Oy Vey

[Zippy]

Zippy waited until she saw Rabbi Ari close up the synagogue and everyone was long gone before she headed over to the back side of the building. Sure, breaking and entering into Congregation Anshe Tikva wasn't the top of her list of fun things to do on a Saturday night, but Zippy didn't have much of a choice.

She was cold and hungry, had a spare key to the place, and was no longer welcome there. Their food pantry was for anyone who was struggling- and in this day of age, everyone basically was- so it wasn't like she was stealing food and clothes. Just taking what any passing Jew was offered.

Zippy fumbled into her bag for the key, trying to keep a low profile. Her fingers were beginning to freeze and she was shaking, praying nobody would come.

[Riddle]

Riddle stood in the shadows, shivering and aching, jumping at every little noise. She had one black eye, a rather spectacular bruise covering half her face, and more on her arms. She looked like exactly what she was--a desperate criminal on the run.

Somewhere in the Refuge at this very moment, Warden McArthur was growing sleepy as the poison Goblin had given Riddle circulated in his system. On the basement stairs, a guard lay dead in a pool of blood, a homemade knife shoved through his chest after a vicious struggle. And Lena "Riddle" Eisenberg was finally free, if you could call it that. Free and scared and angry and half-crazed with guilt, and above all, hungry. Hungry enough to throw herself at the mercy of the temple--but she couldn't let a rabbi see her like this. So she'd come at night with a lock pick, like a thief. Only to see another girl approach the door and pull out a key.

Too desperate at this point to care about the consequences, she slowly emerged from the shadows, arms wrapped around herself. "You planning to share?"

[Zippy]

Zippy jumped, the girl scaring her half to death. She didn't recognize her, but still wasn't sure who she was.

"Who the hell are you!" Zippy demanded.

[Riddle]

Riddle smirked at her. "Says the girl about to sneak into temple in the middle of the night. What, forgot your scarf or something?"

[Zippy]

Zippy glared at her. "Watch it. I'm the one with the key." But even in the dark she noticed the girl was shivering and had bruises on her face. Zippy opened up the door, allowing the girl inside, closing it firmly behind them.

"Keep quiet, there shouldn't be anyone around, but ya never know." Zippy took a candle out of her bag and lit it to give them light.

[Riddle]

She nodded, surprised that it had been that easy to gain entrance. This girl must be soft, a real sucker. Riddle knew she should be figuring out how to exploit that further, but she was too hungry and too damn stressed to scheme right now. She just quietly followed her new guide and hoped the journey would end in food.

[Zippy]

While Zippy had a soft spot for battered women, she didn't want to make small talk with the stray she had picked up. She just wanted to find a sweater, grab a can of beans, and head back out. If anyone saw her, not only would they call the bulls, but they would probably tell some pretty dangerous people...

She didn't want to think about that.

"What ya looking for? Clothes? Food?" She asked, leading the way towards the pantry.

[Riddle]

"Anything," Riddle muttered. She owned literally nothing but the clothes on her back, and they were tattered and stained and smelled awful. "Mostly food. And something warm." Her eyes lit up at the packed shelves, and she immediately went on a raid, filling her skirt with cans and muttering her thanks in Hebrew almost automatically. As if God would ever have anything to do with her again.

[Zippy]

Zippy glanced over at the girl, surprised to hear the Hebrew, but didn't say anything.

She placed the candle down on the table and searched the boxes for a sweater, muttering to herself in Yiddish about the place being emptier than she thought. She was partially annoyed, and was partially curious if the girl would understand her.

Pretty Jewish girls like herself and the girl often weren't this alone and abandoned.

[Riddle]

Riddle sent her companion a quick, tired smirk. "A kind’s treren reissen himlen," she murmured sardonically. A child's tears reach the heavens. She found a ratty blanket and transferred the cans into it, tying the whole thing up like a satchel and throwing it over her shoulder. Later, she could use it for warmth. Not that she had any idea where she'd be sleeping.

[Zippy]

Zippy stopped digging through the clothes bin, and looked at the girl.

"Do you have anywhere to go?"

[Riddle]

Riddle returned the look, studying the girl's face nonchalantly, and almost winced at what she found. Genuine concern. She didn't know whether to feel gleeful at her luck or flooded with shame in comparison. Actually, she felt both at once, which maybe made her a little bit crazy. But that wasn't news. There was still blood under her fingernails.

Finally, she just shook her head. "You?"

[Zippy]

Zippy's hands landed her the perfect gray sweater. She slipped it on, and began filling up her bag with cans.

"I'm heading back to the Manhattan Lodging House. Its about a half hour walk from here." It was crucial they left soon. If he found her here, he'd kill her.

[Riddle]

Riddle had finally discovered an open can, the cold beans already half-eaten, and she was in the process of stuffing the rest of them into her mouth. At the other girl's words, however, she swallowed fast, coughing down the beans and suddenly losing her appetite. "Lodging house? For, uh...for newsies, you mean?"

[Zippy]

"Oh great, you've heard of it." Zippy answered, glancing around the small room for anything else that might be useful. Ah, a box of tzdekah. Zippy grabbed the box and dumped half the contents into her bag, offering it to the girl.

Screw this congregation. She was the needy that actually should have their money.