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Review Responses:

JustVildaPotter: Racer time, it's Racer time! Lots of people have Race as their favorite character. (Because Race is amazing, so no shame.) I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction to all the Finch and Sniper drama. STRIKE! (For real!)

AndrewKeenanBolgerFan: GIVE RACE A BREAK, EVERYONE! (Nope, they won't. Except Albert.)

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Chapter 28- Jack

Friday, September 17, 1999, 10:50 a.m.

It was supposed to be go time- the bell signaling the start of class had rung five minutes ago- but no less than five people had so far come up to Jack, wanting to save the protest for another day. Apparently, nobody was too keen on the idea of striking without backup from the kids in Brooklyn or any of the other schools in the city. Dammit Racer, Jack thought, not for the first time that hour. He quickly scolded himself for the thought. He needed to stop being so hard on Race. The boy had made one mistake. One of many. But this particular mistake may have cost the newsies of Lower Manhattan their forces, and Jack couldn't afford any more slip-ups. Besides, if he wasn't hard on his friends, they would never learn, would they? So he was going to have to trust Race to fix things with Spot later that day. Until then, he had to rally his classmates. They were going to go through with this protest, backup or no backup.

Weasel and the Delancey brothers marched into the room. As usual, upon entering, Weasel banged his baseball bat against the table and yelled "Papes for the newsies!"

No one moved to pay him, but they didn't do anything else either. Seeing Jack standing beside the money table, Morris nudged his brother. "Looks like we got some bum information 'bout a 'strike' happenin' today."

Oscar shook his head. "Too bad. Though I guess my skull-bustin' arm could use a lil' rest." He brandished the knuckles on one of his hands and ground them into his other palm.

"Ya payin', or movin' on, Cowboy?" Weasel demanded.

That was it, Jack decided. They had to do this. He climbed up on top of the wooden table, hoping it would still hold his weight despite being weakened from Weasel's constant abuse. "Newsies!" The chatter filling the room broke immediately as everyone focused their attention on Jack. "Are we ready for this?"

Almost no one responded, except for Buttons and Jojo, who both mumbled "No", and a few other people who shook their heads. What had happened to the excited gang of kids from the day before?

"Guys, come on. Spot Conlon wanted ta see we wouldn't back down at the first sign a' trouble. Do ya wanna prove him wrong, or what?"

"We've basically already backed down," said Finch, approaching the money table with one hand in his pocket.

"No!" Jack stomped on the table, the sound of which made Finch back away. "I ain't havin' that, guys. I don' care if yer all scared or whateva', we's goin' ta do this."

"I dunno, Jack," Mush said. "Maybe we should save this fer next week, try ta convince the otha' schools." About half the class mumbled their agreement.

"So you's just gonna let Pulitzer pick yer pockets, then?"

"No, I jus' think-"

"Really? 'Cause that's what I'm hearin'. If we back down now, he ain't neva' gonna listen to us again."

Unsureness continued to fill the air. From the crowd of teenagers, Les emerged. Davey looked as surprised as Jack was to see the young boy. "Is this really the right thing to do?" Les asked. For once, he actually sounded like a little kid, and that brought the mood down even more.

"Of course it's the right thing," someone said. Jack whipped his head around, and there stood Sarah. He hopped down from the table to confront her, but before he could say anything- "If you ask me what I'm doing here one more time, Jack Kelly, I will take Crutchie's strike sign and bash your head in with it." Jack closed his mouth, watching Crutchie hide himself within the crowd to prevent the act of violence Sarah had threatened. "Katherine and a reporter from The Sun are outside, setting up a camera." She directed her next comment to the entire group. "Do you really want to ruin this opportunity for her?"

"We all know Jack don't," stated Race. Jack couldn't tell if it was meant as a joke or not.

"And you all care about Jack, don't you? So help him out." That idea appeared unappealing to everybody but Crutchie and Smalls. Figures, Jack told himself. To be fair, he had put himself on the outs with two of his friends in just three days. Sarah sighed. "Take it away, Dave."

"Wait, what?" Davey glanced between his sister and his new friend. Jack nodded for him to go ahead, even though he wasn't sure what Sarah wanted the guy to do.

"You were up all night writing a speech. Now give it," Sarah ordered, pulling her brother up from his chair.

"Uh, right." Davey pulled a stack of notecards- because of course he had those- out of the front pocket on his shirt. "So, um, now is the time, to... um... seize the day." He glanced up from the first card. "Carpe diem and all that."

"Are we s'posed ta know what that means?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.

Specs mumbled, "Yes," but no one besides Jack and Romeo paid him any attention.

Davey shoved the notecards away. "No, forget about it. Here's the thing, guys. We may not have Brooklyn, or, well, anybody else, but despite those odds, we have to stare Pulitzer down. Minute by minute, hour by hour, we are going to take a stand, and we're going to win back the rights we deserve!"

"Yeah!" Les yelled, already back on board with the protest, his hesitation from two minutes ago completely forgotten.

"I just got here... god, was it three days ago already? It feels like a lifetime. Anyway, I just got here, and you all know I was skeptical at first, but I got to know Jack, and the rest of you guys, and I know that none of you are the type of kid who's going to back down without a fight. You're all too stubborn, and too proud to do that. Am I right?"

This question earned Davey a few mumbled yesses. Jack put in, "Yeah, we's a stubborn bunch. An' we're brave too, ain't we? So we gotta do this. 'Cause we ain't just some gang a' kids. We's an army."

"An army a' newsies," added Smalls.

"An army a' newsies."

"So, we doin' this?" Crutchie wondered.

The sight of the younger boy seemed to give Albert an idea. "Hey, what if we send Crutchie ova' ta Brooklyn? Spot might feel sorry for us then."

"Actually-" Crutchie began to suggest something, but Jack cut him off.

"We don't need no one's pity. We can do this by ourselves. An' as for Spot Conlon an' his boys, who didn't care ta join us-"

Davey interrupted before Jack could even put together a threat. "They still deserve what we're fighting for, and we're going to make sure they get their rights as well."

"So, we fight!" Jack yelled.

"Ya mean, we strike!" Crutchie corrected, waving his sign.

"That's right. This strike starts right damn now!" Jack made for the door, but hardly anyone else moved.

Sarah jumped onto a chair. "You heard your leaders, it's time to seize the day!"

"Seize the day!" Crutchie and Les echoed.

"Carpet diem!" Romeo yelled, causing Specs to laugh as he mispronounced the declaration.

"Newsies united!" Smalls cried, from on top of a different chair.

Then, to Jack's surprise, Race came to the front of the group, holding a rolled up sheet of paper that worked as a fake megaphone. "One for all!"

"And all for one!" Henry yelled, in unison with Elmer.

Mush braced Blink as he climbed up onto a table, and the boy began chanting, "Strike! Strike!"

That, somehow, got everyone else to join in. "Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!"

Mike and Ike ran to the classroom doors. While Mike pushed them open, Ike drummed on the wall and made an "ohhhh" sound. Then they ran out into the hall, with one final "Strike!"

In their hurry, the twins had failed to set the doors in place to stop them from moving, so they nearly hit Jack in the face as they swung back into place, but he pushed them open with his palms as he led the unarmed battalion out of the classroom.

"Alright Jack!" Someone in the back called. This was followed by assorted whoops and hollers from the rest of the newsies.

Upon reaching the hallway that led all the way to the school's front door, Specs jogged to the head of the crowd, yelled, "Come on, guys!" and sprinted down the hall.

"Alright Specs!" called the same random person.

Jack, Davey, and Crutchie hung back as the others ran after Specs. "Oh my god," Davey muttered when the mob had left the trio in the dust. "They were unsure about this whole thing a few minutes ago, right? I didn't hallucinate that?"

"You didn't," Crutchie reassured. He flicked his eyes back and forth between the closed classroom doors lining the hallway, then yelled, with one more look at the group running ahead of them, "You see this, Mr. Pulitzer?" And he flipped off the empty hall as if the school superintendent was standing at the end of it.

"Wha-" Davey was too shocked to finish the word. Jack copied Crutchie's hand motion, relishing in Davey's shocked expression. "There's cameras in the hall, you know."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "So?"

"So you could get expelled for doing that."

Crutchie scoffed before Jack could. "For what, tellin' the hallway off? I don't think so." It was amazing how easily he had adapted to acting like a normal teenager rather than the helpless little kid he seemed to be. Especially within a mere three days.

"Recklessness is not a quality I would've pinned on you, Crutchie."

The younger boy shrugged. "I learned from the best."

Jack ruffled his hair. "That ya did, Crutch. That ya did."

I didn't lie! The strike has begun!

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