Racetrack crawled into his grandparent's apartment through the window Stefano left open. He was more than happy to have the warmth from the apartment caress his rosy cheeks. A wave of relief washed over him when he saw Jack and Skittery awkwardly standing around the apartment, but he was surprised to see Katherine and Specs there as well. Racetrack figured that David left before Salvatore got there and who knows where Kid Blink ran off to.
A tense and uncomfortable silence filled the apartment. Jack fiddled with the strings of his cowboy hat, trying to avoid the stares of Stefano and Tosca. Skittery's hands were stuffed in the pockets of fraying, brown coat and he was slumped against the wall next to Specs. Stefano leaned against the door frame between the kitchen and the sitting room, and Tosca sat in her chair and continued her knitting, eyeing the scrappy newsboys and Katherine warily.
"Race!" Jack exclaimed, noticing Racetrack in the kitchen. The self-proclaimed cowboy rushed over to his second-in-command, almost running Stefano over. "Are youse okay? Where've you been?" Jack's face was laced with worry and panic. Racetrack felt a pang of guilt. He saw Skittery, Specs, and Katherine move from their spots on the wall and carefully maneuvered around Frannie's bed, worry too spread across their faces. He didn't expect Specs and Katherine to come along, and he felt sorry for interrupting their respective evenings.
"Yeah, I'm all right." He replied absentmindedly, trying to hide the guilt from seeping through. "Uh, hey guys." He waved to Specs and Skittery, who stood beside Jack.
"We're glad you're okay, Race." Katherine smiled warmly.
"Now, tell us why youse dragged our asses out of the warmth of the lodging house." Skittery grumbled. Jack and Specs agreed with Skittery. Race noticed Tosca glaring at Skittery from her chair, clearly appalled by Skittery's language.
"Yes, Anthony," Tosca commented, squinting her eyes at Racetrack. "Please explain to us all why you, a guest in my home, brought it upon yourself to invite these urchins into this apartment." Jack sighed in frustration. The older Italian woman did not greet them with open arms; rather she'd been suspicious of them since they walked through the door. She even had the nerve to call Katherine a prostitute!
Racetrack flattened his lip from the stress filling the apartment. He moved past Jack to stand between his biological family and his adopted family.
"Uh, youse guys. These are my grandparents, Stefano and Tosca Genovese," He motioned to Stefano and Tosca. Stefano nodded his head and smiled, whereas Tosca still gave the four teenagers a cold and icy stare. "And the girl on the bed is my kid sister, Francesca." He gestured to Frannie.
"Stefano, Tosca, Frannie, if youse conscious," Frannie groaned in response, "These are my friends. Skittery Dargay," Skittery nodded, "Specs Phelps," Specs tipped his hat, "Katherine Pul-"
"Plumber, Race. Plumber." Katherine corrected him. Racetrack rolled his eyes.
"Katherine Plumber. And Jack Kelly." Racetrack jerked his thumb towards Jack. Tosca clucked her tongue and returned to her knitting.
"I assume these aren't your Christian names?" She inquired stiffly. Stefano rested a hand on Tosca's shoulder to silence her. Katherine raised her chin in defiance. She was already irritated that Jack wouldn't take her word in the lodging house and that she had to run against the chilling New York wind, only to find out that Race was okay and had the rudest woman she'd ever met as a grandmother.
"Please, excuse my wife," Stefano apologized for his sharp tongued wife. "She is just exhausted from worry about our granddaughter." Stefano walked over to Jack and extended his hand to the sandy haired boy. Jack, not wanting to offend his host, took it and gave it a hearty shake.
"I recognize your picture from the paper, paisano." Stefano chuckled. "I'm very proud of your work with the strike." Jack smiled bashfully. Even though the strike had been over for several months, there was always one person who remembered Jack and wanted to shake his hand or give him a kiss on the cheek and Jack Kelly was never one to turn down a compliment.
Racetrack was overjoyed that Stefano chose to shake his hand.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Genovese." Jack blushed. Stefano let go of Jack's hand.
"Please call me Stefano!" He replied jovially, flapping hands. "Welcome to my home!" He turned his attentions to Katherine. "And you must be the lovely Katherine? I remember seeing you in my shop, bella." He took Katherine's hand and shook in gently. "You bought my last copy of The Awakening." Katherine turned away and blushed. She enjoyed the book, but it was far too scandalous to talk about in the company of men.
"Well, I-I suppose I did." She replied flustered. The other men in the room looked at her disbelievingly. Jack was shocked that Katherine wanted to waste her money on garbage like that, although not surprised.
"Well, nonetheless, it's good to put a name to a face, bella." He winked and shook the other two newsboys' hands. Skittery kept himself guarded around Stefano, never the one to be too trusting around others.
"Okay, so now that everyone's acquainted and such," Racetrack raised his voice to draw attention to himself, "We'se gotta talk about resetting Frannie's shoulder." Skittery's head snapped towards Racetrack, dread covering his face.
"Please tell me that's not why you sent for us." He moaned. Race shrugged. Skittery took Race by the shoulder and dragged him to the kitchen. Racetrack crossed his arms and leaned against the water pump. Skittery looked around anxiously and ran his ink-stained hand through his messy hair.
"Racetrack, she needs a doctor, not a street kid," Skittery said in a low voice.
"He's not wrong!" Tosca commented from her chair, causing Stefano to scold the discourteous woman.
"See! Even your grandmother doesn't believe in me!" Skittery motioned a hand to the gray-haired woman. Racetrack held his elbow and chewed on a hangnail on his other hand as Skittery rambled on why he couldn't, or wouldn't, help Racetrack. The Italian boy's nerves were wearing thin, and he grabbed the taller boy's shoulder and forced him to look at Racetrack.
"Skitts!" Racetrack yelled, interrupting Skittery's rambling, "Youse did it once. Why can't you do it again?"
"Because I don't remember! It's been, what, a year? What if I make it worse? What if I break her arm? She's so tiny, like you Race." Race slapped Skittery across the face, not amused with the tiny comment.
"Call me tiny again and youse gonna get more than a smack to the face!" He wagged a finger at Skittery. "Come on, Skittery. I'se wouldn't have sent Salvatore if I didn't have a teaspoon of faith in you! Please? She's my sister. What if it was Tumbler?" Skittery turned away from Racetrack and stared out the kitchen window to think. Tumbler was the youngest newsie and Skittery's baby brother. Skittery wasn't the best brother, but he sure as hell tried. He couldn't even imagine what he'd do if something happened to the eight-year-old.
"Alright." He whispered, inwardly kicking himself for letting Racetrack appeal to his moral code. Race's face lit up, and he rushed to the taller boy's side.
"Youse mean it?" Race exclaimed and clapped Skittery on the back. "I'se could kiss you!"
"Please don't." Skittery turned away from the shorter, overly excited boy and walked into the sitting room. He took in his surroundings, letting his anxiety escape him as he sighed.
"Okay, uh, everyone." He unsurely commanded. "I need to see the bone. Katherine, Mrs. Genovese, can you," Skittery exhaled sharply, not wanting to ask the frightening woman for anything, "remove her dress?" Tosca dropped her knitting.
"Young man!" Tosca got up and started towards Skittery. "How dare you come into my house and demand such reprehensible requests!" Skittery held his hands up in surrender.
"This must be where Race got his temper from." He thought sourly.
"Ma'am, please!" Skittery cried, hoping that his death wouldn't be at the hands of the cantankerous, gray-haired woman. "She can keep her underclothes on! I just need to see where the bone is so I can put it back in place!" Tosca stared up at the tall, Hungarian boy. Her brown eyes were squinted, and her jaw clenched. She didn't like strangers and certainly didn't like what this boy was telling her to do.
"Nonna, let him help!" Racetrack interrupted, hoping he could talk some sense into the raging woman. Tosca's eyed her grandson in her peripheral vision, flabbergasted that he called her nonna instead of by her name. Skittery looked down at the fierce woman, his arms still up in surrender.
"Please, ma'am?" He pleaded. Tosca sighed sharply. She knew when she was beaten and maneuvered toward the bed. Skittery let out a sigh of relief and straightened himself up.
"Okay, fellas. We need to get a chair, not a stool. I need her sitting up straight to put her arm back in place." Jack nodded and got the chair Racetrack was sitting in earlier and brought it close to the bed. "Mr. Genovese, do you have any alcohol? She looks like she's in a lot of pain and it will help a lot."
"Young man," Tosca started, causing Skittery to roll his eyes, "This is a Catholic household. I don't allow Stefano to bring in…" Stefano came from the kitchen with a jug of wine and a small cup. "Stefano Genovese! What is this?"
"It's wine, cara mia." He replied innocently as he poured the red liquid into the cup. "Will this work, Skittery?" He held the glass up. Skittery shook his head and requested something stronger. Tosca scoffed in disbelief and furiously untied Frannie's dirty pinafore. The Genovese patriarch shrugged, bringing the glass of wine to his lips and drinking it in a single gulp. Racetrack stood out of the way and watched the organized chaos in front of him unfold. Frannie whined in pain as Tosca and Katherine helped her out of her pinafore. Stefano came out from the back bedroom with a handle of whiskey, ignoring the disapproving look from his wife. Skittery nodded in approval.
Racetrack was impressed with the way the usually anxious Skittery was taking charge. Normally, Skittery would be the one in the back making sarcastic comments or challenging whoever was speaking, usually to Jack. But this time the tables were turned. Jack was taking orders from Skittery. Deep down, Racetrack knew Jack was only complying because Katherine was in the room and he'd do anything for the shorter Italian and not because he held Skittery in a higher regard.
"You okay, polpetto?" Stefano asked in a low voice, offering a glass of wine to his grandson. Racetrack nodded and gladly took a sip of the bitter, red liquid. "Your friend isn't too bad of a leader, eh?"
"Who Jack? Yeah, he's alright."
"No, no. The tall one. Skittery, was it?" Stefano took a sip of wine from his cup. "He seems to know what he's doing. That's good." Race scoffed and leaned against the bookshelf.
"Yeah, Skitts ain't half bad when you put him to work. Normally he and Specs are wisecrackin' in the back." Racetrack's eyes followed Specs, who was moving the small table by Frannie's bedside to make room for the large, wooden chair. "But I gotta tell ya, for every doubt Skittery's got in himself, he's smart, just don't act like it." Katherine and Tosca carefully removed the faded green dress off of Frannie, leaving the eleven-year-old in her chemise.
"Okay, piccola." Tosca cooed, carefully taking her granddaughter into her arms. "We're going to make you feel all better." Katherine took the pinafore and the dress off of the bed and began to fold it.
"Leave that. Help me get her to sit up straight." Katherine dropped the clothes and climbed over the bed to adjust the whimpering girl.
"Nonna, it hurts." She cried, fat tears rolling down her face. Tosca gently shushed Frannie and wiped her hair out of her face. Skittery poured the whiskey into the glass cup and walked over to Frannie, kneeling so that he was at her eye level, like he would with Tumbler or any of the younger newsies. He also had to watch his language, since he just wasn't talking to a girl, he was talking to Race's kid sister.
"Hey there. How're you feeling?" Skittery asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "My name's Hugo. What's yours?"
"Mary Francesca Higgins." She whimpered. Skittery smiled reassuringly.
"That's an awful long name. Can I call you Frannie instead?" Frannie nodded weakly in response. "Okay, Frannie. I need you to drink this for me. It'll make you feel a little better." He motioned to Tosca to help Frannie hold the glass of whiskey against her lips. Tosca poured a little bit of the liquid down Frannie's throat before Frannie closed her mouth and grimaced at the taste.
"Ugh, what was that?" She scrunched her nose at the bitter taste of the whiskey. Skittery let out a quiet chuckle and took the glass from Tosca.
"I know it didn't taste so good, but you'll get used to it someday." Skittery chuckled. Tosca shot Skittery a warning glance before wiping Frannie's mouth with the end of her apron. "Okay, Frannie. We're going to get that shoulder in place." Frannie looked up at him with her hazel eyes.
"Is it going to hurt?" She asked weakly. Skittery bit his lip and avoided the little girl's gaze. He knew it was going to hurt, but he also didn't want to sugarcoat the truth. It was easy when you were improving the truth to an adult, but it was different when you were in the company of a little girl.
"Well, it's going to make you feel a lot better. How does that sound?" He smiled uneasily. God, he hoped he remembered how to do this.
"Jack! Specs! I need you to hold her steady." Jack and Specs nodded and gently held the small girl against the chair. Frannie whined at Spec's arm against her ribs. Racetrack couldn't take it anymore. He set the glass of wine on the bookshelf and walked over to where Specs was holding Frannie.
"Be careful." He muttered. "She's got a couple of broken ribs." Specs stepped out of Racetrack's way and let the shorter boy hold down his sister.
"Racetrack?" She turned her head towards her brother.
"I'm right here, Fran." He murmured. "Skittery's a good friend of mine. He won't let nothin' happen to you." Racetrack nodded to Skittery, making sure that he kept his word and didn't further damage Frannie's arm.
"Thanks, bonehead." She whispered, giving her older brother a soft smile.
"Okay, are you ready Frannie?" Skittery asked, meeting the smaller girl's eyes. Frannie nodded. Skittery grasped the inside of Frannie's elbow with one hand and her wrist in the other. Beads of sweat covered his furrowed brow, and his eyes were set on the loose arm in his hands.
Frannie hissed in pain as Skittery moved her arm and rotated her palm so that it was facing the kitchen window. Racetrack felt his heart drop into his stomach as Frannie whimpered in his ear. The last thing he wanted to was throw up on Tosca's beloved rug.
"Okay, Frannie. You're doing great." Skittery mumbled. "Specs! Get me a cloth or somethin' for her to bite down on." Specs nodded and wrung out the cloth Tosca used to clean Frannie's face with earlier.
"Will this work?" He asked, putting the damp cloth in Skittery's face.
"Yeah, now get that damn thing out of my face!" He exclaimed. Specs rolled up the cloth and placed it in front of Frannie.
"Bite down on this Frannie." Specs gently commanded. Frannie did as she was told and Specs put the wet cloth in her mouth.
"This part's gonna hurt the worst, kid, so if you gotta scream, scream into that," Skittery muttered to the little Italian girl. Frannie nodded her head and braced herself for the pain. Skittery used the leverage he had on her wrist and her elbow, carefully moving the arm to where it crossed her chest and her palm touched her other shoulder.
Without warning, Skittery swiftly pushed the arm back into its place with a gut-clenching snap of the cartilage. Frannie screamed into the towel, hot tears streaming down her face. Racetrack looked over at Frannie's formerly dislocated shoulder. It was bruised, but it Skittery had done his job, and the bone was back in place. Frannie spat out the rag and wiggled her fingers on her injured arm. To her surprise, the movements of her hand didn't cause her any pain.
Racetrack and Jack let go of Frannie, seeing that she was okay. Everyone in the room let out a sigh they had been holding in, relieved that the youngest Higgins sibling wasn't in pain.
"Well, that's over." Skittery grumbled. "Hey, Race. Do ya got the time."
"It's time for you to get a watch." Racetrack joked, a smirk gracing his lips. Katherine scoffed half-heartedly.
"It's time for you to get a new comeback." She retorted. Jack and Specs laughed at Katherine's witty comeback. Jack kissed her on the cheek and beamed with pride at his girlfriend's sharp wit. Race chuckled and ran a hand through his greasy hair.
"Well, if you must know, it's ten o'clock, and all is well." He smirked, letting a few crooked teeth peek through. Stefano walked over to the teenagers and shook their hands, thanking them for helping Frannie out.
"Naw, it's nothing." Jack put an arm around Katherine. "We'd do anything to help Race." Stefano laughed and twirled his mustache.
"I'm glad my grandson has such good friends." He chuckled. "The four of you are always welcome in my bookstore and my home." Tosca stood and walked to where Skittery was standing. Skittery had a reasonable fear of the older Italian woman and felt his stomach drop and the color drain from his face. Tosca put a hand to the Hungarian boy's cheek and kissed it, causing Jack and Specs to jeer at him until Katherine hit them both in the stomach.
"You're a good man, even if you got piccola mia to drink." She patted the cheek where she kissed him. "We're having fettuccine tomorrow, and I'll be horribly offended if I don't see you there." Skittery smiled bashfully, his fear of the older woman dissipating, and nodded.
"I'll walk youse guys outside." Racetrack piped up, grabbed his coat, and began to walk out with the group of teenagers." Frannie looked at him with worried eyes. "I'll come back, Frannie. I'se just walking them outside." Racetrack looked back at his grandparents and smiled. "I promise." Stefano nodded and placed a key in Racetrack's hand.
"So you can get back in." He winked. Racetrack nodded and followed his friends out the door. The group was silent as they walked away from the apartment. As soon as they were out of earshot, Jack spoke up.
"You'se got a nice family there, Race." He commented, his arm slung around Katherine. Racetrack nodded and chewed on his lip.
"Yeah, they ain't too bad." Race muttered. "Don't mean I'll stop bein' a newsie, though." Specs clapped him on the back and Skittery gave him a small smile. For the first time all day, Race felt comfortable and completely at ease. Not that he didn't feel comfortable around his grandparents, but it was a different kind of comfort. There was a familiar comfort that came with the newsboys. He'd known Jack since the self-proclaimed cowboy was thrown in the refuge and called the Duane Street Lodging House his home for six years.
"Don't give up a hot meal and warm bed for us, you bum." Jack pushed Racetrack playfully. "Who else is gonna invite us to dinner?" Jack pulled out a cigar from his pocket and placed it in Racetrack's palm. "Youse looks like youse could use one. I hate it when you chews on your thumb like that." Racetrack greedily stuck the cigar in his mouth and lit it with a match he swiped from the rooftop table. The group reached stoop of the apartment and braced themselves against the cold.
"Thanks again, youse guys." He took the cigar from his lips and spat in his hand, extending it to Jack. Jack removed his arm from Katherine's neck and repeated the action, and the two newsies shook on it. Skittery and Specs followed suit and copied Jack, shaking his hand. Katherine grimaced and groaned in disgust.m
"Boys are gross." She grumbled, shaking her head at Jack, who shrugged in response with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Carryin' the banner?" Jack asked.
"Carryin' the banner." Racetrack responded and watched his friends walk off into the cold, November night. Racetrack turned around and walked back into the warmth of the building, feeling slightly guilty. He knew that Jack, Specs, and Skittery had to sleep in a drafty lodging house while he got to sleep in a warm apartment. As Racetrack puffed his cigar, he contemplated following his friends but remembered his promise to his family that he'd return. He noticed Salvatore sleeping outside of his apartment and nudged him with his boot, causing the smaller boy to wake with a start.
"Shouldn't you be in your apartment?" Racetrack pointed his cigar at the smaller boy. Salvatore yawned and stood up.
"Is Francesca okay?" He asked tiredly. Racetrack took another puff of his cigar and nodded.
"Yeah, now go to bed. Your ma's probably worried about you." Salvatore nodded and walked back to his apartment. Racetrack shook his head.
"Crazy kid." He muttered through his cigar as he unlocked the front door. He opened the door the see Stefano shaking hands with a well-dressed man, who he summed was the doctor.
"I'll come back in a couple of weeks to remove the sling and the splint." The doctor murmured as he scribbled prescriptions down on a pad of paper. "In the meantime, I suggest you keep her home from school so her ribs can heal properly." The doctor swiftly tore off the prescription from the pad and placed it in Stefano's hand.
"Grazie, doc." Stefano took the man's hand. He noticed Racetrack close the door and turned to him.
"This is my grandson, the one who helped put Francesca's arm back in place." The doctor took Racetrack's hand and shook it. Racetrack didn't particularly like this doctor. His handshake felt like he was holding a dead fish and his hair was slicked back in the most obnoxious way.
"That was a very courageous thing you did young man." The doctor said. Racetrack shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. I do hope you find those three dollars, Mr. Genovese." The doctor remarked as he put on his coat. Stefano twirled his mustache, eyeing the doctor as prepared to leave.
"Si. Me too." He commented. The doctor nodded his head and left the apartment. Stefano sighed and turned to Racetrack, clapping his grandson on the back.
"Well, that was quite a day, polpetto." He chuckled. Racetrack chewed on his cigar and nodded. "You must be exhausted, eh?" Stefano led him into the spare bedroom where Tosca was making up another bed. Frannie was fast asleep, probably from the morphine, the doctor gave her.
"No, no, no, Nonna." Racetrack rushed over to his grandmother and gently took the pillows from her. "Youse don't has to do that for me." Nonna sized her grandson up and smirked.
"Ashtray's in the drawer. This is the only time I'll let you smoke in here, polpetto." She said, jerking her thumb towards the drawer. "Now get some rest. You have work to do." Racetrack cocked his head, confused at what his grandmother meant.
"What are you talking about?" He inquired. Stefano and Tosca looked at each other and smiled softly.
"Well you're a newsboy, aren't you? Newsboy's sell papers, eh?" Racetrack beamed so hard; he thought his face would split in half. His greatest fear was lifted from his shoulders.
"Youse means you're gonna let me go back to work?" His grandparents nodded.
"Get some rest, polpetto." Tosca kissed her grandson on the forehead. "You have a big day tomorrow." Stefano clapped Racetrack on the back and walked out of the room with Tosca. Racetrack fluffed his pillows and got out the ashtray. He took off his boots and his pants, leaving him in his long johns, shirt, and socks, and spread the quilt over his lap. He fondly remembered this quilt. When Mama was alive, the whole family, including Stefano and Tosca, would go to Central Park for a picnic. Racetrack took a drag from his cigar, hoping the tobacco would help him sleep. That memory didn't make him sad, like before, but caused a sense of dread in the boy.
In the past twenty-four hours, he made up with the beautiful, albeit bossy, Dixie Davis, was found by Stefano, and proved his worth to his family in front of his friends. He felt guilty that Jack, Skittery, and Specs had to sleep in a drafty lodging house when he got to sleep in a warm bed, with a quilt no less. He felt his eyelids drooping and extinguished the cigar, letting sleep take over.
Yay! This arc of the story is finished! Now I can focus on Dixie and Race.
Peace out y'all and remember to leave a review!