I Changed The Rules
By: Stubby the Newsgirl
Chapter Four: The Day After
"Sean, Samuel, Sadie! Time to get up!" Mrs. O'Brien called to her children.
Sadie was the first to get dressed and she groggily went to the washroom, which was shared by the tenants on the fourth floor. Sadie didn't have to wait very long for her turn. When she finished her morning toiletries, she went back to the family's small apartment.
"Good morning, lass," Mr. O'Brien said, giving her a kiss on the forehead as she entered.
"Morning, dad," Sadie said as she sat at the table. She grabbed a piece of toast and poured herself some coffee.
"Sean, Samuel! Get your arses out of bed!" Mrs. O'Brien yelled as she began setting breakfast on the table. Her two older brothers appeared from at the doorway of the room the three O'Brien children shared.
"We're up, we're up," Samuel said tiredly.
"Really, you two act like little boys. Sadie's only 15, and it seems that she's got more maturity than the both of you combined!" Mrs. O'Brien said with a sigh.
Sean was 18 and Samuel was 17. Sadie had two other older brothers, but they were married with families of their own. Sadie was the youngest and she was also the only girl of five children, which was why Sadie had developed such a thick skin.
"Well, Sadie doesn't have to do as much hard labor as we do," Sean said. The two boys worked for a Smithie. Most of their duties like pounding hot metals were exhausting.
"Selling papers is just as good an occupation as any! And at least Sadie doesn't come home drunk every night!" Mrs. O'Brien yelled at her sons.
Sadie ate silently, knowing that it was best not to get into it. Too many Irish tempers going off at one time was more than she could handle.
"Mom, we don't come home drunk!" Sean yelled.
"Sean, don't yell at your mother," Mr. O'Brien said in a warning tone.
"Well, I'm off!" Sadie said drinking the last of her coffee. She got up quickly, grabbed another piece of toast and ran out the door before her family really started to argue.
She made her way to the Distribution, where Poke was waiting for her, with papers in her arms. Unlike Mr. Weisel and the Delancy Brothers, Mr. Donnelly was always punctual. He was always there before the newsies, and they never had to wait too long to buy their papers.
"Morning, Sadie!" Poke said cheerfully.
"Morning," Sadie said with a smile. She walked up to the barred window.
"How many papers?" Mr. Donnelly asked as Sadie took a paper and looked at the headlines.
"The usual," Sadie said, putting down forty cents. The headlines weren't spectacular, but she could improve them. After receiving her papers, she began to walk off.
"Hey, where you going?" Poke called, following her.
"The day is young, the papers are fresh!" Sadie said.
"But aren't you going to wait with me?" Poke asked, looking confused.
"Blink will be coming any minute. I wanna get a head start," Sadie said.
"No, I mean… don't you wanna wait for Swifty?" Poke said with a mischievous grin.
"Not particularly," Sadie said walking away.
"But you're his girl-- I mean, he's your guy," Poke said, correcting herself.
"See ya later," Sadie said walking off, without an explanation.
"But Sadie!" Poke called after her. She began to wonder why her friend was being so elusive, but then she heard the clamor of the newsies, and was distracted by her excitement of seeing Blink.
As Swifty walked toward Distribution, he saw Poke running towards Blink. He couldn't help but notice Skittery's forlorn and watchful eyes.
"Poor guy…" Swifty thought to himself as he scanned around for Sadie. A wave of relief washed over him as he realized she wasn't there. Today was going to be a good day.
He sold his papers with Skittery- who was still silently repressing his love for Poke. Swifty felt awkward. He didn't know how to comfort his friend, so he just continued to try to sell his papers.
Around noon, his stomach began to grumble.
"Um, Skittery?" Swifty said, speaking up.
"Look, I don't want to talk about it!" Skittery said moodily.
"No, I wasn't gonna mention Poke and Blink or anything," Swifty said insensitively.
Skittery glared daggers at his friend for mentioning their names.
"It's just that… it's past noon, and I'm… I'm hungry," Swifty said lamely.
Skittery sighed exasperatedly. "Then why didn't you say so in the first place?" he demanded.
"I--" Swifty tried to explain, but he didn't want Skittery to end up punching him again.
"Come on," Skittery said with a sigh.
The two headed for Tibby's. Right when they rounded the corner, to Swifty's chagrin, there stood Sadie at the entrance.
As much as Sadie didn't like that the other newsies thought she and Swifty were an item, she was not one to pass up a week's worth of free lunch. A deal was a deal. Sadie guessed correctly, sure that Swifty would not be heading to Pete's Tavern. She was certain that he'd to the predictable thing and head to Tibby's in order to avoid her. She didn't mind that he was so embarrassed that people thought they were together. She knew that it was just because he was immature.
"Hey, there fellas," Sadie said casually.
Skittery grunted a "hey." Swifty, on the other hand began to over react.
"What are doing here?!" Swifty asked, sounding alarmed.
"I believe you owe me lunch," Sadie reminded him.
Swifty wondered if he could play stupid. Maybe then, Sadie would leave them alone. He watched her toss her wavy red hair, and thought about the Irish tempers he had encountered before. He decided to play it safe instead.
"I can't wait until this week is over," he mumbled, opening the door and walking in, not bothering to hold it open for either Skittery or Sadie.
After ordering, Swifty couldn't help but feel paranoid.
"What's it going to look like when the other newsies come in and see all three of us sitting here?" Swifty asked worriedly.
"It'll look like we came in here to eat lunch together," Sadie answered.
"But they all think that Skittery's in love with you, what are you gonna say about that?" Swifty reminded her.
"Skittery, do you care what the others think?" Sadie asked.
Skittery shrugged. "I should have told her when I had the chance. That way, I wouldn't be here with you two squawking at each other."
"I'm not squawking!" Swifty squawked as Sadie rolled her eyes at him.