It's cold out, guys. And I'm bored. So let's have another chapter.
Review Responses:
AndrewKeenanBolgerFan: Crutchie does act innocent, but that doesn't mean he is. He can and will flip off a hallway if he wants to. Thank you so much!
Chapter 29- Mush
Friday, September 17, 1999, 2:05 p.m.
The strike, or walkout, or whatever it was, ended as abruptly as it had started. Mush was sure it would have gone on longer if certain people hadn't caused everything to get out of hand.
The first hour, after the initial dash from the school, went by pretty fast for something as calm as the protest was. For a while, the newsies had simply marched back and forth in the courtyard, kept in an orderly line by Specs and The Mouth. But then Miss Plumber and her reporter friend from The Sun, Mr. Denton, had gathered everyone to take a picture. It went without saying that there was a reason Mr. Wiesel's journalism class was never featured in the yearbook. That particular group of teenagers could not manage to take a picture without at least five people trying to dramatically backflip into the frame for the fun of it. This issue came on account of there being dancers in the group. Tommy Boy was challenged to pirouette for as long as possible while the picture was being taken- which of course he accepted. And even Crutchie tried to do a weird sort of jump- that failed, due to him only having one leg that really functioned- before the photo could actually be snapped.
A photo that was rumored to potentially make the front page of The New York Sun that weekend, if everything went according to Miss Plumber's plan. That was when most of the newsies had started to get excited; particularly Race and Albert, who began running in circles and screaming about becoming kings of New York, whatever the hell that meant. Those two had riled up the rest of the group, and a whole bunch of chaos spiraled out from there. This had led to so much noise it made the principal close her blinds; Mush could see her office window from where he was standing. Within seconds, the marching became less orderly and showed more similarity to a raucous teenage party. Not that Mush had ever been to any of those. He preferred to hang out alone with his boyfriend in one of their respective apartments while the rest of their friends went to parties.
Anyway, the school administrators may have turned a blind eye to the ruckus if it hadn't been for the dog. Even now, after the fact, Mush couldn't understand why the dog had appeared or where it had come from. All he knew was that, all of a sudden, the mutt came running out in front of the school, barking at everyone and trying to bite at their heels.
What had happened next was a jumble of sights and sounds Mush could not quite recall. One moment that stuck out in his memory had been Buttons yelling "Fleas!" and running away at the sight of the dog. This was understandable, given that person's unfortunate liability of catching lice often from their younger siblings. If one really considered it, fleas and lice weren't that different from one another. Both were vermin that crawled all over one's hair. The problem with Buttons' outburst was that they had run off school grounds and caused Jojo to follow them. Leaving the school had been an unspoken rule that the protesters were not to break under any circumstances, so the sight of two of their number bolting away from the building had not pleased the adults keeping an eye on the event.
After that, there had been some cheering for the two runaways, combined with more shouting, and eventually the dog started barking at the administrators. This happened to occur right when the adults were in the process of trying to force the horde of upset art students back to their classes. At that point in Mush's memory, the mutt had only been making things worse for the newsies. However, the blame could have alternatively been placed upon those students that protested with more vigor at the prospect of being sent back indoors. Smalls, Albert, Race, and the twins, to name a few. Those five, along with several others, had linked arms to form a sort of barricade against the adults, chanting "Nothing can break us! No one can make us quit before we're done! One for all and all for one!" For a call-and-response that had been made up on the spot, the chant had rippled quickly throughout the crowd. Unfortunately, their chanting wasn't enough to stop the employees of Roosevelt High.
In the end, the adults had rounded everyone up, marched the more unruly members of the group to the principal's office, and sent the rest back to class. Mush had gotten roped into the delinquent group for trying to help Tommy Boy to calm down the dog, which was apparently his. At the same time, Blink had asked Mush for help concealing Les from anyone else's view, which amounted to Mush standing behind Les when the group was led back inside. The things he did for his boyfriend and best friend. But getting away with Les had gone smoothly; it was hiding the dog that caused the real problem, for the mutt would not obey despite the two boys' efforts to calm it down. On the bright side, Mush had been let off easy when the administrators came to haul away Tommy Boy. They could tell that he wasn't really involved. Good news for his record.
Later that day, on the way to the school theater, where he would spend the hour that would have normally been filled by Miss Larkin's class, Mush regrouped with Tommy Boy and Blink. They were strangely eager to catch him up on the events that had transpired during their trip to the office, though as usual Mush's boyfriend opted to do most of the talking. When Blink took a breath in the middle of his explanation, Mush took the opportunity and rounded on Tommy Boy. "What were ya thinkin', tryin' ta sneak in a dog? Ya could've made 'em call the cops on us, or worse, gotten us all expelled!"
"He didn't, Mushy," Blink said, then added in an undertone, "but Hannah did say we'd be suspended if we got involved again."
"Suspended?" This was exactly what Mush had feared would happen.
"Relax, we jus' don't get involved the next time. It's as simple as that."
"Jack ain't gonna like that."
"Speakin' a' him, it's lucky Jack wasn't swept up wit us," said Tommy Boy. "He would a' been in real trouble if they'd found out he don't have a guardian."
"They call yer parents, then?" Mush guessed.
Blink joked, "What parents?" referring to the fact that all students present lived in foster homes. Mush knew that meant his companions' foster parents had indeed been contacted. "I think Smalls' chewed her out," Blink went on. "She was in Hannah's office longer than any a' us."
"Sucks ta be her," was all Mush had to say to that. Having never been in that much trouble, he couldn't relate.
The trio rounded the corner on the way back to the journalism classroom to retrieve their bags. As if he had been waiting for them, Oscar Delancey stepped out from the shadows. Morris lurked behind him like the bodyguard he was. Oscar sized the three boys up. "Well, if it ain't da mute, da bat, an' da fa-"
"Shut the hell up," Tommy Boy growled before Oscar could finish that f-word.
"Easy, puppy," Oscar taunted. He had somehow already heard about the dog situation. When Tommy Boy got in his face, he flicked a hand. "Down, boy. Heel. Stay."
Mush tried to slip past the number one asshole, but was blocked by his number two. Morris spat in Mush's face, then remarked, "That was some stunt youse pulled. Ya got off easy taday."
"What's that s'posed ta mean?" Blink asked, narrowly avoiding being kicked by Oscar.
The younger Delancey brother explained, his tone violent as usual, "Weasel's offered us some money ta go an' break youse up next time."
"More a' your 'honest work'?"
"Yeah. Should be real bloody, getcha a nice clear pictcha fer da pape."
Morris half-growled, half-laughed as he shoved Blink. "Ya saidja wanted ta get on da front page."
Oscar chuckled, joining in on the shoving of Blink. "We might even recruit Spot Conlon ta come wit us, eh Morris?"
"Whaddaya mean, Spot Conlon?" Mush blurted, pulling his boyfriend back before he could attempt to fight back against the brothers.
"Didn'tcha hear? Da King a' Brooklyn came ta us da otha' night, seekin' out a job. 'Course, we was happy ta provide 'im one."
Tommy Boy's eyes shot open wide. He voiced the conclusion Mush had come to. "Tha's why he didn't join us."
"We gotta tell Jack," Blink said. He tried to leave, but Morris tripped him. Mush was quick to help him up.
The Delanceys circled the three boys, like sharks eager for lunch. "Youse could go runnin' ta yer Cowboy," Oscar said, his voice low. "Or, we could make a deal."
Mush shoved him aside. "No."
But Blink and Tommy Boy held back. "What kind a' deal?"
Morris grinned, showcasing his yellow teeth. "How's about youse give us da time an' date a' yer next protest, an' we don' give youse such a bad time when we beat youse up."
Mush spun around, crossing his arms. "That's hardly a deal."
"Yer friends don't seem ta think so." Oscar was right. Tommy Boy and Blink looked like they were actually considering the Delanceys' offer.
Before either boy could respond, or rather, be prevented from responding by more of Mush's protests, footsteps approached from behind the Delancey brothers. Sniper walked towards the five, her long arms laden with four school bags. Evidently, she had just come from the journalism classroom. Mush wondered what she had been doing for the past several hours, because he couldn't remember seeing her during the walkout. Sniper tossed three of the bags to Tommy Boy, and he distributed the two that weren't his own to Mush and Blink.
"What're ya doin' ova' here?" Sniper asked nonchalantly, eyeing the Delanceys.
"We were just leavin'," Mush pulled his bag over his head and let the strap settle onto his shoulder. Then he gave his companions a pointed look. "Weren't we."
"Sure were," said Blink. Tommy Boy grunted.
"Cool. I think Jack wants us in the theater," Sniper told Mush. He noticed Oscar boring his eyes into the girl, but she didn't look at either of the brothers. In fact, she seemed to be avoiding their gazes. "Let's get goin'."
"Come by 'ere tamorra' if youse got any information," Oscar ordered.
"Um, okay," Sniper said, then turned to Tommy Boy as the quartet started down the hall. "What's this I been hearin' about a dog?"
Tommy Boy shook his head and began to explain. Mush was the only member of the group who glanced back at the Delanceys. Morris met his eyes, staring Mush down until he had rounded the corner. He did not like the uneasy feeling that look was giving him.
Did someone say scab drama?
You didn't? Well, I did. Get ready for that, people. It's gonna be a wild ride.
I have about 10 more chapters of this written, and that will carry us to the end of "Act 1", also known as the first half of the story. So you can expect one chapter per day until the end of the year (except for the two days on which I will be posting my holiday one-shots). After that, I may take a short break from this story, or just keep on trucking. We'll see.
So that's what's happening. (I have a schedule, can you believe it?)
Leave a review, if you please, and I'll be back tomorrow!