Kloppman looked down at the three little kids in his kitchen. Together the four of them had made dough for cookies and now the children were rolling the dough into little balls. "I have to go out to the desk and do some work. Come get me as soon as the dough is ready to go into the oven."
"Yes sir," they said in unison.
He turned and left the room.
Rae, Spot and Jack worked in silence for a few moments. Spot looked at Rae and smirked. "Mine look better than yours..."
"Spot..." Jack warned.
"They are!"
Rae glared at him.
"What?" Spot asked innocently looking at Rae. "They are."
She pushed him. "Shut your trap."
Spot shoved her back and made another ball. "Don't push me!"
Jack groaned and tried to grab Rae's collar. "Stop it."
She reached over and smashed one of the little balls of dough flat, her free hand trying to knock Jack's hand away.
Spot's jaw dropped as he watched her. "Meanie!" He grabbed a ball and smashed it in Rae's hair.
She shrieked and smeared a handful of dough in his face.
Jack made a dash towards the dough and let go of Rae on accident.
Spot wiped his face and glared at her. He made a grab at the dough but ended up with a bag of flour and poured it on Rae, white dust going everywhere.
Rae tackled Spot, knocking the bowl of dough off the table with a loud crash.
Jack jumped back and watched in horror, trying in failed efforts to pull the two apart.
Spot rolled over and climbed on top of Rae, smearing dough in her face. "ha!"
Rae scrambled out from under Spot and grabbed the dough on the table, tossing the dough balls at him.
"Throw your own!" he shouted walking over to her tray smashing them one by one
She grabbed a fistful of hair in her doughy hands and yanked with all her might.
"Oww!" He shouted grabbing at her hand. "Fight fair!" He continued as he yanked a ball of her hair with his fist.
Jack stared. "Stop! You two are ruining all the cookies!" He shouted trying to save the last few dough balls, popping one in his mouth
"STOP NOW!" Cap bellowed from the doorway.
Rae froze and looked at him, gulping. Both boys froze as well, Jack biting his lip and looking down.
Cap walked across the room and sat in one of the chairs at the table. He grabbed Rae and turned her over his knee, giving her three quick swats on the bottom. When he put her back on her feet, she stared at him, her eyes wide in shock. Cap stood and faced the boys, both of them stepping out of his reach. "We don't have money for the three of you to be wasting food like that. If I EVER catch you wasting food again, I will personally make sure that you will not be able to sit for a week." Three little faces stared up at him, utterly floored as he spoke and the force behind his words, their appearances causing him to sigh deeply. He would never intentionally hurt any of them, especially not the two boys. Both had been severely beaten in the past, and there was no way he would sacrifice their trust just because of some cookie dough, despite the cost involved. He shook his head. "Come into the main room and meet the new kid. He's your age. Then I want all three of you to come back in here and clean up this mess. None of you are gonna eat until this kitchen is clean."
Three very sober and filthy children followed him into the main room. A short Italian boy stood by the desk with to Kloppman.
Cap walked over and tapped the boy on the shoulder. "These dough covered creatures are the munchkins I was telling you about." Cap introduced the others to him.
The boy looked up at Cap, but said nothing.
"Boy got a name, Tim?" Kloppman asked.
"He hasn't said a word since I found him, Kloppy. I've been calling him Racetrack, since that's where I found him," Cap answered.
"That works," Kloppman replied, writing in the book on the desk.
"I'll take him upstairs and see if we can find something else that will fit him," Cap said, leading the boy upstairs.
The other three turned to go clean the kitchen.
Rae raced down the stairs in her nightshirt and jumped on Cap's lap. "I'm ready for bed."
He stood and carried her back up the stairs to her room. "We need to talk," he said, pulling the covers up to her shoulders.
"Bout what?"
"About what happened today in the kitchen." He sat next to her.
"It hurt when you hit me..."
"It was supposed to...and I spanked you, there is a difference."
"But why did I get spanked and not Jack and Spot?"
"Rae..." he said with a sigh.
She looked up at him, waiting for him to answer.
"You know that I love you just like you were my own little girl..."
"I am yours Cap..."
"I wish you were, you little imp. I love you like you were mine and I've tried to raise you just like I would my own daughter."
"But why did I get spanked? And what's the difference?"
"I've told you several times not to fight with the boys haven't I?"
She nodded.
"That's why you got spanked." He paused. "Hitting is done in anger. Spot's father used to hit him when he got mad, even though Spot didn't do anything. When someone disobeys over and over again, they need to be spanked to get their attention and correct them. Why did you hit Spot and Jack?"
"Cause I was mad," she whispered after a moment of silence.
"I'm not mad at you, just disappointed in you. I needed some way to get your attention since you wouldn't obey me, so I spanked you."
"It hurt..."
"I didn't spank you that hard..."
"It still hurt!"
Cap shook his head. "Good night, imp."
"Night," she said, snuggling under the covers.
He kissed her forehead and left the room.
"We should teach him about bets..." Spot said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Jack replied.
"He's got to learn," Rae added.
"What should we bet on?" Spot asked.
Race looked on in interest.
"Roosters!" Rae exclaimed.
The three boys looked at her funny.
"Cockfights...two roosters are tossed in a pen and fight until one of them is dead. You bet on which one is gonna win."
"Sounds good to me," Spot said with a shrug.
"Come on," she said, grabbing Race's hand and pulling him down the street. "I know this place that has cockfights in the daytime. I can sneak us in."
Spot ran after them, grinning.
"That sounds wrong..." Jack said. When it was clear they weren't listening to him, he sighed and chased after them.
Once in the old warehouse, they pushed their way to the edge of the pen. "We can't bet with the men, but we can have our own bets." She pulled a penny out of her pocket and set it on the railing. "I'll take the bigger one."
"Me too," Spot said, adding his penny to hers.
Jack sighed deeply and put a penny with the other two. "I'm for the big one too."
Race looked at the two roosters. He pulled his thumb from his mouth and pointed to the smaller rooster. "That."
"The little one?"
Race nodded, putting his thumb back in his mouth.
"I can't believe that the little guy won," Spot said, glaring at the back of Race's head.
Race turned around and glared back at him, clutching the three pennies tightly in his fist.
Spot stalked past them, upset at having lost.
Cap was waiting in the doorway for them. "Where have you been?" he asked them.
"Cockfight," Race said around his thumb.
"A cock fight?"
"Better than me fighting, isn't it?" Rae asked, smiling innocently.
"I oughta..."
"What? Spank the chickens for hurting each other?"
"Smart ass..."
She grinned.
He shook his head. "Kloppy has dinner waiting, get in here and eat..."
The four little newsies sat in front of the fire, playing one winter evening. "Race needs a last name," Jack said. "We all got one."
"You don't," Rae countered. "You borrowed mine..."
"So..." Jack turned to Race. "You want a last name, don't you?"
Race nodded.
Kloppman had a cat that he kept around the place to catch mice. Spot sat nearby playing with one of the kittens, trying to ignore Race. He was still mad about the younger boy winning his money at the cockfight.
"We should pick a bunch of names and let him pick," Rae said.
Jack nodded. "Good idea...what names?"
"Higgins," Spot muttered.
"That's Irish, not Italian..." Rae retorted.
"You wanted last names..." Spot snapped.
She made a face at him and wrote Higgins on the scrap of paper next to the number one. "Cap...what's some Italian last names?"
He thought for a moment. "Moretti, Lombardi, Greco, Esposito, Marino...need anymore?"
"Nope," she said, scratching the names on the scrap of paper. She ran across the room to were the older boys were playing with some dice. She grabbed one and ran back to Race. "Each last name has a number. So roll this and that will be your last name.
He took the die from her and rolled it.
Rae looked at her piece of paper. "Higgins...Racetrack Higgins..."
Spot smirked to himself as he played quietly with the kitten.