OE Chapter 7 - Nothing On My Back

"Was happiness a fad / Or was it in the lost and found again behind the issues / It might not be so bad / We're all addicted to our tragedy / I guess it's what it had to be / With nothing on my back / It's still enough to bring me down / My mind's about to crack / Cuz what I thought could not be found / Matter of in fact / It's harder still when you're around / With nothing on my back / I can't help but drown." - Sum 41

            Now it was Ocean Eyes who had to try to keep up with Snoddy. He was practically sprinting back to Manhattan, despite the torturous heat. He seemed to have caught some second wind, though Ocean Eyes was clutching her side with a horrendous stitch.

            "JACK! JACK KELLY! COWBOY!" Snoddy yelled as he made it to Newsie Square, where everyone was watching Racetrack losing horribly to Swifty at a game of cards. Jack looked up in interest, saw who it was, and then turned away. Snoddy stopped short, confused.

            "Wha's goin' on?" Ocean Eyes whispered to him as she caught up. Every newsie in the square was avoiding their eyes.

            "I dunno," Snoddy answered, and instinctively his arm went around her waist. He raised his voice to try again. "Jackie Boy! Wha's goin' on?!"

            Finally Jack looked over at them, and his eyes were like glaring slits beneath the black brim of his cowboy hat. "How could ya," he muttered.

            "How could we what?" Snoddy asked.

            "You liddle con artists," Race suddenly said, turning from his sitting position and staring straight at Ocean Eyes. His expression was filled with just as much hate as Jack's. "How could ya do dat not on'y ta Pie Eateh, but ta Mush? An' Kid Blink? Yer own bruddah!"

            "Race? What are you talkin' about?" Ocean Eyes ventured, looking at her friend in confusion.

            "Oh, like you don' know," he scoffed. "Mush alrea'y tol' us all about what you'se done, Alexandra."

            "Oh, shit," said Snoddy.

            "Oh shit what?" asked Ocean Eyes, turning to Snoddy in confusion.

            "I'se tell ya latah," Snoddy murmured.

            "No, Snoddy, tell me now," Ocean Eyes said. She wrenched free from his grip.

            "You'se jus' a manipulative liddle bitch," said Jack with an angry glare, advancing towards her. "You use ev'rybody. An' now you drag Snoddy in on it, too? Wha's wrong witchu?"

            "Wha's wrong wit' me?" she repeated. "How abou' wha's wrong wit' you?" She glared at him. "You'se such a bastahd dat ya can't even tell me what da hell I did."

            "Let it go, Ocean…" Snoddy warned under his breath.

            "No, I won' let it go!" she screeched. "What da hell did I do, oh all-mighty Jack?"

            "Mush?" called Jack, and Mush stepped out from behind Horace Greeley's statue. He was holding a small book, leather, with a ribbon holding it shut. In fancy gold script, it read "Alexandra" on the cover.

            "Me joinal!" Alexandra said happily, reaching for it. "I'se los' dat a long time ago! T'anks, Mush!" She advanced towards him shyly, because she wasn't sure how he was doing with the breakup.

            "So you admit dat dis is your joinal?" asked Jack.

            "Oh, shit," Snoddy said again.

            "A course it's mine, Jack," she answered. "Who else'd have a joinal wit me name on da coveh?"

            At this, every newsie friend she'd ever had in Manhattan turned his back on her. Snoddy was the only one who would still look at her, but he had sympathetic eyes. "Wha's goin' on?" she asked uneasily.

            Kid Blink stepped forward and grabbed the journal from Mush. He untied the scarlet ribbon and opened to a page he'd marked by folding down the corner. He skimmed a moment, then began to read: "…Mama isn't really dead, but she's gone mad. Papa has ta lock 'er up in da cellar ta keep 'er from hittin' me. Christian really had da right idea ta leave when he did. I wish I had. At least he believed my letter that said that Papa had killed Mama! When Chris left, it was that way a lot of the time—until Papa cleaned up his act. But I can't tell dat ta Chris, because he'll be mad dat I lied ta get outta da house. Da truth is, I jus' wanna find some boys ta have fun wit'. Papa won't even let me go ta school anymore cuz da schoolmarm tol' me I'm too boy-obsessed!"

            Ocean Eyes dropped her view to the cement. "I was gonna tell ya, Blink," she said softly.

            "Oh, wait, dere's more!" Kid Blink shouted, and his glare at her seemed to double in intensity. He proceeded to read about how she'd planned to go with Mush all the time, and had only played around with Pie Eater's feelings because she could.

            "Hey, hey, stop!" she screamed in the middle of it. "No! I didn' write dat! Yes, I lied about ours parents, Chris, but I neveh wrote dat about Pie Eateh. NEVEH! I love 'im!"

            Jack spit at her feet. "Get outta heah. Get outta Manhattan. You ain't welcome heah no moah. I'se neveh wanna see you'se face in Manhattan again."

            "Jack, it wasn' her," Snoddy said quietly.

            "What're you talkin' abou', Snoddy?" Jack asked, raising his eyes to the tall boy's face. "Is you tellin' me…"

            "I wrote it," Snoddy said quietly. "An' den I left it wheah I knew Mush would find it. It's jus' dat she made me so mad abou' jus' leavin' Pie Eateh an' den bein' all Mush's in about toity seconds! It wasn' fair. An' den … well, I realized I made a mistake when she an' I went ta Brooklyn ta-day ta try ta find Pie Eateh."

            "I can't believe dis… how much did she pay you, Snoddy, ta say dat for 'er?" Mush asked.

            Snoddy rolled his eyes. "Mush, I left it in your bedside table drawer for a reason."

            Everyone was silent for a moment, then Snoddy remembered something. "Hey, Jack, ya still wanna know sumpin?"

            Jack just shrugged.

            "Guess who's in Brooklyn. Kiss. Ocean saw 'er. She's hangin' 'round wit' Pie Eateh. So what does dat mean?"

            Suddenly, Jack's face broke into a huge grin. "Kiss's oveh dere? Wondahful!" He seemed to forget all the troubles from the journal for a moment and just threw back his head and laughed. "Dis don' getcha outta punishmen', Snoddy, cuz dat was a horrible t'ing ta do ta ev'rybody heah. But dis is wondahful!"

            "WHAT IS DA DEAL WIT' KISS?" Ocean Eyes shouted.

            But none of the boys were listening. They had formed into a circle, and were singing some sort of chant/song:

I'se gonna go buy me a new pair a' shoes

An' a smart bow-tie dat's angel-wing blue

Gonna lose me tobacco an' da reason is dis:

All cuz of a visit from my sweet Kiss!

Let da sunshine slip from all a ours views

Firget about Sally an' Christina an' Sue

For dere's no better goil, a true fact is dis:

Den da heavenly, wondahful, spectaculah Kiss!

            Melody and Chance, who had been hanging around the outskirts of the boys, now edged their way over to where Ocean Eyes stood, glaring at the non-answering boys.

            "Kiss is dis goil," Melody said with a smile, putting her arm around Ocean Eyes' shoulders. "She comes an' goes, an' all da boys love 'er cuz of it. She's known t'roughout da whole New Yawk area, an' down in Joisey, an' oveh in Pennsylvania, an' stuff like dat."

            "So why is dey all excited?" Ocean Eyes asked, looking over at the boys, who had begun critiquing each others' outfits. "She's still oveh in Brooklyn."

            "She always goes ta Brooklyn right befoah comin' ta Manhattan," Chance answered. She didn't have Melody's genial smile on her face; rather, she wore a scowl. "Gawd, I hates dat goil."

            "Dat's only cuz you'se jealous dat Race'll hang out wit' her," Melody laughed.

            "Oh, you shush, because ya know dat dis time, you's got a boy who'll hang aroun' her too!" Chance held her nose in the air.

            Melody shook her head. "Me an' Blink ain't tageddah no moah," she said softly. "From dis moinin', on."

            "Oh, Melody," said Chance, and gave her best friend a hug. "Why? I'se t'ought you was crazy about him."

            "I am," Melody answered, and tears filled her eyes. She hugged Chance back tightly. Ocean Eyes, feeling like she was invading on the moment, edged away.

            The boys were now dispersing, and Ocean Eyes figured it was to prepare themselves for Kiss's appearance. One of the last guys to leave the square was Mush.

            "Mush? Can I'se talk ta you?" she asked, grabbing hold of his sleeve and blinking up at him.

            He looked down at her, and shook his head. "No, it's too oily. Me heaht doesn't heal dat fast, Ocean Eyes." He broke the gaze and turned and walked away.

            "Good goin', Ocean Eyes," said a newsie that Ocean Eyes didn't even know. She whirled around and looked at him. "You'se totally ruined Mush, you know dat? 'E used ta be HAPPY all da time. Why'd ya hoit him like dat? You'se a horrible, wretched liddle goil."

            Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fist landed on the face of the boy. "I don' EVEH wanna heah you talk ta a goil like dat again. Ya heah?" Mush, usually non-violent and sweet-tempered, was glaring at the boy.

            "Hey, I was jus' stickin' up fer you!"

            Mush shook his head, then looked at Ocean Eyes. "I'se gonna end up wit' dis goil," he said aloud, staring at her. "Mark me woids. She don' know it yet, but I do. An' I'm neveh gonna give up on you, Ocean. Neveh."

            Ocean Eyes' heart broke. She couldn't take it anymore. Sighing loudly, she turned and ran.

**Copyright © Mondie 2002**