Chapter Text
Ma never did have good taste in men.
I could hear her latest man clear as day through the bedroom wall - not that it’s ever hard. The walls of the boarding house are thin as tissue paper, but no other place would ever let a woman with five little ones for what we could afford to pay.
Even still, Ma lied and said there were only three of us. Nilo is still in nappies, Willes barely out of them, but they are small and can hide if someone comes knocking. I make them hide whenever Ma’s new man comes around, because anyone with eyes could see he is mean and not the kind to soften to the little ones. Some men coddle the little ones to get close to Ma, but not Lenny. Any sweetening he wants from Ma, he takes, and by his reckoning Milo and Willes would be dealt best with the backs of his hands.
Reckon I shouldn’t be surprised, since everyone on Mutt Piddle Lane knows that Lenny runs with the Bold Brass Gang.
“Beka.” Lorine whimpered, tugging at my skirt. I turned away from the door to look at her. She is four, and no matter how hard I try to keep my brothers and sisters clean they all end up with dirt on their faces and hands. Maybe it comes from living all together in two rooms, though I try hard as can be to keep that clean as well. The coverlet on the bed we all share is not new, but it is clean and patched and more than I can say for most rat nests around the city.
Lorine tugged again, and I closed my hand around her sticky fist. “We’re hungry.” She whispered, and my own stomach clenched. Of course they were hungry. I’d not gone to the market yet, seeing as leaving Lenny alone in the house with the little ones made my skin itch. Willes or Nilo might cry, or something might happen to the girls which I could not bear thinking of. I am only eight years old, and small enough for it, but Ma always did say that I knew too much when it came to looking after my brothers and sisters.
“I know.” I whispered. There was a bit of bread and cheese in the kitchen that I thought Lenny would take no notice of. He liked better food in his belly than we kept around our house. I took a deep breath, looked to see that Willes and Nilo were out of sight, and ducked into the main room. Like the bedroom, it was small and smelled faintly of overcooked food. We’d never had much when it came to things, and the rooms we called ours had been furnished with a wobbly table and chairs that didn’t match. Half the cupboards had no doors, but Ma was a fine seamstress and had made curtains from sackcloth. I winced when I reached the food cabinet; the cigar tin where we kept our savings was on its side, lid dangling and empty. He’d taken our money.
I was putting bread and cheese into my skirt, shaking with my fury, when Lenny looked over and swore. “Di’n’t I tell ya to keep yer brats out?” A big hand closed around my arm, and the other hand hit me so hard upside my head that for a second I saw stars. I fought hard to keep my legs under me, even as Ma screamed and started begging for him to let me go. That was what made me do it, I reckon, Ma’s voice. Mostly I’m so shy with folks that I can’t look at them in their eyes, even talking.
I looked at Lenny, then, so angry that I wanted to spit into his eye. Lenny let go like he was burned and reeled back. Folks said I had ghost eyes, they’re so pale, and it’s a good half that swear when they see them, and half who just shiver and walk away. Lenny was the swearing kind.
“Stay away!” He ordered, pointing a sausage-like finger at me. I wanted to tell him that he had been the one to grab me first, but my ghost eyes don’t always give me the spine to speak. Still, I could glare, and I did until he turned away and slammed out of our rooms.
When I heard the door to the street slam shut finally, I knew that Lenny had left to do whatever he did during the day. This started Ma back into one of her coughing fits. I tried hard not to think about it as I rubbed her back, but it’s impossible to ignore when her handkerchiefs turn bloody and there’s no coins in the tin to buy medicine. The thought of Lenny with his pockets full of our savings made my blood go all hot again, but I hid it and helped Ma into the threadbare armchair in the corner. Her eyes looked more sunken than usual, and I thought I could see bruises on her cheeks.
Once Ma’s hacking cough had eased, I leaned my forehead against hers. She had always liked it when I did that. The littles came out like magic, then, flocking around Ma and settling against her with their warmth. She didn’t seem to mind that Nilo’s face was dirty, or that Lorine’s hair was uncombed, and if the littles noticed the bruises on Ma’s face, they didn’t say. My blood was still singing like fire, and seeing Ma’s face all bruised made my next decision easy.
I handed out the fistful of bread and cheese to my brothers and sisters, then jerked my head towards the door to show that I was leaving for food. Ma nodded her understanding, but her eyes were on her other children. I couldn’t find it in myself to be jealous as I slipped out, because a foolish idea had come into my head.
I was going to catch the Bold Brass Gang and make them pay.