A Criminal Act of Poverty

FOREWORD

This is written as a 4 Chapter story, for a contest.

1. Christine Magill's early life.

2. The crime she committed.

3. The investigation and her short trial.

4. Her time after her trial.

It is a work of fiction, no one is real, the places are made up and everything that takes place only exists in the mind of the author. At times it will be dark, please be aware and forewarned as this deals with lust, murder, incest, abuse and the greatest crime of all poverty. There will also be little frivolous moments of joy, sex, fun and Aussie wit and charm.

All sex acts are between adults, or at least people over the age of 18, as required by Lit policy. But you my dear reader must use your mind and work out how such heinous crimes could be permitted between consenting adults.

In this story, society had risen and fallen, and war followed war until finally East blended in with the West. There were no countries, there were no borders. There were city-states owned by conglomerates, mighty monolithic stone-cold, multifarious, faceless entities owned by a few, for the benefit of a few. The world was in a dystopian state.

Enjoy the read, Please leave a star rating and a comment, we authors love to hear what you have to say, especially if it is constructive and meaningful.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

Chapter 1 -- Christine Magill her early life.

She was born in mid-2329 to a poor family, when I say poor, I mean that in every sense of the word. She was not a planned or wanted child and in truth, her mother, Maggie Magill, wasn't certain who her father was. Definitely not her husband as he was too drunk most nights to even bother with her or anyone. A woman of her age still had needs and she was a cheap and easy lay for any of the local men who plied her with drink and had a silver tongue. Most of her sexual escapades happened on her way home from the local 'grog shop'. Not your licensed hotel, oh no, the local grog shop was where you went to drink after the pubs had closed. The last drinks were called at 6 PM, the doors were locked and the men were sent on their way home.

Cheap gin was her favourite tipple, and after 6 or more, you whispered into her ear and then, you would offer to see her home safely. Which meant you took her down past the old motor stables, and up against the stable wall you got your wicked way. On more than one occasion she was accompanied by two or three of the local lads, who each took their turn. Hence Christine Magill was conceived in September and came into this world on the 6th of June 2329. Unwanted, unloved but healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes, her mother considered her a normal child. There was no hospital birth, just the local midwife or the old girl they called the midwife. Life was tough, money scarce, and every penny was fought for and treasured.

In Christine's early years, before they tried to send her to school, the house which was called a home lacked the warmth a child needs to grow, none from her mother and the only laughter she heard was on those occasions when the men came around and they sat in the living room drinking. The drunken laughter of dirty old men and a willing woman. The love she got came from her brothers and sisters, who shared the house, 3 or four in a bed it was her brothers and sisters who looked after her. She wore hand-me-down dresses and rarely had shoes on her feet. She never knew the laughter or love that every child should, it was a loud, noisy house, and swearing and the shouting were the norm. A child raised like that doesn't know what normal is or isn't, to them this is how the world is. When her mother wasn't at home, she knew she was safe from any beatings. Too many times she was left battered and bruised.

The child-like innocence that children have was lost to her long before it should have been. She was raised on the streets, playing games. Each street was full of children, it seems that the only thing the people could do was procreate. The men had gone off to another war or were feigning nonexistent injuries. The world she grew up in was one of muliebrity. It would define her future life. Crime was rife, a way of life and you had to live using your wits and cunning.

There was no entertainment, and as the night fell and the day ended, crawling into bed hungry, cold, and thankful she didn't have a beating to go with her sleep. It was in the dark, listening to her older sisters talking and whispering with each other, then the giggling and noises they made as she was the youngest and she was never included in their secret games. She wanted to be included in their secrets but she was left alone, to wonder what they talked about. She wondered why they giggled so much, why they made their strange sounds which sounded like so much happiness.

She looked at the strangers in the house at all times of the day and night. This was her normal life. Seeing her mother take her sisters and disappear behind closed doors only to reappear a short time later smiling and laughing. She didn't know what went on behind the closed doors, but she listened in, along with her other siblings, and she heard the noises, the giggling and ooohhhs and aaaahhhhhs. She heard the beatings and the crying. The bed creaking and the cries of delight.

No one thought it strange that she was always at home and not at school, the fact was her birth was never registered, and she was actually never recorded as a person. No paperwork ever existed for her.

Her life of crime started before her 8th birthday, not that birthdays were ever celebrated so she didn't really know her age. She was shown how to steal from the local greengrocer, and how to pretend to cry and keep the shop owner distracted while her brothers and sisters stole from the fruit trays at the front of the shop on the high street.

The family were well known for their shenanigans. Her brothers were bullies and learnt to fight and defend themselves from their mum and the many 'Uncles' that were about at the time. Little Christine being the youngest and smallest learnt how to protect herself by making allies with one or the other older, bigger, stronger brothers. She on more than one occasion started a fight only to hide behind a bigger brother for protection. Something she did all her life. She learnt how to manipulate people and situations, how to use words and not her fists, and how to outwit the not-so-smart ones. Not that she was intelligent but she was streetwise and was good looking.

It was before she became a woman that her mother introduced her to what would become another part of her life. At the request of one of those strangers, she was allowed to go in behind the closed door with her mother and a stranger.

Her brothers and sisters were all laughing and sniggering behind their hands which they held over their mouths so as not to be heard. She had no idea of what to do and sat on the edge of the bed as her mother and the stranger wrestled with each other and slowly became naked. She had no idea what they were doing and she looked on until she felt a hand reach out for her and took her under the covers. The hands of both the stranger and her mother ran over her 18yo body, It made her feel good and for the first time, she heard her mother tell the stranger not to put his 'thing' in her.

"We can't afford to feed the ones we've got, let alone any more little bastards." She told him, then she laughed as she moaned and said "Oh that's nice, harder now, do me harder".

Christine had no idea what they were doing but she saw the look on their faces as she felt a hand between her legs, not sure who it was or what to do, she just opened her legs for them and felt her womanly core being rubbed. She closed her eyes and laid back as she felt her knickers being removed, She eased her backside off the dirty bed linen and she felt someone kissing her inner thighs.

Before long she felt a warm sensation between her legs and she instinctively thrust her hips towards the warmth of a tongue. She had no idea whose tongue it was but it made her feel good and before too long she thought she had wet herself. But her mother and her friend laughed and cried out "Yes oh, fucking YES." She was laying in the bed her panties removed and the stranger kissed her on the mouth as she felt his rough hand on her private parts. She moaned and cried out once more. Then shook again and again. She never did feel his 'thing' inside of her.

They lived in a council flat which was too small by half, and she shared a bed with some of her sisters and even her brothers, but She never let the boys put their 'thing' into her, but she did learn how to make her brothers or any boy happy with her hand and or mouth. She soon learnt that some men folk were more than happy to give her a few shillings for a quick hand job and a pash after the pubs had closed. So hanging around the dark alleyways after closing time turned out to be a very profitable activity for her and her sisters. It did on rare occasions become violent, and on more than one Friday night the girls came home with bruises. A fat lip and a black eye. The oldest boys, Freddie 23 and Edward 19, were known to sort out anyone caught knocking any of the girls around.

One Friday night when she was on her knees to a rather mature and drunk man, who grabbed her by her hair and was about to punch her when one of her sisters came by and put a knife to his throat and warned him, "Don't you fucking dare hit her, I will cut you into thin pieces and feed you to the fucking pigs, just test me, you bastard."

Christine stopped her sucking and demanded the five quid he had promised her, which was way over the top, but a promise is a promise. She held out her hand for payment as her sister pushed the knife firmly into his throat, a trickle of blood, appeared on the blade.

"I don't have five quid, it was the booze talking, I'll give you half a quid, OK," The drunken old man said, the rum on his breath making the girls keep their distance.

"You said a fiver, so a fiver it is," Christine replied, "We'll take a quid now and next week it is another quid and so on until you're paid up. Then it's ten bob on top for fucking us about."

Christine's sister, looked at him in the dark alleyway, and said, "I know you don't I? You're Albert Simpson's old man, so I know where to find you if you fuck us about. It won't be me coming round to see you it will be me big brother, and he won't take any shit from the likes of you. Get my meaning?"

The old man took out his wallet and went to hand over a one-pound note when Christine snatched the wallet from his hands and opened it.

"You cheeky old bugger, you have over thirty quid in here, you fucking slimy prick," Then looking at him slyly, and asked in a humorous tone, "Who have you robbed to have this much money?" Then laughed. She took a ten-pound note from his wallet and said to him that they were settled, but if he tried anything like that again she would set her big brothers onto him. "They will give you a right seeing to," Shelia told him. She then sliced a thin line across his throat, leaving a tell-tale sign as the blood trickled down onto his undershirt. Christine then threw his wallet down towards the corner of the alleyway where an old single-bulb street light barely lit the darkness.

"You fucking little whore bitches, I'll see you two done for, just you wait and see," He yelled as he took off down the alleyway.

The two girls saw him grab his wallet and watched as he disappeared around the corner. They both burst into laughter and told each other how fucking scared they were. They linked arms and wandered off back towards the pub to see if any other later stragglers were about. "If I were you Chrissy, I'd not say a word to Mum about the ten quid, or you'll lose it," She told her. With half a smile on her lips.

They hung around but no one came along and nothing was happening, it was then that her sister took her by the hand and started walking "Where we going, Shelia?" Asked Christine.

"To visit some friends, I need a stiff drink after that." Christine snuggled into her big sister's arm as they walked towards their destination. Shelia started talking to her baby sister as they walked. "Us girls need a bit of tender loving from time to time, not what these fellas dish out, a quick shag and not even worried if they get you off or not. Then as soon as they put you up the duff, 'bang' they are off like a shot out of a cannon. Tonight, you are going to learn what real loving is all about Chrissy, trust me, once you have enjoyed this you won't want anything else."

They walked hand in hand singing and laughing swinging their arms and skipping along. Little girls at heart. Shelia took her to a place that was in a poorly lit street, the houses were even more run down than the council flat they lived in. The gardens were overgrown, and very few of the houses had any lights showing.

Shelia looked into her young sister's eyes, and explained, "In here is a safe place, where you won't get knocked around, You can dance and be with some girls, who you know, like other girls. Who knows you might meet someone you like?" She told her. Christine was unsure and nervous, but she trusted her sister not to lead her astray. Shelia took hold of Christine's hand and knocked twice, then again three times. They waited. A light went on above their heads, not a bright light but one that showed whoever was on the other side of the door who was outside. Shelia smiled at Christine and told her that this was normal, that they were being checked out. The light went out.

Soon a light went on inside the house and a door opened a couple of inches it was on a chain. Shelia spoke up, "It's Shelia and Christine Magill to see Jenifer." The door closed again as they heard the chain being released from its latch, and then the door opened, a portly woman with a cigarette hanging from the side of her mouth eyed them up and down and then said. "Come in sweethearts, you look harmless." And laughed at her own joke.

They ventured inside as the woman closed the door, locked it and put the chain back on, she turned off the light so all they could see was the red glow from her cigarette. They heard the woman shuffle off and another door opened, and faint music could be heard in the distance. The door was closed behind them with a heavy thump and a locking noise. A third door was opened and the room was full of light, music, smoke and women of all ages, dancing together.

Christine took it all in. Not knowing what she was seeing. Shelia pulled her to one side and told her straight up, "This is where you can get some loving and not fear about getting knocked up or the clap. So just relax, talk to people, have a GnT and see what happens. I'll pay for you tonight, but from then on you are on your own." She told her.

Christine nodded. She looked around the room, saw the bar, and headed for it. A tall woman, of an undeterminable age, with a lot of makeup and bright red lipstick, stood behind it and asked her, "What's your poison honey?"

Christine hesitated before stuttering, with a weak smile and asking for a Gin and Tonic.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Said the woman. "I can see you will be very popular with some of these Toms."

"What makes you think I want anything these 'Toms' have got?"

The older bar-maid leaned forward, getting close to her and whispered. "Because we tarts need some of these Toms to keep us in a manner we want to become accustomed to," She then winked at Christine, pulled back and poured her a drink. "Attach yourself to the right one and you are on easy street, if you play their game," and with that cryptic message, she wandered off and served another.

Christine smiled weakly once again, took her drink and asked how much, she yelled back at her from the other end of the small make-do bar. "The first one is on the house for first-timers. Besides your sister paid for you, so drink up, and make yourself at home. Be careful how much you drink or you'll lose your knickers along the way," she told her with a dirty laugh. All the lustful toms were laughing with her.

Christine smiled at the woman, looking at her over the top of her glass. Shelia came up next to her and again began to whisper to her, "Keep your wits about you, Christine, watch, listen and learn."

Shelia went off and waved to an older woman across the room, She was not a good-looking woman, and as soon as Shelia came within reach of her, she slapped Shelia's face, hard, Shelia dropped her head and knelt in front of the woman, who grabbed her by the hair and then put her under her dress, Shelia just let her do it. Before long the older woman's eyes were closing, and she began to smile.

No one slapped a Magill like that and gets away with it, she thought to herself. Christine had fire in her eyes and looked for a place to put her drink, she handed it to the barmaid, who shook her head and said, "Don't do it. Remember what I told ya. Your sister has attached herself to the right one,"

Christine paid her no attention and headed across the room, towards the older woman and her sister, who had all but disappeared under her dress but before she took more than three steps a young woman, in an oversized shirt and baggy pair of old trousers, being held up with a pair of braces, intercepted her, and twirled her about, held her firmly in her grip and told her, that in here, her sister had to do as the older woman said.

"Shelia knew what was coming, she'll explain it to you one day, but you can't interfere. I'm Jo by the way, well Josephine by birth but Jo when I am in here."

Christine smiled and introduced herself, "I'm Christine Magill, but I get called Chrissy by almost everyone,"

Christine tried to get out of her grip but was held fast. The stranger then leant in and tried to kiss her forcibly, as her knee tried to wedge itself between Chrissy's thighs, but her dress acted as the perfect foil for such a move. Christine placed her palm on Jo's chest to push her away and quietly told her to behave. She wasn't going to be anyone's piece of meat.

Jo threw her head back and laughed. "You are not a naïve or easy lassie, are you? I like that, let's dance shall we," She insisted. They danced slowly to the soft music, Jo held her firm and let her hand wander down to rest on her backside. Christine tried to get her to move her hand, but Jo knew what she was doing and kept her new conquest moving as she commenced to send little kisses onto her neck. The sensations were not new to Christine and she soon swooned to the affectionate embrace. She cocked her head so Jo was looking into her eyes, and then they kissed. All on Christine's terms. They broke their first soft kiss and smiled at each other. Christine was enjoying the movement of the dance, and being held tight, but not in a threatening way. Soon she felt the woman's tongue for the very first time, running up her throat and then suddenly, she felt Jo's tongue flicking her lips, she opened her mouth instinctively and welcomed the intruder in. Soon she was kissing this woman dressed as a man back as hard as she was being kissed, and she enjoyed it. Her breathing changed, and she let out a low contented groaning sound. She looked into Jo's eyes and her smile gave away what was on her mind.

Suddenly they heard loud moaning and the older woman was almost screaming, as the lady who was being serviced by Shelia was now being held up by two other women also dressed as men.

She held onto her new partner looked into her eyes, smiled and kissed her again. A small group were watching them burst into applause and cheering. Christine blushed for the first time in her life.

"That was nice." She told her new friend. Jo looked around and nodded to the barmaid who threw her a key. She caught it in her free hand and then asked her if she had ever been with another woman before. Christine was about to lie and say yes, but something inside told her not to. "No, I haven't," She replied quietly. "Would you like to come with me somewhere private where we can talk and get to know each other?" Christine nodded, "Yes I think I would like that. But only if you promise to behave,"