Broken Silence

“It’s hopeless!”

Malina was just about on the verge of tears as her mother untied another ribbon she’d tightly wrapped Malina’s hair around, in hopes that the silky locks of black hair would curl overnight. The lock of hair fell limply down her back, with not even a slight wave to it.

“Oh, don’t say that,” Emily chuckled, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. “Lina, you have beautiful hair. Just like your aunt and grandmother.”

“But it’s so plain,” Malina complained.

Emily thought for a moment, then took out all of the ribbons, weaving them into a french braid, then twisting the braid into a bun at the nape of her neck.

“How’s that, dear?” she asked.

“Better,” Malina sniffed. “All the other girls have such pretty ringlets in their hair.”

“Do you really want to be like all the other girls?” Emily asked.

Malina shrugged slightly, pouting and running her hand over the braid. She looked over her shoulder as the housekeeper, Nora, entered and set down some tea for Malina and her mother.

“Thank you, Nora,” Emily smiled.

“Of course,” Nora nodded, looking to Malina. “Miss Malina, your brother requests your presence in the kitchen. He claims it’s urgent.”

“Is it really?” Malina sighed. “Why the kitchen.

“According to him, it is. If anyone understands him, it’s you,” Nora chuckled, before leaving.

Emily brushed a loose strand of Malina’s hair back into place before stepping back and pouring herself a cup of tea. Malina grimaced, knowing exactly what the situation was. Scamp had been talking about it for weeks. It came to no surprise that it actually happened.

“Go on,” Emily winked. “Go take care of it.”

Malina thanked her mother quickly before hurrying down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sure enough, Scamp was sitting at the table looking defeated both physically and mentally. She was used to the sight of blood. She was no nurse, but she may as well have been one with the number of Scamp’s cuts and bruises she’d cleaned up. Scamp refused to make eye contact with her as she dabbed a cut on his forehead with a wet washcloth. She pressed it a little too hard on the cut and he flinched away, glaring at her with the same golden brown eyes she had.

“It’s not going to stop bleeding if you don’t put pressure on it,” Malina sighed.

“You’re trying to hurt me on purpose,” he accused. “To teach me a lesson or something.”

“Oh trust me, it’s too late for that,” Malina snapped, shooting up from her seat. “You can answer to Daddy, then. You know how much he loves it when you get into fights. Especially when you lose them. You’re older than me. You’re supposed to be the responsible one.”

Scamp took the cloth and tried cleaning the wound up himself, looking a little alarmed when he remembered that their father could walk in and see his black eye at any minute. Malina smoothed out her skirt, checking her reflection with a pocket mirror. She wasn’t normally so plainly dressed, wearing a simple pale blue dress and apron, but in the area she worked, it was a bad idea to be walking around wearing expensive things. Her father hated that she went to The Smokes to work in her uncle’s tavern, but she insisted. Much like her mother, she hated being cooped up inside because she was a girl.

She felt a little guilty leaving Scamp there to deal with his cuts himself, but she had to go. She slipped on her shoes and darted towards the door, but a deep voice stopped her in her tracks. She spun around to see her father right behind her, eyebrow raised. Percival Everett was a difficult man to read, yet Malina could still tell her father was concerned about something.

“Where are you going so fast?” he asked.

“The tavern,” she admitted. “I’m helping Uncle Luke and Aunt Cat today, remember?”

“Ah, that’s right,” he grimaced. “Are you sure you want to go? Wouldn’t you much rather stay here with your old, sick father?”

“You’re not old,” Malina pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “And you had a little bit of a cough a week ago. You’re still whining about it?”

Percy sighed and shook his head with a slight smile. “You look like your mother when you’re telling me to stop whining.”

Malina stood up on her tippy toes, but she still had to pull her father down to kiss his cheek. Out of everyone in her family, she was the smallest. Her five older brothers towered at six feet at the shortest, yet Malina somehow stopped when she hit five feet. She started to leave again, but noticed Percy going towards the kitchen where Scamp was.

“Daddy!” she called suddenly.

“Yes?” he asked, stopping right before the door.

“Um…”

Malina shifted awkwardly, trying to think of what to say to distract him.

“Uh… how are you?” she asked, finally.

Percy wasn’t amused. “Scamp is bleeding in there, isn’t he?”

Malina opened her mouth to say something, but bit her lip and lowered her voice. “Go easy on him.”

She managed to escape before Percy’s loud lectures started, hurrying down the street. Malina was never ungrateful for anything she had, but the one problem with living among the upper class was that they seriously looked down upon people who didn’t fit what they considered to be normal. The Everett family had always been considered outsiders. Emily Weldon-Everett didn’t fit the norm of what women were “supposed” to do, with her career as an inventor. If that wasn’t enough, she married Percy Everett, who at the time happened to be a gutter rat with quite a messy criminal record. Of course, Malina was taught better than to let those sorts of things bother her. She walked to the pub with her head held high, even as her surroundings slowly got more and more worn-down and poor.

The reason they called that area “The Smokes” was because there was always a smoky haze around it. It made it more difficult to see if someone were to attack with a knife. Malina kept a knife with her at all times, by request of her father, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to use it if she was ever in that sort of situation. She was an easy target, but she kept her head down and walked fast, so no one would really notice her.

As she walked towards the tavern, she heard some yelling come from one of the alleys. She looked over to find that there was a large crowd in a circle around something, cheering on what sounded like two different sides. A fight? Malina wouldn’t have been surprised. She shook her head and continued on until she made it to the tavern, bounding up to the bar top where her Uncle Luke had been waiting for her.

“You’re late,” Luke said. “I was about to come looking for you. I was worried that-”

“I was cleaning up Scamp,” she told him.

“What did the boy do this time?” Luke frowned.

“He told Harry Grissom that he could take him in a fight.”

“Harry Grissom? The one that looks like a bear?”

“That’s the one.”

Luke smirked and set down a tray for her, with a few glasses of dark liquor on it. “Why don’t you take this to those gentlemen over there?”

Malina nodded and picked up the tray, careful not to trip over her skirt as she went to the table Luke had pointed out. She was quiet as she set the drinks down for them. Always having been shy around people she didn’t know, she didn’t even make eye contact. They leered at her, and sometimes said quite rude things, but she’d just blush and hurry away. If they were smart, they wouldn’t try anything in front of Luke. He didn’t mind punching a few teeth in. If he didn’t, Percy would, and Luke liked keeping his teeth.

She looked towards the door as several rowdy new patrons entered, moving to stand behind the bar with Luke, where they wouldn’t dare try anything. He smiled at her and patted her shoulder lightly.

“Don’t you worry about them, Lina,” he said. “You know I keep the peace around here.”

“Good,” she said, giggling nervously. “I hate fights.”