The snow slowly dropped as Andrea Bishop made her way to the Lodging House in Brooklyn. She didn't bother to wipe off the snow; she knew it would melt away soon. As the Lodging House came into view, she adjusted the bag that hung from her left shoulder. Her boots made imprints in the newly fallen snow as she quickened her pace.
The oak door of the Lodging House felt warm against her knuckles as she hit against it. After a few short minutes of waiting, an old man with balding, white hair answered the door.
"What do you want?" He asked her, pushing his glasses up his fat nose.
"A place to sleep and possibly a job as a newsie," She replied the old man looked her over and nodded his head.
"This way Miss. uhh?" He said asking her name at the same time.
"Bishop, Andrea Bishop," He nodded his head again while leading her into the main room and up a set of stairs that led to a room full of boys. He led her to an empty bed and said, "This is where you'll be staying, and over there is the washroom. Get some sleep, you'll be up by sunrise to start your job," She nodded her head while he walked back down stairs. Some of the boys watched her as she placed her snow-covered bag on the smelly bed. She ignored them. She was good at that. One of the boys didn't even notice her come in. But when the boys he was playing poker with stopped playing, he lifted his ocean blue eyes to see Andrea. He rolled his eyes and hit the boys on the head.
Andrea, who was tired beyond belief, collapsed on the bed and went to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The sun shined in though the dusty windows of the Lodging House. Andrea stumbled out of bed and walked to the washroom. She grabbed the towel that lay on the edge of the sink, got it wet, and scrubbed her dirt covered face with it. She slipped on a clean shirt and a white skirt. She walked back into the bunkroom to grab her coat, while the other newsies were still sleeping. All Andrea wanted to do was get her first day over with. One of the younger newsies came up to her as she made her way out.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked with his tiny face scrunched up.
"I don't know," She replied before walking out of the Lodging House and into the snow-covered street. She knew that by the end of the day, at least one newsie would have a slight case of frostbite. She knew that some of the newsies didn't have enough money to buy proper shoes or a warm jacket.
That frost bitten newsie sure as hell wasn't going to be her. She pulled her wool jacket tighter around her slim body as she made her way to the distribution stand to get her papes. The bottom of her white skirt was getting wet and dirty but she didn't care. She never cared. She was just wearing the stupid skirt because her pants were lost in the bottomless bag that lay in the bunkroom of the Brooklyn Lodging House.
"50 papes," She told the fat man behind the counter. He nodded his head and handed her the papes.
Andrea, this is for you! You know who you are!