Graaah, I'm sorry, I haven't updated in a long, long time, please don't eat
my face or anything! Waah! ! For all those of you who are still
reading, I apologize once more for my lateness.
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The walk home was short and quiet; no one really wanted to talk, least of all me. I let David and Jack get ahead of me by a few steps, and I watched them.
I'd wondered how I could have missed it before. How could I have missed that easy familiarity? How many other boys could share one coat that way, in such a comfortable silence; one where nothing need be said if it couldn't be expressed in the simple joining of hands. Their breath floated up in a single billowing cloud of steam, rising up into the dim streetlamp's glow before it dispersed.
They really are cute together, I thought. I was still a little mad, but really there wasn't anything I could do about it. Besides, I'll admit I'm a sucker for romance, and my brother's love life is as good a story as any.
My thoughts strayed to Cody as I looked at them. She was Jack's height, if not taller, and that dirty brown overcoat of hers was plenty big enough for me to snuggle in if she didn't mind being close. As I thought more about it, the idea of really being with Cody didn't upset me so much. It stopped being sick and wrong and started being... nice. Looking back I probably came to terms with all this more quickly than I should like to admit, but I didn't feel uncomfortable, so I didn't give it much thought. As I watched Jack and David walking down the sidewalk, wrapped up in each other's warmth, I found myself feeling a little bit envious. After all, they were going to share David's bed like they always did when Jack spent the night, and they would end up wrapped around each other, David sprawled across Jack's chest with a little puddle of drool under his chin (and on Jack's shirt pocket).
And, lucky girl that I am, Les would snuggle up with me and put his cold feet on my back and babble in his sleep. Joy of joys.
When we finally made it home, Mother welcomed us with hot tea and fresh Italian bread, and Father grinned up at his from his late dinner. "I've heard you've been busy today, haven't you?" he laughed. "What's this your mother's telling me about you boys going on a trip this weekend?"
"Well," David began. "The coal miners upstate.... they don't get any benefits and the work is really hard and dangerous, so they sent one of the miners to come ask for help, since we instigated the Newsies' strike... We're going up to talk to them and help them organize their demands."
Papa looked at David carefully for a minute. I guess David must have thought it meant that Papa didn't approve, so he continued. "They've got little boys and girls in those mines, Papa, some even younger than Les, and they're getting seriously hurt..." he said plaintively. "People get killed from poisonous gases in the ground, and tunnels collapsing, and all sorts of horrible accidents..... they asked for our help, Papa, we can't just ignore them!"
Jack nodded. "The chick dey sent to talk to us said her boss died in one of da tunnels, Mr. Jacobs... I got enough money left over from Pulitzer for a train ticket an' she said we'd be... ah..." He poked David. "What's the woid?"
"... Compensated?"
"Yeah, we'd be comenstruated when we got there."
Mother and I laughed a bit at Jack, but Papa just looked sternly at David. "I won't have you missing school for this, young man," he said simply.
"We won't. The train leaves Friday afternoon, we'd be back by suppertime on Sunday. I promise!"
They hashed over the details, but I was only half-listening. It didn't concern me, after all, so I set about washing dishes and the menial chores I've grown accustomed to doing. The lamps had plenty of oil and the flames made the shadows dance. I felt warm and safe here; Papa was eating his supper, Mother was pouring a second round of tea. Jack and David were talking, Les was stuffing a piece of bread the size of his face into his mouth. It was home, and it was good. Papa joined in the discussion at some point, but by then I was putting dry dishes away. It wasn't until Mother spoke up that I tuned into the conversation.
"Why don't you take your sister with you, David?"
My lungs shrank. What? I couldn't go with them! I wasn't a Newsie, never had been. I hadn't been involved in the strike, I didn't march up to Pulitzer's office and throw statistics, percentages, and a city's worth of enraged youth labor in his face. I just helped print the fliers. I looked at Mother like she was mad. "W-what? I can't go, what would I do there? I'd only get in the way..."
"Nonsense," Mother said. "Lots of little ones work in those holes, Sarah, they need a motherly influence. You'll be good for their morale."
David pondered that and looked at me. "She's right, you know. It's a harsh world down there.. the younger newsies love you, Sarah, it'd be good for the younger miners to have a Big Sister Sarah to look out for them. Jack and Cody and I are going to have to talk to their foremen for awhile and it'd be best if the little kids had someone to keep them out of trouble."
"And they'll be more confident if they got a mom to look afta dem," Jack agreed. "Afta all, mudda knows best, right? And I bet Cody'll need some help down there, won't she?" he smirked with a little flash of teeth and a slant in his voice that told me exactly how impressed with himself he was. I could have said something, but I didn't, because it would be incriminating for us both. Nonetheless, I think he understood my sudden desire to accidentally spill that hot tea onto his crotch.
Instead, I politely protested (not too hard, mind you, because it would mean more time to reconcile with Cody) until I was convinced to go. My father insisted that I go, saying that it was my job to keep David out of unnecessary trouble and to make sure Jack occasionally took his head out of his butt and/or the clouds, whichever it was nesting in at the time. Jack did not find this amusing.
David did.
Soon, Les was fast asleep, and Jack and David were standing on the fire escape, quietly talking by themselves. I was finishing up the last of the kitchen chores and thinking to myself. I don't think I realized it at that point, but everything seemed so... so stable, so natural then. I've read novels where they describe a comfortable, deja-vu sort of feeling, where you feel as though your situation is exactly as it should be, and has been, even if the situation is completely new to you.
I smiled. Maybe it had always been like this and I had never really noticed before. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of our family and our house. Les' gentle, rhythmic breathing, the sounds of the fire crackling in the stove. Jack and David had wrapped themselves in a blanket and each other while they stood outside; I could hear it flapping against the window in the light winter breeze. I couldn't believe they were out in that awful, freezing weather, so I insisted that they come in before they caught their death. Jack held the window open for David as he climbed in, shivering and wiping snow off his hair.
"It's past time to get to bed anyway, you two. We've got a big day tomorrow and you need your sleep." I gave them each a cup of cocoa before I went into the other room to change into my nightgown. When I came back, they were both under the blankets, bundled in each other's arms; David was smiling, but Jack looked a bit more serious than I was used to seeing.
I waited until I heard the familiar, steady rise and fall of David's breath before I asked, "Jack? Are you all right?"
"Yeah..." he said softly, gently stroking David's hair. "I was thinkin'.... it's warm an' all here.. an' I'm glad.. I got food in my stomach and I ain't gonna wake up shiverin' in the middle of the night, just in time to crowd around a candle with six otha' guys... but still, I know th' otha guys is still cold, y'know?.. Things're great now, but... not everybody's got it so good." He looked at David's sleeping face as it lay on his chest, a wash of guilt suffusing his face.
I didn't know what to say to that. It was just as well, I suppose, because Jack dropped off to sleep shortly afterward. However, what he said stayed with me. There were other, poorer children out there freezing in the street. As I watched Jack and David sleeping peacefully nestled against each other, I began to think of Cody. I wondered if she was warm enough somewhere.
But, as I fell asleep, I somehow couldn't shake off the horrible image of her wrapped in that hideous coat, warming her hands on the lit end of a short, dying cigarette.
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The walk home was short and quiet; no one really wanted to talk, least of all me. I let David and Jack get ahead of me by a few steps, and I watched them.
I'd wondered how I could have missed it before. How could I have missed that easy familiarity? How many other boys could share one coat that way, in such a comfortable silence; one where nothing need be said if it couldn't be expressed in the simple joining of hands. Their breath floated up in a single billowing cloud of steam, rising up into the dim streetlamp's glow before it dispersed.
They really are cute together, I thought. I was still a little mad, but really there wasn't anything I could do about it. Besides, I'll admit I'm a sucker for romance, and my brother's love life is as good a story as any.
My thoughts strayed to Cody as I looked at them. She was Jack's height, if not taller, and that dirty brown overcoat of hers was plenty big enough for me to snuggle in if she didn't mind being close. As I thought more about it, the idea of really being with Cody didn't upset me so much. It stopped being sick and wrong and started being... nice. Looking back I probably came to terms with all this more quickly than I should like to admit, but I didn't feel uncomfortable, so I didn't give it much thought. As I watched Jack and David walking down the sidewalk, wrapped up in each other's warmth, I found myself feeling a little bit envious. After all, they were going to share David's bed like they always did when Jack spent the night, and they would end up wrapped around each other, David sprawled across Jack's chest with a little puddle of drool under his chin (and on Jack's shirt pocket).
And, lucky girl that I am, Les would snuggle up with me and put his cold feet on my back and babble in his sleep. Joy of joys.
When we finally made it home, Mother welcomed us with hot tea and fresh Italian bread, and Father grinned up at his from his late dinner. "I've heard you've been busy today, haven't you?" he laughed. "What's this your mother's telling me about you boys going on a trip this weekend?"
"Well," David began. "The coal miners upstate.... they don't get any benefits and the work is really hard and dangerous, so they sent one of the miners to come ask for help, since we instigated the Newsies' strike... We're going up to talk to them and help them organize their demands."
Papa looked at David carefully for a minute. I guess David must have thought it meant that Papa didn't approve, so he continued. "They've got little boys and girls in those mines, Papa, some even younger than Les, and they're getting seriously hurt..." he said plaintively. "People get killed from poisonous gases in the ground, and tunnels collapsing, and all sorts of horrible accidents..... they asked for our help, Papa, we can't just ignore them!"
Jack nodded. "The chick dey sent to talk to us said her boss died in one of da tunnels, Mr. Jacobs... I got enough money left over from Pulitzer for a train ticket an' she said we'd be... ah..." He poked David. "What's the woid?"
"... Compensated?"
"Yeah, we'd be comenstruated when we got there."
Mother and I laughed a bit at Jack, but Papa just looked sternly at David. "I won't have you missing school for this, young man," he said simply.
"We won't. The train leaves Friday afternoon, we'd be back by suppertime on Sunday. I promise!"
They hashed over the details, but I was only half-listening. It didn't concern me, after all, so I set about washing dishes and the menial chores I've grown accustomed to doing. The lamps had plenty of oil and the flames made the shadows dance. I felt warm and safe here; Papa was eating his supper, Mother was pouring a second round of tea. Jack and David were talking, Les was stuffing a piece of bread the size of his face into his mouth. It was home, and it was good. Papa joined in the discussion at some point, but by then I was putting dry dishes away. It wasn't until Mother spoke up that I tuned into the conversation.
"Why don't you take your sister with you, David?"
My lungs shrank. What? I couldn't go with them! I wasn't a Newsie, never had been. I hadn't been involved in the strike, I didn't march up to Pulitzer's office and throw statistics, percentages, and a city's worth of enraged youth labor in his face. I just helped print the fliers. I looked at Mother like she was mad. "W-what? I can't go, what would I do there? I'd only get in the way..."
"Nonsense," Mother said. "Lots of little ones work in those holes, Sarah, they need a motherly influence. You'll be good for their morale."
David pondered that and looked at me. "She's right, you know. It's a harsh world down there.. the younger newsies love you, Sarah, it'd be good for the younger miners to have a Big Sister Sarah to look out for them. Jack and Cody and I are going to have to talk to their foremen for awhile and it'd be best if the little kids had someone to keep them out of trouble."
"And they'll be more confident if they got a mom to look afta dem," Jack agreed. "Afta all, mudda knows best, right? And I bet Cody'll need some help down there, won't she?" he smirked with a little flash of teeth and a slant in his voice that told me exactly how impressed with himself he was. I could have said something, but I didn't, because it would be incriminating for us both. Nonetheless, I think he understood my sudden desire to accidentally spill that hot tea onto his crotch.
Instead, I politely protested (not too hard, mind you, because it would mean more time to reconcile with Cody) until I was convinced to go. My father insisted that I go, saying that it was my job to keep David out of unnecessary trouble and to make sure Jack occasionally took his head out of his butt and/or the clouds, whichever it was nesting in at the time. Jack did not find this amusing.
David did.
Soon, Les was fast asleep, and Jack and David were standing on the fire escape, quietly talking by themselves. I was finishing up the last of the kitchen chores and thinking to myself. I don't think I realized it at that point, but everything seemed so... so stable, so natural then. I've read novels where they describe a comfortable, deja-vu sort of feeling, where you feel as though your situation is exactly as it should be, and has been, even if the situation is completely new to you.
I smiled. Maybe it had always been like this and I had never really noticed before. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of our family and our house. Les' gentle, rhythmic breathing, the sounds of the fire crackling in the stove. Jack and David had wrapped themselves in a blanket and each other while they stood outside; I could hear it flapping against the window in the light winter breeze. I couldn't believe they were out in that awful, freezing weather, so I insisted that they come in before they caught their death. Jack held the window open for David as he climbed in, shivering and wiping snow off his hair.
"It's past time to get to bed anyway, you two. We've got a big day tomorrow and you need your sleep." I gave them each a cup of cocoa before I went into the other room to change into my nightgown. When I came back, they were both under the blankets, bundled in each other's arms; David was smiling, but Jack looked a bit more serious than I was used to seeing.
I waited until I heard the familiar, steady rise and fall of David's breath before I asked, "Jack? Are you all right?"
"Yeah..." he said softly, gently stroking David's hair. "I was thinkin'.... it's warm an' all here.. an' I'm glad.. I got food in my stomach and I ain't gonna wake up shiverin' in the middle of the night, just in time to crowd around a candle with six otha' guys... but still, I know th' otha guys is still cold, y'know?.. Things're great now, but... not everybody's got it so good." He looked at David's sleeping face as it lay on his chest, a wash of guilt suffusing his face.
I didn't know what to say to that. It was just as well, I suppose, because Jack dropped off to sleep shortly afterward. However, what he said stayed with me. There were other, poorer children out there freezing in the street. As I watched Jack and David sleeping peacefully nestled against each other, I began to think of Cody. I wondered if she was warm enough somewhere.
But, as I fell asleep, I somehow couldn't shake off the horrible image of her wrapped in that hideous coat, warming her hands on the lit end of a short, dying cigarette.