Title: High Times and Hard Times
Author: sabor ice
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but this story is mine. Thanks for past reviews. Please keep them coming.
Chapter Nine
The showhouse was packed from one wall to the other and top to bottom. As far as the eye could see, was nothing but rows and rows of newsies. Every newsie in New York city was there, from Long Island to Queens. Each individual area of the theater was sectioned out just right to ensure that everyone there would have a chance to see and hear everything equally. Letty found herself sitting at a table in front with Sarah. Her friend had been so relieved to see her, she hugged the female newsie for at least five minutes straight. Sarah was dressed in a nicely tailored white dress with a matching hat and gloves. Her hair had been curled neatly by her mother, who had also helped her with her make-up. Personally, Letty thought it was all a little over-the-top for the occasion. The dark-haired girl had been even more suprised to learn her friend had been invited to the rally by the one and only, Jack Kelly. To Letty, the match seemed a bit awkward. Jack was so wild; he was always talking of going to Santa Fe. And, Sarah was so nice and proper. But, to Sarah, it seemed to be a match made in heaven. Letty was happy for her friends nonetheless.
Leaning back in her seat, Letty took a swig of her soda, one of the many compliments of Medda, of course. The eccentric red-head had been more than happy to help support the newsies' rally. She and Jack were old aquaintances apparently. How he ever met someone like her, though, was still a mystery. One thing was for certain, though, their meeting probably had nothing to do with Jack's father (considering he had once said Medda and his father had been aquaintances as well). Letty shook her head to herself and smiled. That Jack Kelly was a real piece of work for a boy naught yet eighteen.
The noise had become considerably louder since Jack, David, and Spot took center stage. Newsies from every corner of the building shouted their approval as the three began their speech. For a moment, a groan of disgust swept across the room as Jack spoke of not soaking scabbers as much anymore. Letty, as well as many others, were interested to know why. Racetrack, who was in the front row near the stage, shouted something that made everyone around him laugh. Soon after, the familiar voice of Kid Blink in the balcony above put in his two cents for the night as well. Letty chuckled, and shook her head again as she finished her drink. When the speech ended, the two strike leaders, Jack and Spot, spat into their palms before shaking hands: the sign of a done-deal. Jack, Spot, and David left the stage. As he walked around her to get to his own seat, Spot messed his fingers through the top of Letty's hair. She shot him a glare as she tried to pat it back down enough to make it look decent. He smirked and shrugged a shoulder as he took a seat between she and Sarah. Jack sat on the other side of his date, while David was nearby speaking to a couple of newsies.
The lights in the room dimmed. In that moment, an uproar of voices belonging to just about every boy in the room was heard. Medda walked into the spot-light. She was dressed in a pink, ruffly dress, that cut-off in the front above her knees. She also had pink tights and matching boots on. She had a broad smile on her face. And, as she began with her opening song, everyone in the room who knew the words began to sing along. Letty rolled her eyes when a few boys in front began acting like cats in heat over Medda, even though she was old enough to be their mother. But, she couldn't expent anything less from them. It was a treat to be able to see a show like this anyway, so Letty was going to enjoy herself.
After a bit, the female newsie almost gave up on trying to see the show anymore. Medda had left the stage and ventured into the audience, now dancing and singing with a few of the other newsies, while they hung on her every word. Letty sighed, then decided to stand on her chair to see what was going on now. It was no surprise to her when she saw that one of the newsies making a fool of himself was Kid Blink. She swore to herself that that boy wouldn't know embarrassment if it slapped him in the face. He was always the life of the party, and never, ever seemed to regret the things he did; he was quite the free spirit.
As she was about to climb down off of her chair, Letty froze in place. Her green eyes locked with those of Warden Snyder's, who was not more than a few rows away now. How did that snake get in here? More importantly, why hadn't anyone said anything the moment he walked in? She watched him as he edged closer; his dark eyes were set on a single target: Jack. Jumping off her chair onto the floor, Letty shook Spot, causing him to spill what was left of his drink all over himself. He cursed under his breath before giving her an irritated look.
"What da hell are ya doin,' Dreamer?" Spot wondered.
"Snyder's here," Letty said.
Spot gave her a puzzled look and gestured to his ear.
"I can't hear you," he replied, for everybody in the room, combined with the music, had grown even louder now.
Letty pulled his arm away from his head as she put her mouth to his ear.
"Snyder's here!" she repeated, then jerked the Brooklyn boy out of his seat, before pointing out the warden in the crowd.
All of a sudden, whistles were heard from all around. The noise in the room died down a moment, as the newsies began to realize they were no longer alone. Snyder was indeed in the room, and he didn't come by himself. Letty's eyes widened as complete chaos commenced. Cops from every direction came pouring into the showhouse. Rows and aisles flooded with people as the newsies began hurriedly dispersing and trying to make their way out of the theater. Some were immediately struck down by clubs and other weapons. Some tripped over one another, and even were stepped on as other boys fled for their lives.
By now, Letty had been seperated from Spot and the others she had been with. Sarah and Les were being ushered up a ramp towards the back of the stage by Jack and David. Everything was happening so quickly, Letty barely had time to think. She jumped to one side as people crashed onto the table she had been standing by. Two cops were trying to beat down on the boy beneath them. Realizing it was Skittery, Letty instinctually went to his aid. She grabbed two pitchers from one of the other nearby tables, and smashed them over the coppers' heads. They rolled onto the ground, stunned, and Skittery was able to wiggle free of their grasps. He nodded his thanks to her, and dove in front of another scabber to intervene him before he was able to get to Letty.
The female newsie between a couple of others who were trying their hardest to bring down a rather fat cop. It was then Letty found herself in a corner. She turned around to try to find another way out, when she was met face-to-face with Morris and Oscar Delancey. She froze in her footsteps, and immediately put her hands up in defense. The brothers exchanged amused glances. Morris had in his hand a kind of belt wrapped around his hand; he obviously had intended for it to act like a whip. The young brother, Oscar, mashed his fist into his right palm as he advanced. Letty frantically looked around for a place to run, but she couldn't move anywhere. She was un-armed and trapped.
"Didn't get enough last time, huh?" Morris asked, his moustached upper lip curling upward a bit as he sneered.
"Get away from me!" Letty exclaimed.
"Now, why would we wanna do that?" Oscar wondered.
"Hey, Delanceys, up here!" a voice called out.
Both Morris and Oscar looked up just in time to see two newsies jumping down off the balcony. They landed flat on their backs with a loud thud, while the two boys moved away. Letty hadn't even noticed Spot and Racetrack for a moment. Her eyes were still glued to the sight of her tormenters, who lay on the ground groaning in agony after each of them had felt the wrath of Spot's cane to their craniums and ribs. Spot whipped around, his free hand pushing his hair back out of his face. His breathing was heavy, and exhaustion was evident in his face.
"Dreamer, wake up!" the Brooklyn leader shouted, then glanced at Racetrack, who was momentarily trying to catch his own breath. "Get 'er outta here, Race! I'll take care of the rest of these dirty, rotten scabbers!"
Not a moment after he spoke his last word, did two cops jump him. Letty felt Racetrack grab onto her hand, as he led her up the ramp that led to the back of the stage. A scabber below reached up and tripped him, before trying to pull him back down into the crowd. Letty grasped onto Racetrack's shirt, trying to pull him back up onto the ramp. Finally, she stamped on the scabber's hand hard. When he released the newsie, Letty helped him to his feet again.
"Come on! We gotta get outta here now!" he said, grabbing onto Letty's arm this time, and urging her to closely follow him.
The two of them found an open window just as they made it back-stage. Racetrack easily hoisted her up, and she crawled through the window. She reached her hand back down inside. He grabbed onto it, and supported part of his weight as Letty helped pull him through the opening as well. Once outside, the two of them fled down the street, not stopping until they reached the lodge house...
Later that night...
Letty hadn't slept a wink the entire night. Mostly she had laid in bed, just thinking about the events that had just occured a few hours past. She sighed deeply as she sat up and glanced around at the many empty beds. Alot of newsies hadn't come back from the break-up at the rally. Spot, Jack, Snitch, Bumlets, and Kid Blink were among the missing. A select few had managed to escape. Racetrack, Mush, Skittery, and Snipeshooter were among them, and they all were fast asleep by now. The missing were probably in one of two places, jail or the Refuge. Since the Refuge was basically like a jail for kids anyway, there really wasn't much of a difference between the two.
The night had been a disaster, and worst of all, she had almost nearly been attacked by the Delancey brothers again. She sighed again as she got out of the bed that Ten-Pin usually occupied when he was around. Since the young boy had been at the Refuge, Letty had been using his bed. She quietly walked past the others to reach the washroom. She silently closed the curtain that seperated the rooms, so not to disturb the others as she lit one of the lamps. She found a bathing tub near the sinks; she lifted it and moved it to a patch of floor near a pump. Rolling up her sleeves, the girl then proceeded in filling the tub with water. After that was done, she stripped off her clothes, which she had neglected to remove earlier before laying in bed. Lastly her long underwear came off as well. She dropped them in a pile on the floor, before stepping into the tub of water. She didn't care it was ice cold. She didn't care about anything right now. She brought her slender legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Quietly, Letty began crying into her lap, as she tried to let the water wash away the sins in which she had allowed to be committed upon her only a couple of days ago...
Racetrack groaned as he turned over onto his right side. He yawned and rubbed a hand over his face, wincing slightly as he forgot to mind a tender area on his cheek. Wearily, he opened his dark eyes. He saw a faint light coming from the other half of the room. Someone was in the washroom all ready, even though it was still dark outside. He sighed as he moved out of his bed. He yawned again as he pulled up his suspenders over his long underwear.
"Tell whoeva's in da washroom no first dibs," grumbled Snipeshooter, who was one bunk over.
Racetrack rolled his eyes slightly, watching as the younger boy fell right back asleep again. The newsie made his way to the doorway, and slowly pulled open the curtain somewhat. The light in the room momentarily blinded him, (even though it was only light from a lantern), as he stepped inside the wash area and closed the curtain behind him again. The first thing he noticed was the brown hair.
"Dreamer, what are you - " he began, taking a few steps closer.
Once his eyes focused, Racetrack was in shock at what he saw. He could only see part of the girl's back from where she sat in the tub, but it was enough; she had scratch marks and bruises everywhere. Whomever had done this to her, hadn't just picked a regular fight. Letty didn't speak nor move, thought she was aware of the boy behind her. She had stopped caring in those moments.
Racetrack retrieved an over-sized towel from a rack on the wall. Coming up behind her, he stopped a few inches away and held the peach-colored towel out in front of him. He averted his gaze.
"Come on, kid," he said, gently. "I can hear ya shiverring from here. Let's get you outta der."
A few silent moments passed. Letty finally decided to oblige him. As she stood, he immediately wrapped the towel around her. She was so small compared to it that it almost wrapped around her twice. He let her hold it to herself, and his hands rested lightly on her shoulders to guide her as she stepped from the tub. Letty kept her head low, her slightly damp hair cascading around her face. Racetrack opened the door to one of the stalls for her to step into. He retrieved her clothing and brought it over to her. She stood there, dazed and still not doing anything. Upon closer examination of her clothing, Racetrack found that the shirt and pants were pretty soiled and ripped in some places. Her long underwear wasn't much better. Still, she couldn't just stand there in only a towel all night.
"Wait here," the dark-haired boy told her.
He went back into the other room for a few minutes. He returned with a fresh pair of long underwear. He presented it to her.
"It's Snitch's spare pair. I's just guessed you twos got about the same build. And, he's not here now to claim 'em anyway," Racetrack explained, concern etching his features as he watched her. "Come on, Dreamer, just put 'em on, before yous get sick."
Once she was fully inside the stall, he closed the door to give her privacy. When she re-emerged, she was wearing the underwear he had given her. It fit her almost perfectly, too. The dark-haired boy reached around her and picked the towel up off the floor. He placed it over her head and used it to dry her hair, before dropping it aside. He pushed the brown strands back out of her face, his hands momentarily resting on her shoulders then.
"Come on, talk to me," he said. "Please."
Letty finally raised her green gaze to meet his. Tears visibly stung the corners of her eyes now, but she willed herself not to start crying aloud again. Racetrack still didn't understand, but he wasn't going to force her to talk. Whatever ailed her, it must have been bad.
The two of them left the wash area together. He began walking her back, when to his surprise, Letty crawled into his bed instead of her own. He just stood there a few moments in debate with himself. He wasn't going to push her out and tell her to get lost, that was for sure. Moving around to the other side of the bunk, he climbed into the bed next to her. It was a tight squeeze, but both of them just managed to fit. Letty moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his arm. Racetrack watched her a few moments as she closed her eyes. He wrapped an arm around her, and rested his chin against the top of her head, before closing his eyes, too.
Meanwhile, a couple of bunks over, Mush was wide-awake. He had watched the two come from the washroom and climb into bed together. His jaw visibly tensed as he watched them close their eyes to sleep. Racetrack's arm was around her; her head was rested against him. Anger and jealously rose within him. How could one of his best friends be moving in on his girl like that in front of him?! He snorted quietly, before turning over onto his other side to go back to sleep.
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So...is anyone reading this story still? Do you love it? Hate it? Please let me know...
