wrists. His body was close to mine, and his lashes looked long and thick from the angle I was at.

"Pity." he said. "I was lookin' forward ta seein' youse dressed like a goil next time I saw ya."

I rolled my eyes.

"'Sides, Calico knows how ya dressed... befoah. If he's still keepin' an eye out, just in case, he might recognize ya."

The comment made me blink in surprise and brought a slight blush to my cheeks. Why did he care? There was quiet for a couple minutes; the only sound I could hear was my heart thumping loudly. Then Spot broke the silence.

"How've youse been, Eva?" He asked softly.

"Good?" I piped, unsure why it came out as a question.

"Good." Spot's eyes bored into mine, and my eyes watered from maintaining contact, but I didn't blink. The awkwardness I felt was palpable, but Spot seemed unaffected by any such thing. We stood in the alleyway for what seemed like an eternity.

"Anybody from Queens ever come by askin' about me?" I said finally.

Spot lifted one shoulder and let it drop. "Yeah. Foist day, new kid showed up, askin' round 'bout 'Spot Conlon'. Once I 'peared he ran off pretty fast, reportin' back ta Calico prob'ly."

I nodded slowly.

"So ya ain't had any problems since comin' ta 'Hatten, right?" Spot said.

I shook my head. "Not 'less you count Mush flirtin' as a problem, which I sorta do."

A flicker of a smile swept across Spot's face, gone almost as soon as it had come. "Dat's Mush foah ya... ya count dat as a problem?"

"Not a big one, but it's a li'l annoyin'." I shrugged. Spot looked pleased for a second. Why would he be pleased?

Spot ran his tongue over his lips, the tip barely visible. Why was I looking at his lips? I brought my gaze back up to Spot's eyes and saw that he too had just looked up into my eyes again.

"Eva?" Spot said quietly.

"Yeah?" I replied. Spot's eyes closed in a long slow blink, and I felt mine mimic his. While my eyes were closed I felt a quick peck on my lips. A soft press, there for a brief moment that felt like blow to the stomach and then gone again the very next second. My eyes flew open immediately, but Spot Conlon was gone.

"Spot?" I said, scanning the alleyway. There was no sign of him, no proof he had been there at all. But the cane was gone from my side and my lips still tingled from the kiss. The kiss...

It was a nice kiss. Not that I had anything to compare it to though; that was my first kiss.

(A/N: I've never been kissed sooo yeah if I messed this up tell me please so I can fix it)

A small smile spread over my face as I turned to head back to the Lodging House. I was still confused as to what that kiss had meant. Did Spot... did he like me? Or was he just playing around? Everything I'd heard about his love life made him out to be some sort of womanizer, but in the short time I had stayed in Brooklyn I hadn't seen him with a girl once. Now I was even more confused. With a shake of my head I tried to drive the distracting thoughts from my mind, but one remained- That was an awfully nice kiss...