Chapter 9
He entered the classroom as she expected he would, confident and full of charisma, and the general energy of the room erupted. It wasn't often that a grown man, besides Kloppman, ventured into the classroom and he certainly never carried a worn cowboy hat. The children eyed that hat as it passed from hand to hand with heightened envy. It was quickly established that whoever listened attentivly would be allowed to wear the hat for a duration of time during the storytelling. Just as quickly, the older boys no longer complained about how childish it was for them to attend the story time.
Jack gathered them all in a corner, they settled onto the floor, and he asked how many of them had heard of a grand river called the Mississippi.
From her desk in the back of the classroom, Kit was holding a meeting with Annie and Hollywood. Annie normally looked after the younger children in the day care section of the classroom but at the moment all of her students were avid admirers of the cowboy in the room, leaving her free of charges. And Hollywood had stopped by the help Kit who wanted to take advantage of the semi-free afternoon and settle some classroom matters. Her two girls, Sabrina and Samantha were helping out also, serving as comfortable laps for the younger boys and girls while they listened.
Kit rested her hands on the edge of her desk, surveying the general chaos of papers. "I want the next three weeks of attendance properly written up," from underneath a stack she grabbed a worn ledger and handed it to Annie, "I can show them to Mrs. Stienhardt when I go visit next week."
"Course, Kit." Annie opened to a clean paper and began creating a quick grid of names. "It's so exciting, you going up there with all those fancy ladies."
"Please, don't remind me." Kit moved her stationary to the side only to have it promptly moved back by Hollywood. She was too distracted to notice how little cleaning was actually getting accomplished as her and Hollywood danced around one another. "I'm nervous already."
"Got anything to do with that William fella you were tellin' Katie bout?" Hollywood teased. She reshelved some books on the small bookcase in the corner of the classroom only to turn around in time to catch the obvious roll of Kit's eyes. "Don't give me that face. Love is sprouting all over these days."
Annie giggled to herself as Hollywood pinched Kit's cheek teasingly. She closed the ledger and found a place for it in the desk's drawers. "Mighty fun, having a crush. Alls I gotta say."
"Well then, who you crushin' on, Miss Annie?" Hollywood jumped onto the desk, crossing her legs and gazing in the direction of the storytime. At the exact moment Jack was standing with his arms raised over his head, demonstrating the height of the North American Grizzley. The children were shrieking with freight and excitement, drowning out the women's conversation.
Annie and Kit turned with Hollywood also and as they paused their cleaning, Annie couldn't help but play along with Hollywood. She swooned for dramatic effect, leaning against Kit for support. "Darling," she cooed. "do I even have to say."
Jack was looking more than handsome that day, composed in his everyday clothes. Kit couldn't help but remark that the absence of sweat and grime added to his look. More importantly, he was so natural with the children. They hadn't discussed what he was going to say exactly but it seemed implied that he'd start at the beginning and build up the story of roaming the west. As of yet, she hadn't heard Sweetface Sullivan mentioned directly and it surprised her. Although she would have never admitted it to Annie, Hollywood and certainly never Jack, she'd been nervous about how the day would unfurl. Putting Jack in the position of entertainer seemed to hark to when he'd been leader of the newsies, those long ten years ago. It was something she hadn't mentioned but always noticed from those days—Jack took the stage with a smile strained from the pressures, but no one seemed to notice. Kit was afraid he'd feel pushed right back into that position, even with something as casual as storytelling.
Jack looked up at that moment, snapping Kit back to attention as they made eye contact. "You two…" she nudged Annie off of her shoulder and tossed a stray balled up ribbon at Hollywood. "Are you gonna help? Or are you gonna just distract me to the point of insanity." She glanced back quickly and noticed the smirk now on Jack's lips.
Hollywood and Annie kept their comments to themselves as a slight blush creept into Kit's cheeks, all three returning to work until Jack's voice stopped and the classroom fell silent.
The three women looked up from their tasks at that moment and snapped back into teacher mode. Kit walked to the front of the group to stand next to Jack as he reached for the cowboy hat sitting atop the head of a child in the first row.
She began a round of applause that the children quickly joined in on, their claps turning into laughter as Jack dropped the hat onto her head playfully. "Okay everyone," she elbowed Jack lightly before taking the hat off of her head, deciding the best course would be to hold it in her hands, "let's thank Mr. Kelly for his stories today."
The children obliged with a booming, "Thank you, Mista Kelly."
"Those of you buying the afternoon edition better leave now if ya want your selling spots." Kit advised, allowing the newsies to jump up with their noisy enthusiasm. "Everyone else, check with Miss Annie to see if you're staying later today. Mrs. Phillips will be walking the rest of you home." As the movement caused more of a commotion, Kit cried over the crowd, "And remember, tomorrow I expect all of you to have written your own version of an adventure tale! Good luck."
Smiling at Jack, still in teacher mode, she handed him his hat with a formal 'thank you' and returned to her desk. She wasn't sure if he would follow or want to discuss how everthing had gone but a part of her was hoping. Out of the corner of her eye she caught his movement and she glanced just as Maria closed the door to the classroom behind her.
"What is she doing here?" Annie whispered, shuffling through her stack of papers for the afternoon's activity. She addressed her question to Kit but received no answer as Kit pretended not to notice the quick and silent conversation between Maria and Jack. It seemed as if a letter or message was exchanged but just as quickly as she'd appeared, Jack showed Maria to the door.
Kit was expecting him to exit with her but instead he turned back into the classroom, looking directly towards the three women in the back. They jumped back into whatever task was nearest at hand, trying to appear busy.
Reaching over Kit to grab her hat, Hollywood shook her head. "Do you suppose?"
"I suppose nothing!" Kit tried to laugh it off, nudging Hollywood playfully towards the door just as Jack began the slow feet shuffle over towards the trio.
Hollywood's smile was teasing at best, warning Kit that she'd have many questions to answer to later. "Bye now Jack." She turned and hugged Jack quickly.
"See ya Hollywood."
At the exit of the classroom, with a small group of children around her, she paused to call back to him, "Behave." Before anyone could respond, she was skipping out the door, the children pulled by her energy.
Jack turned back to Kit, his face asking a silent, 'what was that about?' and she pretended ignorance, simply shrugging her shoulders.
Watching as Kit packed things from her desk into a satchel, Jack tried to make conversation. "You've got lots going on in this room." By the tone of his voice, it seemed as if Jack had been overwhelmed by the situation.
"It's routine by now. Don't even notice it." She frowned as he laughed lightly, running a hand through his hair. "Most of the time."
Setting the cowboy hat on the corner of her desk, he leaned both hands on either side, stretching out his shoulders and back. "Well, it was something different."
Kit pulled the shoulder strap over her head and paused so that she was looking at Jack directly. "You did great, Jack. They really loved you."
"You know, I think I liked it too." Both slipped into easy smiles. "Saw you listening a couple times, too."
Kit turned back around to push in her chair, a task which allowed her to duck her head and avoid eye contact. "It's hard to concentrate when you've got all of them making cow sounds."
Jack laughed, pointing at her with his index finger. "It helped to set the mood."
"Ah, how silly of me." She turned off the lamp on her desk.
"Can I leave this here?" Jack handed her the cowboy hat which she silently accepted and placed within the deep drawer of her desk. "You heading out?" He glanced around the room at the other students still in the classroom.
"Yea, Annie will stay with the little ones til later." Kit began to leave, pausing at the last moment to straighten the picture frame on her desk just an inch. Jack hid his smile behind his hand. "I have to go meet David up at the paper."
"Perfect, I'm heading that way too." He held open the door and she slipped underneath his arm, waving to the kids as she left.
She held the door in return for him at the front, both of them yelling good-bye to Kloppman on the way. "Really? What for."
"Business stuff." He pulled his cap from his back pocket, distracting himself with fixing it on his head while saying, "That's why Maria stopped by."
"Oh, is that why. Hmm…" Kit rummaged through her bag as they rounded the corner, searching for the needed trolley change.
Jack tugged gently on her elbow, steering her out of oncoming pedestrian traffic. "So yea, I'll walk with ya." Kit found two pieces and handed one to Jack, folding the other into her fist. "Besides, that way we can talk about when I'm coming in again."
Jack guided the silent Kit up into the last seat on the trolley's side.
She smiled widely, secretly glad that Jack had liked her idea. "Why, next week of course."
"Great." He lurched forward as the trolley began its way uptown. He was standing on the outside of her, holding onto one of the outside bars and drawing most of the female attention within the car. It was hard to miss him, leaning lazily on the pole, bright eyes skimming over all the busy city movements. She got caught up in him also, unable to play off her staring when he turned.
Before she could make herself into an even bigger fool, the Sun's building came into view. "Ah, here we are." Kit explained, pulling the handle to request a stop and allowing Jack to help her off the trolley's lip.
Walking among the business crowd, Jack notice how Kit straightened her shoulders, clutched her bag in front of her chest and walked with direct purpose. "I don't know how David does it," Jack muttered, pulling his cap lower. "Moving among these folks all day."
"How'd ya mean?"
"Just a world I'll never be used to." Jack aligned himself with Kit as if his presence was allowed in conjunction with hers.
She paused then, right in the middle of the sidewalk, giving both of them away as strangers. But it didn't matter as she looked directly into his eyes, one of her hands reaching up to fix his cap back to where it had been. "Yea, I guess you're right."
They pushed through the doors of the Sun's main office, filing into the elevator line along with everyone else. They were squeezed into the back, Kit's head turned awkwardly to the side to avoid the sweaty neck of the man in front of her. "I hate these things."
Jack laughed just as the doors opened onto the craziness of the press room. The two seemed to burst from the elevator's girth, immediately swept into the new commotion. "Heya Kit!"
"Hi boys." More shouts of hello echoed over heated layout discussions and tempered editors, and Kit walked through it all unphased.
"Friends of yours." Jack teased, bending with his hands in his pockets so he could whisper right in her ear.
She batted him away quickly, never halting on her trek towards David's desk. "I did a lot of typing for the paper, before the school was all set up. Sometimes if the secretaries are sick…oh, be quiet." His laughter had bubbled from behind his hand about to echo over the general noise when David spotted them.
"Jack! Kit! Hi."
"Hey Dave." Jack patted him on the shoulder, strategically placing David between he and Kit.
She narrowed her eyes playfully before turning towards David. "Hi."
David brushed a kiss on her cheek, reaching also for the stack of papers in her hands which she'd pulled from her bag. "This for me?"
"Course, what do you have in return?"
David shuffled through the envelopes, throwing the junk onto the large pile already consuming his desk. "You know, not that much today. We've been a little slow…" He whiped out his pocket knife, slicing through the seal and devouring the text inside.
"Really?" Jack whistled long and low, looking towards the surrounding chaos.
"I know, doesn't seem it. But let me look for anything else lying around." He threw the letters onto the pile, his short attention drawn elsewhere in the workday rush. Moving stack after stack, some on the floor, others onto his chair, papers scattered all over the floor. "Hey Jack, want a brief tour while I look for this stuff?"
"Sure do, Dave." Kit volunteered to keep on searching for the designated 'Edit' copy, freeing David to give his tour. As the two got lost in the shuffle, Kit heard Jack's grinning, "This is something…"
After mere minutes of searching, Kit found the stack, rolling her eyes at David's haphazard organization. Before she could start her typing she caught notice of a flyer on the bulletin board right by David's desk. Without hesitation she riped it from it's tack and began to read. When the two men appeared minutes later she was beaming with delight. "Look, Jack! Look."
He laughed, grabbing the paper she'd nearly shoved up his nose so that he could attempt to read it. "What is it Kit?"
As he read, she recited her quick memorization. "Wanted: Column about travel. Adventure writing. Featured in the fiction section of the daily edition." She paused while he continued with the fine print. "Why Jack, this is perfect for you."
"For me?" He scoughed, allowing David to take the flyer from his hands. "Where'd you get that idea?"
Kit continued her silly dancing in place. "Use your letters! Sweetface Sullivan is exactly what they're looking for. What do you think, David?"
"It could work…" David laughed, balancing on the edge of his desk as he began another reread of the flyer. "Why didn't I think of this?"
Jack looked less than convinced. His cap had been removed and then replaced three time in a row, the nervous fidgets evidence of his lack of enthusiasm. He tried to play it off with a shrug. "My letters? Don't be silly. No one would want to read those."
But Kit was having none of it, already scribbing notes on a pad of paper she'd snatched from David's desk. "Fix 'em up a little. They're exciting. There's adventure. Just like the ones you told the children today." She jabbed him in the chest with her pen. "Think about it, it'd get you out of that horrible job with Spot, maybe even introduce you to some more writing opportunities here at the paper…"
Jack grabbed the advertisement from David's grasp, crumpling the paper quickly and dropping it to the ground. His actions snapped Kit out of her prancing, a look of shock on her face as Jack snapped suddenly. "I said, I'm not doing it Kit. Those were private letters. No one needs to read 'em, nor would they want to. Now, I got business of my own. So, I'll see you two at home."
Kit watched Jack storm out of the room, opting for the stairs as a hasty exit. Never letting her eyes leave the door that he'd disappeared behind, she bent and picked up the discarded flyer.
"What got into him?" David muttered, turning back to begin setting up the type writer. "All he had to do was say, no thanks."
"Yea," Kits hand dipped in and out of her pocket. "…strange."
--
"I can't believe you." That mornings paper, having been read and refolded to an inside page, dropped onto the stack of homework Kit had been correcting.
"Hey, careful please." She scolded, about to toss the paper to the other edge of the table when the headline caught her eye.
Still looming behind her, Jack's evil laughter made her hands shake as she reached for the paper's edges. "Careful, she says. Careful…"
In bold letters across the top she silently read the headline that had caused Jack such anger: I've Met a Man Named Sweetface Sullivan. She turned to look at him for the first time."That's right…Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you figure that you had enough of those god damn letters stashed away to last until you could change my mind?"
Kit jumped from her seat, uncomfortable with how Jack had been leaning over her, boxing her in between the table and chair. With hands raised in defense she whispered, "Jack, listen…"
"We're you planning on sending another one in? One after the other, after the other…" He'd picked up the paper again, pointing at her with it as if to emphasize his point. "Well it's not gonna work, Kit. Get that into that fuckin' head of yours." Pages flew in the air as he threw the paper and began pacing.
"I just wanted you to have options." Kit tried to explain, following after him as he rounded the small table. He pivoted suddenly and she began to back step, the look on his face frighteningly twisted. "Spot's told me how hard you're working these days and, well, this seemed like a great opportunity to get you out of that stinking sewer."
"Kit, what's wrong with you?" He spat.
She blinked into the silence. "Excuse me?"
"What makes you think you can say those things? I like my job. Did you ever think of that? I like working to the point of exhaustion. Believe me, it's what gets me through this whole fucking experience, walking around half awake."
"Jack, what—what are you talking about?" He'd returned to his pacing, Kit allowing herself to be pushed back against the stove, out of his way. Her palms we clammy against her skirt, pulling and twisting the fabric as she tried to think of the words to calm him.
She knew that what she'd done had been sneaky, but it was well intended. It reflected how talented she thought his writing was. When she'd submitted the letter, she hadn't thought of how to explain the potential publication—she's assumed she had more time.
"Look, the worst is over." Kit tentatively stepped away from the stove, Jack pausing on the other side of the table. "Maybe you should just wait until David gets some feedback at the paper. I really think that people are going to enjoy…"
When his palm made contact with the table she flinched, her eyes closing and her arms raising in defense. She heard her mug of tea break from the fall. "I said, I don't want those fucking letters in the paper. In fact…" He turned towards the living room frantically, "where are they? I want them, all of them."
Kit rushed after him once she realized he was heading towards their bedroom. "What, Jack? Why…"
"This is the only way I'll be sure you won't submit any more. Give them to me." She entered the doorway to her room and found Jack pulling the drawers completely free from her dresser. Her neatly folded clothing spilled all over the floor.
Kit blushed as he reached the drawer with her undergarments. "No, Jack, they're…"
"What, they're yours?" He stood up from where he'd been crouching on the floor and she realized his boots were caked with mud. "I wrote them—for David and Sadie and Les. Not you! But you kept them, for god knows what reason. And now you're gonna give them back."
"Jack, no! Stop it, stop it!" Jack flipped over her mattress, Kit still frozen in the doorway, her arms bracing her as an unknown panic swept over her. In this moment she glanced out into the living room towards David's old desk out front.
If either one heard the front door open, neither reacted. It was immediately clear that Jack had realized where the letters were and Kit's attempts to bar him from leaving the bedroom were futile. As Sadie, David and Les entered the living room, Jack reached the desk, pulling so forcefully on the bottom drawer that the letters burst from their neat confinement.
Kit was right behind him, yelling loudly, "You can't. I—" And suddenly, her hand across his cheek caused an abrupt silence.
"What is going on?"
The two were frozen, glaring at the other, Jack's hand still clutching the now empty drawer be his side. Neither responded to Sadie's hard request. "You're such a fool, Jack." Kit finally whispered, breaking the silence. Jack continued his ragged breathing in response and a tear slid down Kit's cheek. "But then again, so am I."
The trio watching couldn't remember Jack moving. One moment he was looking as if he'd slap Kit in return, the next the front door had slammed, shaking the rest of the apartment behind him. David moved as if to go after him and then thought better of it, stooping to pick up the mess around the kitchen Sadie made her way towards Kit who was still taking shaky breaths and staring at the front door. Just as Sadie went to rest a hand on Kit's elbow, the girl reacted, stumbling out and up the firescape.
Before Sadie could follow, Les offered her the answer to her question, handing her the crumpled newspaper headline.
--
Five stories below Jack stumbled onto the street. His anger had blurred his vision and he couldn't remember where he'd been so intent on going. Turning right he began walking downtown, fully aware that the best bars in New York still could be found tightly kept in the oldest city streets. He felt drunk already, staggering down the street surrounded by the fury that pumped in his veins. But as he turned at the corner to look back towards Orchard Street and the horrible building that he now called home he could swear that on the roof he now saw a distinct figure, skirt billowing as wildly as the curls of her hair, leaning percariously over the edge.
--
AN: I guess this story just hits me at odd times. I can't promise another update soon but I'm hoping to finish this before I gulp graduate. So, sorry for the wait...hope you enjoy this new chapter. And any/all criticism is welcome.