Read Capital Sins for Free Online

always screaming at each
other, and he would bash ' er , and then she'd bash ' im , and there was always the other snotty-nosed kids yellin ' the place dahn . The
nights were awful, them walls were like made o' paper, you could 'ear every grunt and snuffle from the next room, like a coupla pigs they were. I didn't ' ave any privacy – even the bog in the backyard didn't ' ave a lock. I weren't sorry to see the backs of ' em , I
can tell you, and they was so pleased to see me go, they even ' elped me pack me bags.' She giggled, and Connie reflected
it would take a lot to get this girl down.
    Tilly reached under her pillow and produced a packet of cigarettes and a box of
matches. 'Fag?' she offered.
    'I don't
mind if I do! Thanks.'
    They puffed
away for a while, and then Tilly said, 'And wot you doin ' with yerself , Connie? Where you workin '?'
    'Do you
know Jessop House?'
    ' That huge great skyscraper thing bang in the centre of town?
Sure, posh- lookin ' place, innit ?
What d'you do there?'
    'I'm a secretary.'
    'Respectable, huh? Ah well, takes all sorts, I always say.' Tilly dragged smoke deep into her lungs expertly. 'What d'yer do for kicks?'
    'How do you
mean?'
    'Kicks, girl, kicks! Jeeze , where you been livin '
– in the provinces? Look, kicks is what you look for
when you've finished at your nice little office at five. Kicks is living and
knowing you're still alive. When you don't kick no more, you can take it from
me, Connie girl, you're dead and buried!'
    'I haven't
had a chance to find out where it's all at yet. Give me a chance, I've only
been here a short while.'
    'Then
you're game, yeah? Anything for a laugh, I always say.
    Connie
looked doubtful and mashed her unfinished cigarette into a dish already full of
old, burnt stubs.
    'Surely you ain't really so prim as you
look!'
    'I can't
help the way I look,' Connie replied, rising to the challenge. 'It's just that
I don't want to get myself landed in hot water.'
    'You're on
your tod now, kid. You gotta learn to take care of yerself , same as I do. No one's gonna teach you about life, it comes with experience. I know what I'm on about.' She
looked at Connie, considering. 'You must toughen up, otherwise you'll be taken for a patsy. The losers are a dime a dozen and unless
you start thinking about number one, you'll be one too.' She shrugged her
shoulders. 'If you walk around with your head in the air. thinking of romance and daft stuff like that, don't be
surprised if you fall through a hole in the ground. Don't you want a good
time?'
    'Depends on the good time.' Connie said carefully. 'I don't want to end up
in the gutter like some. I've never taken drugs and I'm steering clear of
things like that.'
    Tilly screwed up her face scornfully. 'Drugs. Bloody mugs
game, them. They're just a cop-out, and people who take ' em are cop-outs, too! Christ. I've seen them kids hanging around the wharf, and in
bars and at street corners. Most of them don't know whether they're comin ' or goin ', or what time of
day it is, and I for one like to know what's happening around me and to me
always.' She shrugged nonchalantly. 'I won't say I ain't never tried the stuff,' she went on flippantly, 'but I just did it to know
whether I was missing anything. I only did it once, I didn't ' ave to do it at all, I mean, nobody made me. I don't need
that kinda junk like some of ' em do.' She rolled over on her back. 'Anyway, I wasn't talking about drugs. I gets me fun other ways – from men, like. I like to ' ave them crawling an over me. panting like bleedin ' dogs just for a tiny lick. Then when I
got what I want from ' em , I give ' em the boot, richer with cash and presents if I'm lucky, and I usually am.' She
winked lewdly. 'It's dead easy.'
    'You don't
like men?'
    Tilly raised her face in astonishment. 'I didn't say that! If I didn't like ' em , I wouldn't bother with them. Stands to reason, don't
it, girl!' She blew a cloud of smoke into the air thoughtfully, then asked Connie how old she