Mush's unique complexion and wiry curls made him different. He still remembers the names they called him. Awful names that no matter how hard Mush tried, he couldn't forget. Blink/Mush one shot. Implied Slash. Slight Language.
I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. To the best of my knowledge, Disney owns them.
I am making no money from this story. I seriously doubt the sanity of anyone who would pay money to read anything I have written.
A/N:
I started out to write a Blink/Mush Christmas story. The story took over, so I just went along for the ride. This turned out to be a story about Mush feeling like he doesn't fit in. There is only a brief mention of Christmas.
This story has not been beta'd.
A Different Kind of Family
Mush sat on a bench overlooking the grand promenade in Central Park. He was playing a game that he'd made up when he was just a little boy. He would study the people as they passed bye, and then try to guess their destinations simply by the way they looked.
Several families looked as if they had just come from an afternoon at church. Another family seemed to be going to a party. (The gift-wrapped packages gave that one away.). Still, others looked as though they had no specific destination in mind. They were simply enjoying a brisk afternoon in the park.
In reality, Mush didn't particularly care where these strangers were going. The game was just his excuse for watching them. What did interest Mush, was the fact that they were all families. They were mothers and fathers holding hands with multitudes of children. Some families even had grandparents along for the stroll.
Families fascinated Mush. Mostly, it was because he never had a one of his own. A lot of the guys at the lodging house had families, or at least they did have at one time. Mush always envied those who did.
In actuality, when he did his watching, he was looking for people who looked like him.
There weren't many.
There were families who looked like Dutchy, all of whom had light blond hair and blue eyes. Then there were the families who looked like Boots. They had dark brown skin and wiry hair. Mostly, the people who walked bye looked like Jack. They were average looking families with medium color skin and straight brown hair.
Few people ever looked like Mush.
He was never really sure why he was looking. Sometimes he just wanted to assure himself that he wasn't the only person who looked like he did. Other times, he would wish that he would recognize someone or that they'd recognize him as their long lost son.
Mush did have a grandmother. At least that's what he'd been told. He couldn't remember her at all.
His earliest memories were of the orphanage. He was one in a sea of children who all blended together. Well, they all blended together, except for Mush. His unique complexion and wiry curls made him different
Mush still remembers the names that the other children would call him. Some of the adults called him these names as well. Names so awful that no matter how hard Mush tried, he couldn't forget. Some people even said that he didn't belong there. He was told that they had special places for people like him. When he was younger, he would wonder what that meant. Did they actually have orphanages for boys with wiry hair, who liked to jump and sing, and who once had grandmothers?
His name is Michael Meyers, but was Meyers his father's name? Did he ever have a father, or a mother for that matter? Some said that didn't really have a grandmother. He was just left at the orphanage, and no one knew by whom. They had to call him something, so they simply made up a name.
When Mush ran away from the orphanage, Racetrack Higgins found him and brought him to The Newsboys Lodging House. He can remember asking Mr. Kloppman if boys with wiry hair were allowed to stay there. Mr. Kloppman said that even boys with no hair were allowed to stay at his lodging house.
Christmas was basically just another day for the newsies. But if it wasn't, and if someone were to him what he wanted for Christmas, Mush would surely tell them that he wanted a family and a place to live where he didn't feel different.
"Hey, Mushy-boy! There ya are. I was lookin' all over for ya."
The voice came from Mush's best friend, Kid Blink. They had been friends from the first day Mush came to live at the lodging house. In fact, they were more than friends.
"Come on, Mushy. You ain't wondering about your family again are ya?"
"So what if I am?"
"I keep tellin' ya, Mush. Ya ain't missing anything by not knowing who your family was."
"That's easy for you to say, Kid. You had a family."
"And I would've been better off if I didn't. I would've been happy ta give 'em away. Pop was a drunk who beat the crap outa me and my ma every chance he got. When she ran away, pop took it out on me and beat me even worse. He was a no-good bastard, and she was no better. If she was, she would'a taken me with her."
"At least you know where you came from."
"Yeah, lucky me. I had parents. The Bitch and the Bastard."
Blink used his last two newspapers to hide the fact that he was holding Mush's hand.
"You and me got a much better family here with the newsies than we ever had before."
"They ain't our real family, Blink. They're just some guys we live with."
"There as much of a family as anyone's got. Think about it, Mushy. Jack's like our pop. He taught us how ta take care of ourselves. He watches out for us, and he makes sure that we're okay. And Mr. Kloppman is like a grandpa. He's old fashioned, and he makes us follow the rules, but he laughs and tells us stories about the old days."
Mush looked up at Blink for just a moment, and then he sighed and turned away.
"Then there's Racetrack," Blink continued. "He's a lot of fun. He's like havin' an uncle who takes us to the track and teaches us how ta play cards and stuff. He's the uncle that you like the best, but your folks don't want you around him too much because they think he is a bad influence. And we've got more then enough brothers, Mushy. Ya can't swing a dead cat around here without hittin' one of our brothers."
"Yeah, Blink. And I suppose your gonna tell me that Spot Conlon is our ma."
"Nah. Spot's another one of those uncles that your folks don't want ya spendin' too much time with. Ya know, the one that gives ya your bottle first beer and tells ya all about sex." With that, Blink squeezed Mush's hidden hand and nudged him with his shoulder.
"Okay, Kid. Even if I was buying all this, which I'm not by the way, we still ain't got a ma."
"So we ain't got a ma. We've got somethin' even better. We've got Medda. Remember last year when Snitch fell off the fire escape and broke his arm? Medda got a doctor ta come over and fix him up as good as new. She paid for the whole thing herself. Nobody even asked her to. And when Race got the influenza, she took him over ta her place so the rest of us wouldn't get sick. She took care of him all by herself. She didn't even go ta work for two weeks because she wouldn't leave him alone while he was sick. Kloppman said that Race would'a died if it wasn't for her. Medda's like havin' a really nice aunt, Mushy-boy . . . Except she's much better ta look at!"
"Yeah, Blink. All that's nice I suppose, but it just ain't the same as havin' a real family."
Blink knew that nothing he could say was going to make Mush feel any better. This was just one of those things that had to run its course. "Come on, Mush," Blink said. "It's gettin' dark, and there ain't no way I'm gonna sell these last two papes. Let's get back home and see if anyone wants ta go and get supper with us."
Blink put his arm around Mush's shoulder and gave his neck a little hug. They walked all the way home without saying a word.
When they entered the lodging house, they saw that a small crowd had gathered in the lobby.
"Hey, fellas!" Mr. Kloppman called out. "Come over here and meet Joey. He's gonna be staying with us. Racetrack brought him home a little while ago."
Mush looked over at Race and smiled. It reminded Mush of when Race found him and brought him back to the lodging house.
Race knew what Mush was thinking. "Wadda you lookin' at, Meyers?" he said. "Save that mushy look for Blink over there. It don't work on me." Then Racetrack returned Mush's smile with one of his own.
Blink and Mush made their way through the crowd and saw the boy who was barely old enough to sell papers. He looked a lot like Mush must have looked at that age. Darkish complexion and wiry hair, but the little boy's eyes were green where Mush's were brown.
David's brother, Les was staring intently at the new boy. "So kid," he said. "What's your name?"
"Joey," the boy answered.
"Joey what?"
"Just Joey."
"What's your last name?"
"Ain't got no last name."
"What are you stupid or something?" Les asked "Everyone has a last name."
David pulled Les back by the collar and put his hand over the boy's mouth. "Lester Jacobs," David scolded. "You know better than that. Where are your manners? You know that you should never call anyone stupid."
"Hi, Joey!" Mush said, enthusiastically. "My name is Mush, and this is my pal Blink. Ya know, Racetrack brought me ta live here when I was younger, just like he did for you. You're gonna like it here. We're like a family, ya know."
Blink watched the sparkle came back to Mush's eyes as he made friends with Joey.
"You guys ain't no family!" Joey said defiantly. "None of ya look alike. Especially you. You look like me. You can't be their family."
"We sure are a family," Mush insisted. "After a little while, you're gonna feel like they're your family too. You're gonna see that you got plenty of brothers and few uncles like Racetrack over there. And you've even got a grandpa," Mush said as he looked over at Mr. Kloppman.
Mr. Kloppman smiled and nodded approvingly.
Everyone was startled when David's voice boomed from behind the crowd. "Jeez, Snoddy, that's disgusting! Will you use a handkerchief once in a while? You've got two of them tied on your arms you know. Why don't you take one of them and blow your nose for a change? You're a bad influence on the little guys."
Mush shook his head and turned his attention back to Joey. "Ya know, Joey you're right," Mush continued. "We do look alike. Kind'a like brothers wouldn't ya say?"
"Yeah, kind'a," Joey answered.
"So I tell ya what. Why don't you let me be your first brother here, and I'll share my last name with ya?"
"Can he really do that mister?" Joey asked, looking over at Mr. Kloppman.
"He sure can," Mr. Kloppman answered. "Lots of brothers have the same last name. Like David and Les over there. And Mushy here has got a great one. Only a real brother would let you share his name like that."
The older boys were struggling not to chuckle, and Blink was giving Mush an approving squeeze on the neck.
"So, wadda ya say, Joey?" Mush asked. "Is it a deal?"
"It's a deal!" Joey answered as the two exchanged a brotherly spit-shake.
"Yuck!" David cringed. "Why do you guys always have to spit like that? It's so unsanitary."
"Jeez, Dave. Will ya lighten-up already?!" Jack grumbled.
"Hey, fellas!" Mush announced. "I'd like you all ta meet our new brother, Joey Meyers."
All of the newsies flocked around Joey Meyers to shake his hand and welcome him into their family.
Blink leaned over and whispered to Mush. "That's a nice thing ya did, Mushy. I'm really proud of ya."
Mush smiled and leaned back against Blink just a bit.
"Hey, Mushy?" Blink said, whispering again. "Ya remember what I said about us not having a ma? Well I was wrong. Take a look at Davey."
David was now rolling his eyes and waving his finger at Jack. "What are you doing eating that apple? You are gonna ruin your supper. I told you that we are all going over to Tibby's tonight. Honestly Jack, I just don't know where your head is most of the time. What were you thinking? You. . . ."
Mush put his arm around Blinks shoulder and gave him a squeeze. "You're right, Blink. We do have a family. And it's a damn good one at that!"
END
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