Wow, this piece took me much longer than I wanted it to. It was one of those things where I had an idea for a scene, or a little exchange, but my mind's insistance to take it further resulted in this taking weeks instead of days to complete. Suffering through writer's block didn't help either, but I think this tuned out pretty well! I wanted to explore the relationship between Romeo and Crutchie a little, and maybe I've been writing about Romeo too much...I blame Andy Richardson.
Enjoy!
-Marcelle
"Hey, Crutchie, how'd your leg get all busted up like that?"
To anyone else, the question might have seemed incredibly rude, but Crutchie Morris knew better. The little boy staring up at him was only five years old, after all, a whole two years younger than Crutchie himself. And he was the newest arrival to the lodging house, having been there for a short two weeks.
He was still learning the ropes, full of questions, and Crutchie was only too happy to oblige. In all honesty, he thought it was funny.
"I was real sick, Romeo. The docs said I 'ad somethin' called polio," he replied simply, shrugging a bit as he pulled on his socks. Romeo's eyes grew wide at the unfamiliar word, and Crutchie chuckled. The kid was getting more brave by the day, a far cry from the timid boy they had met on his first night in the lodging house. He had practically clung to Race then, refusing to meet anyone else's eyes and speaking only to Race and Jack.
Within a few days, however, he had come out of his shell, and now Crutchie could barely even remember a time when Romeo wasn't bursting with something to say. He was going to be a great seller with that mouth of his, that was for sure.
"An' polio made your leg stop workin'?" the boy inquired further, looking from Crutchie's face to his leg as though trying to somehow identify the sickness inside of him.
"Yeah, I guess so. I don't really think about it much," Crutchie admitted, rising to his feet and positioning his crutch under his arm to make it more comfortable. It was true, Crutchie prefered not to dwell on his leg and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it. After all, what good could it do him? Crying over spilled milk didn't refill the glass.
"Oh. I guess not. I don't like to think about sad stuff either," Romeo stated simply, his words seeming to hold more meaning than he probably was even aware of. Crutchie knew that something had happened to Romeo fairly recently, something that had left him alone and soaking wet on the street when Race had found him.
But the kid hadn't said a thing about it, and no one had wanted to ask. No one wanted to be the one to resurface memories that Romeo was probably trying very hard to forget.
Maybe, Crutchie thought in an instant, that was what the constant chatter was about. Maybe being in a permanent state of conversation helped to distract himself from whatever he had gone through. That, and a genuine curiosity to learn more about the others, more about his new life.
Either way, Crutchie wanted to help in whatever way he could. He knew what it was like, having to adjust to an entirely new routine. Anything he could do to ease Romeo's transition would be his pleasure.
"Hey, ya wanna come sellin' with me today?" Crutchie found himself offering, pulling his cap onto his head and giving Romeo a smile that he happily returned.
"Sure!" the younger boy agreed, quickly grabbing his paper bag from a nearby bunk bed and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'm kinda gettin' tired of sellin' with Race anyway. He don't let me talk ta the ladies after they buy a pape!"
"I believe it," Crutchie laughed in return, rolling his eyes at yet another display of Romeo perfectly living up to his name. Jack and Race had hit the nail right on the head with this one, that much was clear.
The women of New York City had very quickly proven to be Romeo's target demographic. They were his most reliable customers, and the young romancer knew it very well, according to the two eldest newsies. Race reported several instances of almost having to physically drag the kid away from the women he sold to; each of them had apparently thought Romeo was the most adorable child the earth was capable of producing.
While it was most likely a bit of an exaggeration, the assumption had earned Romeo some extra change that he happily shared with the others, so no one in the lodging house was found complaining about their newest addition.
Said addition tried as hard as humanly possible to talk Crutchie's ear off as the two of them left the lodging house and ventured over to the World distribution center, his words filled to the brim with his own special brand of enthusiasm that never seemed to die out.
"It's real nice out today, huh? Race told me this is da perfect kinda weather for sellin', 'cause it's not too hot out and it's sunny," Romeo babbled on, subconsciously using wide gestures as he explained what Crutchie already knew, drawing a chuckle from the older boy.
"Dat's true enough," he agreed, nodding as the gates to the distribution center came into view. A couple of the others were already clustered around the stand, poking fun at each other and at the expense of the Delancy brothers, who had just been employed under their uncle Wiesel to help out at the World. They were larger boys, rough around the edges and seeming to be much too eager to seek out a fight.
Crutchie himself had seen them prowling the streets after their shifts were over, but he had been careful to avoid them. Sure, the gimp got him perks, but it also made him an easy target, a situation he prefered to stay out of as much as possible. Morris and Oscar seemed just the type to single out someone like him.
"'Ey, it's Crutch and the little guy!" Finch called as he collected his last few papes from a scowling Wiesel, drawing Crutchie's attention away from the brothers. He smiled in return and limped towards the rest of the boys, Romeo following close behind.
"I ain't little! I'm five!" the younger boy protested, clearly mustering as much indigence as he could have possibly had within him. Finch merely laughed at Romeo's apparent anger as he stuffed his papers in his bag, grinning at the sight of their newest brother's annoyance.
"Well right now, you'se is the youngest newsie we got. So until we get a new kid dat's younger than you, you'se gets ta be the little guy," he determined, tugging his cap tighter onto his head before turning to Crutchie, who was watching the all-too-familiar exchange unfold. He had been in Romeo's same position not two weeks ago, the victim of the ultimately heartfelt teasing that was traditionally dealt to the youngest newsboy in the group.
It had been a bit annoying after a while, but Crutchie had learned to laugh it off. After all, those boys had given him a roof over his head. No, it was more than that-it was a place to call home. And if the price of home was a couple of jokes about being young, then so be it. Crutchie would gladly pay it any day. Romeo, however, did not seem to grasp that concept so clearly just yet.
"They'd better come soon, then," he declared, firmly crossing his arms as the older newsies passed around an amused glance, their grins only widening at the boy's next words. "Hey, maybe it'll be a girl this time!"
"Sure, kid. Maybe," Finch agreed with a subtle layer of sarcasm that Romeo missed entirely, instead preferring to take his newfound excitement over to the distribution stand. The top of the stand reached past his head, forcing him to raise himself up onto his toes in order to see Wiesel and his nephews.
"A hundred papes, please!" Romeo requested excitedly, and Crutchie felt his stomach drop at the sneer that spread across both Morris and Oscar's faces at the sight of their smallest newsie.
"Well, whaddaya know. Looks like you fellas got a new runt ta drag around," Morris remarked snidely as he glanced towards the rest of the newsboys, many of whom tensed as though preparing themselves for a fight. Crutchie saw Romeo's face sink into a frown at the words, which he seemed to realize were missing the fondness they usually contained when used by the newsies.
"I'm not a runt," he defended himself, but Crutchie could detect a touch of apprehensiveness in the boy's otherwise firm tone. He made his way to stand next to him, placing a hand on Romeo's shoulder and narrowing his eyes at the Delancies.
"Leave 'im alone. It ain't his fault he's younger than you'se," Crutchie came to his aid, refusing to back down even as both of the brothers turned their attention to him.
"Aw, how cute. The crip thinks he's gonna save the day. That's real noble of ya, crip," Oscar mocked, grinning wickedly as Morris laughed beside him. "Betcha think you're just like dat bum Jack Kelly you hang around with, huh?"
"Hey, Oscar shut your face," Finch stepped up next, seeming almost dangerously close to being provoked past his limit. His fingers twitched as though eager to curl into a fist, and Crutchie glanced at him with a small shake of his head. It was far from a good idea for them to get in a fight, not with Romeo in their company. He wasn't well-versed in the art of street fighting yet, and it would be all too easy for him to end up hurt.
"I will when I'm good and ready," Oscsr retorted, he and his brother stepping out from behind the stand and closing the distance between them and the newsies. "See, runt, this is all ya got ta look foward to. Hangin' around with the crips and the poor as heck newsies."
"But hey, it probably won't be a problem for ya much longer," Morris joined in, smirking in Romeo's direction. "Once they see you ain't worth a bean, they'll kick ya back out on the streets for sure."
"They wouldn't do that ta me!" Romeo practically shouted in reply. But his convinced expression faultered for a fraction of a moment, and he turned to look at Crutchie with wide eyes, his voice dropping in volume a bit. "Would ya?"
"'Course not, Romeo, ya know we ain't like dat," Crutchie assured him at once, tossing at glare at the Delancies. He hated the indentical smug look still adorning their faces, as though making Romeo begin to doubt his own new family gave them some kind of pleasure.
"Yeah, they'se just talkin' a load 'a bull, that's all," Finch agreed, slinging an arm around the kid as he seemed to regain his confidence back. Romeo nodded in understanding before turning to narrow his eyes at Morris and Oscar, his anger now appearing to be mixed in with a certain level of determination to prove them wrong.
"Guess we shoulda known they wouldn't kick anyone out 'a the lodgin' house dat easy, huh?" Oscar remarked almost causually with a sideways glance at Morris, who smirked as though he knew exactly where the conversation was heading.
"Yeah, you're right. I mean, they kept da crip after all, and he's about twice as useless than the runt is," the other boy added. Finch surged towards the brothers as soon as the words were out, only to be quickly restrained by Henry and Buttons, who had been watching the scene with a quiet apprehension from a few feet away.
The Delancies merely laughed, as though the response was just what they had hoped for, and Crutchie felt the same kind of fury Finch must have had beginning to rise in himself. What made it right for them to throw insults at the newsies for things they had no control over, things that were of no fault of their own? Why did the strong always use their power to bring down the weak?
He shut his eyes for a moment, clearing his swimming mind enough to calm himself down. His desire to avoid a fight remained intact, if only for the sake of Romeo. And after all, why should they sink to their level?
"Hey, you leave Crutchie out of it!" a little voice piped up, and the disabled boy pened his eyes to see Romeo inching his way closer to the Delancies, his small fists clenched and anger written plainly on his face.
"Nah, Romeo, it's fine. Don't start nothin'," Crutchie was surprised to find that his voice was quiet, almost defeated, as though the taunts had hurt him more than he was even aware of. Romeo only shook his head in return, his narrowed eyes never leaving the brothers in front of them.
"It ain't fine, they can't just say that about you!" he argued. Morris raised an eyebrow, his expression nothing less than amused as he looked down upon the furious newsboy in front of him.
"Sure about that? 'Cause I don't see you lookin' to do anything ta stop us," he laughed, the glance he cast at Oscar leaving him unprepared as Romeo charged at him and delivered a swift and visibly powerful kick to the shin.
"How 'bout now?" he yelled as Morris stumbled, fuming as he glared daggers at Romeo. The younger boy was grinning from ear to ear at his apparent victory, a gesture that Crutchie found himself mimicking for the briefest of moments. Someone had most definitely needed to put the larger boys in thier place, and Crutchie couldn't have been happier that Romeo had been the one to do it.
His joy, however, quickly vanished at the sight of Oscar rushing towards Romeo as his back was turned, knocking him to the ground.
"Dat's quite an impressive bruise ya got there, kid," Jack commented as he handed Romeo a bag of ice, chuckling as the boy winced when it was set on his eye. Crutchie sat beside him on the bed, pride filling him to the brim as he recalled just what had happened.
Oscar and Romeo had scuffled for a full twenty seconds before the rest of the newsies had rushed to his aid, pulling the Delancy boy off of their little brother and taking over the fight from there. It hadn't lasted long, but Crutchie felt confident in claiming the newsies among the triumphant.
They had all beamed in delight throughout the rest of the selling day, their celebration dimmed only by the fact that Romeo had somehow ended up with a black eye during the whole affair.
He claimed that it was fine and insisted on staying out with the rest of them, and the older boys had relented due to the enormous display of bravery Romeo had shown. Of course, they had asked Jack to take a look at him the minute they returned to the lodging house, despite the kid's protests.
"Well they were makin' fun 'a Crutchie. I had ta do somethin'," Romeo mumbled as he held the ice against his face, frowning lightly at the new form of attention he was getting. He was used to being the center of energy at the lodging house, but being cared for or worried after seemed to be a different story, one that he didn't enjoy nearly as much. Crutchie grinned at Romeo's logic, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks for standin' up for me today, Romeo," He smiled as the other boy shrugged, a sudden modesty overtaking his usual bold personality.
"They was bein' bullies, and you didn't do nothin' ta them. Besides, you did it for me, too," Romeo pointed out, giving Crutchie a small smile. The crippled boy could see Jack observing them from the corner of his eye, fondness for the youngest of his newsies emenating very clearly from him.
Crutchie liked to believe that he had learned from Jack, that the older boy had taught him who a person should be, what a family should do for each other. It seemed as though the torch had been passed, and now it was Crutchie's turn to give that knowledge to Romeo, everything he had learned and everything he was sure Jack and the others were bound to teach him eventually.
He had to be a helping hand to Romeo, and to every newsie that passed through the lodging house doors. It was his duty, one that he realized had already begun. And he was ready to take it on, starting with Romeo.
"'Course I did, kid," he said firmly. "I wouldn't 'a done nothin' else."
Don't forget to review! Prompts or suggestions always appreciated! I'll try to update either Origins or Walk Over Us soon, whichever the muse strikes me for first. Thanks for reading!