LOFTER-网易轻博

If I Ain't Got You is a fanfiction created based on the Broadway musical movie Chicago which talks about the love afire between Roxie Hart and Billy Flynn.

#OOC #introspective #F/M #Billy Flynn/Roxie Hart #Bad Ending #Chicago #musical #TBC

—Chicago, a Broadway musical, was set in Chicago in the jazz age and was a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal”. 

"Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction from the musical movie Chicago world which is trademarked by Rob Marshall. Roxie Hart, Billy Flynn, and Velma Kelly are characters created and owned by Rob Marshall, and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Chicago. This was created for a school assignment, not for financial gain, and is not a part of Rob Marshall’s canon.”

***

Roxie knows what she has to do. 

Since she was in jail, Roxie has received countless attention and followers she could not imagine before. Just in a few weeks, it seems that she approaches what she has dreamed for her past twenty years——standing on a stage, being a celebrity, being known by everyone…… 

Roxie suddenly feels glad that she killed Fred Casely. She sneers contemptuously: “None of those stupid men is reliable. Look at me, my name is now on everyone’s lip. I am gonna be a star! I am gonna be Roxie instead of some dumb mechanics wife. Everyone is gonna recognize me! If I can get out of jail, I may get whatever I want! Maybe murder can also be an art, ha!” 

Everything is going well since she killed Fred Casely. There is only one thing to deal with——get out of the jail. Roxie knows what she is going to do next. Everyone in this jail knows who they can go for if they want to get out of this place. 

Billy Flynn. This is a man whom every woman in this jail loves. As one of the city of Chicago's most effective defense attorneys, he can win any trial and usually represents women who have murdered their lovers. He has never lost a case but in turn charges high fees for his services. Women would kill to have Billy Flynn represent them. 

Absolutely Roxie does not have money to pay for Billy’s service. She has already used up all her money to bribe “Mama”, the matron. 

But Roxie is not so worried about it. She has never met any man who can refuse her. 

Roxie begs “Mama” to take her to see Billy Flynn. "Mama” has not refused Roxie even once since Roxie gives all her money left to "Mama”. However, this time “Mama” hesitates to take Roxie to Billy Flynn. She looks at Roxie sympathetically and says: “Roxie……You know Billy will not accept to defend for you right? You do not have enough money to pay for his service. ” She stops the words, but Roxie knows what she is going to say next——Women here who do not get Billy’s help were all hung at last. No one has been an exception. 

"I have never been refused by any men, and he is not gonna be an exception, either.”

***

"Velma Kelly? You are the Velma Kelly?! ” 

When Roxie sees Velma Kelly in Billy Flynn’s office, she is surprised. Nobody does not know Velma Kelly. She is the kind of superstar Roxie always wants to be. 

"Is there any other Velma Kelly in Chicago?” Velma is as arrogant as ever. Roxie used to love her arrogance and thinks that is what superstar should act like, but she is not so comfortable now when she really sees Velma. Roxie can not stop thinking about what she really feels about Velma. Maybe she liked her and worshiped her. Or maybe she also envied her. She is as beautiful as Velma. Velma is a superstar, but she is just a dumb mechanics wife. No, she is not a dumb mechanics wife anymore. She is also a superstar. If she can get out of this god damn jail, she can also step onto the stage and enjoy the spotlight and flowers. 

"Why are you here? Waiting for Billy Flynn? You are also in jail?” 

"Everyone in Chicago saw me caught by the cop that morning.” Velma sneers and says. 

"Oh, I was already in jail at that time.”

The door is open. Billy Flynn comes back to the office. Velma stops replying to her and turns her head towards Billy Flynn. Billy Flynn is smiling——he is always smiling when he is with his clients. The clients are all money to him after all. No one will refuse money, especially Billy Flynn. He seems surprised to see Roxie, but he does not show his surprise for too long. He does not know who is Roxie and why she is here, but she might be a potential customer for him. And he will never keep his client and his money away.

"Hi, Mr. Flynn, I am Roxie, Roxie Hart. Ummm, I am here for…” 

"Roxie Hart?” Billy Flynn stares at her with a frivolous smile. 

"Yeah, Mama has told you about me.”

"Oh, yeah, right. The cute one.”

Velma interrupts them impatiently: “Mr. Flynn, shall we first see those dumb reporters?” 

***

Flashlights and shutters do not even stop for even a second since Velma Kelly steps out of Billy Flynn’s office. Velma has got used to it for many years, but this time she does not know whether they are for her identity of a superstar or her new identity of a prisoner. Velma does not think about this question for too long. It does not matter why these reporters are coming here, all she has to know is that they are coming for her. She has not lost attention from the public because of the murder. And that is enough, because all these attention may be converted to money for her.

"Miss Kelly, do you remember anything at all about that night? The night you murdered your husband and your sister.”

"I passed out completely, Miss Sunshine. I can't remember a thing. Only that I did not do it.”

"Is that real? How can you explain the fingerprint on that knife which killed your husband and sister?”

"That is totally a lie. I just remember that I did not do it.”

"So do you have any idea about who did it? Did you see anyone that night who was suspicious?”

"No, no, stop keep asking my client,” Billy Flynn interrupts the reporter, “but we are offering a substantial reward to anyone with any information about this crime.”

"How much is the reward?”

"We'll work it out after the trial,” Billy Flynn seems to hurry to end this report, "If there is no more questions, me and Miss Kelly have other work to do. Thank you! ”

Billy asks Velma to refuse all the questions left and get out of the room with him. Velma follows him and gets rid of the reporters quickly. She has no idea about all the things that Billy mentions.

"What is all this about the reward? You did not tell me about this plan! How am I supposed to find any information that is about another murderer who does not exist at all?”

"I never planned to offer a substantial reward. Awfully dumb reporters, they will definitely write it wrong. You can deny all of it."

***

The corridor of the prison is long and dark, with several sparkling lights hanging on the wall. Footsteps of people in each empty cell echo and make the jail sound more spooky. Water drops on the ground rhythmically, as if there are ghosts whispering about their grievances. Suddenly, the metal door clangs shut, followed by the sound of keys jingling in the lock——there people entered the jail. The man walking in the front wears a smile on his face. That is not rare, women in this jail can always see him entering here like this. Each time there must be a lucky woman who has accumulated enough money to hire Mr. Flynn, and Billy Flynn is also very pleased about it to get another great amount of remuneration from her.  

Hands reach out of the cells and want to catch their last chance of living. 

"Not Guilty! Nem vagyok bűnös! Nem öltem meg a férjem! Nem tudok semmit a gyilkosságról! Kérlek segíts! (Hungarian, meaning: I am not guilty! I did not kill my husband! I know nothing about the murder! Please help me! )” The poor Hungarian woman has been here for three months. She cannot speak English, only not guilty, and of course, she cannot afford Billy Flynn’s high charge. Everyone is sure that she is gonna be hang in the end.

"You tell them yourself, sweetheart.” Billy Flynn still wears his symbolic smile on his face and walks past the woman without any stop, as if he does not know this innocent woman’s upcoming fate. 

The Hungarian woman slides along the iron door of her cell slowly and falls on the ground. She is desperate. She cannot speak English, and if Billy Flynn does not decide to help her, she does not know what else she can do. She cannot understand at all. She cannot understand why she would be framed as a murderer; she cannot understand why Billy Flynn does not help her even if he knows she is not guilty; she cannot understand the whole world. It is obvious that other people cannot understand her sorrow either. No one has the spare time to care about her feelings, and the prison is still full of the sound of women asking to hire Billy Flynn. 

Roxie begins to be anxious. 

She does not have enough money to hire Billy Flynn, like that Hungarian woman. She cannot be so confident and determined anymore. Is she gonna die? No, she cannot. She hasn’t become a superstar yet. She has to come up with some ideas to save herself. 

***

Billy Flynn is surprised when he sees Roxie sitting on the desk in his office. He cannot deny that it is quite fascinating to see such a beauty acting seductively. The light is very ambiguous, reflecting softly on Roxie’s shoulder. Billy has seen lots of attractive women, but none of them is like Roxie. She seems like a typical American sweetheart, but you can also see the desire of fame and fortune on her. Billy never thinks he will like that kind of woman who looks foolish, but at that moment, he holds his breath for a second. He has never seen a women who can be a perfect combination of innocence and desire. He feels surprised and a little confused about what is this woman like, but that is all.

He wears his typical smile on him again very quickly. He walks straight into Roxie and stares into her eyes with a smile: “Why are you here, honey?” 

"Mr. Flynn, you know what I am here for. I was hoping that you might represent me.”

"Of course I will sweetheart, if you have five thousand dollars.”

"That's a lot of money. You know I cannot get that much, maybe what about making some other arrangement between us?”

"I can totally understand you, honey, so call me when you have five thousand dollars.”Billy Flynn pats on her cheek frivolously and leaves the room.  

***

"Wait, Mr. Flynn, just give me one more second.” 

Roxie jumps off the desk and stops Billy Flynn. She seems a bit awkward about Billy Flynn’s reaction to her with his hands clenched. She feels like in Billy Flynn’s eyes, she is judged like a cargo instead of an attractive woman. She is not used to this kind of feeling, because in the past years in her life, she has never met any men like Billy Flynn. However, she does not have any other choice. The only one who can help her now is Billy Flynn. 

"OK, I know what do you mean. Of course, I will give you what you want, five thousand dollars, maybe even more, but not now. I think you should consider cooperating with me, helping me get out of jail and becoming a star. You know I am beautiful and popular. People love me although I am in jail now. And I know you do well in manipulating those reporters and the public’s opinions——that is your job. I need fame, and you want money. We can work well together perfectly. That will not be a loss-making business for you. You will get much more than just five thousand dollars for the representative fee. So what do you think?”

Billy Flynn turns around and stares at Roxie for a minute. He does not smile at all, maybe for the first time that he does not keep his typical smile in front of Roxie. 

"You are smarter than I thought.”

"This is an investment, and I promise you will not regret it.”

"Maybe I should really reevaluate what I can get from you." Billy Flynn sits back in front of that desk again.

"Of course you should. Hope we cooperate happily, Mr. Flynn.”

TBC