Prologue
Essie watched in horror as her father threw a smack across Andrew's face. Andrew fell to the floor with a harsh thud and the man loomed over him, ready to hurt him again. The argument had escalated quickly from bitter statements to yelling and now to violence. She ran forward to help Andrew up but he pushed her out of the way. She fell back against the wall and watched as her father kicked him in the stomach once, twice, three times. Andrew grunted out in pain with each kick. He went in for a fourth kick but Essie ran at him and kicked his shin. He grabbed her and threw her against the wall, her head smacking up against it. She fell to the ground, waiting for another attack, but it never came. She looked up and saw he was gone. The back door was left wide open.
Essie crawled over to Andrew, who was lying on the floor. His nose was bleeding and he was clutching his side. Essie tried her best to focus on him, as she was beginning to get dizzy. She brought her hand to her head and felt something wet and sticky. She drew her hand away and looked at the blood on her fingers. She looked back at Andrew and gingerly touched his shoulder.
"What now?" she asked frightened.
"We gots to leave," he said, strongly, "Before he comes back. Go get a few tings. Some clothes, all the money we has."
"We ain't got much," Essie replied. Andrew pushed up on his arms, sitting up.
"Then steal Pop's," he said defiantly. "It's in da top drawer." Essie nodded and made to leave the room but Andrew called after her.
"Hey hand me my crutch, would ya?" he shouted before she left. She looked around the room and saw it had landed under the kitchen table when he was knocked down. She grabbed it and helped him stand up. She gave him the crutch, and a cloth to staunch his bloody nose, before running out of the room. Thirty minutes later, with one back between the two of them, they left their house and planned to never return.
After an hour of walking around, Essie stopped and grabbed Andrew's arm, pulling them into a nearby alley. It was getting dark and a cold October breeze was starting up. Essie shivered as she rubbed her arms.
"Andrew, what are we doin?" she asked. "We's got nowhere to go. We don't know nobody. We's got hardly any money."
"We just got to walk around for a bit more," he said optimistically. "We's bound to think of somethin."
"Andrew, ya not gonna last long walking around," Essie reasoned. Andrew opened his mouth to protest but she raised her hand. "I can already sees that your leg's not doin so good. Ya too proud to admit that it's hurtin ya and it's just gonna git worse." He looked down, embarrassed.
"Hey it's not my fault Pop's a brute," he mumbled. Essie put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up.
"I'm not blamin ya," she said softly. "But if we's gonna be on our own for a while, we can't afford for ya to git worse." She put a hand to the throbbing bump on her head. All this talking and walking around was making her headache worse.
"And I could say the same for you," Andrew said. He put on hand under her chin, tilter her head up, and brushed aside her hair with the other. "This ain't lookin so good. It's red as hell."
"Yeah well it hurts like hell too," Essie mumbled. Andrew gave her a concerned look before kissing her forehead.
"Hey, we're gonna get out of this," he said. "We're never gonna go back to Pop, ya hear me? Never. Ma wouldn't have wanted us to anyhows. We's gonna keep goin with our heads up and our hearts strong. I ain't leavin your side. We's gonna do this, ya hear?" She nodded and hugged him. They didn't let go for a long time.
"Alright here's what we is gonna do," he said after a while, pulling away. "We's just gonna stay right here, in this here alley, and spend da night here. In da mornin, I'll see if we's can nick some bread or somethin to eat. Den we'll walk on and look for somethin, anyting, that'll help us."
They laid back against the wall and fell asleep leaning against each other. The two siblings did not have an easy night's sleep; it was cold and dark and they were terrified. But they had the comfort of each other's company. That was all they needed at that point.
Andrew woke up with a start when something ran past him. He jolted awake and looked around. The sun had just risen and its warmth had not yet been spread. He shivered and rubbed his arms with his hands. He looked to his side and saw Essie was still sound asleep, lying sideways on the ground now. He then looked up to find the thing that had woken him up.
Just as he was peeking around the corner, something else ran past him. He gasped, startled by the sudden movement, and saw that it was nothing more than a boy. He was running after another boy, who was waiting impatiently around the corner. They both had a small stack of papers in their hands and ratty bags around their shoulders. Andrew grabbed his crutch, and after struggling to stand up, hobbled over to the boys.
"Aw come on, Buttons," the first one shouted impatiently. "We's got to get goin! Wiesel ain't gonna wait fo us before sellin out all da papes!"
"Stop ya bawlin," the boy called Buttons shouted back. "I'm comin, I'm comin! Not my fault my damn shoelace broke. Had to steal anudder lace off some bum who was sleepin a few blocks back!" He finally reached his friend and they were just about to run off together when Andrew yelled after them.
"Hey! Wait up!" he shouted. The two boys turned around and looked at Andrew. They waited until he reached them. "Hiya fellas. Listen, is dere anyway you's can help me? Well me and my sista, she's still sleepin in that alley. We left our house last night, on account of our Pop givin us a beatin, and we's got nowhere to go."
The two looked at one another and seemed to communicate without speaking any words. Andrew suddenly became worried they might not be the friendly type. They were both taller than he was but were rather skinny. Andrew had to guess they were at least four or five years older than him. Add in his gimp leg and he would never be able to take them in a fight. Luckily, they turned back to Andrew and addressed him.
"How old are ya kid? And ya sista?" the first boy said.
"We're both twelve, we's twins, ya see," he explained. The boy nodded to the other.
"Alright, we's gonna help ya out, only cuz we's nice, ya see," Buttons said. "But we's really gots to be goin. We sell papes, ya see, and we's already runnin behind. Just keep walking up this street, 'bout five or six blocks, 'til ya see an old pub and a barber shop next to it. Then take a left there and there should be a big, tall building wit lots a windows. Dere's a sign outside dat says, 'Boys House,' alright? Can ya read, kid?" Andrew nodded.
"Ok, so go there and inside dere should be a nice lookin old man with a black hat and blue striped shirt," Buttons continued. "He'll help ya out. Tell him Buttons and Snake sent ya, alright? Good luck, kid." They turned and ran off. Andrew was relieved he finally had something to do. He hobbled back to their alley, woke up Essie, and explained what they were gonna do.
An hour later, they were standing in front of the building that Buttons had described. Andrew and Essie looked at each other for encouragement and walked inside. Just like Buttons said, there was an old man sitting at the counter, reading a paper. Andrew and Essie walked up to the counter but he didn't notice them. Essie cleared her throat and the man peeked over his paper. He put it down when he saw it was two small children, one a girl and one with a bum leg.
"Hiya kids," he said kindly. "Can I help you?"
"Buttons and Snake told us to come here," Andrew explained. Essie then told the man that they left their home and never intended to go back. She said they had no other family and nowhere else to go.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"We's both twelve, sir," Essie replied politely. "We's twins."
"Ah, that explains why you look so much alike," he smiled. He looked down at the twins, noticing now even more similarities between them. They both had sandy, blonde hair and green eyes. Their noses were also covered with freckles. "Well I have some good news and some bad news. I'll be glad to let you stay, boy, in exchange for selling papers for Mr. Pulitzer. But I'm afraid this young lady won't be able to stay. See this is a boarding house for boys only."
"I'm not leavin without my sista," Andrew said immediately. "Whereva, she goes, I go." The man looked at the two children standing strongly next to each other. He sighed and rubbed his head.
"Alright, I'll make you a deal," he said. "She can stay so long as she sells papers too. I know it's not a girl's job to sell papes but anyone staying here has to sell for Mr. Pulitzer."
"I'll do it. Can't be dat hard," Essie shrugged. "Better than sleepin in da alley." The man smiled.
"Alright, then it looks like we have two new boarders," he said, pulling out a book. "What are your names?"
"I'm Andrew and this is Essie," Andrew said. "Andrew and Essie Boyer."
"Oh so you know your last name then, that's good," the man said, writing it down. "Most kids in here don't even know their first name, seeing as about half of them are orphans. Never met their parents, you see."
"Oh we's not orphans, sir," Andrew said. "Our ma died when we was born, and we left our pop's house yesterday." The man stopped writing and looked up.
"Now, young man, I'm afraid I have to report any runaways to the police," he said gravely. Andrew became panicked but it was Essie who calmly spoke.
"We had to leave, sir," she explained. "He was always beatin on us, that's how come I got this big bump on my head." She showed him her head and he grimaced.
"And it's how come Andrew's leg ain't so good. Pop threw him down the stair when we was bout five years old. Our pop told us he loved the bottle more than us. So we left yestaday afta anotha bad beatin. We couldn't just stay there, ya see?" He nodded gravely and then scratched out his writing.
"Then I suggest you two adopt some new names," he said. "If you ran away, your old man might report it and a police officer might come looking for you. And they come here first thing and check my books."
"We can't just not have names, sir," Andrew said, confused. The man laughed
"Just give a day or two and you'll find that the other boys have given you some nicknames. You didn't really think those boys you met were really called Buttons and Snake, did you?" The children laughed.
"I'll just put down James Smith and Jane Martin, alright," he said, writing it in the book. "That way the police won't find any kids in this book with the same last name. That way, they won't come looking for a pair of siblings." They nodded in understanding.
"Alright, I'll take you upstairs then," he said. He came out from behind the counter and picked up the small bag that Essie had been carrying. He led them up a short flight of stairs before coming into a large room with rows and rows of bunk beds. He walked down the center before coming to an empty set. He put the bag on the bottom bed. He sat down on it and gestured for the children to do the same.
"This here will do well," he said. "Essie, you can have the top so Andrew won't have to climb the ladder. Now since it's early in the morning, no one's going to be home for quite some time, maybe not until five or six o'clock. Dinner is served at 7:30. Now, it ain't much but it's better than nothing at all. The Sisters from the convent down the street provide some bread and coffee in the mornings so you're on your own for lunch. The bathroom is at the end of this room and everyone shares it. Essie, we might be able to negotiate you using the private bathroom but I'm afraid for now you'll have to share it with the boys."
"It's ok. I've had to share tings with Andrew my whole life," she said.
"There's a closet right outside this hallway with some blankets and pillows, so be sure to get some for yourselves," the man continued explaining. "Now I wake everyone up in the morning around six o'clock. That way you have enough time to wake up, get dressed, get breakfast from the Sisters, and head off to buy your papes. It shouldn't be too hard for the both of you to sell papes, seeing as you have a bum leg and you're a girl. But I suggest asking some of the older boys for help. They're all nice here. They'll protect you for a bit, take you under their wings. You'll find that they'll be a better family than your pop ever was to you." He stood up and started walking out of the room.
"I'll leave you two to get settled and rest up," he said. "Essie, if your head starts hurting, come find me and I'll give you some medicine but you can put a cold cloth on it if you want. There are some on the bathroom shelf. Oh, and I'm Mr. Kloppman by the way." He walked out of the room and left the children in silence.
"I'll go get you a cloth for your head, Essie," Andrew said after a few moments. He stood up but Essie stopped him.
"Andy, you don't gotta-" He stopped her.
"Yeah, I gotta," he smiled. "You're my sista. I gots to protect ya." She smiled and let him get the cloth. She put the soothing cloth to her head and felt some pain relief. He made her lay down on the bed and get some sleep while he went to get their blankets and pillows. When he came back, she was sound asleep. He put a pillow and blanket up on the top bunk. He slid the other pillow under her head and covered her with the blanket. Then he sat on the floor, stretching out his bad leg, and leaned against the bed. He then picked up their bag and searched through what Essie had packed.
Inside the bag, Andrew found a small sack of coins, one or two of her dresses, and a few of his trousers and shirts. She had also stolen two of Pop's coats and hats. He opened the sack of money and counted out $1.14. A lot of money to a kid but not enough to keep them alive more than a few weeks. It sure was a good thing they had found Mr. Klappman. As Andrew was putting the money back in the bag, he saw one last thing: a photograph of their mother. It had been taken on her wedding day. Andrew had known that Essie stole it from Pop's desk when they were eight but he now thought it silly that she had packed it. But he put it back anyway and closed the bag. He found himself suddenly very tired, understandably so as they had only gotten a few restless hours sleep in an alley, and curled up next to Essie before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.