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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 26, 2008 10:53:10 GMT -5
Suddenly, Fabel called to him, "I have an idea..." He looked at her, and allowed her to pull him towards the stands. She released his hand and ducked down below the stands, climbing into the small space below them. He staggered, surprised, and looked around in paranoia until she was in far enough so that he could follow.
It was a cramped tunnel, to say the least. Again, for once, Race was glad for being short. He ran in after Fabel, waiting until she stopped and sat down. He followed suit, sighing with exhaustion and removing his cap to wipe his brow. "You really know how to hide, eh?" he said. He had meant it to be a sort of compliment, but he found himself wondering how she was so good at finding places to hide. Race knew this track inside and out, and could probably walk around it blindfolded. He never would have thought of heading in the gap below the stands.
He shifted his weight. It wasn't exactly roomy, and he was glad he wasn't claustrophobic. He glanced towards the opening; it seemed miles away. "They ain't gettin' in here in a million years..." he mused. He turned to Fabel. "Great thinkin'..."
He wondered how long they would have to stay down there. They would at least have to stay there for a while. But what if the men were waiting at the exit when they crawled out? Had they seen them duck inside? Race had no way of knowing. He had to admit, Fabel had been a little trouble for him so far. But, he thought as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, she was an okay kid. A real bully kid, actually...
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Post by Fabel on Feb 26, 2008 11:36:15 GMT -5
"You really know how to hide, eh?"
She grinned at him sheepishly, "Lots of practice.." she said through a fake smile.
"They ain't gettin' in here in a million years..." "Great thinkin'..."
Fabel shrugged modestly, as it came quite natural to her. She had always had to run away and hide for days at a time, just to keep from being beaten. Her creative mind made it easy for her to think outside the box and pick out little things, such as a gap underneath bleachers.
Fabel suddenly felt bad about having been so much trouble to Race. She had dragged him (literally) into a sticky situation. "I'm really sorry about all of this.." she muttered truthfully. "I feel like I pulled you into this mess.." she added folding her hands across her stomach. Before he could reply she went on, "Now don't try to say it's not my fault; because it is. If it weren't for me, You'd still be at the rail getting to watch the races in peace. You wouldn't have thugs chasing after you, you wouldn't have dropped your hat or run into the rail...I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you.." she finished in a melancholy tone.
She truly was sorry. It was always incidents like these that made people think poorly of her, before they had gotten to know her. She hated to lose a friend such as Race, but she felt if she had to, she would. She could feel his eyes on her and it made her stomach unsettled.
Fabel held her breath as she heard a slurred conversation at the end of tunnel that they had entered from. She couldn't make out the words, but she soon noticed that the light from the end of the tunnel was quickly disappearing. Either one of them had sat in front of it, or they had moved something in front of it. She whipped her head around to the other side, and noticed the same thing happening. Even under intoxication, the drunken men had been able to trap the two under the stands, leaving them in darkness. Fabel groaned, shifting her weight in the darkness. Right now, there was really nothing to do but wait. Either that, or they could move blindly towards the entrances and try to figure out how to get through. Fabel cursed, very much unlike herself, and began to feel around for the wall..
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 26, 2008 17:25:50 GMT -5
...I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you.."
Race looked at her and shook his head. "I ain't gonna say it's not your fault. Cause I know that's not what you wanna hear. I'll say that it's no trouble, though. I mean, yeah, it's a whole mess of trouble..." Race stopped for a moment, collected his thoughts, and continued. "But I don't mind it. If you hadn't rammed into me, I'd still be havin' a regular day. Bettin' and then losin'. But here I am, hidin' under the stands from a bunch of fat, drunk thugs." He grinned a little. "It's a break from the daily grind. So thanks for it..."
He meant it, too. He was almost glad that Fabel had knocked into him. Otherwise, what would he be doing? Standing at the rails, watching the races and trying not to lose his money again? And, he thought with a slight cringe, what would Fabel be doing if he hadn't been with her?
Suddenly, it became dark in the tunnell. The conversation overhead was audible, but incoherent. Race could recognize the thick, slurred voices. His breath caught as something large eclipsed the light at each end, and he heard Fabel curse. Realizing what must have happened, Race followed suit. "What're they doin'?" he whispered. He heard the sounds of Fabel moving around. A hand came out and touched his shoulder. "What's goin' on?" His voice was gaining in volume. Maybe he was claustrophobic, he thought, because he was getting a little too nervous for comfort.
Gathering his thoughts again, he blinked in the dark to see if any light would leak in. Sadly, there was none. "What do we do?" A lot of questions he was asking, he decided. He wanted to see what the men had used the block the exits, whether it be an object or their own massive forms. Plus, he had to get out of there. How much longer would they be trapped?
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Post by Fabel on Feb 27, 2008 0:54:54 GMT -5
"What're they doin'?" "What's goin' on?""What do we do?"
Fabel chuckled, "Well, first we are not going to panic.." she stated calmly. Her hand found its way to his shoulder instead of the wall, and she gave it light comforting squeeze. Almost like a hug. You could always count on Fabel to make things better in a worse situation.
"I think, maybe..." she thought for a moment, "Maybe we should go see whats in front of the entrances." she said. She felt down Race's arm and grabbed his hand. Using her other, she found the wall, and she began to walk on her knees (so she wouldn't bump her head) down the length of the wall. It was a disgusting feeling. The wall had all sorts of unthinkable substances on it, and the floor was littered with broken bottles and the such. It's amazing how much you see, when you can't see at all.
Fabel cried out suddenly from a pain that seeped into her knee. She bit back any tears that may have escaped and stopped moving forward. She sat down for a moment and brought her knee up to her chin. As she massaged it, she felt the unmistakable sticky substance that was her blood. She had landed her knee right into a broken bottle. "Don't go that way.." she muttered in a strained, pain filled voice. She couldn't move forward anymore with her knee exposed to the dirty ground, so she found the hem of her only dress, and ripped. She slid the dress above her knee and wrapped the ripped piece around it. It would hurt, but at least she wouldn't injure it further.
In all of that she had let go of Race Tracks hand, and now had no idea in where he was, or in which direction to go in. "R..Race?" she called out tentatively. If it was one thing she was used to, it was being in a small dark place for long periods of time, but it was also something she did not enjoy.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 27, 2008 19:45:23 GMT -5
"Maybe we should go see whats in front of the entrances."
Race nodded. He allowed Fabel to grab his hand, and followed her through the tunnel, standing doubled over as far as he could. There was no light creeping through the corners of the stands, and Race kept a hold on Fabel's hand as she moved down the passage. Race never knew this much garbage was under here. He often felt glass crunch under his foot, and he didn't want to know what his hand ran against on the walls. He thought of all the times he had carelessly let a bottle drop under here, and vowed not to do it again.
Suddenlt Fabel cried out. She stopped going forward, and Race felt his hand released. He stopped in his tracks. "Fabel?" he called into the darkness. He heard sounds he couldn't quite place. She seemed to shift position, and then...fabric tearing? "Evelyn?" he called out again. He heard her voice, thick with pain: "Don't go that way..."
He was about to ask her what happened, when he shifted his foot, and glass crunched. He flinched a little at the sound. He couldn't imagine what had happened to her. He put a hand out into the darkness, and came in contact with the wall. He had lost her, and he had no idea where she could be or how far ahead she was. He heard her voice. "R..Race?"
"Evelyn," he answered her call, putting a hand out in the direction of her voice. He touched what might have been her hair, and then her neck. He drew his hand back for a moment, embarassed, before reaching out and finding her shoulder. "I'm right here..." he said. "Grab my hand. You okay? What happened?"
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Post by Fabel on Feb 28, 2008 2:13:37 GMT -5
"Evelyn," "I'm right here..." he said. "Grab my hand. You okay? What happened?"
Fabel felt the warmth flood over her small body at his touch, and the relief of knowing he was there covered the pain in her knee. She moved her hand up to her shoulder where his hand rested, and she took his hand once more. It made her feel more secure. She winced, remembering that her blood had been all over her hands, and that the sticky substance was more than likely all over his now.
"There was glass..It cut my knee is all..I'm fine though.." she said in a slightly quavery voice in answer to his questions. She didn't like for people to take pity on her, and she wasn't fond of making a big deal out of something little. The thought came to her that she might not be fine. If the glass had any rust or left over contents from it on it, which it surely would have, she could get seriously ill from infection. She would make it a point to visit the hospital, and get it checked out.
Before moving forward once again, she wriggled the cloth around her knee to make sure it was secure. She then began moving forward once more, but this time standing up and hunched over. What was only a few minutes seemed like ages until they found there way to the blocked entrance. Fabel couldn't hear any voices outside, so hopefully the fat men had gotten bored and left. She hit whatever it was that was blocking their path, and was amused to found it felt like a thin piece of cardboard that she could easily bend. apparently the walruses being intoxicated had actually worked in there favor. They had been too stupid to think that they would not be able to get through.
She pushed it forward, and to her relief, the light shown through - and there were no men that she could see outside. She walked out into the light, blinking hard to adjust her eyes, and for the first time noticed her knee... It was exposed from the amount of dress she had ripped off to stop the blood flow, and the blood was already seeping through that. She tried to shift her position to cover it, not wanting for it to be a big deal.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 28, 2008 15:17:28 GMT -5
"There was glass..It cut my knee is all..I'm fine though.."
"You sure?" he asked. She didn't sound all too fine to him. Race shifted his hand in hers to hold it more firmly, and he was sure her hand was wet...with what, he could only guess. "All right, c'mon. Let's get outta here quick now..." Between the foulness of the place now mixed with Fabel's injury, he wanted to get out from under the stands as quickly as he could. He did not let go of Fabel's hand as she moved through the darkness again.
He watched with baited breath as she pushed at the block at the end of the tunnel. When it gave way easily, turning out to be cardboard, he sighed and almost laughed. They had been stupid to think the men, drunk off their bums, would think of something that was actually effective. Light poured into the tunnel, and once Fabel was out Racetrack quickly followed suit, bumping his head on the edge and grimacing. He straigtened and squinted in the bright light. A whistle blast told him the second race had just ended. People cheered, and many others were looking at him and Fabel, as if wondering what business they would have under the stands.
Pointedly, Race ignored them. He looked at Fabel, and saw her shift her position a little. His eyes went to the torn hem of her dress. "How's your knee?" he asked, not seeing the damage done. He still held on to her hand, and suddenly this time decided not to let go until she did.
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Post by Fabel on Feb 28, 2008 15:28:38 GMT -5
"How's your knee?"
She cleared her throat, embarrassed that she had been injured so easily under such...odd...Circumstances. "It's...just..." her voice trailed off as she got a better look at her knee. It looked like a mass of wet red fabric had been wrapped around her leg. It was bleeding more than she thought it had been. Her stomach turned over and her face faded into a ghostly white.
She noticed that she was still holding Race's hand, and, embarrassed, she let go. She sat down right where she was in the not so green grass and pulled her ripped part of her dress above her knee. She clenched her jaw and grimace at the site of her own blood mixed with fabric and dirt. She would need to find something to sop it up with, and she was going to need a clean wrapping.
She slowly unwrapped the fabric, and once it was completely revealed, she bit her lip. It made her want to retch, even though it was her own blood she was looking at. There was still a piece of glass stuck in the small wound that was bleeding so profusely, and was what obviously was keeping the blood from clotting. She swallowed hard, and then reached for the glass. She grasped it, but it slipped from the blood that was on it. She cursed and tears sprang to her eyes from it's movement.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 28, 2008 15:41:26 GMT -5
Fabel sat down, and Race dropped to one knee beside her as she carefully unwrapped the strip of her dress she had used as a bandage. If he hadn't known better, he thought nervously, he would have never guessed the cloth had been from her brown dress. It was dyed a bright red, and Racetrack grit his teeth as he looked at it. He had to blink and look away for a moment once the wound was in sight.
When he looked back, he saw there was still glass in the wound. Fabel tugged at it, but couldn't get it out, and she cursed aloud. Race shushed her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't mess with it," he said. "That'll only make it worse..." He glanced at his hand and saw that some of Fabel's blood had gotten on him. He swallowed and tried to ignore it. "You want me to try? I'll give it a shot...if you'd let me, that is." Race had a steady hand, and he thought he could pull out the green glass if he tried.
He began thinking of ways he could help Fabel. That was some cut she had, and he didn't know how much more of her dress she could tear off before it became indecent. He considered his shirt, but then thought better of it. For one it was his only shirt, and besides, it was probably very dirty. He wouldn't risk putting it on her cut. Infection, he recalled, was often even worse than letting it bleed out.
Of course! A handkerchief! He dug into his back pocket and pulled a white embroided handkerchief (stolen off a gent buying a paper but no one need know that). His race card came out of his pocked with it, and fell to the ground, unnoticed. He held the handkerchief ready. "I got this for ya when you're ready..." he said, holding it carefully so as not to get any grime on it. As it turned out, the walls of the area under the stands had some kind of black residue on them, and he didn't want to know what it was...or get any on Fabel's wound.
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Post by Fabel on Feb 28, 2008 15:51:52 GMT -5
"Don't mess with it," "That'll only make it worse..." "You want me to try? I'll give it a shot...if you'd let me, that is."
Fabel locked eyes with him; "You don't have to do this..." she said softly. The statement meant more than just him not having to dig around in her bloody knee, but also that he didn't have to stick around if he didn't want to. She didn't want him feeling like he was obligated to help her in any way. As much as she would like him to stick around...She didn't want to force him.
"If you want to try...I don't mind...But do you really want to get your hands bloody..?" she asked sheepishly.
As he held out the unusually clean handkerchief, she sighed deeply.
"I got this for ya when you're ready..."
She nodded and bit her lip. She knew she would need it, and the handkerchief looked just big enough to wrap around her slender knee twice. She didn't really care where it came from at this point, all she was focused on right now was fixing her knee enough so she could walk. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the small peice of paper that had come out of his pocket with the cloth, and recognized it as his race card. She knew he could loose some money if he didn't have it, and she bent over towards him slowly. She picked it up and held it out for him, grinning faintly.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 28, 2008 16:05:37 GMT -5
"You don't have to do this..."
He rolled his eyes, but then grinned kindly at her. "Yeah, kid. You're bleedin' all over the place with nobody to help you, and ya got a bunch of fat bums lookin' for you to do who knows what. But damn, look at that, my race is about to start, so maybe I'll see you around..." He was kidding of course, and shook his head. "I ain't leavin' you now for nothin'." He couldn't live with himself knowing he'd left her in this state, and what kind of person would he be if he was with her for some things and left her for others?
"If you want to try...I don't mind...But do you really want to get your hands bloody..?"
He shrugged. "What's a little blood?" he said casually. But his face was a little off-color as he said it, and he sighed deeply before cuffing his sleeves away from his hands. "Okay..." he said, placing one hand on her calf below her knee. "Hold still..." He carefully reached over with his thumb and forefinger, and held the shard of glass between them. It must have hurt when he did that, so he was quick about giving it a quick tug out. He closed his eyes when he did it, and a moment later it was in his hand.
He tossed it far away on the grass, and new blood began to flow out of the wound. Grimacing and trying no to look so hard, he gave the wide handkerchief a quick fold-over and pressed it against the wound, wrapping it tightly around. "It gotta be tight..." he said, "otherwise it's useless..." He had nothing to secure it with, so he tucked the edge into the bottom of the makeshift bandage to make sure it wouldn't come loose.
He looked up from his macabre work to see Fabel holding out his race card. He grinned at her, took it, and then placed it on the ground beside him. "Thanks," he said. "But that ain't imp--" he stopped as the color drained from his face. He had noticed his hands were covered in blood, and he felt ready to be sick. He pressed his mouth shut, swallowed hard and clenched shut his eyes. After a sigh, he looked at Fabel again. "That ain't important right now."
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Post by Fabel on Feb 28, 2008 16:18:43 GMT -5
"Yeah, kid. You're bleedin' all over the place with nobody to help you, and ya got a bunch of fat bums lookin' for you to do who knows what. But damn, look at that, my race is about to start, so maybe I'll see you around..." "I ain't leavin' you now for nothin'."
Fabel looked at him surprised and raised an eyebrow. The last statement could be interpreted as so much more, but she left it at the present. After all, who would want to be with such a trouble maker as herself? She shook away any wishful thinking and returned her mind to the here and now.
"What's a little blood?"
Fabel noticed the discoloration in his face when he stated that, and thought hers must be the same bleak color as his, if not worse.
"Okay..." "Hold still..."
She cried out hoarsely as he pulled the shard out of her knee, and put the clean back of her hand quickly to her mouth. The tears welled once again into her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had learned never to show her emotions, and to be tough. So she did.
"It gotta be tight..." he said, "otherwise it's useless..."
She nodded understanding, and a bit, if not all, of her curls fell out of the unruly bun she had placed them in earlier that day. She didn't bother moving them out of her face, otherwise she would get blood all in her hair and that was a real pain to wash out.
"Thanks," "But that ain't imp--" "That ain't important right now."
Fabel gazed at him apologetically. She had caused a whole lot of trouble for him, and for herself in a few mere hours. She was touched that he thought that bit of money was less important then herself, as not many newsies would let the go so easily. She would make it a point to repay him somehow or another, she thought.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 28, 2008 18:27:56 GMT -5
She cried out when he pulled the shard of glass from her knee. "It's okay," he said. "It's out..." After bandaging the wound with his handkerchief, he watched as the blood soaked through, making a circle of red on the white. "That ain't gonna last long," he remarked, and looked at his bloodsoaked hands. He ran them across the grass to get the worst of it off, and once he did he stood up and took Fabel by the arms to help her to her feet. "We better get you outta here...somewhere where you can get bandaged up right..."
He looked at the race card on the ground. He had a chance of winning today, he thought. The race would start soon, and he would have to know who won if he was going to collect whatever money he might have won. Plus there was the fix that he was privvy to in a later race. He could win for once, he thought, maybe eat a good meal today and go home happy. But his thoughts immeidietly returned to Fabel. No race was worth leaving somebody who needed your help. He had taken a liking to Fabel almost right away, and already he could see she was a great person.
He picked up the race card, which had been smeared with blood somewhere in the process of helping Fabel with her cut knee, and put it back into his pocket. If he could, he thought, he would stay and collect his winnings. If there was no way, it wasn't any more of a loss than he usually suffered. He'd make the injured girl his priority, and thought that he'd think lowly of anyone who did otherwise.
"There's the hospital in Harlem," he said aloud. "Or is that in the Bronx? Either way it's a long way to go...will you be able to walk?" He didn't know how far she'd be able to walk with her knee, or if they would get there before dark. Harlem or the Bronx after dark wasn't exactly where Race wanted to be. "I don't really know where to go, t'tell you the truth..."
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Post by Fabel on Feb 29, 2008 0:51:28 GMT -5
"It's okay," "It's out..." "That ain't gonna last long," "We better get you outta here...somewhere where you can get bandaged up right..."
She nodded and let him help her up. Once she was up however, her knee buckled slightly and she grabbed onto Race to keep her balance. Once she was sturdy, she thought about grabbing his hand again, but her hands were still bloody, and that would just be rude. So, she tried to hobble forward, which was not working in her favor. She could hardly bend her knee, and then when she did, it hurt a whole awful lot.
"There's the hospital in Harlem," "Or is that in the Bronx? Either way it's a long way to go...will you be able to walk?" "I don't really know where to go, t'tell you the truth..."
She scrunched up her nose in thought, "Harlem..I could try walking there...But we wont arrive until dark..." She said. She wasn't too keen on walking around Harlem or the places in between in the dark. It wasn't the safest thing to do, even with someone with you.
"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be there in the dark." she added, bending down to fidget with her "Bandage". If at all came around to it, and she really had to, she would walk through the darkened Harlem, but she wouldn't like it - Not one bit. Especially if there were any more free willed, drunken walruses about.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Feb 29, 2008 17:31:07 GMT -5
Race kept an eye on her as she walked, and as she fell Race held his arms out to her. She held on to him for balance, and he put his arms around her shoulders and waist. "You got yourself?" he asked. He made sure she was steady, but even then it appeared she wouldn't walk easy. He kept an arm around her. "Here...lean on me..." She'd walk better with someone or something to lean on, he reasoned. And since there was no something, it would have to be someone.
"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be there in the dark."
Race nodded in agreement. Being anywhere besides your own turf at night wasn't a smart idea. And he didn't know too many people from Harlem and wasn't in with the leaders, either. Odds were they would get jumped trying to get to the hospital. Racetrack could fight for the most part, but he wasn't an expert. People like Jack, Kid Blink and Spot could fight well. If luck was on his side, he'd win. But up against how many? And trying to help Fabel at the same time?
Race bit his lip. He glanced at the bandage. It didn't look so bad, but he knew it wouldn't last long. "That glass got you bad..." he mused. "I'm tryin' to think of somewhere close we could get you really cleaned up..."
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