K, its Mids. I want to thank BlinkNMiss (or something like that) for reviewing, you seriously made my day. K folks, im off to Tennessee tomorrow, so this is it for about a week, unless knucklepuck wants to help me out…ENJOY…AND REVIEW!
"C'mon!" Jack yelled from the front of the pack. The Manhattan newsies were heading back to Manhattan. We girls were still standing in the doorway of the Brooklyn Lodging House, saying our goodbyes to Patch and Seal and Fists, who had promised to come visit us in 'Hattan. We shook with Spot and turned to leave.
"Wait." A voice behind us called. A few of the boys who had seemed particularly resentful of us when we arrived stepped forward, being pushed by Seal and another large boy who had been in the refuge.
"We, uh, just wanted to thank you. And apologize…" The little ringleader mumbled. I grinned and stuck out my hand.
"And you are?" I asked him.
"Pain." He answered. I laughed and spit in my hand.
"Midway. And this is Guillotine and Edge." He spit in his hand and we shook. As we walked away, they looked slightly less resentful. Progress.
As we trotted to keep up with the fast paced boys, we chatted about what we had to face next. The wrath of Nancy and Mrs. Larson.
"Do we really have to go back?" Edge asked. "I hate it there."
"We all do, but it's our only option." Guil sighed. I nodded glumly. Nancy was sure to make our lives a living hell. Not that it was a contrast to our normal lives.
"Yea, well, I've had just about enough of them."
We caught up to the boys and fell into step, chatting about headlines and Medda's party, which was tonight. We were going straight there. We had to return her stuff anyway. I wondered how I was going to explain the ruined corset.
Edge started talking with Blink about some fight he had gotten into and Guil was talking poker strategy with Race. Mush bounded over to me.
"Hey, I know I acted like a bone head the other day, not recognizing you and all. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. But man, you should have seen yourself! If I'd had know it was you, I would a been on the ground rolling around." He roared with laughter, until I elbowed him in the kidney. He just chuckled and kept chatting. His good moods were almost impossible to destroy.
When we finally reached Manhattan again, Edge, Guil and I departed the boys and slipped into Medda's. Finding her backstage, we returned her clothes and went into the detailed story of our amazing feat while she put away her things. She paused as she examined my borrowed corset.
"So, this guy comes at my with this club, and Guil comes outta nowhere and whacks him over the head with this pole and-." Edge exclaimed.
"Sorry dear," Medda interrupted, "But Midway, what happened to your corset?" She held up the corset so we could see the shredded front. I shrugged.
"I got frustrated." Medda shook her head and Edge continued her story.
Finally, around seven o'clock, we headed out to the main room to wait for the party to start. Medda was on stage, rehearsing her dance number. Guil, Edge and I were sitting in the audience, talking quietly and watching, slightly disgusted and slightly impressed. We hated the whole 'feminine' 'show way too much skin' thing, but were awed by her grace and charm. I felt a little jealous as I watched her, but knew I would never be able to do something like that. Even though we disagreed with her profession, we loved her to death. She was the only mother figure we ever had. I finished a glass of some strong smelling liquid that tasted good. Medda had called it 'pop', and it was delicious. I felt lighter with every sip.
She finished her song and came over to us, slightly breathless.
"Well girls, the party should start in a few minutes. People have already started arriving. I have to go backstage, but enjoy yourselves." She turned to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot, your friend…Nancy, I think it was, came looking for you. I told her where you were and invited her to the party tonight. She seemed very sweet. Tell her hello for me, will you?" And she bustled away while we stood there in horror. Nancy. Crashing our party. Great.
"Oi vey!" Guil muttered. Edge just looked angry. Her eye started twitching. I laughed.
"Well, I'm not gonna let some prissy little joke of a human being get me down tonight." I stated enthusiastically. Guil glared at me.
"This from the girl who was so moody today, we thought we would have to drag her here?" She asked.
"You try talking to Mush Meyer's for an hour or two and see if you can stay in a bad mood. I swear that boy is too jolly for his own good." I said seriously, then skipped away to greet some incoming newsies. Guil just rolled her eyes and Edge kept eye-twitching.
"Heya boys! Come on in. Take a seat, grab a drink, find a girl to dance with!" I greeted them all excitedly. Jack came in, looking surprised at my happiness.
"Hey Jack! Long time no see, huh?" I joked. He looked at me curiously.
"Are you drunk?" I laughed and slapped his back. "Course not." He nodded skeptically, and moved away.
"Well, well, well. What have we here? Somebody's in trouble." An obnoxious voice from behind me taunted. I turned and beamed at Nancy, my least favorite person in the world. She looked highly disconcerted.
"Hello Nancy. I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine." I grabbed a passing Mush by the collar and yanked him towards us. "Nancy, this is Mush. Mush, this is Nancy. Enjoy yourselves." Nancy instantly became smitten with Mush's good looks and sighed deeply. I gave Mush a desperate look, and he silently agreed to entertain my enemy for a short period of time. I hugged him tightly, thanking him for his agreement, and skipped away. Wow, was I drunk? I wasn't normally so…you know…out there.
I got myself another glass of 'pop' and downed it quickly. Damn it was good.
Ok, now I was feeling a little tipsy. I staggered over to Edge and grabbed onto her for support. Her surprised look quickly changed to worried.
"Are you okay?" She asked. I shrugged and passed out. Like I was explaining the whole thing to her. Huh, fat chance.
