Chapter 02 Part 2 -- You Can't Always Get What You Want (early June 1969)
As they left the building, sitting on a bike rack a short way from the door was the girl who had ridden on the elevator with Severus the evening before.
She was wearing a lime green shift with large white buttons on the front, white boots, and a multicolored scarf as a headband. A large gold cross hung from an impossibly large chain around her neck, and slightly smaller crosses hung from her ears. She was looking in a mirror and putting something on her lips, before putting both items back into the white shoulder bag that she carried.
As they got closer, Severus could see that she had something on her eyelids that matched the color of her dress, and her lips were impossibly wet.
She was still one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. He would have to find out how she kept her lips so wet, and tell Lily about it when he got back.
At the thought of Lily his hand went to his breast pocket...yes, it was still there, still slowly opening and closing.
"About time y'all got here!" the girl exclaimed, standing up and straightening her purse on her shoulder. Her voice was strangely deep, and Severus had never heard such an accent.
"Hola, Azalea!" Angel said in a bored manner, putting the accent on the third syllable of the girl's name, which to Severus made it sound exotic and beautiful.
"Hello, English boy!" Azalea said, looking at Severus.
"Let's get goin'!" Angel stated, not stopping as they reached Azalea. She just shrugged and fell in stride with the group.
She left a trail of some scent that intoxicated Severus. He would have to also find out what that was and tell Lily to use it.
They reached what they told Severus (unnecessarily) was a bus stop. He had seen bus stops around his hometown before.
He had never ridden a bus, to be sure; but he knew what a bus stop was.
They waited a few minutes, strangely not talking. DeWard was happy playing with a stuffed animal they'd brought along for him, but Severus wondered why Angel and Yesmina, usually so annoyingly talkative, suddenly had gone silent.
Not that Severus minded, although he did wish that Azalea would speak to him again.
Perhaps, as it suddenly dawned on him, to tell him how she knew he was from England.
However, the bus arrived at that moment, and they got on, Angel putting some coins in a box at the entrance. At that time on a Sunday morning, there were few other riders, and the children made their way halfway to the back and took some seats that faced each other.
Yesmina held DeWard on her lap by the window, as the little boy insisted on looking out of it. Severus sat opposite her with Angel next to him. Azalea sat next to Yesmina and stared at Severus.
The bus reversed a good part of the route Severus had taken the evening before with Mrs. Williams.
Except for Yesmina playing with DeWard, no one said anything for some minutes. Finally, Severus could stand it no longer.
”Will someone please tell me what we are going to be doing?"
Azalea laughed. Severus could have lived in that laugh forever, even if it was laughter at his expense.
"We goyne workda church ladies, chile!" she laughed. "Goo' Chrishun fo'k what feel sorry fo' po' los' chillun!"
Severus looked at her blankly. Angel grimaced. Yesmina looked from Severus to Angel to Azalea.
"He can't understand what you're saying, Azalea," she stated.
"Oh," Azalea answered. "Guess that country talk I get from Granny's a li'l hard for you Yankees t'understand..."
She turned back to Severus and stated, "We are going to be working the church ladies today. They are good Christian folk who always feel sorry for poor, lost children."
She laughed again. Severus blinked, still not understanding what she was talking about, but not wanting her to stop talking and laughing.
An elderly woman sitting across the way gave them a look of disdain and turned toward the window in a huff.
"He still don't understand," Angel said. He turned to Severus. "Listen, what we do is, like, pretend. We pretend we're lost, we go up to people and tell them we're lost, or we got separated from our parents, and we just need some money to get back home. For the subway. Or taxi. And most times people give us money..."
Severus just stared at Angel blankly.
"And then what?"
"And then you do it again."
"Why?"
"To get more money!"
"Why, if you just got money?"
"To get even more, you big dummy!"
Severus felt his face getting hot. He wanted to hit Angel.
"Don't call me that!"
"Angel!" Yesmina interrupted. "Don't call him names. He doesn't know! He's never done anything like this before..."
"Oh, a virgin!" Azalea exclaimed, laughing, but she was the only one who seemed to think it funny. Severus was just too confused to understand, Yesmina looked uncomfortable, and Angel looked like he was ready to punch someone.
"Listen," Angel started again, "we just continue pretending with different people so that we can make as much money as possible as quickly as possible..."
"So...so you lie to people," Severus answered, it slowly dawning on him just what Angel was talking about.
"Well, yeah...sorta..." Angel said cautiously, expecting Severus to object. But Severus sat back and thought. He actually had no objections to lying to Muggles, and the more he thought about it, if the Muggles were stupid enough to believe the lie and hand over the money, who cared?
"In your case, though, English Boy," Azalea said smoothly, "you won't have to lie. You really are lost!" She thought this hilarious, and rollicked with laughter.
"My name is Severus," he told her, although he was not really mad at her. He just wanted to hear her say his name.
Azalea obliged by letting the word "Severus" roll about her mouth and off of her tongue. She then asked, "You have a nickname?"
"No," Severus answered. "Sometimes people call me just 'Sev'..."
"Ssseevvv..." Azalea drawled out, as if the word was a delicious piece of chocolate melting in her mouth.
At that moment, the bus stopped, and the three American children got up, Yesmina still carrying DeWard. Severus followed them off the bus and followed them a short distance to a platform next to some tracks. Graffiti was sprayed everywhere the eye could see.
"Where are we going now?" Severus whispered to Yesmina.
"Subway," she answered, not knowing that for Severus this was no answer at all. It looked like an ordinary train station to him, he had no idea what 'subway' meant.
Soon a train pulled into the station, almost camouflaged by all the graffiti sprayed on it. The children got on and Severus followed them again as they walked from one car to another before Angel finally decided on one to stop at.
The train was a little more crowded than the bus, with a wider variety of passengers.
Severus had never ridden a train, and he was excited in spite of himself. He sat next to a grimy window and tried to watch the scenery through the scrawls painted on it.
But suddenly everything went black outside; Severus was so surprised (and not a little frightened) he jumped back from the window. He heard Azalea laugh again, but it was Yesmina who said, "We're on the subway, Severus. We're underground now."
Severus was amazed. A train that went underground. He tried peering out the window again, but except for an occasional electric light that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, he could not see anything.
He would have to ask Mum when he got home if she knew that Muggles could make trains go underground.
They rode for sometime, Azalea pressing Severus to tell her about what it was like in England. This made Severus uncomfortable, because there was little to tell them that he felt he could tell them. There was just so much he could say about his school and where he lived and what his father did for a living. They were surprised to learn that the Snape family did not own a television or a car.
Severus could tell that they were beginning to believe that he lived in a very backward country. So he decided to turn the tables and start asking questions of them.
Yesmina Torres was nine, the same age as Severus. She was originally from a place called New Jersey. She did not know who her father was. She had been raised by her mother until she was six, then put into foster care because her mother was addicted to something called heroin.
Angel Olivera was ten years old. His parents were divorced, and he had spent most of his life being moved from one relative to another. All he would say was he was now in foster care because of "stuff" adults around him had done. It was clear he did not want to talk about it and Severus did not press him.
Azalea Wanetta was twelve years old. She was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and her parents were divorced. She had spent some time with her mother in Tupelo, Mississippi, and some time with her father in Mexico, Missouri. She was not a foster child, rather she was currently staying with an aunt who lived in Co-Op City.
No one was quite sure what DeWard's story was, other than his last name was Emmett, and that he had just turned five years old. Yesmina said that sometimes he called out for "Mama,” especially in his sleep, and sometimes he called for someone with a name that sounded like "Shawna" or "Deshonna". Sometimes he called Yesmina that name.
Severus was somewhat depressed after hearing these sad stories, but on the other hand, he was glad that they had stopped pressing him for details about his own life.
The train pulled into a station, and Severus heard an announcement that they were at one-hundred something street. Azalea stood up and Yesmina handed DeWard to her.
"Time to go to work, my man!" Azalea told him, giving him a hug and stepping into the aisle. She turned back to the others. "Are we meeting at the usual place?"
Angel nodded, adding, "Usual time."
Azalea nodded and stepped out of the subway car with a gleeful DeWard. The door shut behind her, and shortly afterwards the subway started to move again.
"Okay, now here's the game plan," Angel announced, leaning forward like a football player planning the next move.
"We're going midtown first, then we'll go back uptown and finish at the college."
Severus had decided some time back that he just was not going to understand what these people were talking about, and would just go along with whatever they decided.
They got out at what Angel had called 'midtown', and worked a couple of locations. First Angel had Severus stand far enough away from them so that it didn't seem he was with them, but close enough so that he could hear what was said. Then Angel and Yesmina each took turns approaching strangers with some tale of woe.
A good many people ignored them, an equally good number swore at them...but a surprising number gave up a fair amount of money to help the poor children.
Once Angel had determined that Severus understood how what Angel had told him was called "panhandling" was done, Angel then went off to the side and Yesmina and Severus took turns approaching strangers.
Surprisingly, Severus seemed to have a real knack for this panhandling business. Muggles were so stupid, he thought. If he had known how easy it was to get money out of them, he would have done this at home long ago. It would not necessarily work in Spinner's End, where too many people knew him and too many people were out of work...
However, he was sure that he could make out well in a big city like London. He would not have to get used robes or books for when he went to Hogwarts in a couple of years, he could get enough money to buy all new supplies. And help out Mum.
And buy nice things for Lily...
Maybe even his father would finally be proud of him.
By midday, Angel announced that they had done so well that they could indulge themselves with a break for some lunch before heading back uptown. They asked Severus what he would like to have, and he said he would like some more pizza, so they headed to the nearest Sbarros.
By the time they finished it was midafternoon, and it was getting very warm. Severus stuffed his coat in his duffle bag, Yesmina made sure she had on her sunglasses and that her hat shaded her face.
They took the subway to the lower 100s; when they got out on the street Severus saw what he thought were beautiful buildings with small parks placed amongst them.
Angel said that they wanted to get as near or onto something called "the campus" as possible, and to look especially for "hippies" to play. He indicated that these people often did not have much money, but they always felt sorry for lost children and would give them what money they had. If they were lucky, there would be a lot of them with a little money they would gladly give to them.
It seemed peaceful enough where they were walking, and indeed a few students were laying out on the grassy areas either reading or just resting.
However, they heard a noise a couple of blocks away. Severus did not know what it was, but noticed that both Angel and Yesmina looked nervous.
As they got nearer to their destination, the noise got louder. Someone was yelling into what Angel explained was a "bull horn", but Severus could not understand how some male bovine horn could amplify sound that way, unless it was by magick.
They turned a corner and saw a mass of people gathered on what Yesmina and Angel indicated as "the campus"; the crowd was so large those on the fringes were almost out to the sidewalk.
The three children stopped to watch and listen. Yesmina and Angel seemed to
understand what was being shouted, Severus had no idea what was being said other than something about the rights of poor people being trampled and they should stop some war now and hell no, they won't go, and free someone or other, and someone called Nixon was called a lot of curse words.
But when Angel told Severus that these people were "a bunch of hippies", Severus started paying closer attention to the people, if not what they were saying.
While they were a pretty colorful bunch for the most part, it was obvious that a good many had not taken a bath or washed their colorful clothes in some time. Neither had many washed their hair, as most had long, stringy hair. Severus even saw a few smocks much like his own.
He was amazed. They were all Muggles. But for the first time that he could remember in his life, he did not feel out of place.
His father had suggested that he was a hippie; he had not known at the time what that meant. Now he did. He knew he was a hippie.
Moreover, even though he was thousands of miles from the house he had known all his life, from his Mum, from Lily whom he loved…
He was home. Here. Amongst Muggles. Not a wizard or witch or even an owl in sight.
Angel chuckled and made a snide comment about the "illegal smoke" that was enveloping the site...Severus looked and both his eyes and nose noticed for the first time the haze and acrid smell in the air.
But before he could ask what it was, another artificially loud voice was shouting from behind them. Something about loitering and blocking the sidewalks.
They turned and saw a line of men in dark uniforms with clear shields held in front of them. One of these men was the one shouting into a bullhorn.
"Jeezus!" Angel exclaimed, grabbing Severus by the hand. "It's the pigs, let's get outta here!"
They had no sooner started to run when the line of what Angel had called "pigs" (although Severus could see no porcine features on any one of them) started to move forward in unison.
They had to run back into the crowd to avoid the uniformed men. Yesmina grabbed onto Angel's belt so that they wouldn't be separated. Some of the hippies started to run away, some turned and started shouting at the pigs, then Severus saw objects being thrown at the pigs.
The pigs in turn threw things, Severus was not sure what it was but they had a big machine to throw it with and whatever it was made much more smoke than the smoke the hippies had made, and the pig smoke did not give him happy thoughts but made his eyes water.
They managed to get back out on a street -- Angel seemed to know where he was going -- but Severus heard rocks crashing onto the road and bottles breaking all around them.
It seemed that no matter where they went the hippies followed, chased by the pigs.
"RUN!" Angel shouted as soon as they saw an opening, and he let go of Severus' hand and started to sprint down the street. Yesmina and Severus followed, but Yesmina then tripped and fell, cutting her arm on a piece of broken glass.
Severus had never seen anyone bleed so much so quickly...but he was impressed that Yesmina did not cry. She just looked up at him sadly and said, "I'm a bleeder..."
Severus did not bother asking her what that meant. He opened up his duffle bag and grabbed the first thing he found, the shirt that had been given to him on the ship. He then wrapped it around Yesmina's arm.
Angel had come back by that point, looking ashen-faced when he saw Yesmina's injury. He helped her to stand up and said, "We gotta get out of here!"
That was obvious, as they were now in the middle of a general melee. But they managed to make it to the fringes of the fracas, and then turned the corner to where a city bus was just pulling to a bus stop.
They sprinted to the bus as the melee behind them turned the corner. They just made it onto the bus before the driver pulled away in a panic.
They moved toward the back of the bus; perhaps due to the disturbance they had just left, there were only a few hippies on the bus.
Angel was looking at Yesmina's arm with concern, and then he looked up at Severus.
"She has a hard time stopping bleeding," he stated, and it sounded like he was close to crying.
Severus took his shirt off Yesmina's arm; the actual cut was not too bad, but indeed, it would not stop bleeding.
He had watched his mother fix his own cuts and scrapes many times using magick...could he do it too?
He held her arm and softly repeated the words he had heard his Mum say many times; he came to the end and just repeated the charm. Gradually the blood stopped gushing and coagulated; he repeated the charm and it turned into a scab; one more time and the scab fell off, leaving pink fresh tissue where it had been.
Severus let go of Yesmina's arm and looked at her and Angel. Angel's mouth was open, Yesmina just looked at Severus cryptically.
"How did you do that?" Angel whispered.
"It is just something we do back home," Severus answered. It was not a lie. It just was not the full truth.
"Thank you, Severus," Yesmina said, tears forming in her eyes for the first time. She leaned over and kissed Severus on the cheek.
"It's nothing," Severus mumbled, starting to blush.
"Look!" Yesmina exclaimed, pointing out the window.
The bus was slowing for it's next stop, and running up the sidewalk was Azalea with a decidedly unhappy DeWard in her arms. She stumbled onto the bus but had trouble trying to find the fare in her purse and handle DeWard at the same time.
Angel rushed forward.
"I've got it!" he shouted, fishing a token out of his pocket and putting it in the coin slot. Azalea put DeWard down and hugged Angel as the driver closed the door and pulled away from the bus stop.
DeWard just stood where he was placed, wailing. Yesmina leaned into the aisle and called to him.
"Meenie!" DeWard wailed, stumbling down the aisle to her. Yesmina scooped him up and it was hard to say who hugged whom the hardest. DeWard continued to cry, and attempted to explain his tail of woe in an unintelligible wail. Yesmina just continue to hug and rock him.
"What the fuck!?" Azalea swore, stumbling up the aisle leaning on Angel. "What the fuck!?"
Normally Severus would have been embarrassed, if not offended, that she was cursing in front of a child of DeWard's age.
But after what had happened in the past hour, he sort of felt like saying it himself.
Azalea collapsed onto a seat, then looked at the blood on Yesmina's clothes and the shirt Severus had used.
"What the hell, bloody fuck!?" she screamed. Severus was beginning to wonder if perhaps she had sustained some sort of head injury, and that was all she could now say.
"We just gotta get home, that's all," Angel announced, to which Azalea answered "Bloody fuck hell we do!"
Angel and Yesmina looked at her as if they expected her to say something sensible. Severus just expected her to swear some more. DeWard just screamed louder.
"There's no fuckin' way back home! Not now!" Azalea gasped, still trying to catch her breath. "Nothin's runnin' above 168th, no subway, no buses!"
"But...but..," Angel sputtered. Severus had never seen him at a loss for words before.
"But if we get back down to midtown..." he stated. "There'll be buses back to the Bronx..."
"They all go uptown to get there, Angel!" Azalea exclaimed. "I tell you, they shut ‘em down just now for the rest of the day cuz of the riot! Same with the subway! Believe me, I tried!"
Azalea continued to gasp for breath. Angel and Yesmina just looked at each other, not saying a word. DeWard had his face pressed into Yesmina's shoulder, moaning.
Only Severus smiled.
They all looked at him as if he was crazy.
"What's so funny?" Azalea demanded.
"I guess I am not the only one who cannot get home now," he answered.
They all sat back in their seats, not knowing where they were going, and listened to the radio on the audio system playing:
No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need...
www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/249094673
I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man
No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
Oh yea-ah (hey-hey-hey, ooh)
And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singin' "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't, we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
Sing it to me now
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
ooh baby, yeah, ooh
I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standin' in line with Mr. Jimmy
A-man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, Cherry Red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was 'dead'
I said to him
You can't always get what you want
(Well no!)
You can't always get what you want
(Tell ya baby)
You can't always get what you want (no)
But if you try sometimes you just might find
Mmm! Mmm!
You get what you need
ooh yes! woo!
I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practicing at the art of deception
Well, I could tell by her bloodstained hands
Say it!
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you just may find
You just may find
You get what you need
Ooh yeah!
Ooh baby!
Woo!
Ah, no you can't always get what you want
No, no baby
You can't always get what you want
Tellin' you right now
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you just may find
You just may find
You get what you need
Oooow-ooh!
Oooow-ooh!
Oooow-ooh!
YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
The Rolling Stones
1969