Summary: Jack Kelly was an idiot. He gave up his dreams for a 'family.' Everyone thought it was so great, but not me. I probably knew better than anyone else the heartache that awaited him. And I was angry that he stayed. Angry that he was an idiot.
Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. But if I did, I would get rid of Sarah.
"Why'd you really stay, Jack?" I asked the taller boy, pretending not to be interested in his answer.
He took a long time answering, and I waited without saying anything. I watched the water underneath our feet, so far down from the bridge we were standing on.
"I got family here. For the first time since I can remember, I got family," he finally said.
"You mean David's family?"
"Yeah. I can't explain it. They make me feel good, like I'm part of the family. It's weird, you know?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders slightly, trying to not show any emotion either.
It wasn't in our nature to talk about serious stuff. We chewed the fat, talked about nothing important. But this was different. I think that's what made him so uncomfortable. Shoot, it made me uncomfortable, too. This was our first ever serious conversation.
I didn't reply to him, too worried that I would end up screaming at him. So I just nodded. I didn't want to tell him he was an idiot. Not because I was afraid of him. I'm never afraid of anyone or anything. No, I just didn't want to explain myself, or get too pissed off at him.
Jack left soon after that, probably to go to the Jacob's house for dinner. Not that I cared. I began walking back to the lodging house, thinking.
I didn't usually get so involved in other people's lives. I didn't care what happened to them. But this was different. I hadn't ever known anyone else in the entire world who had everything they ever wanted laid out before them, and they didn't take it. I thought I was the only one.
And it hurt. It hurt me to the bone to realize that Jack, my oldest acquaintance, was about to turn into me. Cold, hard, uncaring. All because I didn't warn him about the trap he was falling in to.
No one ever knew this about me, but I had a dream once. To leave New York and go to Georgia. I wanted to be a southern gentleman and have my own land and horses and goats and chickens. That southern hospitality called to me, swam through my veins. I didn't think I would ever want anything more than that.
But then I met Pits. And he had a family, a twin sister and parents that loved them. They invited me over a few times a week for dinner. They made me feel like family. They made me see what a real family was. No shouting and drunken rages. No violence when they disagreed. Just calm, rational conversation.
I was already a newsie when I met them. I had a bit of money saved up to move to Georgia. I had plans and a future and there was no reason I wouldn't get everything I ever wanted. Within a few months, I would be out of New York and on my way.
When the day came that I finally had enough money to leave, I couldn't do it.
"Pits," I had said. "This is the last time you'll ever see me. I finally did it. I'm getting out of New York."
I had made the statement over dinner one night at his house. The looks those people gave me! Kathy, his sister, broke out in tears. His father clasped my hand and told me good luck. His mother smiled a sad little smile and told me I always had family here if I ever wanted to come back.
That's what did it. The offer of a family! How could I resist? Hadn't I always dreamed of having a family?
So I stayed. I blew all of my dough, lived like a king for a few months, and everything was great. I still stayed at the Lodging House, but I was secure in the fact that I had people that loved me.
Things started changing not too long afterwards. I had always sort of assumed that Pits' sister and I would end up together. We were too young to be serious, but I loved her. So imagine my surprise when she started dating a rich guy, the son of a wealthy factory owner. Suddenly, he was over for dinner every night. He and Pits started going out to do who knows what. He started helping out Pits dad, giving him advice and putting him in contact with the right kind of people.
I was left in the dust. No one invited me over any more. I never saw Pits' sister without her new beau. Shoot, I never even saw Pits anymore.
I gave up my dream for them, and they gave up me for their dream, their social climbing. It was a vicious reality that I had to learn the hard way. Just because you care about people, doesn't mean they will always care about you. Now, I'm stuck in New York forever. I have no desire to leave these streets I've worked so hard to gain control of. My dreams were crushed, and I never wanted to dream again.
Pits was my first and last friend. He showed me what happens when you depend too much on other people. I suppose though, that if I had to choose one person I like more than any one else, it would be Jack Kelly. I guess that's why I cared so much about why he stayed. Why I got angry when I realized it was for the same reason I had stayed.
And that's why Jack Kelly is an idiot. Because he is making the same mistake I did. I don't want him to turn out cold and hard like me, but I can't see any way around it. He gave up his dream for a new one, and it will crush him. Like it crushed me. Because I used to be an idiot.
A/N: This story is based off of true events from my life (obviously with some differences, since I am not a Newsie and do not live in 1899). But all I could think was "what an idiot" when Jack decided to stay after the strike, and this story explains it.