Ширли Мерфи - Poor Jenny, Bright As A Penny

Crystal sat with her hands on her knees and looked at Bingo. Her face was not childlike now. Now her expression was coarse. “The kid came in off the street, Runga. Tell him to get lost.”

Runga moved forward and Crystal rose and pushed at Bingo. “Get lost, you little scum!” Her eyes told him to run.

But Bingo could not move. Runga slapped at Crystal so she cowered on the mattress like a dog. He grabbed Bingo by the arm. There were sores under his hair, and he smelled. His hand on Bingo’s arm was like steel. “You want to shoot up, you suckin’ baby?” His eyes glinted.

“Get him out of here, Runga.”

Dragging Bingo, Runga stepped over her and looked down at her threateningly. “What’s he doing here?”

“He walked in off the street, he thought the house was empty.”

“Who left the door open?”

“I did,” she said sullenly.

He hit her across the mouth, then stared into Bingo’s face. He twisted Bingo and shoved him across the room so Bingo fell into a pile of boards.

Bingo’s glasses had fallen off. He could see the blurred shape of Runga bend over Crystal, then he heard Crystal cry out. Bingo felt around frantically over the jagged boards, tore his hand on something sharp, but could not find his glasses.

“We’re getting out of here,” Runga growled, “The narcs got Flick, all right.” Then he came at Bingo like a hazy, lurching animal. Bingo tried to crawl away, but Runga flipped him over onto his back, then forced his mouth open and stuffed something into it. “Swallow it or I’ll cut you,” Runga said hoarsely.

Bingo choked, spit out the pill. Runga slapped him across the face, drew a knife from his pocket, and held the point of the blade beneath Bingo’s chin. “Pick it up and swallow it.”

Bingo felt around in the dust. “I can’t see it without my glasses.”

Runga’s hand came close to his face holding a green capsule. “Swallow it.” He pressed the knife so Bingo could feel the blade pull at his skin.

“What will it do to me?”

Runga forced the knife harder.

Bingo put the capsule in his mouth, pushed it far back in his throat and swallowed it, gagging.

Runga began stuffing something into a canvas bag; Crystal was kneeling beside Bingo, there was a scuffle, and then the room was wavering.

*

When Bingo woke he was aware of nothing at first but the pain in his head. He rolled over and the boards jabbed his aching body. It was dark; he could see some streaks of light, and darker shapes, but he could make nothing of them. He tried to sit up, and felt dizzy. His mouth was dry. Finally he got to his hands and knees and began to crawl forward.

Suddenly his hand came down on air. There was empty space in front of him. He pulled back, terrified. Then he remembered the hole in the floor. He backed away, and sat in the darkness trying to make sense of his surroundings.

How could it be night when he had left the library at four? The dark tall shapes must be the broken walls. Or could one be Runga, standing silently? Fear swept him, and in panic he felt along the edge of the broken floor until he found the steps. He sat there shaking and sick. He had no glasses, he remembered he had lost his glasses.

Finally he felt down the steps with his hand, then began to back down them on his knees. He almost backed off the edge once, the shock of his foot in mid-air made him lose his balance.

When he reached the lower floor he pulled the door open quickly. The purple room was dark. He bumped against the table, and scraped his hand on the concrete wall. Then he touched the wooden door, found the knob, and turned it.

The night sky was black, the air cold and still. A street light was burning halfway down the block. All the houses on the street were dark, silent. The loss of time confused him, so that he was not even sure of his direction. He stood hesitantly, then wondered suddenly if Crystal had been in that room watching as he crawled away, perhaps unable to cry out.

He knew he must go back. If she was there, he could not leave her.

He left the doors wide open and began to climb the stairs; but then he knew he must search the lower floor. He called out softly to Crystal. There was no answer. He scuffed carefully to the closest wall and felt along it with his hands, reaching out with his foot to touch whatever lay in front of him. Twice he thought he felt a body, but it was only debris. He was very frightened, and the pain in his head made him uncertain. He crawled back and forth across the floor until he was convinced he had covered it all, and then he climbed the stairs. Here, the vague glow from the street light slanting between the boards helped him see. He felt over mattresses, fearful of what he might find. He searched the room carefully, and when he knew she was not there he escaped quickly. His head throbbed.

He started home, walking fast in the cold air, seeing by the street lights.

He had gone three blocks when a car drew to the curb. In panic he looked for a place to hide.

But it was a police car. He almost tore the door off getting into it. The officer shone a light on him and grinned. “Would you be Bingo Middle?”

“Yes, sir!”

“There’s been a report out on you since eight o’clock. You want to tell me where you’ve been?”

“What time is it?”

“One-fifteen.”

“I think I swallowed a Mickey, I feel kind of hung-over.”

“You’d better tell me. What did you take?” He was a heavy, gray-haired officer. “You’re pretty young to be dropping pills, son.

“I didn’t want to take it. It was a little green capsule.”

The officer looked at him with surprise. “Your head hurt?”

Bingo nodded.

“When did you swallow that thing? Let’s hear about it while I run you out to central receiving.”

“No, I want to go home.”

But he was taken to the hospital. When he arrived, Jenny and Georgie were waiting for him.

Chapter 14

The next day all Jenny and Bingo could think of was finding Crystal.

“Runga had a six-hour start,” Georgie said. “He could be anywhere, particularly with the arrests that are being made.” Aubin Flick’s arrest had been one of twenty-seven in a raid by narcotics squads. “The department is doing everything it can. But if Runga has left her, and she’s moved into some crash pad, it could be very difficult.”

“But why can’t the police search all the—” Bingo began.

“An officer can’t, Bingo. He can go to the door and ask questions, but he can’t search. He would have to have a warrant to search, and that’s practically impossible to get under circumstances like this.”

“But why?”

“That’s the way it is, Bingo. It’s the law. But if Runga has left her she might go to the police on her own.”

For Bingo’s sake, Jenny tried to be calm. But the fear and revulsion inside her would not be stilled, and as soon as she could she slipped away by herself and began to canvas the neighborhood around the purple house. She knew the police had asked questions of the people on the block, but Jenny set out to do the entire area.

She went from door to door asking if anyone had seen a girl like Crystal, seen anyone in the purple house, knew where such a girl might be.

But most of the people were rude and uncaring. Or they were patently nosey, asking questions but making no attempt to help her. And some of the men who answered her knocks tried to get her inside. It was not a kindly neighborhood. The more she begged for information, the more discouraged she became.

She avoided the purple house itself. Narcotics agents had been all over it and she tried to keep out of their sight. But when they were finished, and when she was ready to cry with frustration at unkind adults, she crept into it. She wanted to be where Crystal had been.