Twisted Virtue - Jack Dawkins

Life ain't fair

Another year has passed and Bills visits had become much more frequent as he demanded to see fifteen year old Nancy more often. This was frowned upon by Dodger( not that he could do much about it, even though he tried to protest many times.) Nancy slowly to become less exuberant and now was a lot more wary of things around her. It was a week before Nancys sixteenth birthday and she prayed that time would just freeze. Every second came to fast for her and she always felt a horrible gut feeling about the upcoming few weeks but wasn't entirely sure why. She noticed that Dodger had become slightly more distant with her, but when he thought she was in a deep sleep at night she would notice his lanky figure standing near her hammock peacefully watching her sleep. Some nights she would even feel his hand brush hers and he would gently hold it in his palm as if creating an internal promise to make sure she is safe and by his side forever.

This specific morning Nancy awoke to the rambunctious boys running around the lodge, tying shoelaces, buttoning shirts, cooking breakfast and being their overall chaotic selves. She was washing her face with freezing water from the basin which gave her face a red hue because of it's icy temperature, and she noticed Dodger walk past her with a swift, avoidant pace, placing his hat on his head. Usually the two would converse as Dodger leant against the wall and told Nancy the plan off action for the day. However as he didn't, Nancy brought it upon herself to ask him. " So what's the plan?" As to which she received no reply, so she asked him again. And again. Still no reply. Dodger just put on his navy coat and clicked towards Charlie who was now 13 and had improved so much over the past few years when it came to jobs in the city. He was fast and slick so came in very useful for crowded areas. "Charlie you're with me." So the boy followed Dodger who was already out of the door. Nancy was unsure as to why he was acting the way he was , so she looked to the boys for a bit of a clue, but they were no help. Then she looked over at Fagin who looked just as clueless as she was. He was watching as his eldest boy casually left the lodge in his tailcoat and top hat, not even looking back for his female companion. He ran his fingers across his slightly ajar lips and looked to the floor deep in thought and confusion.

Even Fagin knew that Dodger and Nancy were partners. They'd scale the streets of London together bringing back all sorts of goodies. It had been this way for nearly 7 years now and he was unsure as to why, for the first time ever, Dodger didn't bring Nancy on the job with him, and even more so didn't even tell her about it. Nancy wasn't in the mood for his games so she decided that she would get her answer. She ran out the door in her nightdress and untamed hair shouting after Dodger and Charlie. Dodger signalled for Charlie to go ahead and that he would catch up before he swiftly swivelled on his heel and rolled his eyes to face the girl. 'Whatcha want Nance." He asked in a slightly irritated and bitter tone. She furrowed her eyebrows at him and replied in her delicate, slightly groggy cockney voice, " Why you goin' on the job without me? Were a team Dodge." He glared at her and sniffed " Well as of next week we're not. So I've gotta learn to do without you ain't I ?" His utter bluntness shocked her and she had to swallow a lump that was arising in her throat. " That's not fair Dodge." She told him as he was walking away again, she had tears emerging in her eyes and he doubled back as he spat . " Life's not fair Nancy." There was a tense moment of furious eye contact between the two and a very prolonged silence. He looked her up and down and snapped " Get inside whilst you look like that, you don't need to be attracting anymore attention than you already do." He briskly strode towards the alleyway not looking back at the gobsmacked girl. Nancy was royally mortified and quickly made her way back inside as heavy, salty tears cascaded down her freckled cheeks.

Fagin noticed her enter and was quick to her side, riddled with concern." What's wrong my dear, what 'appened out there?" She recounted the events for him and all the nasty words Jack had said to her and it was safe to say the man was furious. He couldn't quite comprehend how badly the boy had been acting since Bill came into the picture.

That night when the two boys arrived home, the rest of the gang was sitting around the table awaiting their nightly meal that Nancy was cooking. So Dodger and Charlie sat with them. Nancy walked out the kitchen with a steaming, iron skillet pan that she had stolen in Camden town over two years ago and it was filled with sausages. She passed two out to each boy in a line and even gave Charlie three, until she reached Dodger at the end of the table and he noticed that there was none left for him. So she casually walked past him to put the pan back in the kitchen, he shouted with an annoyed tone " Oi, Where's my dinner?" He got no answer. Just a dirty look from the girl as she re-emerged from the kitchen chewing her own food. He clocked that Charlie had an extra helping , so when he was chatting to the others, he tried to swipe one. However this didn't go undetected by Nancy's eagle eyes. She smacked his hand away from the boys plate and he hissed in pain so he whispered irritably in her ear." Why'd you not do me any dinner?" She stared him dead in the eye with confidence and coolly replied, " You've got hands. If you want something to eat you can get it yourself. Like you said you'll have to get used to doing things without me." He glared at her and bitterly said " That's not fair Nancy. " So she snapped back hastily " Life's not fair Dodger," Even the lads could detect the tension between the two and decided it would be best to head to bed before anything got too heated.

Fagin popped his head out of the lounge to say good night to the boys and then pointed at Dodger with a bony finger and commanded " Get in 'ere ! I need to speak to you about somthin'. Jack approached Fagin knowing that he was going to get scolded and maybe a clout as he has been horrid to Nancy that morning, he was like a dog with it's tail in between it's legs and Fagin shut the door. Nancy perched herself on her hammock reading a book that she got one of the boys to steal from the market for her. She could hear Dodger was getting scolded by Fagin in the other room and the man was demanding that he was to apologise to Nancy for being so nasty to her, especially over something that she couldn't control. The irritated boy came back to sit down on the bench and was drumming his fingers on the table with pure frustration. After he knew all the boys were asleep he said her name through gritted teeth. " Nancy." She didn't even look up at him. He couldn't be bothered being petty anymore and stood from the bench and commanded. "Kitchen. Now" She noticed the boy leave out of her peripheral and knew that he probably wanted to privately sort out their dispute out of ears of any of the boys. So she reluctantly followed, taking her sweet time.

As she turned the corner her grabbed her hand but she really wasn't in the mood for his half arsed apologies. "Get. Off" She ordered him but he did her one better. He took a breath, pushed her against the wall and passionately kissed her. This really caught the girl by surprise but strangely it felt normal. His hands cupped the side of her face as his lips pushed onto hers, forcing her head against the wall. Then she began to reciprocate, the two were hastily clinging to each others lips, eyes closed and breaths unsteady. After a long while he pulled away and breathlessly apologised. " I'm sorry about today. Really. Truth is Nance, ever since that gits been coming round for the past couple of years, I've come to realise that I love ya. And not just as a sister or a best friend, I really love ya." She smiled sympathetically and pushed her lips back onto his. The truth was, she felt the same way but she knew that it would never be able to happen, especially with her leaving to be with Bill in less than a week, she couldn't bring herself to tell him to face facts and break his heart because she knew that it would break hers too. So for now she just settled for a kiss.