The Only Way Read Online Free PDF Page A

same to Hart, but some of them called out to the girls and some to the men who crowded along the fence.
    "Hey, baby, hey. Yeah, you. You want to come with me tonight?"
    The girls pushed forward as they were called and slipped through the open gate to follow the pimps. Hart watched, unable to tell what the pimps were looking for in their selections. It wasn't the prettiest or the youngest or even the cleanest girls who were chosen. She shuddered as a sad-looking girl who couldn't be more than fourteen stepped through the gate.
    As the pimps chose girls to come into the Alley, others called out to the Gutter men. Here, at least, Hart could see what they were looking for. The men who were chosen were the biggest and strongest:  some a head taller than her and twice as broad. They aggressively shouldered their way through the crowd, hard looks on their faces.
    It was difficult to think of her father as one of them, these brutish men going off to fight. Duncan was all smiles when he was home, playing with the kids and flirting with her mother, but Hart knew he must have been different in the ring to have won so many fights.
    She choked down the tears that threatened to rise at the thought of her father and pushed her way through the thinning crowd until she was right up against the links of the fence. Most of the organizers were leaving, their chosen fighters trailing behind them. 
    Hart pressed closer to the fence as if she could force her way through the thick metal links and into the Alley through sheer will. 
    One of the organizers spotted her and let out a loud bark of laughter. "What are you doing here, kid? You hoping you could go with the girls and make some money that way?"
    Hart flushed, crossing her arms over her hidden breasts. "I'm here to fight, just like everyone else," she shot back angrily.
    "A runt like you? Wait until you're weaned, and then maybe we'll give you a shot."
    "I can fight!" she said, rising up on her toes and clinging to the fence. "I could kick your ass if I wanted."
    The man laughed unkindly. "You," he pointed to a boy to the left of Hart, not much bigger than she was. "I'll give you a shot."
    The boy gave Hart a smug look before he turned to hurry through the open checkpoint. The organizer threw her a little salute before sauntering off, fighters in tow.
    Hart clenched her teeth angrily. She couldn't even get past the fence – how was she supposed to keep her family fed and alive?
    "You crazy, kid?"
    She turned to see a man lingering on the other side, leaning up against a light post, smirking at her. He was small with a paunch that said he never set foot in the ring himself. His clothes were dirty and stained.
    "Trying to pick a fight before you're even in the ring? Benny could have killed you if he actually felt like taking a swing."
    "I'm stronger than I look," Hart retorted. "I could have taken him."
    "You're feisty, that's for sure," the man laughed. He pushed himself off the post and came forward. "You ever been in a fight before?"
    Hart paused, biting her lip. Sure, she'd trained with her Dad, but she'd never had to use the moves. "I've practiced."
    "But no one's ever come at you? You've never had to fuck someone up just so you could stay standing?"
    "I could," Hart muttered, refusing to drop her eyes.
    The man laughed again. "All right."
    "All right?"
    "I'll put you in a fight."
    "Really?"
    The man smirked again. "Yeah. You can be the opening act. Watching you get your ass handed to you will get everyone in the mood for more. Get them seeing red, if you know what I mean."
    Hart sneered, but pushed her way through the remaining people to the gate. The guard stared down at her, hard and impassive, and shifted to the side, unbarring the way.
    Hart hadn't been in the Alley since she was a child, and even though she had glimpsed it every day through the heavy fence, it felt like stepping into another world. There were streetlights here, and the sidewalks were mostly free from trash. People