The Fall

I can do tricks.

I can sing, I can dance, I can juggle, I can whistle.

You name it, I'll do it, and you pay me.

'Cause that's all I need, sweetheart.

A couple of coins, right there, in the old chapeau, thank you very much.

It doesn't help that the Kid's following me around.

It's not like she botheres me, but she can be a real wet blanket for business.

I don't even know her name, she just sits there, where ever I may be.

A bit of a rain cloud on my act, you know?

I'm just trying to earn an honest living. Well, maybe not too honest.

I did just knick five dollars out of your pocket.

How did I do it? Years of practice. I could make ol' Fagin and that Artful Dodger proud.

Artful Dodger my ass. I'm the real Artful Dodger.

Those damn kids got caught. I don't.

You gotta make 'em trust you.

Fourteen years old and I still can play the baby face card. Puppy dog eyes.

I'm a terrific actor. They buy it. They just lap it up like it's the most delicious nectar they ever tasted.

I been like this since maybe I was nine or ten. It's not like I'm an orphan. I just didn't want to go home.

So I didn't.

I lived.

It ain't so bad.

It was a little tough at first, but you just gotta find an empty building to squat in and a steady place to pickpocket and you're set.

In fact, I love it. It's great.

It's the life. It seriously is.

Screw those nice warm homes and crap. This is where you gotta be.

The scene is great. I know some great people. I can get some great stuff through 'em, you know?

It's just great.

The Kid don't say much. She eats some food and sleeps a little but mostly just watches me work. It ain't so bad, but the way she watches kinda scares of my customers.

I work nights sometimes too. Those ain't so great, but you get used to it. You just gotta put yourself somewhere else, you know? I don't do it so often anyways, I don't like that work much.

I dunno how old the Kid is. Maybe eleven or twelve. She's got crazy dark black hair that's all long and pin thin.

I reckon I'll be turning fifteen soon. I'll buy myself something real snazzy.

It'll be great.

You could say I'm a looker.

Blonde hair that I keep neat and short, baby blues, shiny teeth. I knick toothbrushes. I know hygiene what hygiene is.

That's what gets me the money. They think I'm just a doll. Because I am.

A charming, cunning little doll.