I'm gonna run outta chapters soon if I keep posting this much, guys. But I don't care.
Review Responses:
AndrewKeenanBolgerFan: *me smiling dumbly with you* Sprace, you say? *jumps on table, starts chanting* SPRACE! SPRACE! SPRACE! SPRACE! Race is not the character in the backseat, but good guess. It would be interesting if he was.
JustVildaPotter: (Chapter 14) Yeah, when I found out about Pulitzer and Hearst being enemies, I was like "oh". But I'm gonna keep Hearst as his right hand and not worry about it. Yes, it's just about time for strikes and such! (Chapter 15) Short jokes at Spot's expense are incredibly fun. I have to make fun of him. He's so small. Yes, poor terrified major character. That honestly sums up the next chapter (the next one after the one below). Yeah Race, geez. You're never gonna get a date that way.
I almost posted this chapter yesterday, but somehow managed to stop myself. Here it is now.
Chapter 16- Sarah
Wednesday, September 15, 1999, 6:00 p.m.
"Never mind this call, Kath. I'll probably see you tomorrow."
Sarah Jacobs hung up the school's phone for the fourth time. Resigned to her lonesomeness, she placed it back in the receiver connected to the wall. Where had Katherine run off to? Even though the colleges started two weeks before the other schools in New York City, Sarah knew for a fact that the older girl did not have any work to do that afternoon. She wasn't at her apartment, for Sarah had just called there and found only an answering machine. Before that, she had tried two different numbers from the college, as well as the work phone Katherine rarely used. If Sarah would have had possession of Katherine's personal cell number, she would have tried it, too, but Sarah had never been provided with such a number.
Katherine must have desperately needed to get away from the immature teenagers she spent half her day corralling. Sarah didn't blame her. But she had left so suddenly, especially after having promised her best friend that she would help her out with pictures for the yearbook. The yearbook supervisor had told her class that whichever student on the yearbook staff took the most pictures on the first day back got extra credit, something Sarah lived for. Though she would never admit it, Sarah was as big of a nerd as her brother David was. She had thought that with Katherine's help, she had the competition in the bag. Maybe it was cheating to get help from a student teacher, but no one would have needed to know that. If only Katherine hadn't ditched her.
Sighing, Sarah packed up her textbooks, placing them in her bag beside her camera with the greatest of care. At least she had all her homework completed. Now, her mother wouldn't have an excuse to pester her when she got home.
"Knock knock," said a voice. Sarah knew who it was without turning around. Jack Kelly. It was always Jack Kelly. He was the one who had driven Katherine away, like he did every time Sarah got a chance to spend time with her. "Ya ready ta go home, or are ya still waitin' on Kath?"
"What if I am?"
"Tha's great. I'll be on my way. See ya tomorrow mornin'."
"Wait-" Sarah spun around to face Jack- "It's been three hours."
"Yeah, it has," Davey poked his head into the classroom too. "What are we still doing here?"
Jack stared at the wall. "I honestly don't know what we've been doin' fer the last three hours. By this point, even Medda's gone home."
"Beats me," said Les. Sarah didn't know how or when he had gotten there, but he was there now. As it was pretty late and neither of his siblings had left their school to go pick him up as they should have, she figured Les must have made his way over on his own. Good for him.
"That's not important," Sarah told the three boys, who were still trying to think of a reason for not having left yet. "The point is, we've been at school way too long."
She pulled her bag onto her shoulders and the quartet made their way through the empty hallways and staircases, heading toward the school's front door.
"So what're we doing now?" Les asked.
"I say we head ta Jacobi's an' get some dinner," Jack declared. "I don' know about you, but I'm starvin'. Also, it's cheap an' I work there, so's ya might be able ta get food free." He winked at Davey, and Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Geez, is it really that late?" Davey checked his watch. "Thanks Jack, but we should really be getting home. Our folks'll be waiting."
Jack looked away, preventing the others from seeing his expression. From the tone of his voice, he was disappointed by the news. "Right, ya got folks."
"Doesn't everyone?" Les wondered, before either of his older siblings could stop him.
Davey shook his head. "No, Les."
"What happened to yours?" The young boy asked Jack.
The older guy visibly tensed. He rubbed the back of his neck as he answered, "They, uh, ain't around anymore. Haven't been for a long time."
"So they couldn't take care of you or something?"
Sarah was about to tell her little brother to shut up, but Jack didn't seem to mind answering, now that the subject was out there. "Or somethin'."
This time, Les was sensible enough not to press the topic further. He nodded knowingly. "Our father got hit by a truck a few months ago." He said this in the most casual way possible, not realizing that he had made it sound like Mr. Jacobs had been killed.
"Wait, what?"
"Les, don't say it like that," Sarah reprimanded. She gave an explanation to Jack, who was looking like he wanted to give her a million apologies for every single time he had annoyed her. "A delivery truck clipped him one day when he was leaving work. Messed him up bad, so they laid him off."
"Damn. I mean, good that he's alive, but that still sucks."
"That's why I go here now," Davey waved a hand at the hallway surrounding them. "With no job, he can't afford the tuition for the school Les and I used to go to. So we're living with our mom and Sarah until he gets back on his feet. It's temporary. Once he's fixed up and gets a job again, I'll be out of here."
At the news that Davey could be leaving after a few months, Jack looked a little disappointed. It was a bit hypocritical of him in Sarah's opinion; he could usually be found going on about college in Santa Fe and how great it was going to be when he got there. "Sure. Well, good fer you. And uh, sorry 'bout your dad."
Tension and awkward silence hung in the air as the four of them exited the building. In the slivers of sky that could be seen between all the other structures surrounding Roosevelt High, the sun was still bright, though it was slowly beginning to draw closer to the ground. When they reached the gate, Sarah saw Jack waiting a few steps behind to see which way the Jacobs siblings were going to go; then he oriented his body in the opposite direction so he wouldn't have to follow them.
"Alright, I guess youse gotta get home. See ya tomorrow."
"Yep," Sarah agreed, and started down the sidewalk.
Les followed her, but Davey held back. "Hey, Jack?"
The older boy turned. "Hmm?"
"Look, uh, why don't you come home with us for dinner?"
For a moment, Jack looked like he was going to accept, but then his eyes met Sarah's. "No, I shouldn't."
"Guess that's that," said Sarah, wanting to get away. "Come on, Dave."
Davey kept on talking. "It's no trouble. Our folks will be happy to have you. And you seem to like the idea of free food, so... want to come consume ours?" Weird phrasing was Davey's specialty, Sarah had noticed.
"Mom's a great cook," Les added.
Why exactly did her brothers want Jack Kelly to eat with them? "Yeah," was Sarah's lame response to Les' statement.
"Thanks fer the invite," Jack backed away. "But I jus' remembered, I got plans with... a fella."
Very specific, thought Sarah.
"He's prob'ly waitin' on me righ' now."
A dark figure, the silhouette of a man maybe fifty years old, rounded the corner and began to approach the group from the end of Jack's half of the sidewalk. He seemed to faintly recognize the teenager's back, and glared suspiciously as he came closer.
"Is that the guy you're meetin'?" Les pointed at the mysterious man.
"What?" Jack glanced over his shoulder.
One glimpse of his face was all the man needed to confirm the suspicions he must have had. "Sullivan!" He bellowed, quickening his pace.
Sarah didn't see even a smidgen of a thought process going on behind Jack's eyes. There was no fight or freeze, only flight. "Run for it!" He yelled, taking off.
"Sullivan!" The man roared again.
"C'mon, run!" Jack ordered, passing Sarah, Davey, and Les within seconds.
The Jacobs siblings followed, the man not far behind, while Jack easily sprinted blocks ahead of them all. While the mystery pursuer shouted, the quartet dashed down street after street, cutting through alleyways to make their trail harder to follow. After what felt like a million years to Sarah, who was not used to so much running, particularly in combat boots, Jack pulled the trio into a corner, where they took a minute to breathe.
The reactions to what had just happened were varied. There was Les, who looked energized and ready to begin sprinting again any second. Sarah, who sort of had a clue about why Jack had been running as if he'd broken a law, caught her breath and waited for the explanation. Davey, panting, appeared angry and ready to demand answers, but Jack clearly was not ready to give them. Muttering curses under his breath, he poked his head out of the corner to scan the streets; in his eyes, Sarah saw something wild but afraid at the same time.
"We lost him," Jack finally confirmed, leaning back against the wall.
Now it was Davey's time to speak. "Does someone wanna tell me why I'm running? I got no one chasing me! Who was that guy?"
"Snyder. The Spider."
"What does he want with you?" Sarah asked.
"Same as usual. Ta get me back under his so-called care."
"Of course."
Davey wasn't following. "I'm sorry, who's this guy?"
"Snyder," Jack kicked a rock on the ground. "He runs the Refuge."
"The what now?"
"Y'know, The Refuge."
"No, I don't know."
"Ain't I told ya 'bout the Refuge yet?"
"No. How much clearer do you need me to be?"
"It's a foster home," Sarah explained. "For kids like Jack."
"Kids with no parents?" This came from Les.
"Kids nobody wants," Jack corrected. "Kids who get themselves in trouble. There's plenty a' homes like that, but Snyder's place is the shit-" he censored himself- "shiftiest one out there. The more kids he brings in, the more da city pays him. But all that money goes right inta his own pocket. The Spider don't care about no one but himself."
"I take it you did time with him," remarked Davey.
"More like he kept me there. Jus' like he keeps all the kids. Ta get outta the Refuge, you's gotta be real goddamn lucky."
Les was curious. "So how'd you get out?"
"I hitched a ride on Teddy Roosevelt's carriage."
"What the hell does that mean?" Davey blurted, fed up with the subtleties.
Jack looked off into the distance, considering how to tell the story. Via Katherine's secondhand knowledge of the event, Sarah had heard bits and pieces of the tale, but no one knew it better than Jack. "So my friend Race an' I, we's stuck at the Refuge at the same time. An' one day, we've had about enough a' the place, so, we make a run for it. Now, a' course it don't take long for Snyder ta realize we've escaped, an' he starts chasin' us. Like youse jus' saw, we needed ta lose him quick. Nearest place is a museum. So we sneak in, an' the first thing we see is this big exhibit on Teddy Roosevelt. One a' the dioramas or whateva' has this big carriage in it. So we climb in an' spend da night. Come mornin', Snyder ain't even lookin' fer us anymore."
Upon the conclusion of the story, Jack smiled at Les, whose eyes were wide in wonder. "Is that true?"
"Ya can ask Race if ya want a second opinion. Though I should warn ya, he don't remember it as well as I do."
"Wow, that really backs up your account." Sarah's words were laced with sarcasm.
Somehow, Davey managed to be more skeptical than his sister. "If Snyder forgot all about you when you hid in a carriage, why is he still looking for you now?"
Making it sound as if Davey were stupid for not realizing, Jack said, "'Cause I got myself in trouble again, duh." Before Davey could ask what he had gotten in trouble for, Jack provided that information. "I stole some stuff."
"Awesome, wow." Davey grabbed Les' hand and began pulling him away. "We should get home now."
"Yeah, me too. Stay clear a' Snyder, alright?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Sure, Jack."
Leaving Jack in the nook between buildings, the three Jacobs siblings found their way toward the subway. Sarah let Les skip ahead before sidling up beside Davey for a quick interrogation.
"Still think your new friend's friendly?"
"Maybe, maybe not. You going to say 'I told you so' or something?"
"No, I just want to make sure you know that Jack likes smart kids like you."
Davey moved his fingers up and down, forming quotation marks in the air. "'Beautiful, smart, independent.'"
Sarah smiled. "Is that what he called you?"
"Earlier, yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Do you think the same about him?"
"What? No!"
"You know what's funny? You sound just like Katherine. Jack gave her those same compliments, before they started dating two years ago."
"I don't know what you're trying to imply, but I'd like it to stop." In an attempt to move away from Sarah, Davey shifted a bit too close to the edge of the curb.
Not for the first time that day, Sarah yanked her brother out of the way as a taxi went speeding by. She caught a glimpse of one of the people inside as it rushed past, and she did a double take.
"Was that Crutchie?"
Dudes dudes dudes! Sarah got a chapter! Woohoo!
My personal favorite part in this chapter was the story of "Teddy Roosevelt's carriage". Not to brag, but I feel like a genius for coming up with that.
What was your favorite part? Let me know in your review, and I'll see you later, when we come back to Spot's cab ride.