Stories About the Gentlemen B-Words

"Stories About the Gentlemen B-Words" is a chapter in *With Pearl and Ruby Glowing: Part 4*.

## Plot

Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Francis, Rita, Oliver, and Jenny visit Fagin in prison and discuss the book *The Lies of Locke Lamora* from which they are pulling their Palace names.

### A Story about Locke Lamora

Dodger spent some time at the Refuge for Troubled Youths after running away from too many foster homes. When he escaped and went to Calisota, Fagin took him in to help him pay off his debt to Bill Sykes. Dodger was attacked by God's Will First for streetwalking and was severely injured, so the gang had to get medical attention from Sykes and their debt increased.

### A Story about Father Chains

Fagin was kidnapped by the Ark as a teenager and eventually became unattractive over the years. Before he could be killed in a snuff film, he made a deal with Sykes to get money himself and pay him every month in order to go free. Fagin picked pockets, but this didn't make enough, so he took in his gang one by one and had them streetwalk so they could pay off the debt quicker. When they started missing payments due to Dodger's injuries and caring for Oliver, Fagin told Sykes to let him die in exchange for giving the others more time, but Scrooge McDuck bought and freed him.

### A Story about Calo Sanza

Tito was separated from his parents at the Mexico–United States border and made his way to Calisota. After he met Einstein, they tried to rob Fagin but instead began working for him and did sex work to pay off his debt. When Dodger and Rita suddenly disappeared, Tito and Francis looked for them and found them safe with Wilhelmina. The rest of the gang, sans Fagin, came and stayed in her basement to hide from Sykes, Rosco, and DeSoto.

### A Story about Galdo Sanza

Einstein ran away from home because his parents beat him for bad grades. After meeting Tito and attempting to rob Fagin with him, he began doing sex work to help Fagin. Einstein didn't realize how serious things were until a client accidentally injured him and tried to kill him. Later, when Dodger was attacked by GWF, he brought him back to the hideout to get patched up.

### A Story about Jean Tannen

Francis was bounced through several foster homes and was placed with extremely religious foster parents. His foster mother made him burn a library book on evolution, so he ran away and joined up with Fagin and his gang. The gang went to the library and Francis checked out some books with info that would help them with work and to survive, such as repairing things, saving money for food, and checking for STDs.

### A Story about Sabetha Belacoros

Rita and her parents were attacked by GWF when she was a preteen. When her parents were killed, one member kept her as a sex slave until she escaped two years later. Fagin took Rita in and she helped him earn money for Sykes, but she somewhat lost faith in Islam after what happened to her parents.

### A Story about Bertilion “Bug” Gadek

Oliver was abandoned as a baby and ended up in the hands of the Ark, who gave him to Fagin's gang to help them get money. However, the gang didn't want him to become a streetwalker like them, so they told the Ark that he died and hid him in the cupboard whenever Sykes came over to collect payments. Still, Oliver was taught to pickpocket as a toddler, although he didn't bring in much money, and when Fagin turned himself into the police several years later, he had to get checked by a doctor to make sure the gang didn't hurt him.

### A Story about Nazca Barsavi

Jenny's "sister" Georgette is actually her mother, who was raped as a teen and gave birth to her and her twin brother Oliver. Georgette hated men after the assault, so she kept Jenny while getting rid of Oliver, but she eventually felt guilty. Jenny didn't quite remember her brother, but felt like something was missing until she found a picture of him. When Georgette had a pageant in Calisota, she went with her, but Fagin's gang nearly hijacked the limo and she saw Oliver with them. Later, when Fagin's gang went to Wilhelmina's, they talked to Bagheera, who helped Oliver get in contact with Jenny again and they got a blood test done which confirmed they're siblings.