Author's Note: The first part is loosely based off of the 1997 film, Titanic, where Jack wins the tickets to board. I do not own the newsies, the ship or film Titanic, or any historical figures. This is in Racetrack Higgin's POV.
I. Welcome to New York
It had been thirteen years since the strike, and damn, thinkin' back on it, I certainly felt old den. I was twenty-seven years old and everyone that knew me durin da strike and knew me den said I ain't changed a bit. I still smoked like a chimney and gambled like a man that didn't got any limits. I was still poor as ever. Once I turned eighteen, four years after the strike, I got the talk from Kloppman. He said I oughta start lookin' for work elsewhere, but I'd seen it coming. Skittery had left when he turned eighteen, a year earlier, to be a bartender. Spot Conlon worked in a factory, one of the most dangerous jobs available. Kid Blink went off to work in the coal mines in West Virginia. He'd met a girl whose daddy was into that type of business and set him up with a job. Crutchy couldn't get no job, so Kloppman let him stay a few extra years. Eventually, he left with his pride. We found him dead on the streets, probably starved to death. We all knew there wasn't no way Crutchy would get a job. Old Jacky boy married Sarah and they left for Santa Fe three years after the strike, and well, everyone else just sort of moved on. Nobody who worked as a Newsie in 1899 works there now. I never knew any of 'em.
I started working as a clean up sort of guy at the Sheepshead. I hit the jack pot while bettin' with one of the customers – fifty bucks, I guessed the guy was a real rich stiff. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost. I didn't have fifty bucks to my name, but see, I found out things were rigged. I was behind the scenes, and even if I couldn't guess, well, I knew who would win. Most of the time I was okay with guessing, but when I met a guy with a box seat who felt like betting with an urchin, well, dear me, I would've been happy to go talk to the guys in the back.
So I left work early that day, goin' over to the bar where Skittery worked. Skittery, Spot and I had become pretty close over the years. If my math is correct, Skittery and Spot would be twenty-nine None of us ever got married. Nah, I never believed in divorce, being Catholic myself, and knew I'd never be able to support a lady or even love one lady for the rest of her life or my life, at least that's what I thought. Spot wasn't able to keep just one woman. No matter how hard she tried, one woman could not please the King of Brooklyn, the man who had shot up in height and had always been quite the smooth talker. Skittery, well, nobody ever knew why Skittery didn't get married. Spot and I often joked he had everything; book smarts, good looks, charm, but for some reason he chose to remain alone and rent out a three bedroom apartment with us bachelors.
After work, Spot came in and we all drank. I broke the news to them about my winnings. Normally, this would mean about three or four months of rent. But I told them something I've been meaning to for awhile. "We ain't old, guys, you'se knows dat. But we're livin' in a class where people like us... people of our wealth, what have you, don't live passed forty. I don't want ta say all I did my whole life was sit around in New York, bein' a workin' dog. So I gots a proposition for you." And I laid it out to them. Why don't we use the money to make our way in Europe? I could buy cheap ship tickets for the three of us and we'd have some extra cash. They seemed intrigued. Who didn't want to go to Europe? All the rich stiffs did it, but, then again, they had jobs here. They'd have to think about it over night.
II. And the Results are in
So the boys decided on goin' with me. I won't tell you the details, but it took about a week. I was booking our tickets when I hear a voice from the past. You don't just forget that voice. I whipped my head around. No, it couldn't be. It was, though. Kid Blink looked taller than ever, probably reaching six foot four. Me? I'd only grown to about five foot ten since the strike, but it's pretty respectable. We were polar opposites, Blink and I. Guess he wasn't not a kid no more, huh? Well, he had this nice, clean looking sandy brown hair. I had slicked back brown hair that was often mistaken for black. I did have the muscles where he didn't, I will admit. "Blink! What the hell are you'se doin' here anyway?" Was what I asked him.
"Elizabeth was a bitch, I just had to get out, her daddy was bossin' me around like a dog. I couldn't stand it no more so I filed for divorce. It's all said and done." Blink didn't seem too upset, but he was such an upbeat fella that not many people could tell when he was. I, for one, could tell that nobody worked for nine years on a marriage they didn't want. But I didn't say anything. Blink wouldn't have liked that.
"Well, I gots a proposition for you'se, Blink." And so I laid it out for him, and unlike my buddies, he seemed eager. I booked four passages instead of three, and waited out another week until I could leave this god forsaken city. Maybe I'd be able to see Italy. Unfortunately, bein' an orphan, I didn't really know if I'd get to see any of my relatives, on account of the fact that I didn't know 'em. Higgins, of course, that's the British side of me. My pa was an Englishman, you see. But enough about my parents.
We boarded some giant ship called SS something, and stayed in a room with several other men. It smelled like shit, probably because the bathroom was difficult to find and some people just shit there. Spot and Skittery were starting to doubt their decision, but Blink and I remained hopeful. Finally, we got off on a port in Great Britain. I was on new land.
III. The Here and the Now
But that was ages ago. We boarded on January and now it's the eleventh of April, I think. That's what the boy's ticket to my left says. See, the boys and I were ready to go back to the good old U.S.A after four months. We lived in Europe, saw the sites, lived like rich men and even found some part time work so we could keep it up. We had twenty bucks in each of our pockets, and we were betting everything we owned. Spot put down his cash, Kid Blink put down a watch his ex wife had given him as a wedding gift – real expensive. Skittery had put down some silk scarf or some shit some lady had given him in France – real silk, the kind that could be sold off. I had put down everything on me. There were four of them and four of us, but only two of us played. I was chosen from our side, and they chose a big, hulking guy whose accent I did not recognize, to play for what was at stake. See, they set down some tickets; four exactly; for the RMS Titanic. It was the greatest ship in the world, so I heard, and I wanted to be on it. There was some loose cash here and there – probably adding up to one hundred all together, but at the time I really wanted the tickets. Those tickets were our way home on luxury.
When the hulking guy sets down his hand, he smiled. I never did that. It's a curse, every time I did I ended up losing. So I kept my poker face on as he set down his hand. It was no good. How would I have beat a full house? "Well, dis ain't good boys." I told my friends, looking at them sadly. This I distinctly remember, because I crack myself up. "For dese poor fuckin' bastards because I got a straight flush!" I slammed down my cards and collected everything, taking Skittery's hat to get it all in. Spot grabs the tickets and we run out of the place, each of us whooped and Blink threw the watch back at them. "A consolation prize!" he laughed. Four men were standing in line to board the ship of dreams. We were going to have an amazing time on this ship, the three of us, and maybe things would change for us by the time we got home, I hoped. See, if I could take anything back, it would be meeting those four men and playing poker for some lousy tickets. We could have gone on any other ship... if it hadn't been for my luck.
