By: Raggazzed12
Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Blink, Crutchy, Racetrack, Spot Conlon, Mush, Kloppman, or any of the original newsies even though I wish I owned Crutchy. But I do own the houseman, John, Parker, Red, Tommy Cat, Micky, Checkers, Roller, Maple, Don, the policemen, the judge, the family, Rock, Jam, the gang, (okay I own the whole Bronx group) the extra street people, Crutchy's made-up father, Flip, Spot Conlon's made up gang, and anyone else who is non-original.
Chapter One
Bright early in the morning, I awoke to the sound of yelling. It was the houseman named John, but we all called him the houseman. He was otherwise known as the landlord or even Billy to some. He was, at the moment, screaming "Get up you lazy clods!" , and we all were groaning in reply. But finally some people willed themselves to get up. Jam, the boy across from my bunk, came over and looked at me.
"Alright, I'll hand you your crutch." he said.
I hopped out on one foot and he handed me my crutch. Then Jam told me he was going to leave me to sell by himself today and that he would not be going with me or Checkers. I didn't disagree ; I often had felt that I was in Jam's way of, well, everything.
"I'se gonna be out deres selling papes from mornin' ta noon. Den I's gotta come back heah an' clean da room. It's youse turn tomorra', Jam." said a sleepy Parker. He was always telling us what to do, but wasn't really a designated leader. And he didn't really like me, nor I him.
"Alright, I'se will. But don't count on it." Jam shouted from the doorway. Parker came up to me as I was tying my shoe.
"Youse gonna do it tomorra' if Jam don't." he said, sneering and pushing me backwards slightly, grabbing my crutch, which caused me to fall to the floor.
"Hey! Get aways from 'im!"shouted Checkers, who was the leader. "Youse alright, Micky?"he asked me with worry in his eyes. I nodded, holding back a cry of pain and outrage and maybe some tears.
"What? Jus' doing my job." said Parker.
" Don't youse pretend wid me, I saw ya do dis. Get outta heah an' go of ta youse sellin' spot."Checkers growled. Parker shrugged. I had managed to stand up and now desperately fought the urge to knock Parker over.
"Parks, Micky never done nuttin' to youse. Stop hurtin' him." said Roller, who was busy washing his face. Parker sighed and made to move away, but the urge overpowered me and I stuck out my crutch, and knocked him over. Parker groaned. "Aside from dat." Roller took back what he had said, but he was smirking as he said it.
The other boys cheered slightly and Parker got up and walked out. I hobbled next to Checkers as we walked out and left the lodging house. He was a blue-eyed, blond haired boy who was about 15 and was always protecting us weaker folk. But how he had ever wanted to become friends with me, the black haired, hazel-eyed, crippled, 13 year old me, I had no idea.
There were many fake crippled boys who pretended to be crippled to sell papes, but then there were a few "genuine", as Checkers and others said, real cripples who weren't faking it and often got extra money for our legs. I was one of about 5 or 7 that roamed the streets everyday. If we stood up straight, we would be surprisingly tall. I would be about 5'6, and I was often known to be rather solitary, most figured it was because of my size. In truth, it was just because I was always like that and never gave it a second though. I had lived here in The Bronx all of my life. It wasn't the most impressive place, but this didn't stop us from selling papes. We couldn't afford that.
"Micky, what's it take ta ge' it trugh Parker's head dat he ain't boss?" asked Checkers. We were heading down the street to Manhattan, which would take a while, and now we were back on the subject of Parker.
"I dunno. Maybe we'se gotta jus' let 'im trugh it, I's guess, I sure its' a phase." I replied, wondering why Checkers paid so much attention to me. I was only 13, as I said, and not really interesting. But we were often together.
Now, as I said, there were only a few real cripples that I knew, and I know all of their names. But there was one in Manhattan named Crutchy Morris. He was different than the rest of us and was extremely nice and was to everyone, even the ones everyone else hated. He is very tall, but as in the same case for most of us, had to bend over. But I'd always jump at the chance to go to Manhattan for a day. Today was one of those days, and only Checkers, Roller, Maple (one of the two girls in our group), and I, were going to Manhattan. The other two were walking on the other side of Checkers.
We would, of course, walk. I didn't have to work, well, we didn't have to work since this was okay do occasionally. So as we made our way into the center of New York, the heart of it, Checkers, Roller, Maple, and I were silent. When we hit one of the main streets, there were people everywhere. The rich, and the common folk, ( but were considered rich by us) were everywhere. People gave me looks. Young boys were to be found playing together everywhere and girls stood by often holding babies. When we passed by them, they stopped and basically stared. A woman who was sitting on a curb talking to some other women, I supposed her friends, stopped and watched as well. They all did, except for the workers going to work. Cripples didn't seem to come here very often, and I mentioned it to Checkers.
"Hey, da youse tink dere are many crips round heah, 'cause I tink dere ain't." I whispered to him, Roller and Maple were talking to each other.
"I's guess youse are right. But don't worry, dis is okay, noone 'ill hurt youse." he said. But I didn't know whether to believe him or not. Everyone was watching me except the newsies selling on the corners.
Those newsies just waved or nodded to us as we passed. We would return it. Finally, Checkers came upon a kid who was selling papes in Times Square. I knew who he was, in fact, it was Kid Blink himself.
"Well, I'll bes. Whatcha doin' heah, Blink?" asked Checkers. Roller and Maple came up to us, having been slower.
"Oh, jus' sellin' papes in da busy part. Hiya Checkers, Roller, Micky, an' who's dis goil?" he asked, smiling. His eyepatch wasn't frightening to any of us except maybe Maple, who looked a bit intimidated.
"Heya Blink. Dis is Maple." Roller said.
"Hmm. Maple, eh?" Blink said, looking at her. She nodded. "Well incase noone told ya, I be Kid Blink. Now, wha' youse guys doin' 'round heah?"
"We jus' in for one of our visits."Checkers replied.
"Yeah youse are. Come alon', noone cares if I take da day off. It's okay, really. I got a bit of money anyway." Blink said when Checkers tried to apologize. "Is can't sells nothin' wid what's been goings on heah."
"'kay. Take us wid youse." Checkers gave in.
Kid Blink got up and we followed him. After a long walk, but no stares at me, we hit what a lot of people call "Newsies Square" because the distribution center and the lodging house are nearby and the newsies tend to live there, practically. Here, newsies were grouping for an early lunch and among them were many of whom Checkers, Roller, and I had grown to know. Blink led us to the small building where everyone was grouped. It was "Tibby's", a restaurant/bar that the newsies also inhabited a lot. Each of them greeted Blink and greeted us. Blink opened the door and we walked in. A few newsies had already come inside, and we went to a table in a corner.
"So, what's been goin' on heah?" asked Checkers once the five of us had sat down.
"Well, youse see, deres been problems wid people all ovah, and oder dan dat, nothing interesting. We'se jus' got news, bu' nothin' interesting or new." replied Blink casually. "Wha' 'bout youse?"
"We'se got da same kinda problems. But da headlines are mighty dull." I answered.
"Yeah, usually deres somethin' going on." Blink nodded. "Yeah. But do youse mind if we's move ta a bigger table, I thought dat dis one woul' work, but wes got two more comin'."
Checkers didn't care, and so Blink took us to a bigger table in a different corner. Once we sat down, the other company came. We found that Race was suddenly sitting next to Blink. He looked at Maple. Racetrack Higgins was a short Italian boy with a few freckles on his face and brown hair, and always had a cigar in his mouth, no matter what was going on. He wore dark colors of grey and green.
"Who's dis?" he asked.
"Her name's Maple. Maple, dis is Racetrack Higgins, called dat fer his gambling at da races an' tendency to drag dat inta every conversation."Roller said. "Race, dis is Maple, a newbie an' da only oder girl aside from Cat, but she ain't heah."
Race nodded at Maple. She was surveying the boy.
"How ol' are ya?" she asked him.
"16. Jus' short, dat's all." he answered.
"Where did ya leave-?" asked Blink.
"Awe, he's acoming. Jus' had ta ge' rid of his last pape, not dat he needs da extry money. He ge' plenty." replied Race. Blink nodded.
And soon enough, well, sure enough, the other company turned up. It was a cripple with brown hair and green eyes, and he had a slightly boyish face with a few freckles. He was tall, well, sort of , due to his crutch it shortened him, and thin as a rake basically. It was Crutchy. I'd met him only twice before and not for long, but he had been nice enough.
"Think deres room for one more cripple?" he asked, jokingly. Blink nodded and Crutchy sat in the chair next to mine.
"Crutchy, dis is Maple. Maple, dis is Crutchy." Blink said, and Crutchy nodded at Maple, who was surveying him now.
"We's got ta do somethin' 'bout the size of dis table." said Race.
"No, it be fine. Don't worry 'bout it. So, why did youse guys come?" asked Blink.
"Jus' one our friendly drop ins." replied Checkers.
"Aye, friendly alright. Or we's migh' not be so nice." Crutchy said, nodding.
"Well, dat's why we's come ta youse. Spot's not gonna be so nice if I'se walk in dere wid a group of people." said Checkers. Blink looked over at him and didn't say anythin' for a moment.
"Say, did ya go ta da theater last night?" asked Racetrack, who was clearly eager to talk about it.
"Yeah. But we's ain't dere for long. Dere was some sorta scandel wid money, and da firs' ones dey came ta were da newsies. Well, dey for some reason don't like ta have cripples in dere, an' so dey suspected it was me." I replied glumly. Crutchy looked at me, I could feel his interest and anger perking up at this.
"What do ya mean?" he asked.
"Well, seeing as I said dat dey don't like crips, dey suspected it was me da next ting I knew an' I was thrown out." I replied. Crutchy looked indignant.
"Is dat true?" he asked Checkers.
"'fraid so. Yeah, I guess. I wasn't dere wid him, we sen' Jam home wid him." Checkers said.
"It is true. Dey did sen' him home. I was in dat group." said Maple looking at Crutchy. "Dey came ovah an' said "' Ge' out, youse are da one who did it. Wese know.'" An' den dey grabbed him and Jam came runnin' and walked ou' wid him."
Roller was nodding. He had been there as well. I had been so frightened that they were going to put me in The Refuge that night I can't describe it. Crutchy looked confused and slightly angry, Race was quiet, and Blink was pretty struck by the idea as well. He was muttering to himself. Then the arrival of yet another Manhattan newsies was made. It was Mush.
"Blink, hey, Blink! Looky heah!" he said, excitedly and was basically jumping up and down with joy even though he was about 15 years old.
"Wha' s dat?" Kid Blink said as the newsie handed him a paper. "Hot diggety dog, looky heah is right! Somethin' dat's gonna sell those papes like nutin' I've seen in a year since dat war!"
"What is it?" asked Crutchy, suddenly interested.
"Oh, dat buildin' on Times Square catche' fire. I wasn't dere ta see it. Bu' none da less, dat's gonna pay. Ain't dat pretty, boys?" Blink enthusiastically replied.
"Aren't ya gonna have problems sellin' it ?" asked Maple. "I mean, from da civilians point of view, dey are going to be sad, right?"
"How long 'ave youse been a newsie?" asked Blink, glaring at her.
"Since two weeks ago." she said.
"Look, da firs' ting you learn is dat folks like dis news. It be exciting, and da headline ain't da ting dat sells papes anyway. Newsies sell papes. An' it sounds excitin' to dem.'Round heah, folks ge' excited 'bout dis stuff, an' I'm sure dat in da Bronx it be da same ting." explained Blink. Maple didn't look like she understood.
"Maple, come on, we been ovah dis already. Youse know dat newsies sell papes, no' da headline. So stop bein' stupid." Checkers said, heaving a giant sigh. Maple nodded and kept quiet.
I could see Race and Crutchy were looking at each other and knew they were as ecstatic as Kid Blink. Mush was beaming at being the bearer of this news. I myself would've loved to sell a pape like that.
"Youse lucky. We never get dat sorta news." I said to them. "It's all da same everyday."
"Oh, dis is jus' a new one to us as well. We ain't get stories like dese much. Snitching stories ain't fun neither." Crutchy told me, looking at me seriously. Race and the others I knew didn't care about honesty, but Crutchy was one to be honest and not lie as much as he could. I myself would lie about headlines all of the time.
"Well, tank ya Mush, now move on." Blink said to Mush, who nodded and left basically leaping for joy.
"What war?" asked Maple.
"Youse know, the Spanish-American War dat was goin' on last year." Blink said. Maple nodded, realizing what he was talking about.
"So, what else is goin' on ovah dere in da Bronx?" asked Crutchy.
"Nothin' much. Just da usual. We ain't very big ovah dere." I replied. Blink looked over at Checkers.
"Hey, do ya wanta go outside an' sell for a bit wid me an' Race? Checkers an' Roller." Blink asked him.
"What, not me?" asked Maple.
"If ya wanna fin' us, we'll be where youse found me. Bu' jus' Checkers an' Roller ta start off." Blink informed her. She nodded.
"Alrigh'. Maple, youse know where ta fin' us. Come when ya can." Checkers said. Then, they got up and left.
Crutchy looked at me and smiled. I then realized how much I looked up to him, and he was 15 or 16, and he was my favorite other crip on the streets. Maple looked over at us.
"How ol' are you?" she asked Crutchy.
"15. Almost 16, but haven't hit dat yet." he said, and I realized that I had been close.
"You're tall."
"Well, I ain't short, dat's for shore, but I also ain't stupid. Don't be stupid youself eider. I ain't got da guts ta hurt youse at all." said Crutchy. I knew he was teasing her now.
Maple didn't say anything in reply. She proceeded to stare out the window. Crutchy turned to me.
"Do ya always work, or jus' in da mornin'?" he asked me.
"Well, usually I work always unless I'se gets sick or..." I trailed off, feeling that the last part was something all newsie crips had in common.
"Ah, yep da same ting happens to me. Dey beats youse up, and den youse can't move for a week. It always happens." he said, nodding.
"Yeah, I knows dat. But it ain't fair. We don't have da rights to say we can hurts dem back, bu' dey don't have da rights ta hurt us."
"Dat's da problem. I don't like it eider, but it doesn't do me no good if I give up or give in." replied Crutchy, smiling at me as if telling me that it was okay to be like who we are. Crutchy got up and looked at me. "Come on, let's go sell papes. I 'll split wid youse on my pile. I dunno about Maple heah."
"I don't mind. You sell your papes. I 'll tag along." she replied.
The two of us hobbled out of the restaurant with Maple following us. She didn't seem to mind that we were slow or anything, just watched the world go by as we moved with or against it. The two of us were probably some spectacle, two gimps with papes and going outside. I didn't talk to him much as we reached a point on the edge of the street corner where Crutchy handed me half of his pile and then I spread a few spaces away from him. We both started yelling. Maple stood behind us, and would collect the money, she said.
"Extra! Extra! Times Square buildin' catches fire! Police an' firemen try to get rid of it!" yelled Crutchy. He could speak better English than the rest of us, but I didn't ask him why. Maple had better English than any of us, but two weeks ago she had lived in a house with respectable people and then it had burned down.
"Extry! Extry! I cried out beside him. People turned up eventually. I sold about 2 papes while Crutchy had managed 6. But nobody here really knew me, so I hadn't expected to get much money. Maple held onto the money anyway.
After a few hours, Crutchy told me and Maple to stay where we were and he said he was going to find something. I didn't ask what he was getting. When he came back, I couldn't see if he'd gotten anything but then his hand that had been behind his back came out and in it was two rolls. I stared at him, and so did Maple.
"How did ya get dat?" I asked him.
"I jus' use myself for da people aren't like us. Dey take pity on da crips, well, some of dem." he smiled.
"But... ya shouldn't do dat, are ya allowed?" I said, eyeing him.
"I get extra money sometimes an' when dey bargain wid ya, ya gotta make dem pity ya. Noone cares. Blink don't. He jus' let ya do what youse wants ta survive." he answered. I took half of the roll he was holding out to me, and Maple took another half of the second one. Crutchy took half of the other one as well.
The street corner where we were sitting on was grey and dull, the stores behind us, brightly colored. Buggys passed and people passed. Crutchy and I were sitting on the curb, our crutches on the ground. Maple was standing up behind us. I saw kids looking at us, kids who had families and money. I guess we looked strange, but I didn't mention it. I had a feeling Crutchy didn't get bothered by it and was used to it, but I didn't know. The problem with bum legs is that they are not just bothersome, but look crooked and backwards too. It's really frustrating.
We spent the rest of the day selling papes. Maple left us at some point and went to find the others. At the end of the day, Crutchy and I hobbled back to the restaurant where Checkers, Race, Roller, and Kid Blink already were back at our table. Blink looked up at us when we got there.
"Youse two shore takes a while. Come on an' siddown." he said. Race moved to sit next to Roller, Maple, and Checkers and I slipped in before Crutchy.
"Musta been a sight, two of ya on da same street corner. What was dat like?"asked Checkers.
"Okay, if youse used ta it." replied Crutchy, flashing a smile at me. I nodded.
After eating, Checkers, Roller, Maple, and I made plans on if we were staying or not. Checkers could make it back in time as well as could Roller and Maple, but he said that I needed to stay in Manhattan, not go back to the Bronx. I didn't object, just looked at Crutchy, who looked happy. Checkers, Roller, and Maple headed back, and I felt unwanted and discarded like trash. But then Crutchy looked at me excitedly and I knew that I would be okay staying with the Manhattan group tonight.