<hr/><strong>Name:</strong>Lilah 'Li-Li' Oliver (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=200832.msg9813377#msg9813377)<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Whippersnappers<br/><strong>Date:</strong>5 June, 1870<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>afternoon<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Soddom<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Samson, Jack, Coleman<br/><hr/>It wasn't the first time a low life got after Lilah but it was the first time the realization she was in some trouble came partially from her own doing. She'd learned to be wily on the streets -- she knew how not to be seen when she didn't want to be, who was just full of bluster and who would do her harm, where to go to dig something up when she was looking for it -- but she was getting on in age now, twelve or thirteen, she didn't know, and the knowledge that she was bordering on too old to run with the whippersnappers for much longer weighed on her heavily. The looming problem of what comes next, how she was going to keep food in her belly made her foolish and the promise of five dollars for a simple package was too much to say no to, no matter how bad a feeling she got about the grimy coot. As soon as she stepped inside to see there was no package to be found then turned to see the expression on his face and knew she was in a world of hurt.<br/><br/>There was a moment of silence, the only sound her heart pounding in her ears, as the realization of what was about to happen settled over her then she exploded into motion. She'd had hopes of darting past him, she could be tricky to get ahold of when she put her mind to it, but there wasn't near enough room and he simply reached out with gnarled hand and pushed her back hard to the ground. The sound she made as she hit the dirt wasn't quite the roar of rage she'd been going for but rather a pathetic kind of whimper, just louder than you might expect, as the air rushed out of her lungs. Samson grabbed a handful of her shirt and tossed her over on the bedroom like she was nothing before standing over her and slipping his arms out of his suspenders all the while leering down at her like a slavering dog. There was no fight a knobby-kneed, skinny little thing like her could give a grown man but that didn't mean she was going to lay down easy. She wasn't a whore yet.<br/><br/>She yelped again, too scared and determined to scream, and started kicking with her feet as hard as she could, all the while pushing herself back and hoping to find a space under the wall of the ten to slip through. It gave him pause for a minute, having to turn this and that to guard his privates, but in the end all it took was brute force again and he once again grabbed a handful of her shirt, this time clobbering her but good. She knew now what it meant when folks said they saw stars because her head was swimming with them now and she was only vaguely aware of the sound of terrible laughter pelting her like hail and the feel of rough hands reaching down to flip her over on her belly. She tried to get up, tried to turn herself over but he planted on a foot on her back to pin her down as he started to unfasten his trousers. He sneered down at her.<br/><br/>"G’wan, girl! More you struggle th’more I’m gonna like it!” She didn't need him to tell her that. That was the way of the world. His voice sounded to her like they were underwater and in a way, she supposed she was but this time she wasn't sure she was going to break the surface. What was gonna happen next, she didn't think there was any coming back from it this time. No, better he just rip her heart out of her chest along with everything else he intended to do but it was the tent that was torn away instead. One second it was there, one second it wasn't. One second she couldn't breathe from the weight of Samson's foot in her chest and the next she was sucking in cool air. She wasn't even sure what was happening at first, just that she could move, and she scrambled to her feet and whirled around to see what was happening, wary as any feral thing.<br/><br/>She recognized Jackson. He was one of the good ones -- never did raise a hand or voice to a whippersnapper and if he saw you staring through the store window while he was in there, he just might throw you a piece of candy on the way out. Sometimes she even followed him around when he was in town, not for anything in particular, but just because he always seemed like he was more alive than everybody else, like life hadn't wrung all the feeling out of him yet. But she'd never seen him like this. Once the gun came out, she was sure that was it and she gathered herself to run like her life depended on and might have if old Samson hadn't called her slant-eyed whore and ordered her to stay. She reached down and grabbed a chunk of dirt, the only thing close she could see, and chucked it at him with all her righteous might but the effect of it was lost under Jack's assault.<br/><br/>He was like a raging angel sent from heaven to avenge her and the sight of him tearing into Samson stunned her almost as much as the punch had earlier. Lilah wasn't a girl who liked violence. She didn't wish it anybody or gather round to egg it on when she saw it like some, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from this. It was enough to make her jump out of her skin when she heard the shotgun and she would have scattered as soon as she saw the law dog if she weren't so worried he was going to drag Jack to jail. She scowled at Samson when he called her whore again but she was back to looking like a scared little fawn when Colman addressed her. Suddenly all eyes were upon her and she could practically hear them wondering what all the fuss was for when all they could see was a skinny, no account Chinese girl with no family and no future. Jackson didn't though. He took a couple steps closer and she drew herself up, aware now that her shirt had been torn and buttons popped off so she pulled it around herself to get a little dignity back and turned to face the sheriff. The whole left side of her face would be bruised in the morning and her nose was still leaking blood but her eyes were clear and somber.<br/><br/>"That's right, sheriff, he did. He said he had a package for me but that ain't what he tried to gimme," she said, just glad her voice worked though she did manage another serviceable glare for Samson. "And I ain't no whore!"<br/><br/>With that she inched a little closer to Jackson, resolved that if the sheriff tried to take him in Coleman would have to go through her.<br/>