I was walking over toward my lunch meeting with the Fischers. I'd been selling well and only had a few left as I crossed Prospect Park. I wasn't really paying much attention when a flash of red caught my eye. Red was talking to a dame and rubbing her arm. She had her back to me, but I could tell she was only about fifteen. I was about to continue when I saw him move to pull her behind a tree. No way, pal. Nobody does that to a lady that young—especially not one of my newsies. I came up to them quickly.
"Just what are you doing with the lady, Red?" I asked, and his eyes snapped up to mine.
"Spot! It was just a joke on the lady's friends. I wasn't gonna—" he started, but she interrupted him.
"Spot," she said turning to face me, and I thought my eyes were going to bulge out of my head. Katja! He was about to pull my Katja behind a tree? Oh, hell no. She took a step back, stumbling into Red as I blurted out her name in surprise.
Oh, Red knew he was in trouble! He caught Katja before she could fall, but I saw how quickly he moved his hands off her as he took a step back.
"Spot, I swear I didn't—"
She interrupted him again. "Spot, is this a friend of yours?"
"Not if I saw what I think I did," I said in a tone that let Red know he was in BIG trouble.
"No, no. He didn't do anything. It was a joke," she said. She was mumbling into the ground again. Damn. And here I thought we'd made progress. She looked scared. That's no good. She shouldn't be afraid.
"You—over there," I gestured to Red, and he backed away. I needed her to feel comfortable telling me the truth. "Katja," I said to her, and she actually looked at me. "What did he do?" I looked at her, trying to figure out if she was covering for him or if she seemed upset.
"Nothing, honest! My friend dragged him over as a prank on me, and he suggested turning tables on them. He was actually really sweet about it. He did nothing wrong." She seemed sincere and suddenly much more like herself. I looked at her for another moment.
"Cat, you sure you ain't covering for him?" I asked. She had been so nervous, and I had to be sure it wasn't because she was intimidated by Red.
"No, I'm not. See, my friends are over there, and he asked my permission before touching me at all," she said, and I relented. Good. He'd better ask. I saw Katja's friends about thirty yards away and realized she was the one using Red to have a go at them. Good girl! I loved that she was being open enough to let Red join the fun. "Call Red over. We can really give them a show," she added.
I had to laugh at that. My shy Katja wanted to give them a show, eh? I could do that.
"Well, let's give them a show, then," I said. I put my hand possessively on her arm and gestured mildly with my head for Red to come closer. He knew to do as he was told.
"We'se givin' the lady's friends a bit of a show," I said quietly to him, a bit of a smirk on my face. I rubbed Katja's arm, surprised by how much I enjoyed the contact. "Play along and I might let you live through the night. Now, give me a dirty look and pull my arm off of her." Red took a deep breath and met my gaze. I think he was checking to see if I was serious. I winked at him, and he smothered a return grin, then scowled at me and pulled my arm off as I gave Katja her instructions. I felt her hand give me a shove, and then she was gone. Red and I looked at each other in mock bewilderment before heading our separate ways.
As soon as the girls were gone, I doubled back to catch up with Red.
"Honest, Spot, her friends really did drag me over," he said as I walked up. I laughed at his nervousness.
"She told me," I assured him.
"You know her?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Been sellin' to her pop for years. They have lunch together every day. Got to talking to 'em both last spring. Nice folks."
"She's shy," Red observed.
"We've been workin' on that. One of the reasons I was so angry for what I thought I saw. Good one, though—you even had me going!" I punched him lightly in the arm, and he grinned. Then his face grew serious as he told me about an incident that morning with Roller. Damn. Poor kid was getting picked on everywhere, and I had just started allowing him to sell on his own again since the incident with Hide.
"Kid was smart, though," Red said. "He was quick on his feet and knew to find me. Stood his ground once I was there, too." I nodded, then sighed. I needed to nip this in the bud. Nobody picked on my newsies. I resolved to hunt these boys down and give them a small thrashing in the coming days.
