"Dammit." Tricks yelled, slamming the keys with both hands. Her first few rehearsals at Medda's made Tricks realize she needed lots of practice before she could think of playing in front of a live audience. It was raining again, so Tricks sat in the basement of the Lodging House, practicing three new songs on an old, faded piano that Medda had donated to the Lodging House years ago when Irving Hall upgraded to a nicer model.

Usually, the basement would be nearly empty this early in the night, giving Tricks plenty of time and space to practice alone. But a few days ago, Blink and Boots found a pool table that a saloon discarded on the curb and hauled it back to the bunkhouse with the help of Jack and Race. Pool had become the guys' new obsession, and with the rain that was once again flooding the city, sitting in the basement playing pool and cards seemed like a better option than trudging through the street looking for entertainment.

Tricks started up the song for the third time, making it to the third verse before her pinkie slipped on the wrong key with a hard, deep "duunnnn". Mush had just entered the basement with Amy following behind him.

How dare he bring her here! Tricks thought to herself in a rage as Mush and Amy sat down at one of the small tables around the room.

"Hey, piano lady, it's more excitin' if ya get through da whole song!" Race yelled from the pool table, where he was playing against Crutchie.

Crutchie shook his head. "Ah, leave 'er alone, Race. Ya can't do any better."

"Sorry, didn't realize this was a saloon." Tricks yelled back over the din. She turned again to the piano, determined to get at least one song performed with no errors before the end of the night. Amy's voice drifted through the air; Tricks pushed on the keys harder, hoping to block out the irritating sound.

But the harder Tricks's banged on the keys, the more mistakes she made. And the louder Amy's voice became. Tricks's knew she looked manic as she played, trying to ignore the presence of the other girl. When Jack returned to the bunkhouse, he stopped for a moment and looked at Tricks with concern before stealing the pool cue from Crutchie and shooting a few rounds.

On her tenth try, Tricks completely broke down at the end of the second verse, banging on any random key out of frustration. In the end, she ended up softly slamming her forehead into the keys. The noise around Tricks stopped as the Newsies realized her playing had ceased. She didn't even yell at them to stop staring, she just sat there silently, wishing she could melt away into the ivory and black keys.

"Hey." Mush was scooting on to the piano bench. "Why don'tcha play somethin' fun instead gettin' all worked up?"

Tricks picked her head up, knowing that a few small tears had rolled down her face. She frowned at him. "Got somethin' in mind?"

"I only knows one song." He replied, placing his hands over the keys the way Tricks had taught him to. Tricks pulled her back up straight, took a deep breath, and started playing, her hands flying over the keys from memory. It was a raucous, playful tune that most of the boys in the room had heard at one point or another. Race lead the chorus of voices as they sang along.

It was a semi-duet of a song that required two players, usually a man and a woman, as the lyrics featured a couple bickering and teasing one another. Tricks, being the stronger player, played the traditional man's role in the song; Mush beat a simple ditty on four different keys as she played. Several times in the song, Tricks had to reach over or around Mush to hit a key on the other end of the piano. Tricks was soon singing along with the rest of the boys as she played, feeling the stress and aggravation of the previous few hours melt away.

"Try the foist song again." Mush said with as wink a he got up from the piano bench and returned to the table where Amy sat waiting. Tricks returned to her sheet music from Medda's show, playing the song that had tripped her up so many times with ease. Race and Jack started up the applause after Tricks finished, and she jumped up on the piano bench for a mini-bow. Scanning the room, she noticed the only place to sit would be at a table with Mush, Amy, Blink, Boots, Skittery, and Race. Though going up to bed seemed like a better option than sitting at a table with Amy, Tricks relented and pulled up a chair.

"Don't you ever call each other by your real names?" Amy asked the boys as Tricks sat.

"Nah." Race shook his head as he dealt out a deck of cards, he raised one in Tricks's direction and she nodded to confirm she wanted to play.

"Well, how did you get all these...names?"

Mush shrugged. "Depends who ya talking about. Blink's got the eye patch... and Skittery is kinda lanky like a spider, ya know moves all jerky when he walks. And Racetrack spends more 'a his time and money at Sheepstead then he should."

"What about you?" Amy asked, turning to Mush and placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. Tricks held her cards up to her face, pretending to be busy strategizing and trying desperately not to notice Mush and Amy.

Race let out a puff of smoke, he was the only one at the table besides Tricks that had been a Manhattan Newsie when Mush joined their ranks. "His first day as a Newsie, Tricks came barging inta the crowd, hands on her hips, demanding to know what his name was. He kept stuttering and his legs were shaking so bad we's thought they were gonna turn into mush."

Amy surveyed Tricks and Race cooly. "I prefer Jeremiah." The Newsies at the table tried unsuccessfully holding in their laughter at Mush's real name. Tricks saw Mush's face turn a deep shade of scarlet as he coughed and hid behind his cards.

"Tricks, ya in or ya out? We ain't got all day." Race insisted.

Tricks surveyed her cards again, she had barely looked at them since her hand was dealt to her, using them instead as a shield. "Calm down, I got all night to steal ya money." Tricks replied smugly, throwing a half cent to the middle of the table.

"What a rotten thing to say." Amy sneered. Race looked up from his cards as he matched the ante, placing another half cent on the table. Skittery let out a low, sorrowful whistle. Even Blink's mouth had fallen open.

"What did ya say?" Tricks asked, her eyes narrowing. Mush glanced nervously from Tricks to Amy.

"Ladies shouldn't talk like that. And they shouldn't gamble."

"Says who?" Tricks said, slowly standing up from her chair. Skittery grabbed Tricks's arm but she jerked it away.

"Just let her be, Amy. She aint doin' anythin' wrong=-" Mush said, trying to smooth things over.

But Tricks was already riled up. If this girl wanted to start with Tricks, she better be prepared to end it as well. Jack was slowly moving from the pool table to the table where Tricks stood.

"Shut up, Mush!" Tricks hissed. "Let her answer. " Mush leaned back in his chair, looking helplessly between the two girls.

"Don't have a foul mouth. It's obvious that your mother didn't have any notion of how to raise a girl...you're just street trash." Amy said coolly, looking directly at Tricks.

Tricks was lunging across the table, hitting Mush in the nose with her elbow as she screamed at Amy. She reached out and grabbed the other girl, knocking her of her chair and on to the ground.

"Don't you ever insult my mother, ya hear me?" Tricks screamed over and over again as she pummeled Amy. Amy screamed for help and tried to push Tricks off, but Tricks reached down and grabbed a chunk of the girl's blonde hair, pinning her in place. Boots and Skittery were fumbling around, trying to help Mush separate the two girls.

"Let me go!" Tricks screamed as Skittery finally pulled her up off Amy. Tricks hands and feet were still failing, Skittery had her around the waist and there was little she could do to hurt him.

"Get her outta here, Mush!" Race yelled, waving Mush and Amy away from the commotion and out the stairs that lead directly from the cellar to the alley on the side of the building.

"Her mother is dead."

Tricks heard Mush yell these words at Amy as he ushered her outside, but it didn't make her feel any better or any less furious. Skittery's grip loosened, and as soon as her feet hit the ground she was running after them, preparing to knock the pretty blonde girl to the ground again.

Jack caught his sister around the waist, slinging Tricks up over his shoulder in one fluid movement. Tricks started screaming again, battering her fists against Jack's back as he ran up the two flights of stairs to the bunkroom.

She left his shoulder and was plunged into the bathtub in the Newsie's bathroom. Jack turned the knob for the water and it hit Tricks at full force, cold and taking her breath away. After a few seconds, when the water was deep enough, Jack shoved Tricks's head under the water, holding it there until she started scratching at his hands.

She came up, gasping for air. "What did ya do that f-f-for?" she stammered. Her clothes were soaked and her hair was matted to her face and forehead.

"Ya want ta be treated like everybody else? Dis is what they get when they act like ya just did." Jack said crouching down next to her.

"She started it!" Tricks protested. Jack didn't hesitate shoving Tricks's head under water again.

"Now cool off. And then go ta bed. Don't wanna see ya face until morning." He left her alone in the bunk room, spitting out water it dripped from her hair down her face.

"Tricks?" A voice rang out in the darkness.

"Come ta brag, Blink?" Tricks answered back. Blink grabbed a towel and offered Tricks his hand. She looked at him apprehensively.

"Just came to tell you...she deserved it."

Tricks grabbed Blink's hand and pulled herself out of the tub, taking the towel from him and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Pretty shoa that's the nicest thing ya ever said to me." She said through chattering teeth.

"Guess it was bound ta happen sometime. Think it's safe to go downstairs, dey should be cleared out by now."

"Thanks, Blink."

XXXXXX