Disclaimer- Newsies belong to Disney. Not us. Because then we'd be rich. And happy. Ace, Ink, and Shake belong to the three of us, and Frankie is owned by Ace. Who keeps him on a leash. Just so he doesn't bite people…too bad…
Summary- Ace and Race have been best friends for four years, but when Jack's cousin returns from living in Boston for six years, will everything still be the same? What about when an entirely new girl is thrown into the mix? Will there be romance, drama, heartbreak? One thing is for sure, life for the Newsies is no longer as simple as a game of poker.
All is Fair in Love and Poker
Chapter 1 "Aces are Wild"
By: The.Pelvic.Thrust
"Your funeral…"
"Quit tryin' ta psyche me out kid, and play da game." A slight amount of nervousness hung in his Italian accent, as he stared across the table at a pair of mocking blue eyes.
"You'se sure you wanna do dat, is alls I'm sayin'…" her smirk was audible even though her hand of cards was strategically blocking her mouth.
"Why not? It ain't like you'se can beat me anyway…" The faces of the Newsies around him smirked and nodded in agreement illuminated by the lone candle in the center of the table. Those surrounding his competitor raised their eyebrows and scoffed at his certainty.
She shrugged her shoulders and tossed in another nickel. "Fine, let's see whatcha's got then."
Race threw down his cards with a straight and grinned arrogantly, reaching out to collect his winnings.
"Wow, Higgins, real good hand…but it just ain't good enough dis time."
Race's grin disappeared as she fanned out her cards over his greedy hands showing a flush. "Ace, you cheated!" he said throwing the cards at her.
"Maybe next time Higgins, you'se just wasn't good enough." She spoke slapping him on the back then lifting up a nearby window. "See ya at Tibby's tommorah." She flashed him one last smirk before jumping out the window and descending the fire escape.
As Ace looked behind her at the Manhattan Lodging House shrinking into the background, she smiled feeling the new change jingling in her pocket. She glanced at her pocket watch and swore under her breath. 9:56. The game had run later than usual. Every Monday night the Manhattan Newsies and her gathered to play poker, most folding before the end of the night, leaving Ace and Race. The two were the best poker players in all of Manhattan. Despite their obvious taunting and sarcasm toward eachother, they had been best friends ever since Ace accepted a waitressing job at Tibby's when she was twelve.
Ace sprinted the several blocks to Tibby's, knowing full well that if she even returned at 10:01 Frankie would dock her pay. Frankie owned Tibby's restaurant and was constantly reminding her of curfew, seeing as how she was almost always out late. As Ace finally approached the front of Tibby's, she slowed to a jog when she saw Frankie leaning against the doorframe.
"Five seconds early…" he said glancing down at his watch. "Goodnight Ms. Conlon…let's try not to cut it so close next time, huh?" he masked his obvious amusement with a half-hearted look of disapproval.
"Yeah yeah yeah…I'm goin' Frankie, I'm goin'…" Ace breezed past her middle-aged employer and up the back stairs.
Above the restaurant were two small apartments. The larger of the two was Frankie's and he rented the smaller one to Ace.
She pulled the key to her apartment out of her pocket and unlocked the door. Tossing the key on a small table inside and shutting the door, Ace kicked off her boots. As she crossed the room, she pulled off her suspenders and let her pants fall to the floor. Taking off her baggy hand-me-down shirt, she slipped into her dressing gown. This was the only true piece of feminine clothing that she owned, and the rest came from her brother when he grew out of them.
As she fell onto her rickety mattress, she pictured the several shades of red that Race's face had turned a few minutes ago, and slept very well that night.
((The next afternoon…))
"Gimme anudda soda tootsie," Race said failing at suppressing his laughter.
"Shuddup Race, you'se gotta respect the authority 'round here."
Race raised an eyebrow and glanced around the room. "What authority? You're a freakin' waitress!"
"Yeah, a 'freakin' waitress' that makes two bits more than you do each day."
Jack, Kid Blink, and Skittery snorted into their lunches, and Dave let out a high-pitched "Eh-heh!". All four were kicked under the table by Race, and Mush ducked a plate when he exclaimed, "Man, she got you!"
"So, how was dah sellin' today fellas?" Ace asked the group before hearing a loud cough behind her. Turning around she saw Frankie tapping his watch. "YEAH, I'M WALKIN'!" she said loudly, going to a nearby table to take their order. As she passed Frankie, she mumbled, "…no wondah he ain't married…he's too in love wit dat watch 'a his…"
As Ace gave Racetrack his soda and a scowl, she saw Jack looking at someone behind her and raising his eyebrows. She didn't think anything of it. She should've. Suddenly she felt someone's hands grab her sides, causing her to let out a high-pitched shriek and whack whoever was behind her with her serving tray.
There were various squawks and snorts around the table and one loud crash when Race fell out of his chair. "Hey there Spotty…NICE SHINAH!" came his voice from the floor in between laughs.
Ace turned around and smiled innocently at a pair of blue eyes identical to her own and belonging to her brother. "I almost miss sellin' witcha every day back home…then I remember all 'a my injuries." Spot said with a grin, putting a brotherly arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, I love my family…what can I say? I just, ya know…get carried away."
"Hey Spot," Race interjected, "ya shoulda seen da fight Ace started yesterday…it was outta control! This one kid just told her he wouldn't tip her, 'cuz she didn't look like a waitress – he was just teasin', ya know? – but Ace, well, she doesn't –"
Ace punched Race squarely in the jaw, not enough to hurt him, but just enough to stop his mouth from running for a few seconds.
"It ain't true…I swear!" she whined grinning in that 'you-can't-be-mad-at-me-because-you-love-me' way. Spot hardly fell for it and attempted his best over-protective glare.
"YOU WHAT!" he scolded a bit louder than intended, earning a disapproving look from Frankie. "You promised you wouldn't pick no more fights! Whatsa matta' witchoo?"
"Huh…wha- TO OUR MAN DENTON!" Dave yelled picking his head up off the table, and raising Mush's empty glass.
"Davey…da strike. Is. O-vah…you can go back ta' sleep now." Mush said struggling to remove his glass from David's hand.
"Oh, yeah, m'kay…" replied Dave to no one in particular, dropping his head back onto the table.
While this was going on, Ace snuck out of Spot's grasp and went to clear some dishes from a few tables close by. "So-" Spot started, turning to where Ace had been, and then glancing around the restaurant to find her. "Hey kid, I ain't finished witchoo yet!"
Frankie stepped in front of Spot, blocking his view of Ace. "Oh I think you are done," he said pushing Spot into an empty chair at the table.
Ace stuck her tongue out at Spot, causing him to grimace, and she let out a loud laugh. "WHATCHA LAUGHING AT? Get back to work!" shouted Frankie, turning around to chuckle to himself.
"Speakin' 'a crazy old guys who think dat yellin' solves everything…Kloppman gave me dis letta for ya when I was on my way heah a few minutes ago," Spot told Jack pulling a slightly crumpled letter out of his vest pocket. "Says it's from Boston…who do ya know from Boston Jackie-boy?"
Jack brushed some hair out of his eyes and took the letter from Spot.
"That's some real nice handwriting…can't be anyone related to you. Says it's from someone named 'Kelly'…she ya wife or somethin'?" Specs asked as he leaned over Jack's shoulder.
"No dumbass…that's the last name 'a someone in my mudda's family."
"Thought your last name was Sullivan…you improvin' da truth again?"
Jack ignored Spot as something dawned on him and he ripped open the letter. He glanced at the signature at the bottom and broke into a grin. "Hey fellas…looks like we'se got anudda letta from Ink." At Jack's words, everyone at the table gathered around the letter. "HEY ACE!"
"WHADDYA WANT…I AIN'T RUNNIN' AROUND LIKE YOUR SLAVE NO MORE!"
"Well, just thought you'd wanna know 'bout a letta that just came in from BOSTON…" Jack replied with a cocky grin.
Ace's eyes immediately lit up as she broke into a full sprint across the restaurant. She ducked waiters carrying trays, slid to a halt in front of the table, and put her hands on the edge. Then she proceeded to hoist herself onto the table and sit cross-legged right in front of Jack and next to Race with a goofy grin on her face.
David raised his eyebrows as his mouth remained slightly agape. "Why would an inanimate object send you a letter?"
"Oh…yeah, I keep forgettin' you're the new kid. Ink is da nickname of my cousin Ivory Kelly-"
"She's amazing-"
"Shuddup Ace! My mudda's last name was Kelly before she married my fadda, and her brudda is Ink's fadda. You followin' me?"
David nodded. "Right…cousin…mother…name…"
"You'll love her sooooo much-"
Jack continued with his story after shooting Ace a glare that she was too happy to notice. "So, she lived here wit her parents 'till she was 10…then, well, they died and she went to live with our aunt in Boston."
"- ya know…we'se was best friends since we'se was born-" she said getting a dreamy look in her eyes.
Race coughed and poked her side. "Thanks…"
"Aw…don't worry you'll always be my favorite poison to beat at poker…" she said endearingly, ruffling his hair. This caused him to pull away and look at her as if she was insane.
"Can we quit it with the mushy stuff so I can get ON wit my story, huh? SO…yeah…now I lost my thoughts. Well, she's about my age now. We were pretty close, and we've been writin' lately."
"Yeah! Her letters are real funny, Davey!" Skittery said grinning for once this week.
"Yeah Jackie, cut the story hour and read da letta!" Ace pleaded inching closer to the paper, until her nose rested on the top of it.
"Okay…she says for me to hug alls you'se guys for her, I ain't doin' dat…she's happy the strike went real well…she misses all 'a us, especially Ace, don't know why…" he mumbled the last few words to himself earning a slap on the head from Ace. "Ow…" He fell silent for a few minutes as he read, causing Ace to get so fidgety that she started folding the cuffs on Race's shirt while Race tried to yank his arm away.
"Hey Jack…you done readin' yet? I think dat Ace'll explode if ya's don't say somethin' soon…not to mention dat I may lose my arm," Race commented, folding his cuffs back down.
"Wait…what?" He broke into a wide smile. "Hey fellas…and Ace…SHE'S COMIN' HEAH!" At his words Ace's eyebrows practically shot off of her face.
"Wha- when? Why? How? Wheah-"
"Shudd-up Ace…and lemme talk. Our aunt and uncle have ta go back ta England for their work and they didn't want ta…ya know…uproot her again widdout her consent, so they told her dat she could either go wit them or come back heah."
"So…what'd she choose?" asked Mush blinking his eyes.
"Shudd-up Mush!" came a chorus of four or five voices.
"Okay…just lemme get a few more woids out. So they told her dat if she chose ta come down heah, then they would use da rest 'a her inheritance money ta buy an apartment for her and her closest living relative. Hey…dat's me! So, she decided ta come heah, and they paid five years worth 'a rent and furnished an apartment in da Park Place building-"
"Hey! That's where my family lives…what floor, Jack?" Dave said finally following Jack's story.
"Da top one…dat's what it says heah-"
"Uh, Jack…"
"So it says heah dat's she comin'-""Uh, Jack…"
"She's comin at 11:30 at the station in Brooklyn on-"
"JACK!"
"Wasa matta witcha Davey?"
"How…uh…how well off is her family?"
"I dunno…both 'a her parents were pretty high profile lawyers…"
"Was her dad by any chance…William H. Kelly?"
"Yeah…why?"
"Uh…no reason! Guess you'll find out sooner or later…" Dave said rather high-pitched leaning his head down to chuckle to himself.
"M'kay…ANYWAY…she's comin' on da seventeenth."
"Er…Jack, dat's tomorrah…" said Race cautiously.
"Yeah yeah yeah…TOMARRAH? 11:30? Dat means we gotta be done sellin' by ten…can we do dat fellas?" There were nods and mumbles of approval. "Hey, Ace…can you'se get outta work early…real early?"
"Yeah, if I work the evening shift tonight too, then Frankie will probably lemme start real early tomorrah so'se I can get off by ten." Ace said with a shrug. "…and I guess I won't talk back all afternoon too," she finished with a sigh.
"Hey…here's a crazy idea…how's about you'se start the whole 'not talkin' back' thing right now! Hell…you'se can even use me for practice!" Race said sarcastically.
"Yeah, well…-long pause-…my best friend is comin' tomarrah…and-and it ain't you!" she said seeming really proud of her comeback then sticking out her tongue.
Race scowled and crouched down in his seat, hoping that Ink had changed in these past six years, and wasn't still like a clone of Ace.
This is goin' ta be a real long…rest 'a my life…A/N- Well if you liked it…then review! Free unibrows for anyone who reviews, so you can all look like Max Casella! Hehe…just kidding, how about some cookies?
Next Time- It will probably be about a week until our next chapter. Next time you get a preview of Ink and her life so far.
