Title: King of Brooklyn
Author: sabor ice
Summary: Set in 1889, ten years before the newsies' strike in 1899. Six year old Nick finds himself wandering the streets of New York, when he meets a new friend. OneShot. Spot & Jack (no slash obviously)
Nick waited patiently by the side of the road. His short, fair hair was slicked back for the most part, save for a few stray strands of hair. It was covered by a gray cap he had gotten from his mother on his last birthday. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his gray coat, and kept humming innocently to himself. His piercing bluish-green eyes watched water trickle down from the sky and begin to make a small puddle just off the curb near him. He lifted his head when he heard the soft laughter of a little girl. She was a chubby, little thing, and quite ugly in Nick's eyes. She was walking with an old woman who Nick guessed was her mother. He smirked to himself as he stepped over the puddle just off the curb. He continued to hum to himself. When the girl and her mother were close enough, the boy jumped into the puddle, causing the mucky water to splash onto the mother and daughter's matching dresses. The daughter let out a shrilly cry. The woman waved her finger at Nick while scolding him, so he took it upon himself to jump in the puddle a few more times. The woman and her child stalked off soaking wet because of his rude deed. Nick laughed aloud and continued on splashing in the puddle.
"Dat wasn' very nice," came an unfamiliar voice.
Nick stopped jumping and whipped around the see another boy, about his height, walk his way. The other boy looked to be about the same age as him, too. But, he was dressed strangely. He had on dirty brown trousers and a blue pin-striped shirt. He had a bright red scarf around his neck, which set it apart from his dark features and other clothing.
"Who asked ya?" Nick snapped in reply. "It was fun."
"My name's Jack, but people calls me Cowboy sometimes. Whas yer name?" the dark-haired boy wondered.
"Nick Conlon," he answered, before taking out the slingshot he had tucked into his trousers earlier.
Nick crouched and began searching the ground for something. Jack did the same, before looking over at the fair-haired boy.
"Whacha lookin' for?" Jack asked.
"Special kindsa stones. The good ones for me slingshot," Nick replied.
Jack stood erect again. He continued to watch the other boy for a few moments, still not quite sure what he had been talking about. Then, he reached into his own pocket and pulled out something.
"What 'bout dese?" Jack wondered, wiping his nose with the back of his free hand as he held out his other hand.
Nick looked up and noticed the two small, round stones in Jack's hand. One was a bluish color, and the other was black. He smiled as he stood up and moved closer to the other boy. He held out his hand, and Jack set them both in his palm.
"You can have 'em," Jack said, then sniffled loudly. "I's can gets more later."
"Thanks," Nick replied, pretending to try them out on his slingshot. "Say, how comes they calls you Cowboy sometimes?"
"'Cause I love the cowboys and horses in the comic books! And, someday, I'm gonna be a real cowboy, too!" Jack exclaimed, before a curious expression crossed his face. "How comes you don't have a name like mine?"
"I dunno. Me mudder calls me Nick," the fair-haired boy replied.
"Oh. You knows you gots a spot of dirt right der?" Jack said, pointing to his right cheek. Then, his eyes lit up. "THAT'S IT!"
As he wiped the dirt off his face, Nick was taken aback a moment by Jack's sudden outburst.
"What?" Nick asked.
"Your name can be Spot!" Jack replied, with a pleased smile. "I's Cowboy Kelly. Yous Spot Conlon."
"Hey, I like dat! I's Spot Conlon, da King of Brooklyn!" the other boy declared for all to here.
Jack giggled.
"You wanna be friends, den?" the dark-haired boy wondered.
Nick nodded.
"But, it's gotta be real," he answered.
Nick thought for a moment, before coming up with a brilliant idea. He hawked some spit into his free hand and held it out to the other boy. Jack looked at it a moment, before doing the same. The two shook on it. Spot put his arm around Jack's shoulders as they began walking down the street together. Now, they were best friends forever.
The End.
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