This is based of a true story...
It was a perfectly normal day, and Crutchie was selling papes. Suddenly, in the middle of calling out some false headline, he felt a small nudge on his ankle. Startled, he got down on the knee of his good leg and saw that there was an animal rubbing it's face on him. A cat to be exact. That cat was an adorable little thing, despite the fact that he was shivering and was so thin that Crutchie could see his ribs poking out through his fur. He was a baby, too. Crutchie picked him up and stood, stroking his soft black and brown fur. He gently traced his fingers over the cat's ribs as he muttered, "You'se a tiny little thing, huh?"
The cat sneezed in response. Crutchie giggled, scratching the spot in between the cat's ears. "You're cute," Crutchie said. "I think I'm gonna keep you."
"You'se also shiverin' a lot..." Crutchie murmered. After thinking for a moment, he slipped the cat into his vest to protect the it from the cold.
Crutchie smiled down at the cat, who was looking up at him with round amber eyes. "I'se gonna take you back to the lodging house," Crutchie decided. "But if your comin' back to the lodging house with me, then you're gonna have to have a name."
Crutchie tried to think of a name that would suit this particular cat. He went through many different names in his mind until he stumbled across a good name for a cat. The name of Jack. Crutchie had always liked Jack's name, but he never thought that he would name a cat after Jack.
"Your name's Jack now," Crutchie said. The cat didn't react, just continued to goggle up at Crutchie.
Crutchie sighed. "You don't like that name, huh? Well, uhhh, what about Jackie? It's kind of like Jack, but it's different."
The cat meowed in what Crutchie thought of as approval. "Perfect!" Crutchie beamed. "Your name is Jackie now!"
As Crutchie sold the last of his papes, Jackie stayed in his vest the entire time. After he finished selling the last of his papes, he hurried to get back to the lodging house and tried to ignore all the squirming Jackie was doing in his vest. As he walked up the lodging house door, he looked down at Jackie and whispered to him, "You gotta settle down, okay? If one of the other boys are in there then we're done for."
Jackie gently kicked Crutchie in the stomach. "Stop it!" Crutchie giggled quietly. He opened the door, hoping that no one else was there.
"Hello?" Crutchie called out as he entered. No response.
He tried one more time, just to make sure. "Anyone here?"
Again, no response.
Crutchie pulled Jackie out of his vest and smiled at him. "No one's here, Jackie," He said. "We have the entire lodging house to ourselves."
Jackie rubbed the top of his head on Crutchie's thumbs, and Crutchie hugged him close.
Hhhhh wow cute.