INSIDE THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST MINORS' BOARDING HOUSE, NY 1900
"DAAAAAAMMMMIIIIT!"
Sarah winced at the call of the angry wildebeest, otherwise known as Madame Meccant. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the assault of the senses she had to be put through several times every day. A large, bright red blob of a woman barged into the room, preceded by a cloud of smoke mixed with awful French perfume. The blob effect was achieved by her unhealthy overweight stature, while the color shot the senses like a shiny new gun. It was completed by a too-tight dress the color of a cardinal and a shawl just the right shade brighter than the dress to completely strain the eyes. The girls had become quite adept at blocking out both sight and smell of the workhouse supervisor.
"Who left the ashes by my bed again?? I want an answer and I want it now!" was the belted order. The woman's glare and expression were deadly. Madame Meccant scoured the bunkroom with her eyes, looking at each of the 25 girls in turn, nostrils flaring almost comically. Utter silence was returned.
"AhhhhhhgggggAAAAAAR!!!!" she grunted with fury, going almost purple in the face. She composed herself as well as could be called 'composed' for that frightful mess of a person. "Fine. No supper for a week for the lot of yeh, and the next time it happens it means whippin's for each and ev'ry one of yeh dirty urchins! And if yeh think there'll be any free time this week, yeh've got another thin' comin'!!" She snarled the last phrase through gritted teeth and waddled back toward her business chambers.
The girls relaxed, but whipped back into position when Madame whirled around to bark, "Elyse! Sarah! Jane! Yeh can clean up the mess caused by the carelessness o' one of yeh fellow workers!"
The three named girls looked at each other and followed Madame into her quarters. "Why does she hate US so much?" Sarah mumbled. There were three girls with her name in the group of workers, but when the it was combined with the other two everybody knew which Sarah it was: Sarah Kathryn, surnameless like the rest of her comrades. They followed the massive woman, picking through the masses of dirty skirts and old, hand-me-down fancy dresses crumpled on the short hallway floor. "I wonder if she'll be able to find the mess she got into a fit about under all this trash!" Jane whispered to Sarah. She barely suppressed a giggle, but needn't have worried about that as soon as she walked into the bedroom; it was a veritable disaster area. The smells alone prevented her from inhaling enough to actually laugh - a mixture of cigarette smoke, rotting food, and cheap imitation French perfume.
"There, do you see that?!? What kind of wretch would leave a can o' ashes right next to a bloomin' bed?? You'd betteh have this spotless before work hours. I'll be in m'office, let me know when yeh finish!"
She rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Meanwhile, all three girls were trying to discern just which mess she was pointing at. Elyse gingerly picked up a bodice that was turning gray from age and probably smoke as well by the corner and tossed it aside. Sarah stared at the supposed ash mess, and Jane began snooping around the vanity.
"Hey! Look at what I found!! It almost looks like LOVE letters!" Though not the youngest of the trio, Jane was certainly the most childish. "Listen to this: 'My pet, c/o Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Asch Building, blah blah blah, I cant live without your pungently sweet perfume pervading my life - Wow, Meccant's been here ages... Goodness, they're dated 1874! I suppose she might have been less of a wit.... er, she must have been more attractive then." She was also blessed with the misfortune of sometimes missing the filter between her brain and her mouth. They worked with resign through some of the mess of the room, Sarah alone concentrating on the ash ordeal. They all knew they'd get reprimanded more if they didn't tidy in general.
The other girls snickered as Jane dug deeper in to the pile, covering her reddish hair with dust as she did. "What's this?" Elyse, glad for a distraction, looked at the papers in her hands. A devious look crossed her face.
. "Do you know what those are?! It's the guidelines for running State Established Laborer Minor Lodgings!!!" Her excitement was met with a blank stare from Jane.
"That would be us, dummy! Let's see what that fake frenchie's been skimping on for her precious female charges." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. They riffled through the lists, noticing several small items that were certainly not being observed. "Hmmm... We're supposed to get two and ½ cups of gruel a day, instead of just two. Oh joy! More tasteless goodies for us!" She mock gagged and sent Jane into a giggling fit. Sarah, finally fed up with having to clean up all the ashes herself, wandered over to see what they were so excited about.
"Hey, you wanna help me with the real mess before Meccant erases our bread crumb trail to the bunkroom and tries to eat us alive?" She took a section of her curly hair, shaking out the ashes until the original strawberry blonde color was recognizable. "What is so blessed interesting??" She gave in and looked over their shoulders.
'The boarding house must not be more than two (2) city blocks away from the collective place of employment.' Ha, that's a laugh - we have to walk five blocks! She skimmed the page in slight amazement and anticipation. The true importance didn't dawn on her until she paid attention to the violent poking her subconscious was doing to her conscious mind due to item number twenty-eight. It finally caught her eye and stopped all other thoughts. Her ideas whirling on a whole new tangent now, she read it again, and then again.
"Elyse, you said these were state guidelines, right? That makes them law, right?!?"
"Um, yes, but it's not as if they've been guiding much, I mean just look at the curfew-"
"Forget the curfew! According to this, we can leave this hellhole!" The jaws of Elyse and Jane took on an altogether lower locale. "Look," Sarah elaborated, "It says here that any laborers above 14 years of age, that's us, who have worked three or more years, check!, and have no family to speak of who would prefer that they remain in the labor institute," she snorted at this point then excitedly continued with growing volume, "ahem, ARE FREE TO MAKE FOR THEMSELVES A SUITABLE LIFE OUTSIDE THE STATE ORPHAN INSTITUTE!"
She coughed due to the large amount of putrid air that yelling had required her to inhale. "That stupid whale was telling us we had to wait 'til we were 18 to leave, with supervision! Surely it makes her more money the longer we're here.... what say we take this up with the corporate board?" The squeals the other two had been emitting stopped.
"There's no way we could do that!" cried Jane. "They never see workers!" The Board was full of aging, corpse-like older men in varying stages of senility. They disliked having any of their regulations under scrutiny and especially disliked having to deal with the actual people they were supposed to oversee the protection of.
"So? It's the only way out of here in the near. Today's our lucky day, girls, the board meets at 8. I'm going to go put us in the public agenda... I'd better write up some arguments..." She walked though the mess to the bunkroom as if she were floating, excitedly mumbling to herself.
Elyse and Jane stood amongst the mess, staring at the door she had disappeared through. "Tell me I didn't just imagine that we have a chance outta here," Jane said in disbelief.
"No... but it'll get worse for us if whatever nonsense she's cooking up backfires," Elyse said with a sigh. She considered her friend's sometimes hopeless unreliability. "Let's hope, and pray!"
Blinking in the harsh sunlight, Sarah took a deep breath and looked at the city around her, realizing its potential for the first time. In the orphanage they had just been meaningless names, going nowhere and seeming to be only a burden on anyone they met. When they chose to work in the orphanage-affiliated factory nothing changed save that they then had the small daily task of sewing unnumbered amounts of clothing that they could never wear. Now that they were free, they discovered that they had identities.
Sarah came to know herself as a creative and slightly mysterious intellectual. There was a kind of logic she used that tended to blindside others with its simplicity. Her actions as well were simple - every meaning had a purpose, with weight and grace. She often was asked if she was a dancer because of her way of carrying herself and probably also due to her slim figure. Her curly blonde hair was unruly, and her mostly gray eyes were open windows to emotions. Still, she could cloud them over whenever she felt the need. Something about Sarah gave the impression of stability and wisdom, though it was impossible to pinpoint why. It was what made people go to her for advice.
Jane on the other hand was the tall and easily excitable procrastinator. She had untapped eccentricity that made her always appear like a geyser that just about to go off but never got to that point. She often bit off more than she could chew. This gave her a kind of stress she didn't like dealing with, so therefore she didn't and kept on smiling mischievously through everything. Her nearly red hair was not quite head turning but her light blue eyes had their own disconcerting quality to make up for it. Jane was the kind of person that seemed so harmless, yet anyone who got into an argument with the stubborn girl knew they wouldn't want to mess with her and probably wished they hadn't begun to do so in the first place.
The third newly freed girl was more reluctant in embracing her new life: The oldest yet smallest, Elyse was more of a conservative at heart than her comrades. She kept her clothes and short light blonde hair neat and well cared for, but she couldn't escape that air of hidden erraticness no matter how hard she tried. And boy did she try… She could let herself be smart, or friendly, or the taskmaster - her usual choice was a combination of all three. The girls had finally found themselves; the question was, what were they to do now?
After Sarah had waltzed into the board meeting waving her paper of revelations around, the board members agreed to gradually enforce the rules and to let the girls go free on the grounds that they didn't let it leak that the big bad New York State Orphanage Association wasn't keeping policies up to par. The look in the eyes of all twelve members, lined up on a platform like victims of a firing squad, was sheers embarrassed disbelief. "Well, Miss…., er, Miss Sarah, I believe it is in the best interests of the Association to undertake the investigation of this matter privately," Chairman Braucher had replied to the girl's ravings. "We'd appreciate it if you take your positions in society without interfering with the proceedings." He nervously pulled on his salt-and-pepper beard as he said this. The concept of such a large cover up obviously frightened him half out of his corporate hided chair.
The very next day Sarah, Elyse, and Jane packed their few belongings and found themselves asking the aforementioned question. What were they to do?
All three had been brainstorming and wandering the city from early morning, and had begun to get stuck in a groove of endless circling questions by noontime. Elyse was beginning to explain an almost decent plan when a voice from the alley behind them called, "Uh, hey goils, if ya don' mind me askin' but what da hell are ya doin right smack in front of an alleyway?" Unbeknownst to themselves the girls had drifted into exactly the wrong place for anyone to pass by them into or out of the alley.
Their heads snapped up at the sound of the male voice. Sarah shouted with a burst of adrenaline-lined whim, "Baring our souls to the world! What's it to you?"
The boy emerged from the alley but hung in the cool shadows, away from the late spring sun. "Well, see, I'se a newsie and dis is where I do most a' me sellin'."
The girls understood what he meant. The streets fairly crawled with the assortment of boys and occasionally girls who yelled out meaningless headlines to sell their newspapers for a penny per paper. Even though they made less money than these newsies as they liked to call themselves, the girls had taken a contemptuous sort of dislike for the children who worked the streets on their own.
Continuing on his thought, the specimen of street-dwellers said, "All me regulahs come by heah, and widout them I don' sell enough ta keep woiking. Therefoah," he added with mock politeness, "I'se askin ya ta kindly 'bare ya souls' somewheah else, thankeeverymuch!" He shot them a smile that wasn't unkind but still made them bristle like cats. Jane looked at Elyse, Elyse looked at Sarah, they all turned to simultaneously stick out their tongues and then stalked away together.
Cute an' feisty, the newsboy thought with a smile. Jack'd prolly like 'em. He spotted a regular buyer coming up to him with a penny. "'Ere, miss, have a good day!" With that the selling for the day commenced and he was distracted from further thought of the wandering girls.
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The girls were now actually at a loss. They had very little money, no food, and not a clue under which roof they might sleep that night. The state had let them out on the grounds that they provide their own shelter, and they had been so excited at the prospect of getting out that shelter had seemed a small obstacle to true freedom. That rash thought had immeasurable drawbacks, it now seemed. As it was past noon they figured the time was now or never, so they all walked to the nearest dining establishment, a small joint with chipped lettering reading "Tibby's" on the window. Jane took their pooled money and ordered salads for all of them, remarking that this was already harder than they thought it would be. Her friends rolled their eyes and made sure Jane knew that the obvious need not be stated, especially when their money was dwindling before their eyes. When they finished eating they sat there dejectedly waiting for something to happen.
It did.
After about an hour of getting little to no inspiration from the dim restaurant they gathered up their bags and prepared to leave. Sarah was looking at the empty plates thinking the girls had no hope, when the newsboy who had previously run into them entered the diner. He groaned good-naturedly at the sight of them, and sauntered up to the table.
"Heya goils, have any luck wi'dat soul barin' stuff?" Elyse glared at him.
"As a matter of fact… we did not," she lamely retorted as she slumped back into her chair. He flashed an arrogant smile.
"I t'ink we got off on da wrong foot. I never interduced meself - da boys call me Snoddy" he said, extending his hand. Sarah, the nearest to him, stared at it as if it were a deformed hedgehog recently dipped in cow dung.
"Sorry buddy boy but I don't think any of us cares what 'the boys' call you. We'll be leaving now," she said as she grabbed her shawl from her chair. Even she was surprised at the snappy tone she'd taken on. Jane stopped her with an apologetic nod towards Snoddy.
"She's a little frustrated at the moment. Hi! My name's Jane, the little blonde one's Elyse and the overly rude one is Sarah. Actually, we're kinda in a jam right now so we should be going. Nice meeting you!"
"What kinda jam?"
Jane didn't hesitate with her reply. "We don't know the city too well, we've no place to sleep tonight, as of half an hour ago we're flat broke, and overall we have no idea where we're going," she chirped back to him. "Any suggestions?"
Sarah slapped her hand to her forehead. She felt like a nanny telling off a three year-old for dabbling with matches. "Jane," she hissed, "thanks for telling a strange boy how street stupid and vulnerable we are. Pardon me while I nip off and get murdered now!"
Snoddy wisely ignored her and brightened up towards Jane. "Hey! I'se lived in New Yawk me whole life! I can prolly find ya a place ta stay. 'Coise, that would involve me lendin ya money which would require ya payin me back, and in most cases ya'd need jobs ta be able ta do that." He heard the confusion in his own voice and stopped. "Uh, Maybe if I take ya ta find Jack he'll know what ta do." He looked at the wall clock and headed for the door. "Let's get goin', he might still be at his 57th Street spot."
Sarah stared at him. Jane smiled. Elyse exploded. "Whoa whoa whoa, what just happened here? I must have missed something. I'm not going anywhere with a strange guy I just met." She crossed her arms over her chest and assumed a body stance that clearly said 'No way.' Jane, always the adventurous one, told her to lighten up.
"We don't have much else choice, hun," she said gently. Elyse thought hard, then turned to Sarah for an answer. Sarah retreated into her thoughts for a moment and kept drawing blanks, which frustrated her greatly. All she could hear was a little voice going, 'Huh? Who? Huh? Who?" and so finally she rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation. "What the heck! Let's go put our lives in the hands of a street walker we just met! Show us the way to this Jerk guy, then."
"Jack."
"Whatever."
They set off walking through the streets of Manhattan. In the afternoon sunlight the girls could see much more clearly what their companion looked like - tall and vaguely handsome. His strong jawline and clear brown eyes eyes were a pleasant surprise, and neither of those qualities was suppressed by the drab brown-tone clothes he wore. The mop of chestnut hair atop it all complemented the picture quite nicely. As it was, he was a little overwhelmed to be surrounded by three such pretty girls.
Sarah was angry that she'd been so rude to him and was trying to figure out how to apologize with some shred of pride when Snoddy suddenly yelled, "Hey, Jack! Cowboy, ovah heah!"
"Cowboys? In New York? Ugh!" Elyse exclaimed. She liked order, and this was verging on becoming very unorderly indeed.
"Hey watch it blondie, he's a much respected newsie in dese parts. He could make ya or break ya... let's hope he ain't in the breakin' mood."
Sarah snorted. Great, our fate depends on a displaced temperamental rodeo clown. I could kick myself! she thought as she watched Jack approach. He was a taller boy who had a very intimidating presence. His rough face was usually set off by his black cowboy hat, now dangling down his back. It was obvious he was a guy in charge.
Snoddy gave her a look before spitshaking with Jack. "Heya Cowboy. How's da headline taday?"
"Snod, headlines don' sell papes... hey hey, what have we heah?"
He immediately put on the charm for his female audience. Like every other guy who believed he had ever-so-much experience buttering up to the ladies, he overdid it and came off looking cheesey and altogether more predator-like than he would have liked. They regarded him with suspicion, as they had every person they'd come in contact with since that morning. Still looking them over a little too hungrily, Jack said without looking at the addressee of his comment, "Interductions, Snoddy?"
"Uh, o'coise Jack, da tall one's Jane, da shoit blonde one's, um... Elsie, was it?"
" Elyse."
"Oh yeah, dat's it. An' da curlytop's Sarah."
Sarah was getting impatient. "So, um, you're the famous Jack, great, but can we do something productive for a moment? I'd like to know where we're sleeping tonight. Do we have any plans? " she asked with a pointed look at Snoddy.
"Yeah so, see, dese goils don't have a place to stay. Do ya know where dey can crash for da night? I was thinkin' da goil's house might have room... dey don't got any dough an' everywheah else is pretty 'spensive."
Jack thought for a moment, shaking his head. "Da Goil's Lodgin' House is full up, plus some. Do ya mind sleepin in da boy's house?" he directed towards the girls. "It ain't real unusual fer goils ta stay at da Duane street one since dere's is about 3 times too small." He noticed Elyse 's gaping mouth. "Y'ain't lookin' too open-minded right 'bout now... I imagine yer appearance would improve if yeh were," he stated with a teasing smile.
I've known him for two minutes and so far, he's made a ridiculous offer and insulted us. Unreal! Sarah said out loud instead, "Are you serious?!" The squeak in her voice gave her away. Jack gave her a questioning look and she continued with repulsion, "We can't possibly lodge with boys. It's not the way we were brought up. There's no way, not our first night in the city. Nuh uh."
"Well, toots, I'se thinkin you ain't got much choice." The killing logic felt especially stinging to Sarah's ears. "'Sides, you'd have yer own room, it aint like dere ain't separate rooms... da only dang'rous place is da bunkroom an' I keep watch on da boys in dere anyhow." Jack said the last portion very matter-of-factly and settled back into the wall as if he'd grown out of it, lighting a cigarette.
Still miffed at his initial behavior and reeling from being cornered into uncomfortable situations twice in one day, Sarah was reluctant to follow his advice. Drowsiness irked at her. She looked over at her companions and took mental note of the exhausted looks on their faces. After briefly weighing the facts in her head, she decided they might as well go if only to rest one night.
"Alright, we'll stay at the Duane Street Lodging House. Just don't expect us to be perfect social butterflies, okay?" The boys nodded their approval.
Jack nodded to Snoddy. "Got da time?"
"Bout two o'clock."
"It's been grand goils, but I gotta talk ta Mush 'fore da evenin' edition comes out. See ya at da lodgin' house! Oh, wait, what're dey gonna do for suppa?"
Snoddy looked at the three. "Prolly Tibby's 'gain. I got enough extry dough for dem."
"See ya at Tibb's, den!" Jack called as he rounded the corner.
"Mush?" Elyse asked.
"Yeh, you'll meet 'im latah... what?" he stopped at the puzzled look on her face.
"Your parents sure were cruel when they named you boys..."
Snoddy openly laughed at her, but halted when she cuffed him upside his head. "Sheesh, aintcha ever hoid of using nicknames fer protection? Listen, a lot of times da bulls are after newsies for some reason er other, an' whether we did it er not we gotta watch out. Changin yer name keeps ya outta jail sometimes, and nicknames stick when dey need ta do that. Den some kids don' got names anyway. Can ya handle dat?" He informed them with an almost patronizing politeness.
Elyse looked almost, but not quite, hurt at having been confused. "Lead the way, sir." she sneered at him. And so Snoddy led them to the lodging house.
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The moment they walked into the older wood-paneled building with the inscription "Newsboys Lodging House" above the door, the girls felt strangely comforted. Aside from this subconscious detection, they had scarcely been able to pull together their first impressions when a loud CRASH resounded from the back of the building.
Snoddy cringed and ran towards a pair of swinging doors. "Aw, Snipes, not again!" Glances of a chubby boy surrounded by large pots and pans were caught as the doors swung back and forth. Jane rushed forward to help while the other two clung to the door, still unsure.
The dazed boy was explaining, "I missed breakfast agin, I'se hungry..."
"Yeah, but remember how Mr. Kloppman said he'd be glad ta getcha somethin', s'long as it kept ya from messin' up his kitchen? Yeah, ya fergot, I know." He chuckled as ruffled Snipes' curly brown hair. "We can clean it up 'fore Kloppman gets back, kay?" It took them only a few minutes to get the pots in general order.
"Kloppman'd keep a cleanah kitchen if the leftovers woin't stored next ta the pans." Snoddy sighed. "Goils, I'se got ta go finish sellin, so Snipeshootah heah will help ya out. Show em wheah the sign-in ledger is when Kloppman gets back, a'right?" he directed Snipeshoiter as he walked out the door.
Elyse almost had to stop Jane from following him. "You need to concentrate on the task at hand, dear."
Snipes snorted at her. "So wheah'd you goils meet Snoddy, huh?"
"Nowhere special. So, Snipeshooter, is it? Anything we need to know about this place?"
He smiled, glad to know something for once. He showed them around the main floor; from the worn lobby to the threadbare but cozy common area to the cramped kitchen to the small dining hall. He pointed out the first hall of small divided rooms at the top of the stairs. "Dey's all kinda da same, all o' upstairs is like dis 'cept for da bunkroom. Boys usually sleep dere when da sellin' ain't too good, or da rooms are full up." He told them the price for a room (8 cents a night) dinner and breakfast (5 cents a meal) and bunkroom charges (5 cents a night).
By the time Mr. Kloppman came in with the dinner supplies around 5 o'clock, Snipes was pointing out the more concise and altogether important details of the lodging house. "Da second, fift, and sixt steps creak so ya knows not ta step on dem when you'se gettin' in late. Da fire escape from da bunkroom, Kloppman can see it from 'is office so if guys is sneakin' in goils dey use da one from da hall. Coise, den da one from da third floor bat'room is best for when guys is sweet talkin' goils 'cause it ain't in front o' no otha windows..."
"Ahem."
He instantly shrunk from his boastful posture as a deep blush crept up his cheeks. "Er, hiya Mr. Kloppman, sir, how are ya dis fine day?" He gave an awkward laugh.
Mr. Kloppman gave him a stern look before dumping a canvas bag at his feet. "Carry those to the kitchen an' I'll pretend I don' know what Blink an' his goil do on the fire escape," he said in a voice that almost entirely failed to sound harsh. The boy grinned and dutifully followed his orders.
When they all reached the kitchen, the old man was nowhere to be seen. "Um, Mr. Kloppman?"
"Yeeees?" they heard from somewhere behind the vegetable crate. His aged head popped up at length, staring maniacally at the potato in his hand. "Got ya!" He laughed at their confused and nearly scared expressions. "Stray potata. Hate when that happens." he explained as he wiped off his hands.
"Now I understand yeh'll be needin rooms, an' that Snoddy'll pay fer tonight. The goil's house is full again, then? Well, if yeh still can't find anotha place tomorra yer welcome here. Alright then! Would you kindly help me set up for supper?"
For the first time in hours they smiled sincerely; Kloppman had a way of making things seem on the up side.
The girls retired to their room soon after the potato soup began to cook properly. It was a plain square room with one cot-like bed and a stripped pine bedside table. Kloppman had given them extra blankets. Minutes after they closed the door, a slight rumble grew to a dull thunder resounding from the dining area. Glad to have avoided the crowd of boys, drowsiness overcame them once more despite the early hour. Jane flopped on the bed fully clothed while Elyse and Sarah prepared themselves for a long night's rest after an exhausting day. They weren't used to such walking.
"For God's sake, Jane, at least take off your shoes!" Sarah said as she took the extra blanket and laid it out on the floor.
"Mmmmmmfffffgh."
Elyse hit her with a pillow. "It's alright, Jane, I'll just shove you off the bed if you kick me. Now move over!" she said, flipping the light switch. The room was plunged into darkness as the electric hum of the relatively new overhead light died down.
After ten minutes of silence, Sarah rolled over. " Elyse? Jane? You awake?"
"No!" and "Mmmmffffnk!" were the responses. She continued anyway.
"What do you think life'll be like now?"
Elyse partially sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Dear, compared to that hole, life out in the city will be first-rate no matter WHAT we do. We always have each other to fall back on if it isn't, anyway. Go to sleep already!"
Sarah nodded into her pillow and fell asleep with dreams of what the city might bring them in the days to come.