It hadn't gone as badly as it could have, she knew. No broken bones, no knocked out teeth. But the fact that she was in one piece didn't feed her family. She dragged herself miserably from the building, head down. She had failed. It had just been a fluke—a
joke
—that Farris even took her tonight. He wouldn't want her again, not when she had lost. And who else would take her? She was too small, too light and too inexperienced.
She touched her face tenderly and winced. Now she wasn't even good for the
other
business, not bruised and battered as she was. No man would want a girl with a swollen jaw and shorn-off hair. Or, if one did, he wouldn't be willing to pay much for it.
She crossed her arms, hunching over herself as she walked. What was she going to tell her mother?
"Hey, kid!"
The street was empty, lit by a single streetlight that cast everything in shadow. Hart tensed and kept walking.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!"
The voice didn't sound angry or cruel, but that didn't mean the man wasn't going to try to rob her, or hurt her or worse.
The steps behind her sped up, and before Hart could decide whether she should run, someone fell into step beside her. "Hey. Saw your fight back there."
"Yeah?" Hart stopped. Had he just come to taunt her about her loss?
The man was her father's age, clean-shaven and dressed well enough. Clearly from the Alley. He was big and broad, with a nose so crooked she could only guess he had once been a fighter himself.
"Yeah. You were good."
Hart snorted. "I lost."
The man grinned. "Sure. But you lost a lot
later
than most people were betting on. Name's Leo."
Hart stared blankly at the hand thrust out towards her before shaking her head and accepting it tentatively.
"What do you want?"
"Straight to the point. I like that." Leo grinned, dropping her hand. "I have a ring, few blocks from here. I want you to fight for me."
"I lost."
"Yeah," Leo nodded. "You lost
this
fight."
"Tonight was my only fight. And I lost."
"Everyone loses at some point or another, kid. Don't get stuck on that. Unless you've decided to get out of the game after just one night?"
Hart wanted to say yes, that she was done with this before she even really started, but then what was she supposed to do? Hope she could salvage enough aluminium off the heap to keep the kids alive? Go back to acid bath extractions and burn heaps that choked their lungs and burned their hands?
Leo must have seen the shift in her expression, because he grinned. "That's what I thought."
"But why would you want me?"
"Like I said, kid, you took a lot longer to pin than the bookies were betting on. Farris thought it'd be a two-second fight. But you ran circles around that kid before he knocked you down."
"That doesn't make me a good fighter."
"You're not a good fighter," Leo said bluntly. "But you
could
be. Look, I'll be straight with you. The ring I got is small time. But I'm looking to move up in the world. And you don't do that by hanging 'round the fence every night hoping a good fighter walks right up to you. You gotta
make
your own fighters, you understand me?"
"So …?"
"So don't spend your time waiting by the fence and hoping someone like Farris'll bring you in. I want to train you."
Hart crossed her arms, even as her heart leapt. "Okay, so you want fighters on call. But why do you want
me
? I'm too small."
"People were cheering for
you
back there, every time you landed a punch on that guy. And do you know why?
Because
he was so much bigger than you. People love an underdog. Especially if that underdog can win."
It made sense. If she could actually knock out a guy like Gage, people might root for her. The scrawny kid taking out a champion. She could see the appeal.
Of course, that depended on her actually being able to take someone down.
"You think you can train me so I don't get beat every time?"
"I can train anyone."
Hart gave Leo another once-over. He was rough around the edges but didn't scream 'slime' the way Farris had. And she wasn't going to kid herself; no one else was ever going to give her a chance like this. At best, she would have to hope another jerk like Farris wanted to see her face get smashed in. At worst, she'd have to wait for the swelling to go down and join the other Gutter girls at the fence.
"Okay."
"Yeah?" Leo smiled. "All right. I'll come get you at Checkpoint Two tomorrow. Get you a pass for the Alley, okay?"
Hart's eyes widened. Duncan had a pass, letting him through the checkpoint for every fight. She didn't know a lot of people who had one.
"Yeah, okay. See you in the morning?"
"See you then, kid."
Hart turned to walk away, barely feeling the pain in her jaw and ear.
"Hey, kid?"
She turned, seeing something silver flash through the air. She caught it instinctively, looking down dumbly at the coin in her hand.
"Just to tide you over, yeah?" Leo offered.
Hart blinked up at him. "Why are you doing this?"
Leo's face softened. "I know you probably got someone, or a lot of someones, at home. I've been there. Besides," his cocky smile returned. "Gotta make sure you show up tomorrow, don't I?"
"I'll be there," Hart said, squeezing the coin into her palm until it left an impression in her flesh. "I promise."
Chapter Four
By the time the sun peeked over the squat buildings of the Gutter, Hart was at the fence.
She had barely slept, coming home late, after the kids were already in bed. She let her mother fuss over her face, tears welling up in Vivien's eyes as she dabbed at the blood on Hart's cheek, pressing a cool cloth to the swelling along her jaw.
Hart slept in her mother's bed for the first time in over a decade, lying in the spot that Duncan had left vacant. She didn't want to disturb the kids nestled together on the mattress in the main room. Thoughts of the fight, of her father, of her family, kept her awake just as much as the lack of small limbs jabbing her in the side or face.
She rose as soon as faint light began to trickle into the room. Hart wanted to be out of the house before her siblings saw her. They had gotten used to the way her father looked when he came home from a fight, bloody and bruised. Little Penny had never seen him any other way. But they had never seen Hart injured like that, and she wasn't eager to introduce them to the idea.
She crept out of the house, leaving her mother to account for her absence. Hovering by the checkpoint, Hart shifted uneasily under the bindings wrapped around her breasts, as tight as she could get them by herself. She wore Duncan's sweatshirt again. It made her feel stronger, like his power as a fighter might linger in the fabric, rubbing off on her skin. She drew it closer as she waited, breathing in her father's scent.
There had been tearstains on her sisters' faces when Hart slipped past them that morning. Her heart ached to think of them crying themselves to sleep, longing for a father that was never coming home again.
She knew the most important thing about training with Leo was learning how to win. If she was going to fight, she needed to know how to come home to her family.
It was late morning before Leo turned up, leaving Hart slumped against the fence, aware of every glance from the checkpoint guard—looking at her short hair, her baggy sweatshirt, her bruised face. She hoped he saw a rough-and-tumble boy and not a foolish girl in over her head.
"Hey, kid."
Hart scrambled to her feet.
Leo grinned at her through the fence, his crooked features even more prominent in the daylight. The man had taken a lot of hits, Hart could tell.
"You ready to get started?"
Hart took a deep breath. "As I'll ever be."
Leo approached the guard, papers in hand. "Sorry it took so long," he whispered to her across the checkpoint. "Had to get all the forms and everything. A nightmare."
Hart didn't even know how one went about getting a pass, but it looked like the guard was branding dozens of documents with official-looking stamps. Messy, crabbed handwriting scrawled awkwardly over the papers—Leo obviously wasn't desk-bound frequently.
After a minute or two, the guard looked up, sizing Hart up. She tried to stand taller under his gaze. "Bit small to fight, ain't he?"
"There's more to him than meets the eye," Leo laughed. The guard shrugged and handed Leo a small card. "Keep him in line, or it's you we'll come after."
Leo nodded and the gate opened, allowing Hart through. She looked down at the rectangle of paper that Leo thrust at her in wonder. There was her name and a very official looking stamp.
Clearance between Gutter and Alley, Open
.
She could hardly believe it. The fence was one of the major features of her life, an insurmountable barrier that kept her in her place, always on the outside looking in. Until now.
Leo led the way through the streets, twists and turns that Hart tried to memorize. The building they stopped at was just as run-down and dingy as she expected. Leo had warned her that his operation was small, after all.
Leo unlocked a heavily-graffitied door with multiple keys and let Hart inside. The door led directly into to the gym: a tiny ring and some equipment dotting the walls.
Punching bags, weight benches and jump ropes littered the room. Hart wound her way through them, following Leo up to the ring.
"I'll work with you today, and then I want you to come with me to a fight tonight," he said. "Watch what they do. The best way to learn how to fight is to watch another fighter."
Hart looked at him speculatively. "You used to fight?"
Leo smiled ruefully, a hand coming up to his crooked nose. "What gave it away?"
Hart laughed, ducking her head.
"But yeah, I did. For years. Earned enough to buy this place."
Hart's eyebrows rose, impressed. That was a tidy haul from the ring.
"We should get started. Let me just find your sparring partner." Leo said. "Ruby!" He bellowed into the empty room. Hart jumped at the sound, looking around.
After a moment, a door in the far wall swung open, and a girl sauntered out.
She looked out of place in the grungy gym and yet completely comfortable in her surroundings. She was about Hart's age with a mane of wild red curls flowing over her shoulders. She wore simple clothes but nicer and cleaner than what Hart usually saw in the Gutter.
Hart shifted nervously, instantly uncomfortable. She understood girls from the Gutter, even the ones who tarted themselves up to stand by the fence every night. They had a certain hunger in their eyes that she recognized, that she sympathized with.
This girl didn't have that desperation about her. Instead, she looked at ease in her setting and her skin—it was something Hart had never felt and couldn't relate to.
Leo smiled as she approached. "Hart, this is my daughter Ruby." He drew the girl to his side, an arm draped over her shoulder. "Ruby, this is our new fighter."
Hart shifted under the weight of Ruby's gaze. After a second, the girl cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "He's kind of small."
Hart bristled. "Size isn't everything."
The girl shrugged easily. "Yeah, but it helps." She had bright green eyes that sparkled at Hart, amused at her indignation. Hart dropped her gaze.
"Be nice," Leo chided, amusement in his voice.
"You said something about a sparring partner," Hart prompted, refusing to meet Ruby's eyes. She just wanted to start with her training, not be laughed at by some girl who thought she was better than Hart because she lived further from the trash heap.
"That's me, kid," Ruby laughed.
Hart's head snapped up, meeting Leo's gaze angrily.
"She's a girl!" Hart protested, wincing at the irony. If she was going to be a
real
fighter, she had to fight against men.
"Yeah. And she's a damn good boxer." Leo said easily. "You'll be lucky if you can take her."
A smug smile spread over Ruby's face. For a moment of blind panic, Hart was sure that Leo knew the truth, that he was calling her out for her deception. But neither Leo nor Ruby said anything. They just watched her placidly, smiles on their faces. Hart crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes.
"Fine," she huffed. "You gonna get mad if I hurt her?"
"Probably not something you have to worry about, kid," Ruby laughed.
"Save it for the ring, girlie," Leo laughed. He turned to dig around in a small locker, emerging with a roll of tape. Ruby obediently held out her hands, allowing her father to wrap her knuckles. Their friendly rapport, their ease with each other, their comfort in the gym—all of it reminded Hart too much of her and Duncan.
She choked back the pain that threatened to claw its way up her throat and out her mouth in a primal scream, forcing herself to focus on getting ready, stripping off her sweatshirt and her shoes. Leo came over to her next, gently taking her hands and wrapping them, protecting the skin of her knuckles.
"First thing's first," Leo said, addressing both her and Ruby. "Stretching. Loosen yourself up. If you go into the ring without stretching, you're liable to tear something, and then the other guy'll have you pinned in a second."
Ruby rolled her eyes but dutifully started stretching, pulling her arms across her chest and tugging her legs up behind her. Hart did the same; it was nothing Duncan hadn't told her a million times before.
When Ruby ducked into the ring, Hart followed, sizing her up. The girl was smaller than her, a few inches shorter and narrower through the torso, although her pert, firm bust was bigger than Hart had ever hoped for. More than could be hidden under some simple cloth wrappings, anyway. The top she wore was tight and black, clinging to her frame, and Hart forced herself to look away from the swell of Ruby's breasts beneath the fabric. It was the kind of figure Hart knew she'd never have, but that lack was serving her well now.
They faced each other in the ring as Leo took his place on the sidelines, hooking his arms over the rope. "Okay, get into your stances: hands up, blocking the face and upper body. Knees bent. Eyes on your opponent."