Criticism spot! :)
~ Time skip, just a couple of days.
Crutchie's POV
I shot awake from yet another nightmare, but unlike usual, I didn't sit up right away. I continued to lay down as I felt tears pour down my face, my breathing heavy and my body shaking as though I was cold. I shifted closer to Jack, burying my face in his shirt. I accidentally woke him as I did so, but I didn't look up at him.
"Crutch? You okay?" He asked, and I shook my head, still not taking my face out of Jack's shirt. "Nightmare?" I nodded and he put his arms around me, gently combing through my hair with his fingers. I began to feel guilty about waking him, feeling like a burden.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, my voice shaky.
"You have nothin' to be sorry for," he spoke quietly, his tone soothing.
"I just feel bad," I finally got the courage to look up at him, still feeling tears fall from my eyes every now and then.
"About what?"
"When you helped me that one day, you probably didn't think I'd be such an issue," I continued mumbling, wiping my cheeks dry.
"You ain't an issue," he reassured, but I couldn't bring myself to believe him. I wanted to drop it, however, so I tried my best to smile at him.
"Thanks."
The morning bell rang a few minutes later and we got ready as usual, Jack's personality shifting as we entered the square as it always did. When we stood in line, however, Weisel and Oscar were talking, and eventually Weisel walked over to Jack.
"I need to speak to you," he said, motioning for Jack to follow. Jack did just that, seeming very confused. They only spoke for a few seconds before he got back in line, not saying a thing. After we got our papes we stood in our usual group of Race, Romeo, Jack and myself, talking.
"What did Weisel want?" I finally asked, not able to hold back any longer.
"Well, I was about to ask youse guys about that," he said, looking at the three of us. "Weasel was wondering if any new kids named 'Charlie' had shown up here within the past few years," as he said my name, I immediately felt my blood run cold. "Has anyone named that started here that I didn't know about?" Race shook his head, but Romeo looked at me, making me feel even more nervous than I had felt before.
"Crutchie, what's your real name?" He asked, and I felt Jack's eyes on me.
"I- I don't remember," I stammered, trying, and failing, to seem calm.
"Oh, right, forgot." Romeo said, dropping it. I could still feel Jack looking at me, however, and I fought myself to not look at him. "Let's sell," Romeo broke the silence, making Jack stand on the wagon and sending everyone out.
I remained silent as we walked, still managing to not look at Jack. Right as we reached the road we part at, he pulled me into an alley, looking very, very worried.
"Crutchie, if you know your name you should tell me," I instantly felt sick to my stomach, staring him in the eyes.
"I don't," I spoke quietly, not wanting to sound afraid.
"Do you promise?" He asked, and I felt horrible as I nodded, lying to him. "Okay. I believe you. Let's go," he smiled at me as we left the alley, parting from one another.
As I sold I found it difficult to keep focused, making me nearly not sell all of them. When I got home Jack wasn't there yet, allowing me time to breathe and get my bearings. When the ladder eventually shook, I felt my heart sink. I smiled at Jack as he reached the top, him doing the same back.
"How're you?" He asked, sitting down beside me.
"Just tired," I said, trying my best to sound alright. As we began to eat our dinner I began to feel guilty about lying, wondering if I should tell him the truth instead. "Why was Weisel looking for a kid named Charlie?" I asked, making Jack look at me.
"Apparently that kid's Dad is looking for him. I hope he finds him," he continued his dinner, however, I didn't. I kept staring at him, only snapping out of it when he went to look at me again.
I was more quiet than usual as the sun went down and we settled in for bed, still having an internal battle with myself. As Jack closed his eyes, I finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Jack," I whispered, and he opened his eyes, looking at me.
"Yeah?" He whispered as well, gently pushing my hair from my face.
"I have to tell you something," I tensed up a bit as I spoke, wanting to go back on my decision, however, I knew I couldn't.
"What is it?" He gave me a reassuring smile, making me feel a tiny bit better.
"I'm Charlie." I got out, making him freeze.
"Why didn't you-"
"I wanted to start fresh and feel more... Detached from my past," I cut him off, my eyes burning as tears built up. "I'm sorry."
"Crutch, don't be sorry." He smiled at me again, and I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders right away. "So... I guess your Dad is looking for you?" He asked, raising his brows.
"I can't let him find me, Jack," I began to panic, my heart pounding. "He'll kill me."
"Hey, hey. Don't worry. I won't let him find you, alright?" He smiled at me a third time, making me finally smile back. My smile didn't last for long, though, as my mind began racing. Jack pulled me in closely, holding me tight. "He won't find you." He repeated, going back to whispering.
"What if he does?" I said, feeling as though I could break down at any second.
"He won't." He reassured me a third time, but I still didn't feel safe. "Get some sleep, alright?" I nodded, but knew I wouldn't be able to sleep much, if at all.
Jack fell asleep quickly, and as I predicted, I stayed wide awake the entire night. I was absolutely terrified that if I fell asleep and let my guard down, that he'd get to me. I laid there as the hours went by, remembering everything he had ever screamed at me. Every reason he beat me. And, of course, wondering why I wasn't important enough to my Mom to take me with her. As the sun began to rise I rolled onto my other side, watching it in order to try and calm down a bit. Eventually, Jack moved a bit, making me turn back to him.
"Did you get some sleep?" He asked, his voice scratchy. I shook my head, my eyelids feeling heavy. "You should stay home today," he smiled pitifully at me, but I quickly shook my head a second time.
"No, I need to take my mind off of everything," I said, and he slowly brushed my hair off my face.
"Alright, but don't push yourself." He got up once he finished speaking, grabbing me some clothes and setting them beside me. As I got changed I began to shiver from the cold, as I didn't own any long-sleeve shirts. I was used to it, however, so I didn't mind. Jack noticed quickly, though, walking to his clothes again and grabbing one of his flannels. "Here, you're shaking," he handed me the flannel and I took it slowly, feeling oddly guilty.
"Thanks," I mumbled, putting it on.
We headed to the square in silence, as I felt too exhausted to speak. Race and Romeo caught up to us, both of them acting like the complete opposite of me, as they were filled with energy.
"Mornin' fellas!" Race called, nudging me. Due to how scared I was already feeling about everything, though, I flinched away from him dramatically, making all three of them turn their attention to me. "Calm down, I ain't gonna hit ya!" Race joked, making Romeo laugh. Jack didn't, however, looking at me with a worried expression.
"I know, sorry," I said, trying to laugh along with them. The two began talking something, and I could feel Jack's eyes still on me.
The gate was closed when we arrived, so a bunch of us sat and waited, eventually seeing the Delancey brothers walk in to unlock it. As usual, some guys began teasing them, making me smile. I stopped paying attention at some point, though, my mind once again becoming occupied of terrible memories. I noticed that Race had struck up a harsh argument with Oscar as we walked past, thus making me just glance at the two.
"The hell you lookin' at, crip?" Oscar spat, getting ready to swing at me. I flinched away, making my body hit Jack's, as he was behind me. He helped me to balance myself before looking at Race, his face red with anger.
"You got this?" He asked, and Race nodded. Before I could see what happened, Jack dragged me away, getting in line. "Crutchie, you should go home," he said quietly, trying to make sure no one else heard.
"No," was all I said back, looking him in the eyes. As he saw how tired and broken I was, he let his soft side show a bit, smiling with pity. He dropped it after a few seconds, turning back around to get his papes.
Just as I had hoped, selling took my mind off of everything that was happening, making me feel like I could breathe for a bit. As I walked home anxiety began to creep back in, but I tried real hard to keep calm, knowing I'd be home soon. That was when I was dragged into an alley, just as the Delancey's had done to me before. I was thrown to the ground, making me let out a small cry of pain. As I looked up to see who was doing this, it didn't surprise me to see that it actually was the brothers, towering over me.
"You know that some guy has been lookin' for a kid named Charlie, right?" Oscar spat, and I felt my heart sink. "In fact, he stopped by again today."
"He said that this 'Charlie' kid was a crip. Seems to match up pretty well with you, huh?" Morris said, his tone just as harsh as his brothers.
"I- it ain't me," I stuttered, the two of them getting closer to me.
"That guy offered us some good money if we were able to find him." I felt sick to my stomach now, tears falling down my face. Before I could respond they each lunged for my arms, each of them holding one.
"Get off me!" I screamed, beginning to fight back.
"We're eatin' good tonight, Oscar," Morris said, tightening his grip.
I managed to rip my arm from Oscar's hold, and then kicked Morris with my good leg, causing him to stumble and let go. I grabbed my crutch from beside me and tried to get up, but I was quickly thrown back down, being pinned down by Morris.
"Help!" I screamed as loud as I could, knowing I wouldn't be able to do this on my own. He had an extremely tight hold on me, and I couldn't fight him anymore because of it. He began to drag me away, and I started to panic even more. I couldn't breathe from how terrified I was, hoping that someone would pass by and help.
"Crutchie-" Race said as he showed up, answering my prayers. "What the hell?!" He yelled, running over to us and taking down Morris. Oscar had no time to react, thus allowing Race to land a few hits on him as well. Oscar overtook him, though, causing the two to tussle while Morris focused on me once again.
"We're getting that money!" He yelled, kicking my foot in order to make me unable to fight back from the pain. It worked, giving him time to bind my hands together with a rope, dragging me away while Oscar and Race continued at it.
"No! Please!" I screamed, pain soaring through me. I had closed my eyes from the pain, and before I knew it, I no longer felt Morris gripping onto me. I opened my eyes to see Jack now here, knocking Morris down to the ground. While he recovered, Jack headed over to Race, helping to get Oscar off of him. The two brothers got up after Jack had hit them a few times, running out of the alley. Jack then turned his attention to me, as I sat on the ground, sobbing, and my hands bound.
"Race, go," he ordered, and Race did just that. "It's over, breathe," he said kneeling down right beside me. I couldn't stop panicking, though, in shock from what had happened. "Here," Jack gently untied the rope, taking it off of me. I immediately rested my head in my hands, trying to calm down.
"Fuck," I mumbled, and I could tell that I had made Jack more worried, as I had told him multiple times how I hate to swear. "I can't-" I began, getting cut off by my own uneven breathing.
"What if we breathe together, hm?" Jack offered, and I nodded. I tried to breathe at the same rate as him, but I still couldn't calm down. I shook my head as I started to cry harder, feeling terrified. Jack then put his arms around me and pulled me in tightly against his chest, and I buried my face in his shirt as I cried. He gently rubbed my back as we sat there, clearly upset, but trying to seem as though he wasn't. "You're safe," he whispered, planting a kiss on my head.
We were there for quite a while before I was finally able to breathe normally and stop crying, but I was still shaking. I looked at my wrists to see red marks from the rope, then putting my arms back around Jack.
"What happened?" He eventually asked, his tone gentle.
"They were trying to turn me in and give me to my Dad," I mumbled, my chest feeling heavy.
"You're safe now, alright? I've got you," he smiled at me, making me smile back a tiny bit. "Let's get you home. You can sleep a bit and we can talk about this in the morning, okay?" He asked, and I nodded, knowing I should get some rest before I attempted to think about what had just happened.
Jack helped me up and we walked home in silence, the streets empty at this point. Even as we changed and laid down, I was still shaking, and Jack took notice, trying to smile at me. I did the same back, feeling exhausted. I couldn't close my eyes without starting to feel scared, though, so I was sitting there, wide awake.
"Crutch, go to sleep. You're safe." Jack said as though he could read my mind, and just him saying that was enough to help me calm down enough to close my eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.
(word count - 2503)