Gypsy and the Jag

"Dani! Dan-ni! Come on, wake up, ya lump! It's a beautiful day in Metro City—the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Shay's bringing in new arrivals! It's time to GET UP!"

The ten-year-old called DJ punctuated every other word with a blow from Dani's own pillow. The girl was up by the second sentence (being homeless, she was a light sleeper) but DJ kept on anyway. At the end of his rant, he threw her pillow back at her head, and fled the sunlit ballroom. His two younger friends followed him. Dani heard them go, whooping and laughing all the way.

Danielle—better known as Dani or, less commonly, Gypsy—raised her head. She swept dark, curly hair out of her face and looked around. Wake-up calls like that were common at the abandoned theatre on 21st and Magnolia. Dani had chosen the ballroom on the second floor because of its isolation. Somehow, the younger kids kept finding her.

"I ought to move to the roof…" she muttered, testing out her rusty voice. She didn't talk to others much. In fact, she took a night job that involved little socializing. The mid-afternoon sun streaming in through the ballroom's half-boarded, half-shattered glass wall told her it was early. Too early. Dani rolled out of bed, brushed off her "WWMMD?" shirt, and headed out.

The hallway winding through the upper floors was a maze of boxes, debris, and sleeping spots. The theatre hosted more than 50 teens and kids (it had a new name every week). The most popular places to camp out were the green rooms under the stage and the main auditorium itself. Still, Dani had to step over two sleeping girls on her way through. She envied them. They'd been spared the DJ treatment. Then again…she was important. She had responsibilities.

"Lieutenant Dan!" someone called from the auditorium balcony. Dani could hear excited chatter just outside the balcony door. The whole theatre troupe must've been gathered to see the new kids. Surely, they didn't need her…

She swept aside the tattered plastic sheet that served as the door. A chaotic scene spanned out in front of her. The 21st and Magnolia homeless troupe, in all it's glory.

In its' heyday, the theatre was a glorious thing to behold. The scene of many Shakespeare plays and movie screenings—Dani was sure. At some point the color scheme was gilt gold and red velvet. In its current dilapidated state, it was half wrecked, and peppered with all hues. Clothes, blankets, bags, graffiti, and people were scattered all through the huge room. A busy cacophony of the homeless childrens' making. They'd come from all different places, all different histories, to find shelter there (in the safest city on Earth). Dani loved all of it. It was her home.

On that afternoon, dozens of kids had gathered to gawk at the newcomers. They were gathered on every surface. They hung from the décor and the scaffolding, perched on the edge of the high balcony. Matthias yelled "Lieutenant Dan!" again, and chased her with DJ. "The Jag's got 'em!" he yelled. Dani's pulse picked up.

She reached the balcony's low rail (and pulled two kids back from the drop on instinct). Sure enough, the three new kids had been trooped to the middle of the stage. They were being terrorized by Eddie—code name Jag—with all helpless eyes watching them. Tense whispers circled the room. Eddie had just started in.

Kids on the run from parents and foster systems sometimes took on code names to keep themselves hidden. Kids gave them to one another, too. (Dani's old one referenced her obvious Rroma descent.) It was rumored the Jag got his from the criminals he mixed with during the day. Tall, white, 18, and built like a tank, Eddie was in charge of security in the theatre. He ran a small group of cronies with Victor. He and Vic ran card tricks and small (semi-legal) cons to get income. Dani always thought they took less-legal side jobs and pocketed the money. Of course, she never had any proof. Kids just stayed out of his way.

"Bet you're runaways. Look at you, you couldn't survive a day on the streets." Eddie taunted them. He moved in front of the oldest kid like they were squaring off.

The littlest one—she couldn't have been more than 7—spoke up. "We slept in a park for three days!" she cried.

"Did you now?" She shouldn't have said that. "I bet you're lying. I bet you're spies. Spill it—where are you really from?"

A couple rallying cries came from boys gathered at the edge of the stage. Eddie's band, ready to join in. Dani frantically scanned the scene for help. Shay (the artist girl that worked in a popular park) was standing at the edge of the scene, silent and frozen. Victor (a creepy teenager with greasy brown hair) stood close to the new kids' stuff with his arms crossed. Dani took a quick look at the new girls. They were huddled together on the stage, under the scrutinizing eyes of everyone in the unfamiliar place. One was dark-skinned and dark-haired with glasses, maybe Mexican, and the other two were blonde, white and maybe sisters. The girl with glasses was standing tall, trying not to be intimidated. All three stuck close together—like that would save them from Eddie.

"What happened? Where's Rhonda? Where's Mr. J?" Dani asked the kids.

"Rhonda went to grab Mr. J. She couldn't stop Eddie neither." DJ answered.

The girls only had a minute more of Eddie. The theatre's director was on the way. Dani worked directly under Mr. J and his second-in-command, Rhonda, but she had little power over the teenage security guard. She was smaller than him. Until Mr. J got there, Eddie had free reign.

The older sister was talking frantically. "We met up in a camp outside the rail yard. We're from Illinois, okay? Just looking for a place to stay."

"I'm real sure about that." Eddie said sarcastically.

"It's true, okay?! We've been walking around the city for a few days. We've got nowhere else to go!"

The brunette and the little one nodded in agreement. Eddie pretended to think it over. The truth was, he could smell how green they were. Those kids hadn't been homeless for long. Three months, he'd guess, at most. They came from money, too—which meant they still had something of value on 'em. Something he could take.

"Hmm….I don't believe you. Search 'em!" he commanded.

Boys leapt up on stage and headed for the girls. Eddie shoved Victor out of the way and went for the bags first. They had no authority to search people's stuff, everyone but the new girls knew it. Dani found her voice.

"Hey! You can't do this!" she shouted down at the stage. Eddie noticed her, at last.

"Looking mighty brave up there, Dani-boy! Or is your name Gypsy?"

"You don't get to call me that." Dani said, quieter than before. The word sounded so wrong coming out of his mouth…it was a taunt, a slur, when he said it.

"Whatever. Just stay out of this, Dani-boy." Eddie went back to the bags. The littlest tried to protest, but boys kept all of them back. It only took Eddie a few seconds to find what he was looking for. Dani saw him pull out a silver chain and discreetly slip it in his pocket.

"That's ours! Put it back!" the brunette suddenly shouted. She'd seen him. Eddie straightened up and Victor got between his friend and the girls, everyone on the defensive.

"Put what back?" Eddie challenged her to keep talking.

"I didn't see him take anything." Victor chimed in.

"Yes, he did! It's in his left pocket!"

"They sound like troublemakers, Vic. And we don't take in troublemakers here. Throw them out!"

Eddie's voice boomed and the theatre burst into motion.

The girls shouted and clung to each other. Eddie's boys moved in, and two adults burst onto the stage.

"What do you think you're doin?!" Mr. J's deep voice sent the action grinding to a halt.

Mr. J. Walker was possibly the only person Eddie feared. J, an ex-priest, founded and ran the makeshift shelter. Tall, dreadlocked, and usually stone-faced, he was a benevolent ruler, but still had power over the whole theatre. (He also had a different sports team hat every day. No one knew how he got them.) Rhonda—also black, younger, with micro-braids down her back—stood beside him with her ever-present binder. She wasn't happy. Neither was Mr. J.

"Eddie, what's going on here?" he demanded.

"These three are troublemakers, sir. They tried to start a fight. Looks like they got some stolen stuff—"

"Sir, he took Kat's bracelet!" the brunette told Mr. J.

Eddie glared daggers at her, and Dani tried to figure out if the girl was brave or just stupid. Mr. J could believe her claim. Eddie had been involved in some incidents before, but the girl was a stranger. J just looked at Eddie and the teen acted innocent as possible.

"She's lying! How long have I been protecting this place, man? What would it be without me?" (Victor, feeling a bit like chopped liver, rolled his eyes behind Eddie.)

"It'd be less crazy, that's for sure!" Mr. J turned to the girl. "What's your name?"

"Julie, sir. Short for Juleka. This is Katherine—Kat—and her little sister, Anne. We're homeless."

"We all are, kid. You see him take it?"

"Yes, sir. It's in his left pocket." Kat nodded.

J looked back at Eddie.

"They're liars and thieves, sir. I didn't take it. We should kick 'em out before they bring cops to our door…"

"I saw him, he took it."

The words were out of Dani's mouth before she even knew she spoke them. All eyes in the theatre were on her.

Mr. J took a step towards her and asked, "You saw it yourself?"

Julie's bravery was infectious. Dani figured if that girl could stick up to the Jag, she could, too. She stepped up onto the rail, jumped about 3 feet down onto the boards of old scaffolding, and walked closer to the light.

"I saw it, all right. It was silver, and it's in his left pocket." Yeah, she felt mighty brave up there. She pointed right at the aforementioned pocket—like a judge on high.

Mr. J motioned for Eddie to stand right in front of him. Eddie knew when he was beat. With slumped shoulders and hate in his eyes, he turned out his pockets. The bracelet—a sterling silver charm bracelet, with crosses and birthstones—went into Mr. J's hand.

"They're still troublemakers." Eddie insisted, still trying to fake concern for the theatre.

Kat stuck her tongue out at him.

"We've got no room for troublemakers here."

"You're right, Eddie." Mr. J said. "Get your stuff and get out."

Stunned silence filled the theatre.

"But I'm—you need me! You need me here, J!"

"We don't need thieves, or thugs! We don't need you harrassin' younger girls, or wastin' resources to show off, or bringin' criminals back here! Get your stuff, or we'll pawn it for you!"

All fifty-plus kids waited with held breath for Eddie to throw a punch.

He didn't.

In what was probably the smartest move of his life, he simply walked away, dropping off the stage into the orchestra pit, going under the stage into the green rooms. Rhonda sent a kid to trail him—make sure he was doing as told—but Eddie wasn't any trouble. Victor sent a betrayed look to Mr. J and followed Eddie. A few other boys left, too. Dani didn't watch them go. She had to look away. It had been a long time coming—but she still had a hand in their banishment. The whole theatre watched them emerge from the green rooms at the back of the stage, and leave through the emergency exit. When the door banged shut, and the sound dissipated, it was quiet. Dani certainly didn't know what to say.

Little Anne, clinging to her sister's leg, spoke up. "He was a jerk." She blew a raspberry at the exit and a laugh rippled through the crowd. It was a relieved sound. No one was more relieved than the girls scattered 'round the theatre.

Rhonda motioned for Dani to join them, and she approached the new girls while Mr. J inspected the charm bracelet, lost in thought. Dani climbed down the scaffolding and walked up to the stage. Rhonda was busy asking the girls all the necessary questions. She took down the names they gave her, where they were from, and what they could do for work. The three were really green, but she'd worked with worse. Rhonda made sure all the kids had some kind of job—and in rare cases of emergencies, like a fire, she'd use the details she'd written down to keep track of everyone. Make sure they were safe. She and Mr. J had learned from Tighten's attack, just over a year ago.

Rhonda was finishing up her notes when Dani stepped up on stage.

"I'll take care of them. Show them the ropes, teach them, everything." She said. The three new girls got a close look at the one that spoke up for them. She wasn't as old as they'd thought, maybe 14 to Julie and Kat's 13. Tan—Kat thought Indian, Julie was closer with her guess of Romani. Her black hair framed her face, bringing out dark hazel eyes. Her eyes looked too old for the rest of her face. They made the stranger seem wise, in a survivalist sort of way. Kat saw the color scheme on her "WWMMD?" shirt (Kat had an eye for fashion)—Metro Man's colors. "What Would Metro Man Do?". She must've been a fan. Anne just wondered if she liked animals.

"You've got a job, too, Dani. I take care of new arrivals, it's okay." Rhonda replied.

"Your job just got a whole lot harder. I'll take them, just till they're on their feet." Dani gently told the older woman. That was her job as Lieutenant, she took on projects and helped out where she could.

"We'll hang with her, it's fine with us." Kat said. Julie nodded. She figured they owed this 'Dani'.

Rhonda sighed and gave in. "Okay—you'll bunk with her tonight, tomorrow we'll make other arrangements. Welcome to the…what is it this week?"

"The Butt Hut!" someone shouted.

"Thanks, Kate." Rhonda rolled her eyes. "It'll have a better name next week." Scribbling in her binder, a thousand new problems on her mind, Rhonda walked off.

Mr. J didn't go with her. He took her place and held the bracelet, examining it.

"This could feed us for a week." He handed it back to its owner, Kat. "Keep it safe."

"We will." Julie said.

"Sorry about your secur-it-y." Anne said (she couldn't pronounce the last word).

"Sorry you had to see that." Mr. J started moving around all four of them, delivering an important message to everyone listening. "But since you have, there's some important things you should know. We don't tolerate thieves here. We've got clothes, bedding, and food to go around. We're in the safest city on Earth, guys, we've got it really good. There's no need for that. We share what we got, and take care of each other, 'cuz no one else will. Still with me?"

The four girls nodded.

"We do everything legal. If cops trace you back here, everyone in this building's going to jail, back to the foster system, or back to parents they ran away from. I dunno where you came from or how you got here. But that's not a fate you'd wish on anyone—right?"

Nods again. (Dani forgot she'd already gotten this speech.)

"Stay here as long as you want, and come back any time. Just work for your keep, we all work here. Respect this place. And you'll do just fine."

One more round of nods and Mr. J walked off the stage, satisfied. (He shouted at DJ and Matthias to get down from the rail on his way out. They didn't listen.)

"So…" Dani turned to the frazzled girls and brightly asked, "Time for the tour?"

Most of the 50-plus kids went back to whatever they were doing. The theatre was back to its usual crazy state. Scratch that, it was even crazier—kids were showing off, making noise, and asking the new girls questions everywhere they went. Dani did her best to shoo them away, and give the new girls a tour like J would give them.

"All right, first lemme show you who you'll be working with! You met Shay in the park, didn't you?"

"Yes, she was doing amazing things with spray-paint." Julie answered. They caught sight of the girl again. Sullen Shay was climbing a staircase up to the balcony, box of paints and tools in hand. She was a girl with old, round glasses and mousey brown hair down to her hips. Her hands, glasses, and hair were always speckled with paint. The three girls had watched her create stunning space scenes with cheap aerosol colors.

"Yeah, she's our top artist. Gets to work the best spots, like the plaza. If you can draw you could work for her." Dani darted up to a group of kids chilling in theatre seats, and drummed on the back of a boy's chair in time to the tune he was strumming. "This here's Arthur X and the love of his life, Lola."

'Lola' was written on the neck of his old guitar. He gave the girls a chill, welcoming smile.

"What are we, invisible?" demanded a boy drumming on his neighbor with tape-covered drumsticks.

"Girls, this is the band."

"Hello, band!" Anne said with a grin.

"We ain't just the band! We're gonna be the most famous musicians in Metro City someday!"

"That we are." Arthur X agreed.

As soon as the tour continued, and the band continued their jam session, Kat said, "Arthur was cute!"

"I saw you giving him that flirty look." Julie said.

"His boyfriend in New York thinks he's cute, too." Dani pointed out.

Anne's laughter was louder than the band.

"Moving on…We got two fortune tellers over there, Hester and Eli. The freerunners are out for the day. You could do card tricks, or magic, or just beg around. If you wanna work in the theatre—"

Dani was cut off by a nine-year-old boy swinging upside-down from a balcony rope ladder, just in front of her. The kid shrieked with laughter, flipped down and ran off. Two more kids followed him.

"…Don't work in here, these children are ANIMALS." Dani finished.

Julie was laughing. "They're certainly energetic!"

"You can say that again." Kat added.

"They're certainly energetic." Anne said.

Elsewhere in the theatre, someone threw boxes down from a great height, cymbals crashed, a firecracker went off, and kids laughed. (All four girls thought they were happy sounds. Sounds of life.)

"We could always use more security, you know, taking fireworks away from people before they burn down the place." Dani continued the tour around the back of the big auditorium. "Extra hands to help me settle civil disputes. If you're good at math you can help Rhonda, like the Math Wiz. That's Max. We got a kitchen crew here, you can help run errands and get food. We do dinner, by the way, so no one starves. You get an allowance for working in here."

The 14-year-old led them through the creaking, graffiti-muraled door, into what used to be the lobby. It had a high ceiling and still retained some of its old beauty. The floors were chipped tile-white and glittery. High windows let golden sunlight stream in. The front doors had been totally boarded up. Behind what used to be the old snack counter, kids in ancient aprons were busy cooking something. A kid in a wheelchair playing cards shouted a greeting to the new girls. They waved at her and her poker buddy. Kids were scattered even out there, the new girls found. Two teens bounced a ball to each other, quoting Shakespeare. It seemed all the city's homeless kids were gathered in the theatre.

"Here we have two of our actors, showing off." Dani quipped. "And here's one-third of our dance crew. Namine, these are the new girls."

Namine—a dark-skinned ballerina, using the banister of the grand staircase to limber up for the late shift—called to Dani as she led the girls up.

"Hope they take to our line of work. Gypsy, you used to dance with us, when are you coming back?" she said with a British accent.

"Maybe someday. Don't pull anything tonight!"

"I never do!" With a smile, Namine went back to her stretching.

A little kid on the staircase was having trouble with her shoelaces. As Dani stopped to help her, Anne whispered to her sister that she was tired. Kat gave her a piggyback ride. It was how they'd travelled, Kat didn't even think about it. Julie took the extra bag.

"I like these people already." Anne whispered in Kat's ear.

"Now, about dues and fees." Dani straightened up and said.

"Still like 'em, Anne?" Kat asked.

"They're not too bad. When you get back every morning, or afternoon, or night, you show the guy—or girl, or person—by the stage what you made. You keep half of it. Sometimes more." Dani led them up the chaotic stairs.

"Keep half?" Julie asked. Other camps and shelters demanded more just to get in. "Keep it for what?"

"Buy stuff. Or save it. Use it to get out of here. It's up to you." Dani answered.

"That's what ya do with money. I thought you were smart!" Anne said, sleepily. Julie gave her a fake-mad scowl.

They were almost at the ballroom. "I figured you could bunk up here. There's rumors it's haunted, but I just spread those for some privacy. No one's gonna go through your stuff, you'll be better off up here till the buzz dies down." Dani opened the main double-doors, and they stepped into the ballroom.

"Whoa!" Anne yelled.

It was run-down, sure, but beautiful too. The walls were ivory, and barely marked up. Some floorboards had been pried up for firewood but the floor still reflected the skyline outside. They could even see Metro City Tower. But Anne, Kat, and Julie were focused on the ceiling. It bore a mural of the night sky—thousands of stars, completely untouched.

"WE'RE ROOMING IN HERE!" Kat yelled.

"Oh. Okay then…" (Dani almost fell over at Kat's outburst.) "I should've cleaned up more…here, you must be tired, I'll grab blankets and stuff…"

Despite herself, Dani had started to care for the girls.

15 minutes later they were all lounging on old mattresses. The new girls were getting used to their surroundings and sharing a bag of chips—dug up by their new roommate. They talked long past sunset. It hadn't even been a day, and the new girls were part of the theatre troupe.