Chapter 10:
Newsiegoil: Thank you! I appreciate it!
Here's the next chapter...better than the last (hopefully, because I hated chapter 9).
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Tony and Joey spent the rest of the afternoon with the former newsies. They spent it in the Jacob's household, which made Tony immensely uncomfortable. He was in the home of the man he helped kill. Jack eyed him all evening, making him feel as if he knew.
When the day was nearing an end, Tony bid goodbye to his old friends and left with Mush, Boots, and Joey to a bar in the next town over. Apparently it was the right night to come, because the owners hired a dancer for the night. She was on vacation, but they "borrowed" her for the night. Her real job was at a Burlesque theatre in New York. She danced on the bar and tables and sang sultry songs. Man whistled and made cat calls, but Joey, now Joey...he was a charmer. He knew how to treat a woman right. He took her hand and helped her down from a table. She smiled sweetly, and Tony realized how young she looked under all that make-up. She couldn't have been more than nineteen. She was still so young. She should be at home with her family.
Still, she was a good dancer. She toyed with the men's collars, kicked her legs high, caressed their cheeks, but always came back to Joey. She seemed to like him. She had an evil, yet sexy look in her eyes that made men think that they had a chance. She was a performer. Deep down, they knew that they had no chance what-so-ever. When her act was done she took a bow, then wove through the crowed of lustful men. Some men hit her behind or stole a peck on the cheek. She would smirk or grin, before running to the backroom. Joey took one look at Tony before disappearing into the crowd of cheering men, into a certain backroom. Tony smiled back, knowing what he was about to do...or get. He laughed and turned back to the friends he was sitting with.
"You're living a life of sin, Race," said Mush.
"Hey, you came to the bah wit' me," he shot back. "Besides, it isn't like you haven't seen me in da papahs. I've been in all a 'em. I'm famous. I just grew a stubble, that's all. Begin to grow a beard, and presto! You're an outlaw."
"You're going to kill yourself," Boots worried. Tony shook his head.
"I'm not little Racetrack Higgins anymoah. I'm a grown man. I will accept my punishments when it is time to serve them."
After a moment of silence, Race grinned and took out a pack of cards.
"I never come unprepared," he replied. The other boys laughed and waited for their cards to be delt to them.
Within an hour, Mush was already drunk. Boots was a little tipsy, but was still able to hold his own. Race was surprisingly still sober. He didn't seem too thirsty tonight. This was okay, because a moment later, Joey burst in, holding a gun, and the hand of the dancer.
"He's here! He knows you're here! I'll explain everything later, we must go! Now Tony! Forget your cards! RUUUUUN!"
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And they ran. Joey and Anthony ran out of the bar at top speed, with the temptress following close behind in her nighty. Mush and Boots stayed behind, prepared to cover for their old friend. That's what friends do, after all, right? Right, and Boots and Mush were good friends. However, Race wasn't much of one, anymore.
They would find that out very soon...
...You see, Tony and Joey weren't just mobsters. They were con-artists. I know, this story is getting a little wild, but it isn't, after all, any different from what Tony did as a child with his friends. They swindled many customers out of their money.
The dancer thing? That was just an act. It was planned. The dancer's name was Jasmine. She was a Hungarian gypsy. She belonged to no one but herself. She was, maybe what you would call, a bohemian. But she met the boys when they came to a gypsy camp to get their palms read. She did read their palms.
"Oh, Mr. Higgins...your going to meet a beautiful young girl. She will be strange and naive. Oh, you don't like her very much. She's a con," she said.
"A what?" asked Joey, who was standing in the corner of the tent.
"A con. Artist. A con-artist. She will swindle you both out of your money," she explained.
And she did. Since then, if they ran into each other, they would cook up an act so they can swindle money out of people's pockets, wallets, and purses. Its true, she was currently working at burlesque, but she learned of the Jacobs murder and how Diaz was involved. Tony told her a lot about his past, but not how closely related Mr. Jacobs was to his past and his former friends. She wrote to him to ask if he will be with Diaz. He wrote back saying he wouldn't be, for he knew not where he was, but he would be at Jacobs's funeral. He told her to meet him at a certain bar. He needed money and he had a plan to get it.
They met at a bar before the funeral and got the bar owner to hire her for the night. As she danced closely to various men that night, she would pick up their wallets, or money out of their pockets. When she and Joey disappeared into that room, they were packing various wallets into a suitcase. The whole thing with the gun? That was an act, too.
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They got lots of money that night. They divided it up evenly between them. Tony got 230 dollars, Joey got 230 dollars, and Jasmine got all the rest. 230 dollars, plus the pocket change. They celebrated at the hotel, with champaign and wine. A lot of kisses were exchanged between Jasmine and Joey.
"The look on your friends' faces when they saw me with the gun! It was bloody brilliant! Brilliant!" Joey shouted the last "brilliant" outside the window, above the balcony, overlooking the town. Tony laughed, remembering their faces. He was pure evil...and let me tell you, he didn't hate it.
"Lets make love!" Joey shouted across the small room to Jasmine.
"What makes you think I would do that with you! You tried a thousand times before and it hasn't worked. It won't work now," she laughed. Tony smiled, and quietly slipped away, and let the lovers play their game. It wasn't long before he heard lots of giggling. Tony was happy for them and slipped out the window to escape from the thin walls and left them to their privacy. He climbed down the ladder below the balcony, which stopped ten feet above the ground. He leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette to light.
"There he is!" he heard someone shout. He turned and looked to his right and saw Diaz's right hand man, along with a few of the other guys. Tony stayed where he was until he realized who was with the other men. Police. Diaz's right hand man already betrayed him to save himself (silly mistake). Tony ran down the street as fast as he could, rounding every corner he came to, until he thought he could run no more. He lost sight of them, but that meant nothing. He found an open door and slipped inside and walked up the stairs. The stairs stopped in front of a door, which he opened and there was a hallway. He knocked on the last door in the hallway. A young woman opened the door. He grabbed the woman by the arms and said insistently," Please, Miss, you must hide me. I'm in trouble, but I promise I won't get you in any. Just hide me."
The woman said nothing, but took him in and walked him through her sitting room to a large wardrobe in her bedroom. The wardrobe was empty.
"Hide in here," she said. He nodded and stepped in. His legs were so shaky, he slid down to the floor of the wardrobe. "Are you alright?"
But before he could answer the young girl, there was a knock at the door. He motioned with his head for her to go answer it, thinking, in his head, that this beautiful young girl was familiar looking. She nodded and closed the wardrobe door, after whispering that she will be back with water soon enough.
He listened as the door was opened. The new voice coming in was a kind one. It was a man's voice, but it didn't sound harsh like a cop's would. It sounded loving, the way a husband's would. The voices were suddenly coming closer, until he was able to hear the words clearly.
"He said he was in trouble. I hid him in here. He looks exhausted. You check on him while I get him water," said the young girl. It was a moment before the door was opened.
"I thought it would be you. I don't know why,"said the voice, a little too bitterly for Tony's liking. Then, Anthony was lifted to his feet, but he found he couldn't stand without the support of this man's arms. These weren't comforting arms, though. They were strong, forceful, mad arms. "I feel bad that you have troubles, Anthony, but don't bring them to my house. At least do me that favor."
Then Tony was thrown to the floor. This was when the young woman came back in and Tony's eyes still refused to look up.
"Ryan! Don't you see how weak he already is? Why did you do that? What's wrong with you!"
"Do you know who that man is, Meg?" he asked, harshly. "That is the famous outlaw, Tony Higgins."
There was a moment of painful silence before there was a response.
"While I don't care if he's Judas Iscariot. It's the right thing to do. Jesus told us that he wants us to take care of people in need, and that's what we should do. Now, help me get him onto the bed."
Tony could hear the shuffle of foot steps coming toward him, before his shoulders were lifted up and he was raised onto a soft mattress. He heard the glass of water being placed on a night stand beside him. A cloth was soon placed upon his sweaty brow. Tony let out a raspy cough. He never ran that hard in his life, and he wasn't in enough shape to do so. He wasn't fat or anything, but he wasn't used to hard work or exercise anymore. He was a different man. His closest friends were the first to realize that when he stepped foot in that graveyard earlier that day. Francis and Ryan Sullivan, his closest friends all his life, were saddened by the cold air that he set off.
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Soon Tony fell asleep and was awakened early in the morning by a horrible headache and a nauseous stomach. He had a hangover...yet again. Tony ran straight to the window and vomited all the contents out of his stomach. Ryan spotted him when he was just about finished. He helped Tony way from the window and back into the bed.
"Tell me where you and your friend were staying. I want you and him far away from here. I don't want you to bring trouble to my family, Anthony. You're different, and you don't deserve our friendship anymore. Oh, and before you leave, give Mush and Boots their money back. They don't have a lot of money, Anthony. You know that. That was a low thing to do," Ryan said, bitterly. Race closed his eyes and nodded his head.
"You know, you haven't spoken one word to me since we came here," Ryan replied. Tony's only reply was a cough and a sniff. Ryan rolled his eye and walked away.
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An hour passed. Tony, though he didn't remember, he gave Ryan information about where he and Joey stayed. Joey (surprisingly enough) agreed to give Ryan Mush and Blink's money back, taking out of Race's share. He and Ryan took a coach back to his flat, because it was too far to walk.
Joey picked Tony up (literally) and carried him to the coach and they rode back to the flat. When they got back, Jasmine was gone with only her share of money (last time they did this, she left with both their shares), but left a note.
I've gone back to Burlesque. If you want to find Diaz, follow me back to New York the first chance you get. I will be waiting for you. I have an idea for a trap for Frankie.
Love you boys!
Jasmine.
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Anthony and his friend disappeared from that small town in Pennsylvania that day, never to be seen...again, in that town, or anyone in it. Not for a long time, anyway.
It was a full day later when they finally arrived in New York. They rented a room and went straight to the burlesque theatre around the corner. The very same one that Jasmine was newly employed at. When they got in they asked for her. They were lead to her chambers and she sat them down on lounge chairs. It was then that she recited her plan of decept to them. She planned to pretend to be a prostitute that night and lead him to her chambers when he "paid". Of course, Jasmine wasn't really a prostitute, she was just a performer at burlesque. However, this plan that she was so exited about had a lot of holes in it. Tony decided that for now, they should just take it step by step. They should be slow in forming their plan.
"Revenge is a beautiful, yet delicate art. One must plan it carefully and intelligently," replied Tony in a husky voice. A moment passed before the three friends started laughing at Tony's very deep statement.
"Wow! That's beautiful!" said Joey.
"But true! We will take our time to plan," replied Jasmine. She took Joey's hand and they looked into each other's eyes and in that moment, Tony realized that it wasn't lust that they shared, but love.
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Hope this one was better!