Brooklyn.

Dey say home is where tha heart is. Dey say I ain't got a heart, but it ain't true. Brooklyn owns my heart. Brooklyn is tha only home I eva known.

See, my home ain't bordered by the walls of some peelin', white-washed warehouse. Tha warehouse is jus' a buildin'; an abandoned building overlookin' a dirty brown river beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It's jus' a place ta sleep; a roof ova my head.

Don't get me wrong. Wit' all dat's happened, I'm grateful I got dat. It's prolly tha one thing dat's stayed tha same. Well, dat and Mitts. He's tha only friend I got left. Man, am I grateful for him too. I dunno where I'd be if it weren't for Mitts. Prolly layin' dead in an alley somewhere. Course, he'd be tha same if it weren't for me. But dat's what friends are for.

"Jesus Mitts, ya face looks like a piece a meat."

"Oh thanks, Vito, dat makes me feel betta 'bout tha whole thing. Fuckin' asshole."

Yea, friends are people dat keep youse from bein' six feet unda, or try to at least. I guess I ain't been much of a friend.

Dere used ta be five a us. Now it's jus' me and Mitts. I can't really afford to go makin' no more friends. I mean, I got lots a people I know well. Some a dem I even like. But dey ain't real friends. Not like us five used ta be.

Me, Mitts, Soap, Vito and Vin. We was a good team. I swear ta God I'd give anythin' to have dem back. I'd a taken a knife or a bullet for any one of dem. I jus' wasn't in time. If I had been he'd be standin' hea now, doin' what he was supposed ta be doin', insteada me.

"Youse gonna lead dem now. Youse gonna have ta carry dat weight."

"Why me?"

" 'Cause ya can."

And dat's tha truth. I ain't hea leadin' tha Brooklyn Newsies 'cause I wanna. I'm hea 'cause I'm tha only one left dat can. And someone had to, or everything dat happened woulda meant nothin'. I couldn't let dat happen; couldn't watch everythin' we worked so hard for mean shit in tha end. So hea I am, with tha support a every single newsie in Brooklyn. For tha first time eva, we are Brooklyn. We're all united, a whole, unda me.

Dat sorta makes me laugh. I mean, really, it's ridiculous. All I eva was, was a good fighter. Tha best of us, yea I'll admit it. But Soap had more conviction, Vito was a betta talker, Mitts kept us betta informed and Vin-

Vin started it all. From tha moment he walked inta our lives 'til tha second he left, he was tha drivin' force behind all a dis. I had his back. I'd a taken a knife for him, and really, I didn't know anythin' 'bout him. 'Cept dat he had an unshakable sense of what was right and what was wrong, and dat he was always singin' dat damn song. Easy tune, real slow. I still can't forget it.

"I had a dream, dear. Youse had one, too.

Mine was tha best dream, because it was a youse."

"Ya know, dat song sounds a lot betta when Sam sings it."

"Come, sweetheart, tell me. Now is tha time."

"Hey, youse listenin' ta me?"

"Youse tell me ya dream, and I'll tell youse mine."

We neva knew where he came from; why he was dere; what made him wanna help us so bad, none of it. We neva even knew his name. Vin was short for somethin', I guess. Vincent maybe, hell I dunno. It didn't matta at tha time. It don't even matta now.

In tha end, everythin' worked out for everyone. 'Cept tha five a us. Brooklyn got what it needed and we paid tha price. It was a heavy price; a price of lives and hearts.

Yea, home is where tha heart is. Dey say I ain't got a heart. I guess it really is true. I ain't got one no more 'cause Brooklyn took it.

Brooklyn.

A.N. I don't own Newsies :D Spare a review?