Belle - Lesley Pearse [87]
They rolled together on the ground, got up and leapt at each other again. The blonde fought like a woman, scratching the other’s face with her nails, but the big red-head fought like a prizefighter, using her fists, and each time one connected with the blonde’s face or body the crowd cheered.
All at once they were locked together, and Belle moved out along the sidewalk to get a better look. A sudden wail of pain and outrage from the blonde made everyone move closer still, and the red-head spat something out of her mouth on to the pavement.
She had bitten three fingers off the other girl’s hand.
Belle was transfixed to the spot in horror. The three bloody fingers were there on the sidewalk about ten yards in front of her.
‘That’ll do!’ a man in the crowd roared out. ‘C’mon, Mary, yer can’t bite lumps off folk.’
‘I’ll bite the ear or the nose off anyone who tries to stop me killing the bitch,’ the red-head screamed out, blood dripping from her mouth.
Four or five men leapt forward and restrained the woman, while others took care of the injured one.
Belle backed off and went indoors, feeling queasy at what she’d seen.
‘What was all that commotion?’ Martha asked, coming down the stairs just as Belle locked the front door.
Belle told her, and retched as she explained.
‘That’ll be Dirty Mary,’ Martha said, and taking Belle’s arm drew her into the drawing room and poured her some brandy. ‘She took an axe to another woman a few years ago, sliced her arm right off below the elbow. She got acquitted too. She’s got the luck of the devil himself.’
‘Why would she do something as bad as that to anyone?’ Belle asked, feeling very shaky and wishing she hadn’t gone outside.
‘She’s got syphilis, that’s why they call her Dirty Mary. It can affect the brain, you see.’
‘But won’t she infect people?’ Belle asked in horror.
‘Oh, she don’t fuck no more,’ Martha said as calmly as if she were discussing what they would have for breakfast. ‘She only does French now.’
‘What’s that?’ Belle asked, though guessing she’d rather not know.
‘She takes it in her mouth.’ Martha wrinkled her nose with distaste. ‘A lot of the girls do that, no danger of getting pregnant and you can’t catch nothin’ either. You’ll have heard the girls speak of the French House further down the road – that’s what they do there.’
Belle winced.
‘Now, don’t you go looking that way,’ Martha said with a smile. ‘It’s quick, don’t make no mess, nor need no bed. There’s a whole lot of advantages to it.’
Belle had heard more than enough about ‘French’, but she did want to know what was going to happen to Mary and the blonde with the missing fingers.
‘Mary will go to court; she probably won’t get no more than a fine though. The other girl will go to hospital.’
‘But without fingers how will the blonde girl manage?’ Belle asked.
Martha smiled and patted Belle on the shoulder. ‘You stop worrying about other people and go to bed. Tomorrow I want to talk to you about your future.’
Chapter Sixteen
‘You just stay there and watch what Betty does,’ Martha said firmly. She indicated the low chair behind the screen and the small hole in the screen’s fabric which Belle could look through from a sitting position. ‘Mind you take it all in! How she checks he’s got no pox, washing him and all. You stay quiet there and learn!’
Belle had been given prior warning that this was how Martha prepared new girls, so it wasn’t a total shock to her. And Betty had been astoundingly open when she spoke of how she viewed her work.
Belle liked the saucy girl from Atlanta. She was funny, warm-hearted and always keen to chat.
‘We all make out we’re having a good time,’ Betty said with a wicked grin. ‘I mean, that’s the job. But I think naughty thoughts when I’m doing it, and guide them to pleasure me, and you know, honey, sometimes it’s real good.’
While Betty was unusual in being eager to discuss such things, Belle could sense that none of the girls actually hated their work or were unhappy about their life. They all laughed a lot, and