The orange glow of the sun fills the apartment, ruby and salem are sewing in silence, the smell of dust from outside peaking in.
"When do you think Horace is getting back?"
Ruby asks, breaking the silence, the multiple panels of fabric strewn about, Salem working on putting her first layer together.
"Maybe he finally went running back to his gang."
Salem says her stitches are small and uneven, her fingers bruised from the needles poking her one too many times.
"If he is not back when it gets dark I want to go looking for him."
Ruby says, her first 3 layers sitting neatly on the table.
"If you're gonna go outside I have to come with. You'll be eaten alive by the people that lurk in the night."
Salem says, frustration clear in her voice, the stitch pulling wrong. She throws the fabric down in frustration, her hands shaky.
"Why should I make this myself! You said we'd buy the damn corsets!"
Salem says her hands are buzzing with pain.
"Because you need one and every well knowledged woman needs to know how to make one."
Ruby speaks calmly, her voice masking her frustration with the immensely short woman. Ruby clenched her jaw looking at the short girl, truly looking her up and down for the first time. They were both completely topless, to make fittings easier. The missing presence of the young boy making it the only time to properly do so. She had thought that someone that short would look childish, but Salem looked anything but. Her figure was well rounded, if not a bit sickly. Her breasts sagging low under their own weight, deflated. Her hips are too wide for her frame. Her stomach showing the stretch marks and loose skin of a woman who had given birth without the proper assistance or care. Ruby wondered why Salem had no children around her.
"Salem. Where are your kids?"
Ruby asks, her voice tentative and soft, unlike her usual confident flat tone. Salem freezes before shaking. Her shoulders slouched forwards.
"No. Please don't."
Salem says, her knuckles a pale pink, she's clenching her fists hard enough for her nails to dig into her skin. Droplets of familiar crimson blood fall onto her thigh, soaking into the skin and bandages underneath. Her shivering intensifying. Her skin a sickly color, she was sweating, the sweat soaking her clothing.
"Why? What happened to them?"
Ruby asks, dropping to Salem's side, her knees hitting the floor hard.
"Nononononononnononononnonononno, don't worry he's fine baby, you're fine, you'll both be fine baby."
Salem speaks under her breath, cradling the bundle of haphazardly sewn fabric. Ruby catches what she was saying. Salem was completely incoherent after that. Ruby had seen this before, but never this bad, she had panicked her while she was starting withdrawals. The smell of sweat hanging heavy in the hot summer air. Ruby frantically searches the cabinets looking for the small fabric pouch, the whole scene felt familiar, this was the second time she was trying to keep the short woman alive. She'd seen what hexsugar withdrawals could do, they were more dangerous than the drug itself, it started with losing all the water in the body. Sweating, urinating, crying. Any way the water could leave, it would. then the body would start rapidly burning any fats, looking for any trace of the sugar. When the process was done it left them a dried corpse not even rot would touch.
She opens the pouch, her hands steady, pulling out a small hexagon of brilliant magenta, she puts it back into the bag, closing it tightly. She took a deep breath. She knew this was a bad idea, but it would keep Salem present for longer. She carefully crushes the small sugar clumps, slow and deliberate as to not let it go off. The sugar crunches between her fingertips. When she's done she opens the bag, the nauseatingly sweet smell hitting her nose in a glittering cloud, she rushes to Salem, taking a pinch of the sugar opening her clenched jaw she sprinkles it inside her mouth. Salem near instantly slumps over. Her breathing steadied, she was asleep. It should be a shorter nap, only a few hours. Ruby could clean up the mess that was left behind after the withdrawals.
she sits back up, the once golden rays of sun now replaced by suffocating darkness. Her clothing changed, her shirt better fitting, her skirt replaced with her old trousers. no longer being kept up by a piece of rope. Her thigh buzzing with pain. She sees ruby fidgeting with another sewing project. Her half finished corset on the table in neatly sewn together piles. One thought clouded the woman's mind.
"Fuck how long was i out?! Where is Horace!?"
Salem jumps up, her concern for the young boy no longer hidden, she'd hoped ruby would have just said that Horace was in the other room tinkering away. Hope is often useless.
"You were only out for a few hours, it is near morning. I was waiting for you to wake up before I set out to find him, I did not want you to wake up alone."
Ruby speaks with barely disguised worry in her voice, her once neatly twisted bun hanging in a braid snaking around her feet and the chairs legs. The frizz in her curls show she'd been pacing the cramped apartment.
"I hope you find your clothes more comfortable now. They were an eyesore."
Ruby says pointing at Salem's now tailored clothing.
"Yes, thank you."
Salem says bluntly, pulling on her boots, Ruby stands up handing her another bowl of porridge, it was cold and watery. Ruby herself had a small amount in a separate bowl.
"You need to eat before we go, I would recommend drinking it straight from the bowl."
Ruby quickly slurps her porridge, undignified but quickly. She tucks the few outlying curls behind her ear, pinning her braid back into a half done bun. Salem follows suit and drinks her bowl of sludge. They both throw open the door, the morning sunlight streaming through the dilapidated buildings. The pair walk quietly through the streets, slowly, being mindful of Salem's leg. After a few minutes of silent walking Salem sees a small wrench on the floor, it was marked with the same distinct scratches Horace had put into all of his makeshift tools.
"Shit, I think I know where he is, he's back to his gang after all, but I don't think it was by choice."
Salem speaks in a whisper, noticing a small gunlike object in the alley. She recognized it. She lifts a pincushion off of the ground.
"Looks like he'd gotten you a gift."
She says holding it up to ruby, her sharp angled eyes darken, she holds the pincushion close to herself. She starts walking back to the place she'd recently called home. She was going to stick with them. She had to.