PUT UP A FIGHT
PROLOGUE
This is the story of hatred, love, and death. Told through the eyes of a young stander by and friend. Me, Marbles, this is the story of the people who I live with and know, the people who I see and talk to on a regular basis. But the two most important people in this story, well, the two people who drove the Brooklyn newsies mad for quite a while, Fighter and Spot. Here is how I met everyone; each is a story with in a story.
I am an Irish immigrant, I may not look it but that is what I am, if you listen you can still hear my Irish accent under my New York one. I came to New York when I was 6, my parents had sent me away 'cause they couldn't afford to pay for me, so they saved up their money and shipped me off. I walked until my legs got tired, I ended up standing in front of a girl, my age with burgundy hair and dark brown eyes, she was a shoe shiner. I was alone and figured I had nothing to lose so I went up to her. I soon found out that her name was Lela but most called her Chaos. She helped me out in getting a place to stay and taught me a few things. She showed me the Manhattan Lodging House and the Brooklyn Lodging House. I have gone back and forth between the two since.
I found my self on the streets having no money and pick pocketing to get money for food (I had done this back in Ireland and the habit never left me), while on the streets I ran into a fiery girl who was with an older guy. The girl looked about my age and had deep all knowing blue eyes, they boy who looked as if he was in his late teens. I simply saw them as more people in the crowded city. Until of course they noticed me. You see the older boy, Pheonix, had taught the girl how to fight and wanted her to put it to use. So he decided to have her fight me. Before the fight I was told that the girls name was Fighter, little did they know I was a middle child who was constantly in fights before I had been sent away. By the end of the fight both me and Fighter had an equal share of bruises and cuts, I later told them my past and they became my friends. Sadly later that year Pheonix died in a fight where he was outnumbered.
Now by the time I was 8 I had picked up the art of being a newsie although I still preferred being a thief, and I was able to stay in the Lodging Houses occasionally. While staying at the Manhattan Lodging House I met Tag Along, she was quite a character. She was a year older than me and had lived in Georgia before she came here, she had become a newsie through another newsie named Specs, he taught her what he knew and they became good friends and are great fun to be around. She helped me get better at selling my papes and didn't mind the fact that I was a thief, I had one rule, never steel from your friends, by now I knew a lot of newsies and was still friends with Chaos and Fighter.
Now there was this one girl I met who I didn't like at first sight but by the time I had sat down and talked to her we clicked. This girl is Queens, I met her when I was 10 and she was12. She was out on the streets selling her body and trying to become and actress, she was having trouble getting money so she did what she had to. She now is in small plays and is not your typical friend although she still goes out and sells her self if she needs the money.
Then next person I met was Flit, I was 10, she has been a waitress at Tibby's sense she was 12, when I met her. I went in hoping to get some food or at least bread with my 5 cents and she was the one who served me. She gave me some soup for free and I have been friends with her since because I never forgot the favor she did for me.
A year later when I was 11, while I was out on the streets doing my favorite task of pick pocketing, I saw another who had mastered my art. She had Marshy eyes and quick sure hands. I couldn't help but smirk, for you see I loved meeting others like me but hadn't met anyone else yet. I simply went over and waited for my opportune moment only to take a dollar out of her pocket; it was the same one she had just stolen. Then I tapped her should and gave it back telling her I admired her skill and I my self shared the talent. I soon found her she went by Marsh, she was 12, and then we got to talking about the kinda stuff thieves talk about and quickly became friends.
When I was 12 I was looking through books in a book store in Manhattan, I had taught my self to read the papers I didn't sell and happened to go by the book store and decided to go inside. The only person working was a girl who was a year older than me. We got to talking about one thing or another I found out her name was Air and she lived with her uncle because she left her twin brother because she was angry at him and thought he left her.
By the time I was 13 I had been in many fights and had a lot of scars, I had made an enemy out of a girl in Queens and she gave me a scar across my lower right arm. So I decided I needed something to help protect my self. So I went walking with my best friend Mush and we headed to a smithy in Brooklyn. The guy working was called Italy, he was 15 at the time, he helped me get what I needed and knew what to tell me when it came to getting the right weapon. I got a short knife that I wear on my waist and still use today. I never forgot that he helped me and kept in contact with him.
When I was 14, I had established my way of life and had plenty of friends among the newsies and a few others such as Italy, Marsh, Chaos (who was now a waitress), Queens, Flit, and Air. Now there was one girl who was newer to Manhattan, she was 16 and had just come to Manhattan because she was pregnant. She had classic gypsy characteristics, she was call Gypsy or Gip, and I normally called her Gip. I began to talk to her about how she got there and we became friends, she ended up losing the baby but is still in Manhattan hiding from the baby's father.
One day when I went to visit Flit I met a new girl Tease, she ran away from home because she didn't like the rules, she left her family and little brother for a life on her own, a harder life but it was hers. I understood what she meant and we became friends. We would meet up on her breaks and get coffee or talk about what are lives were before we came here.
Now I am 15, and have been in New York for 9 years. I just recently met a bouncer for a local night club, the 14/4, where I stay occasionally. His name is Gunnie, he is a decent looking guy and friends with my now boyfriend Mush. His uncle thought he was ready to be on his own now that he was 16, so he gave him money and sent him to New York. He had been living with his uncle because of problems with his family after he accidentally shot and paralyzed his father.
As I said I am an Irish girl who has dark brown-black hair and icy blue brown eyes. I was sent away when I was 6 because my parents couldn't afford 3 children and I was simply just there, in the middle. I am 5'3'' and have a bit of an attitude. I am a wisecrack and love having fun and pulling pranks. I am a thief. My entire way of living is based off what I steal, but if I really need money I will sell papes on street corners but find it to little amusement. I am now 15 and dating Mush, he had been my friend since I first came to the Lodging House in Manhattan.
Those are the people who have affected my life and made me where I am today, they all know each other, some better than others, but they all effect the story of Spot and Fighter and what comes of them.