The newsies reached JFK airport at roughly 5:00 AM on a cold day in December. Their flight left at 8:00 AM, and Jack already wondered if they'd be able to herd all the newsies onto the plane in just three hours.
"Racer told me you'se going for a flight." Spot Conlon had been waiting for them on the curb, wearing his signature red tank top and no coat, despite the winter chill. Of course, this meant that Race told him years ago, since it had taken that long for everyone to get their money scraped together.
"Everybody give Davey your tickets!" Before Davey could protest Jack's order, his pockets were stuffed with the little slips of paper, since his reputation as the group dad had grown exponentially.
Race was already whining to no one in particular about the "No Smoking" signs on the doors of the airport as Romeo tried flirting with a slim female traveler who told him to get lost. Smalls and Sniper were leaning on each other, clearly exhausted from the early wake up call.
"Grab your bags and follow me," Jack commanded, striding through the doors, Katherine at his side. Really, she was the only one who knew how to navigate an airport because her father often traveled, and brought her with him.
She was also the only one dressed and packed properly for a flight. Her comfy clothes and fuzzy boots would make getting through security a breeze. Baggage for Katherine consisted of a small backpack and light carry-on that Jack was currently lugging.
Most of the other newsies weren't that smart when it came to packing. Most were lugging gigantic bags that would just barely make the carry-on cut.
"Jack, I'll carry my own bag," said Katherine, pulling out the handle and letting it roll behind her. Jack was carrying his and Crutchie's bags, a very heavy load indeed.
"This place is so cool!" Les was practically bouncing up and down from excitement, and he wasn't the only one. Almost every Newsie looked like Christmas had come early, awed by the hustle and bustle of a place like the airport.
"When do we get to fly?" Jojo, loaded down by his overstuffed duffle and equally heavy backpack, was suddenly alert and excited. He'd been exhausted ever since he'd been woken up. Albert and Mush perked up like flowers in the sunshine, no longer weighed down by exhaustion.
"I'se never flown before." Specs had finally decided to take his earbuds out and pay attention. Even Spot looked impressed, casually draping his arm on Race's shoulders.
Katherine started leading the group towards the security area. Crutchie was given a wheelchair by the staff, and the boys immediately began figuring out how to hang onto the back and get Crutchie going at top speed. Meanwhile, Smalls and
Sniper took a few selfies and candid pictures of the boys.
"If you'se even thinkin bout postin that, I'll kick ya halfway to Queens," Spot growled at Smalls after she'd managed to get a picture of him with a small smile on his face. She promised not to and added it to her Snap story as soon as he wasn't looking.
"That's enough of that," said Jack after Crutchie nearly slammed into the wall. "If he gets hurt, this trip is over!" Finch stuck out his tongue at Jack, but stopped the speed mania on the wheelchair.
"Santa Fe is really quite a fascinating city…" Davey was trying to tell the boys all about the reading he'd been doing on their destination, but most were too excited about the airplane to even care. His backpack was full of guidebooks, plus a copy of The Hobbit.
"Morning miss! You must be the sun, cause you light up my life!" Romeo was beginning to discover that at 5 am, few girls appreciate being hit on. For the first time in a very long time, not a single girl was returning his compliments with a smile. They were too frazzled and harried to pay attention to him.
"I'se never met such rude goils," he pouted for a moment, then resumed looking for the next girl to flirt with.
Everyone was already having a great time, pushing and razzing each other all the way to the security line, which was dozens of people deep. When no one was looking, Les quietly pulled out some of Davey's snacks and began eating them. Specs had resumed listening to his music while Sniper and Smalls shared headphones.
"Why we gotta stand in line?" Buttons was already in a complaining mood that quickly spread to the rest of the group, save for Davey and Crutchie. Jack looked ready to pull his own hair out, Katherine held one of his wrists to make sure he didn't haul off and smack Buttons.
"I'se the King of Brooklyn. I don't do lines." Spot was pouting like a three-year-old as Katherine calmly reminded him that everyone, kings or otherwise, went through security. No one felt bad for him in the slightest. Elmer and Albert were arguing about whether the metal detector was an x-ray machine that could see under your clothes or not.
"Jack, you don't think they'll flip out on the plane, do you?" Katherine knew that the newsies had only seen planes on TV, and most of the boys had chickened out when they rode the Cyclone at Coney Island. How would they react to a plane?
"They'll be fine," said Jack, not admitting that he was nervous about flying, especially since Race had been trying to scare everyone with stories of plane crashes. The disappearing Malaysia Airlines flight was the one that gave Jack the shivers.
A few moments later, Davey caught Les with a fistful of Twizzlers in his mouth and snatched what was left of his snacks back into his backpack. Crutchie was laughing and joking with the others, but wasn't nearly as much trouble as the far more rambunctious boys.
As the line crept forward, Jack's hopes of his friends behaving themselves began to die. Romeo had resumed hitting on literally every girl in line, even Sniper and Smalls when he ran out of girls to hit on. For a moment, it looked like the two girlsies would soak him, but they shrugged it off and resumed listening to their music. Elmer and Albert's argument broke out into a mini fight, which escalated when they bumped into Finch who accidently jabbed Spot in the gut with his elbow. Fortunately, Jack was able to break up the fight before it got too serious.
"Boys! No fights in the airport!" The offenders cowered at Katherine's sharp voice, even Spot looked a little nervous. Race was attempting to illicitly smoke one of his beloved Coronas (he'd swiped two boxes in anticipation of the trip), which backfired when he accidentally blew smoke into an employee. He managed to snuff it out before he was caught, stuffing it quickly into his pocket.
"Hey Spotty, betcha five bucks that Albert's got something metal in his bag." When smoking failed, Race could always count on gambling. Spot nodding, after warning Race that if he called him "Spotty" ever again, he'd soak him good.
"Jack, you did tell the boys what you can and can't have on the airplane, right?" Jack tensed up slightly at Katherine's question. He'd tried very hard to remind the boys about what they could pack, but he knew they most likely wouldn't listen. Odds were, at least one of them had brought liquids or something metal.
"You don't think I'll have any trouble with the security, do you?" Crutchie had told Jack that he didn't want to be a burden or a worry on the trip, and he planned on making good on his promise. Katherine assured him that the security team would be ready for anything.
Finally, the newsies began stripping off their shoes and placing their luggage on the conveyor belt. Immediately, they ran into problems. More than half of the newsies had chosen Converse or other tight-laced shoes.
"I lost my shoe!" Spec's left black Converse had disappeared and was found, for whatever reason, with Mush's shoes. It took them forever to get their shoes off, and by the time they did, Katherine and Davey were on the other side.
"Les! The conveyor belt is not a ride!" Davey watched helplessly as Les climbed onto the belt, fortunately Jack put a stop to it before anything bad happened.
Albert and Elmer both had brought gigantic shampoo bottles they had to throw away. Specs, Mush, and Jojo all had water bottles that were thrown away and Spot had bought an ice-cold Coke that was promptly thrown in the trash. All of the boys had to show the staff their travel-sized liquids, and of course, only a handful had put them in a Ziploc at the top of their bag so it could easily be found, per Jack's instructions. Despite his worrying, Crutchie actually took the shortest time (a minute and a half, according to Davey) because he'd made sure to follow Jack's instructions, plus the staff were very accommodating and friendly.
Romeo took the longest (close to five minutes, an hour if you asked Les), since he was trying to find his extra bottle of conditioner and flirt with a female security guard at the same time. She was not impressed, giving Romeo a flinty stare.
Unfortunately for Race, Albert had nothing metal in his bag. Spot made the mistake of bringing a straight razor with him, he was escorted away by guards in order to mail it back to himself. Davey managed to give him back his ticket so he'd be able to know where they were going.
Finally, after all of the mini-fiascos, everyone made it through, and spent the next five minutes tugging and lacing shoes back on. Katherine and Davey had gotten Starbucks, and Jack was grateful that his girlfriend had brought him a cup too. The newsies watched in fascination as Katherine filled up her empty water bottle, and wished they'd been as smart.
Davey wisely decided to give everyone their tickets, knowing that they'd be utterly transfixed by all the things to see.
Jack was not prepared for how distracting the next stretch would be. The airport was filled to the brim with overpriced shops and restaurants, and Starbucks every 50 feet or so. Another problem was that their gate was on the opposite side of the airport.
"Ooh, a bar!" Race and Romeo were trailing off to hopefully have a few drinks before their flight. Albert and Elmer were investigating a run-of-the-mill airport gift shop while Specs and Crutchie found a bookstore that even Davey was intrigued by. Smalls, Sniper, Finch, and Jojo were bolting for a Harley-Davidson store, even Katherine was glancing wistfully at a flower shop. Les had found the thing to end all things: a toy store that also swallowed up Buttons and Mush.
All this happened within two minutes.
"We've gotta get going," warned Katherine, anxiously checking her phone. "We've only got an hour and a half to get to our gate, and with this crowd, it'll take forever." Planting a kiss on her cheek, Jack assured her that they'd make it, despite having a hard time believing it himself.
Race and Romeo reappeared, due to being unable to bribe the doorman of the bar. Romeo was still flirting with abandon, including with what appeared to be a twelve-year-old girl who immediately asked for his Instagram.
"Can't even have a shave on vacation!" Spot rejoined the group, bitter about giving up his razor as Romeo blew the girl a kiss goodbye. Davey had returned, disappointed by the bookstore's high prices, the bolted for the toy store to find Les. The rest of the gang was rounded up in seven minutes or so, then the long walk to their gate began.
The walk seemed never ending with the boys wanting to stop every time they saw something vaguely interesting.
"Ooh, sunglasses!" Jojo was immediately yanked back in line by Spot, who could sense that Jack needed some help keeping the boys in line.
"Chocolate!" Elmer and Albert had to be dragged away as well, transfixed by the chocolate goodies in the window of the store. Nearly everyone was distracted at some point during the trek.
By the time they reached their gate, they had about 40 minutes until boarding. Specs, Smalls, and Sniper pushed and elbowed their way to some electrical outlets on the wall, Katherine let them use her power strip.
"Did you know that Santa Fe…" Davey was already reading his guidebooks when Race clamped a hand over his mouth and told him to cram it. Then, turning his attention to the game of mini-poker on the floor, Race began pulling loose change out of his pockets to bet with. Romeo, Finch, and Spot did the same, though Romeo continued to whistle and holler at passing ladies.
"Hey miss, are you a library book? Cause I'm checking you out!" The mousy brown-haired girl passing by calmly flipped Romeo off and continued walking, the boys heckling Romeo in her wake.
Les was occupying himself with his 3DS and a single pixie stick he'd begged from Jojo, who was playing Egyptian War with Buttons, Albert, and Elmer. Jack had pulled out a book Davey had told him to read, entitled The Outsiders. It was actually pretty good. Katherine was working on The Mark of Athena, while Crutchie listened to music and smiled.
"I'm exhausted," Jack yawned, stretching his arms so he'd have an excuse to hook one around Katherine's shoulders. For a while they sat staring out the giant windows, watching the planes take off. It was pretty peaceful.
"Not in front of the innocents!" Race joked, silenced with two equally murderous glares from Katherine and Jack. So far, he'd managed to cheat close to three dollars in loose change out of three boys. Spot was beginning to suspect Race of cheating, and it wouldn't have been unusual, it was how Race won most games of poker.
"Hey, what's that stickin outta your sleeve?" Romeo yanked an ace out of Romeo's sleeve, and a fight ensued, with the three poker players attempting to soak the cheater. Jack was forced to break up the fight, and made sure everyone got their money back.
"Flight 189 to Santa Fe, boarding now." All of the boys looked at Jack, who nodded and they began to hurriedly gather up their things. Bags were hefted, backpacks repacked, and jackets zipped as they approached the gate agent, a slim redhead who immediately had Romeo smitten.
"Scuse me ma'am, but could I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back!" The redhead, who's nametag said Lillian, took it in stride and scanned everyone's tickets. Katherine realized that she'd paid no attention to who was sitting next to whom when she bought the tickets. She did know that she was sitting with Jack, thank goodness.
"Let's go boys!" Jack walked into the plane, with Katherine at his side. He was trying to appear confident, but he was afraid of what could happen when the plane took off. Getting on the plane wasn't much of a problem, until everyone started finding their seats. Jack, Katherine, and Crutchie sat in row E1. Davey, Les, and Specs took G1. Race, Romeo, and Spot took E2 (the middle of three rows of seats) while Smalls, Sniper and Jojo sat in G2. Finch, Buttons, and Mush ended up in H1. Albert and Elmer were lucky enough to get the three seats in H2 all to themselves.
"This is fun!" Les, with the assistance of Race, had been placed in the overhead luggage compartment. He was quickly removed by Davey and Jack. A miniature disaster occurred when several pairs of red checkered boxers fell out of Spot's duffle, soon his face was the same color as he quickly stuffed them back in and shoved his luggage into the compartment.
"This isn't as bad as I thought!" The airline they were flying with had dirt cheap seats, Katherine had to wake up at six AM to get them, and each seat had a little tablet on the back of it.
Race quickly discovered a poker program on the tablets that was betting with real money. Using his debit card he'd acquired for such purposes, he lied to the computer (he wasn't 21) and immediately began betting, Spot quietly cheering him on.
"You lose all your money, I'se not gonna feel sorry," warned Jack, and Race reminded him of what a fabulous poker player he was.
Everyone began to find ways to screw around, especially since all of the flight attendants were wearing short skirts, and Romeo had an aisle seat. A newsies-only game of mahjong began on the tablets, with losers howling at winners.
Crutchie had put his earbuds in, and another pair of headphones on top of those so he could actually hear his music. Les was carefully examining the Sky Mall catalogue, every few seconds he'd jab Davey and point to some overpriced knick-knack and ask if he could buy it.
Katherine leaned on Jack's shoulder as he wondered whether it was possible to be kicked off a plane mid-flight. If the poor flight attendants knew what was coming, they'd already be escorting the boys off the plane.
"If I could have everyone's attention please, a safety video will now begin playing. Please pay close attention." Boys who had headphones in were jabbed in the side until they paid attention to the small tablets. Jack began to wish that the boys didn't have to watch the safety video. There were too many awful scenarios being displayed, and most of the boys were starting to get jittery.
"Nobody told me I'se gonna die on this trip!" Finch was so nervous he was holding hands with Buttons, who looked equally afraid. Katherine rolled her eyes; didn't the boys know that plane crashes almost never happened?
Nearly all of them looked terrified after the "in the event of a water landing" segment. Les was practically shaking, Davey wisely distracted him with the Sky Mall catalogue once again. Even Spot looked uncertain of what was to come.
"Okay folks, we'll be taking off in about a minute, please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronics." Katherine noticed that Jack seemed tense and was gripping her hand tightly.
"We'se gonna make it, right Jack?" Albert's voice floated behind Jack, who immediately reassured them that yes, they were going to make it safely. This seemed to relax the majority of the boys, except Elmer, who was scaring himself even more by reading the safety pamphlet.
Everyone startled as the plane began to taxi down the runway. Suddenly, Katherine remembered the air pressure, and started frantically passing sticks of gum to the boys, with instructions to begin chewing immediately. Frightened once again, they all complied without protest.
"Here we go," said Katherine, as the plane began to speed down the runway, picking up speed. All of the boys held their breath, Jack's grip on Katherine's hand was so tight she let out a squeak of pain. Les was whimpering. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once the plane was in the air, and immediately jockeyed to see out the window. Ears began to pop and nerves were soothed.
"Ain't this something?" Jack looked like he'd survived the ordeal of a lifetime. The worst was over. Or so he thought, the gang still had a four-hour flight ahead of them. What could possibly go wrong?