Never fear, a new chapter is here!
Review Responses:
JustVildaPotter: Whoa, that is convenient! Dang, now I want ice cream and soda. (I'm actually really hungry right now.) Thanks for making that list of hug-worthy newsies, since I forgot about it. Jack's been through so much, and encountered so many awful people, he can't bring himself to be vulnerable, like you're saying he should be. It's terrible, but it's true.
AndrewKeenanBolgerFan: (Chapter 40) All the Jojos are beautiful! I am indeed back! Yay that you're back as well, and welcome aboard the Jenry ship! (Chapter 41) Finch appreciates your hug, and I will be filing your request with his mother. Having her get slapped by Beetlejuice is an excellent idea. (Chapter 42) YEAH JACKALOPE! Medda will listen to you, I swear! And yes, frozen waffles are amazing, hence why they randomly appeared in the chapter.
On we go! (And by the way, new longest chapter again with this one.)
Chapter 43- Sarah
Sunday, September 19, 1999, 8:50 a.m.
Smalls was going to receive a serious talking-to when she was finally found. Oh, would that girl be in for it. Although she hadn't touched more than one-third of the city's boundaries, Sarah felt as if she had searched all of New York for the missing newsie. She'd been so determined to find the girl that she had barely slept. Sarah now regretted this decision, for it had caused her to fall asleep on the subway and find herself awake an hour later, somewhere in Queens. That had been an interesting predicament, waking in such a dazed state that it took her roughly ten minutes to decipher where she was.
After changing trains several times, stopping for a small breakfast she desperately needed following several hours of neglecting to eat, and a long walk to her neighborhood, Sarah was finally climbing the stairs to her apartment. She was ready to collapse into bed and not wake up until at least the next morning. Or maybe dinnertime, if she was forced. Standing in front of the door, Sarah dug around in her bag until she located her key, which she quickly inserted into the doorknob. She turned the knob, pushed the door open, and stopped dead when she saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table, staring straight at the doorway.
Sitting next to Mrs. Jacobs, Les froze as well, a piece of toast halfway to his mouth. He glanced back and forth between his mother and sister, then waved with the toastful hand and said casually, "Hey Sarah."
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Mrs. Jacobs roared before Sarah could even consider greeting Les.
That was an intriguing question. Where had Sarah been, as far as places that wouldn't upset her mother further? "The library," she blurted, as if the excuse were going to be believed.
"The library," Mrs. Jacobs repeated, in a tone that suggested libraries were awful establishments that had never done anyone any good. "For more than twenty-four hours?"
"I... got locked in after it closed?"
Les gave Sarah a look that said, Really? That's the best you could do? Sarah shrugged in response to him.
"Sarah Marie Jacobs, this is no time to be joking!" To proceed that shout, Mrs. Jacobs lowered her voice to a calmer level, taking a deep breath before continuing her lecture. "You were out all night, and we had no idea where you were."
Sarah hung her head. "I was looking for a missing friend."
"Why didn't you call and tell me? I gave you a cell phone to prevent this kind of thing."
"I didn't think of that. Sorry."
"Right," sighed Mrs. Jacobs. "I hope you know, you scared us half to death."
Us? Had Sarah been gone long enough for Davey to start getting worried? He had known what she was out doing, but she supposed her absence had grown long enough to concern him. Les, however, was more concerned with eating his toast one-handed than anything else, so he couldn't be the second part of the "us" Mrs. Jacobs was referring to. And anyway, if Sarah knew the kid, he had probably gone right to sleep the moment he got home. Her youngest brother wasn't the type to sit up for hours waiting for other family members.
Sarah broke out of her thoughts long enough to tell her mother, "I said I'm sorry."
"Save your apologies for your father. He was out half the night looking for you."
Wait, what? Sarah paused, letting her mother's words sink. That allowed precisely enough time for her father to emerge from the boys' room at the end of the hall. She threw her bag down by the door and marched over, meeting him in three strides. This task was made easy because he himself was unable to move very fast, weighed down as he was by the plaster cast concealing his left leg.
"Sarah," Mr. Jacobs greeted, his voice overly calm, "there ya are. Your mother was worried sick, y'know."
"What are you doing here?" demanded Sarah, rage boiling inside her.
Mrs. Jacobs came over to the pair of them, ready with an explanation. "I called him when you didn't come home, and he offered to go looking for you."
"Well, he didn't look very hard, did he?"
"Ya could've been anywhere in the city," Mr. Jacobs reasoned. "I wasn't gonna rest 'til I found you."
"I s'pose it was difficult to look for me, considering you probably forgot what I look like."
"Sarah!" Mrs. Jacobs admonished in surprise at her daughter's outburst.
"He hasn't been around for two years! I'm only stating facts!"
"I don't know what you're doing, but you should be thanking your father for taking the time to search for you, and apologize for worrying him."
Sarah glared at both of her parents, then snapped, "I'm sorry" in the most insincere tone possible. Finally, she punctuated the phrase with an eyeroll. Thanking her own father for going out to look for her was an absurd concept, especially because they hadn't spoken in two years, not even on their respective birthdays. It wasn't fair of him to turn up now, out of nowhere. He didn't get to choose when he cared.
Sighing at her daughter's half-assed apology, Mrs. Jacobs asked, "Could you tell David to come out here please, Sarah?"
"Why me?"
"Well, I was just talkin' to him," Sarah's father told her, "and funnily enough, he ain't real happy with me either."
Mildly surprised at this news, Sarah slipped into the boys' bedroom. Right away, she spotted Davey, sitting out on the fire escape. She ducked out the window to join him.
Once he noticed her, the first question out of his mouth was, "Did you find Smalls?"
"Nope. You hear from Jack?"
"Not a word." As he said this, Davey handed back Sarah's cell phone, which she had given him the night before. "And Specs still doesn't know anything about what happened to Crutchie, but he said he's gonna check the Refuge himself, later today."
Great. So nothing had changed. The two siblings sat in silence for minute, listening to the city sounds around them, until Sarah pulled her knees to her chest, ready to bring the facts to attention. "So Dad's back."
Davey looked away from her. "Uh-huh."
"What are you mad at him for?"
"I dunno, I'm..." For a moment, Davey paused, presumably to think over his next words. Then he continued, "It's annoying, that Mom called him. For one thing, they're supposed to be separated, and two, all the punishments get ten times worse when he gets a say."
"I haven't been punished."
"No yet, you haven't. But you just got back. Granted, Dad grounded me within an hour, before Mom could even try to negotiate."
That sounded like their father. "I'm sorry, Dave."
He shrugged off her apology. "Bet you'll get the same sentence. Actually, no, it'll be worse, since you went MIA."
"Oh, great..."
"I know. It's fun."
The bedroom door swung open, making both Sarah and Davey twist around.
"C'mon," Les ordered his older siblings, "It's family lecture time. I don't wanna take all of it."
Sarah made a whining noise at this instruction, but she climbed begrudgingly back into the bedroom. Davey followed suit. Then, the three siblings made their way to the kitchen table. Anticipating the lecture, Sarah was hesitant to sit down, but Mrs. Jacobs was quick to instruct each of her children to take a seat.
After they had done so, their father stared them down. "Your school called," he said, focusing on Les. "Apparently, ya haven't been in class for the past three days." Mr. Jacobs turned his gaze on his two older children. "Do you two know anythin' about that?"
"He's been sick," Sarah launched immediately into the cover story she had helped Les concoct days earlier, "so we've kept him home."
"And yet you took him out with you yesterday," remarked Mrs. Jacobs.
Les jumped in with the next lie. "I started feeling better."
"Is that why ya went an' broke your arm?" asked Mr. Jacobs, "You 'started feelin' better'?"
"Huh?"
"Fakin' sick wasn't workin' anymore, so ya had ta actually injure yourself?"
"Um... no, that was by accident."
"You don't have to make things up, Lesley," Mrs. Jacobs said gently. "If something's been going on at school, if you're being bullied, you can tell us."
Les laughed, earning himself a confused look from both parents. "Davey's friends are the ones gettin' bullied, not me."
Mrs. Jacobs turned to her other son. "Really? Who's been messing with you?"
"Joseph Pulitzer," Sarah dead-panned before Davey was forced to make up an excuse. "We've been striking against him all week."
"Striking?" Mr. Jacobs questioned, severity in his tone.
"Protesting," Les clarified. "For a good cause. They even made a student union, an' I'm Secretary of State."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "No, you aren't."
"Yes I am," Les argued, "Jack said so."
"Who's Jack?" Mrs. Jacobs wanted to know, looking thoroughly miffed by all of this new information.
"Just a guy at our school," answered Sarah, shooting her little brother a pointed look. "Les got introduced to him once when he met up with us after school. He didn't actually make Les a secretary, that would be ridiculous."
"So if you two are involved in this protest..." said Mrs. Jacobs slowly, trailing off without finishing. She was clearly still trying to make sense of it all. "If this is something only you two are part of, why is Les the one missing from school?"
Davey had kept quiet for this long, and Sarah had been mentally applauding him for standing his ground. But now, he opened his mouth to spill the beans. "Les has been sneaking out of school to help with the strike. And like he said, I've been leading the union along with Jack. We were all at school protesting yesterday until the riot started."
"Riot?"
"That's how Les broke his arm. I rolled him across the courtyard in a trash can accidentally."
Wishing she could yell at her brother for telling their mother everything, Sarah forced a grin. While Mrs. Jacobs gaped at the pair of them, she added on, "And I fought some goons wearing brass knuckles."
Seeming to decide it wasn't dignified to leave her mouth hanging open like a fish out of water, Mrs. Jacobs pursed her lips. "You're grounded."
"She was only defending herself," Davey protested. Despite expecting this outcome from the family meeting, it appeared he had decided to cover for Sarah. She certainly appreciated the effort, but there was no way his excuses were going to work.
Nevertheless, she jumped on the bandwagon he was driving. "Yeah, I'm not even a newsie. I'm barely involved in any of this."
"What the hell is a newsie?" This question came from Mr. Jacobs.
"It's what the kids who work on the school newspaper call themselves. They're all on strike right now because of Pulitzer's budget cuts."
"He raised the price they had to pay to work on the pape- er." Davey added the 'er' as an afterthought.
Les chimed in, "And he's trying to close the theater program."
At those words, Mr. Jacobs' expression became one of disgust. "Since when did you get involved in theata', David?"
"Since Wednesday," said Davey.
"I didn't work my whole life for you so's you could waste it all on arty crap like your sister does."
Sarah literally bit her tongue to keep from firing an insult back at her father. Meanwhile, Davey responded, "I know."
Then what're ya doin' in that class?"
"Not much, since Pulitzer had it canceled," Sarah glared as she said this.
"I don't think this Pulitzer fella is entirely wrong for cuttin' da program," stated her father. "Those types a' classes won't get kids anywhere in life."
"You'd be surprised," retorted Davey. "You haven't seen Jack's paintings, or the way Miss Medda- the theater teacher- cares for her students. If you ask me, they're all being benefited in some small way."
"An' this Miss Medda's why all your friends rioted yesterday, is she?"
"Well," said Les, "yes. But also no. You see, it all started-"
Mrs. Jacobs cut in before he could elaborate. "I don't care how the riot started, or why you've been protesting, or- or any of it!" She slammed her hand down on the table, making everyone else jump. "You-" she pointed at Sarah- "and you-" she made the same gesture in Davey's direction- "allowed your nine-year-old brother to join you in high school for three days! And you, Lesley, you lied to me and got yourself hurt! Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?"
Les spoke slowly. "I'm guessing... I'm grounded too?"
"More than that, mister. You aren't leaving this apartment, except for school, until you turn eighteen, hear that?"
"I hear ya."
"An' you," Mr. Jacobs directed his attention to Sarah and Davey again. "You two need ta stop hangin' around wit those art kids. I don't wanna hear any more about you organizin' protests and startin' riots."
"You can't control the people we're friends with," Sarah told him indignantly.
"If they're bad for ya, I can. This ain't up for discussion."
Mrs. Jacobs disagreed with this statement. "Sarah's right, Mayer. You don't get to decide whom she and David befriend."
"What about that Jack kid, formin' that 'union' so's he can skip class?"
Davey interjected, "That isn't what's going on. We're protesting for a reason. I already told you."
"He sounds like trouble, an' I won't have ya hangin' around him."
"You don't even know him! You can't just make assumptions about a person based on one fact."
"True," said Mrs. Jacobs. "You should bring him over for dinner sometime, David. I'd like to properly meet this boy."
At this suggestion, Sarah saw Davey's face fall. She recalled the multiple invitations he had extended for Jack to eat with them, all of which the other boy had declined, one of them partially due to Sarah's obvious opposition. Thinking back now, she wondered if allowing Jack to have a meal with her family would have made any difference in the simplicity of reaching him in the current aftermath of the strike.
"You might like ta meet him, but I wouldn't," remarked Mr. Jacobs, in reference to his wife's proposal. "I won't have 'im in my house, Esther."
"How convienient, then, that this isn't your house."
"My kids are here."
"I'm the one who's been taking care of them lately, not you."
"Ya didn't believe I could look after 'em, that's the only reason they're here."
"We agreed that it would be better for the boys here, with you out of work."
"You said that, not me. An' ya were wrong, anyway. Less than a week here an' they're both already in trouble."
"Mom doesn't have anything to do with that," Davey put in.
"I'm not blamin' your mother, I think it's your sister that got you all mixed up in this."
Sarah reasoned, "So you are blaming Mom, because I've been living with her, and you think it just has to be my fault, 'cause your golden boy David would never do such a thing."
"He neva' got in trouble like this when he was livin' with me."
"With you, he was afraid of messin' up. Mom doesn't yell at him every time he does anything the opposite of perfect."
"Sarah-" Davey started.
Mr. Jacobs barred his way into the conversation, not allowing his eldest son to finish speaking. "Your mother neva' pays attention ta you kids 'til ya get yourselves inta scrapes."
"Excuse me, Mister I-don't-call-to-ask-how-my-kids-are, but-come-rushing-over-the-second-I-hear-they're-in-trouble," was Mrs. Jacobs' long but clever comeback. "I'm working to support all three of them. What have you been doing?"
"You know perfectly well that I'm still searchin' for work. An' I neva' called 'cause a' you. You said ya didn't need my help once they moved in with ya, so I stayed outta it."
"That doesn't mean they wouldn't have liked to hear from you every once in a while!"
"Would you 'ave let 'em talk ta me?"
"Of course I would have! But you never called!"
"They were too busy strikin' ta hear from me anyhow!"
"That was this week. Any time before now, you could have-"
"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn'tve done, Esther!"
"That's not what I'm doing!"
While their parents' fight went on, Les tapped Sarah on the shoulder with his free hand. He mumbled, "Can we go somewhere else?"
"Sure," she answered, her voice at the same hushed level. Across the table, Davey had already stood up, so Sarah and Les followed him down the hall, back to the boys' room.
Sarah shut the door behind them, and when she turned back around to face her brothers, they were both out on the fire escape. "C'mon, Sarah," Davey encouraged, "let's get outta here while we still can."
Eager for one last hurrah before enduring an eternal grounding, Sarah joined them outside the window. "Where're we going?"
"To find Jack," decided Les. "After all, Mom wants to have him over for dinner."
With this goal in mind, the three siblings stomped down the metal staircase, stopping for a moment at the bottom to figure out which route to take. Sarah was just running through her mental list of places Jack might be when her cell phone beeped in her pocket. She flipped it open and found a message from Specs.
Everyone's gotta meet at Jacobi's in an hour. Katherine's on her way with news.
Davey read the text over Sarah's shoulder, then looked back and forth between his siblings. "Do you think-"
"I bet Jack's there!" Les interrupted, not letting Davey finish the question. Then, without warning, he took off running down the street, leaving his older siblings to chase after him before they lost sight of him completely.
As she dashed after him, Sarah quietly decided her brother was going to get a serious talking-to when she finally caught up to him.
Family drama! Yay! No one gets to have stable parents in Newsies. I'm sorry, but that's what I've decided.
Newsies that need hugs:
1. Henry
2. Finch
3. Jack
4. Les
As always, please review, and I'll be back next weekend!
