CHAPTER 5:
About two weeks had gone by since the incident in the ally. Jack was back in the
Lodging House, and Oscar and Morris actually had a trial. They were sent to a real correctional
facility since the court ruled that it was attempted murder. They'll be there for a while.
Jack was on crutches, so he tried to stay away from Crutchy during the day. Some of
the boys joked that he just did all this for sympathy on the streets. It seemed like everything
was getting back to normal for them. I wasn't so lucky.
I was still dealing with being an orphan and my birthday was coming up. The boys knew
it was on May seventh, and I heard them planning something at Medda's. I didn't want to
celebrate though. My mother was gone, and she was the one that had actually given me my
birthday. It didn't seem fair. I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for a year, but the
day finally came, and hiding wasn't and option.
I woke up with the sun beaming against my face. The boys had let me sleep in on
account of the day. I got up and did my morning routine as usual, and went down stairs.
Nobody was around. I decided not to take the day off, so I went to the distribution center.
Sure enough, all of the newsies were there. Race handed me fifty papes. Said it was his gift
to me. He had a good day at the track yesterday, so he could afford it. I wasn't about to say
no to free papes.
I walked with Jack for the day. With him on crutches and me being a girl, we figured
we could move all the papes we had that day, with none to spare. We were right. We finished
up at around nine, and Jack said he left something at Medda's that he needed to pick up. Oh
boy, I thought sarcastically to myself, this is it.
We walked in through the back door. He grabbed my shoulder and I helped him up the
stairs towards the stage.
"Now Cowboy, what exactly did you leave here?" I asked as we stepped into the darkness
of the theater.
"Da boys." He answered, and the lights went up all around us. Every newsie from New
York was there. Spot and his Brooklyn gang, I noticed, were front row, while the Manhattan boys
took to the balconies. Some kids from Harlem and the Bronx were spread around. I knew it was
coming, but I was still surprised at the magnitude of it all. I looked at Jack, who said, "Ya
welcome," before I could say anything. He picked up his hands, and made a funny motion, which
must have been a signal, because all of the boys in the entire theatre sang a rendition of the
Birthday Song. My eyes started to well up, but I wouldn't let them see me cry. Not now. I
just smiled and looked ahead of me.
When they were finished, Kid Blink, Davey, Boots, and Specs carried the biggest birthday cake I
had ever seen, up to the stage. It was brown, and kind of sloppy, with one big candle in the
middle.
"On'y Jack knows how old you'se is, an' he won't tell us, so we's just got ya one
candle." Blink explained.
"It's home made, so we're sorry about the mess." David was clarifying the matter of
the cake. It didn't look like it was bakery made to me, but I let them think it did.
"It's-it's wonderful. I love it." I said, looking away as the tears pressed against
the back of my eyes, begging to burst through.
"What'sa mattah?" Jack turned to me, the stage lights reflecting in his hazel eyes.
"I'm just so...so happy. Excuse me." I walked out to the wings, Jack following closely.
"Yeah ya happy. So why ya cryin'? Ain't no way you'se is dat happy from a cake."
"It's my mama. She should be here. It's-she died here you know? And Medda..."
"Oh jeez. I guess we ain't thought a dat. S'my fuwalt. You wanna get outta heah?"
"Yeah."
"Awrigh' lemme go tell de oddahs."
*~~*
Jack took me back to my old house. We sat on the steps and didn't say much for a while.
He was just there for me, like he always was.
"So you wanna tawk now?" He asked reproachful.
"Not really."
"Okay, dat's feah. Den I'll tawk. Look, I'm eighteen now. I ain't a kid no mowah.
You know? I can't sell papes ewall my life. I'm leavin' soon. I'm goin' to Santa Fe like I
ewalways said."
"Oh, that's just what I need to hear right now. Thanks Jack. You always know what to
say." I said sarcastically.
"Well I ain't leavin' yet. I'm waitin' fah sumthin."
"Mhmm. And what, pray tell, are you waiting for."
"See I got dis friend, and dey's in a bit of a spot right now. Dey lost someone dey
love, and dey think dey's life is ovah. I can't leave 'em high and dry like dat."
"I see."
"And plus, well I kinda like dis friend, and I ain't in da habit of liken my friends,
if ya know what I'm sayin', so I wanna stay a little while and see how it all toins out. Then
I'm leavin'."
"You gotta thing for Race?" We laughed, but somehow I felt another chapter of my life
was closing at the very second, and I didn't want to turn the page to the next one yet.
"You know what I'm tryin' to say heah. You tryin' ta make dis hawd, ain't ya?"
"Like always."
"Come wit me?"
"What? Are you mad?"
"You'se is sixteen now, and you'se ain't gonna be sellin' papes soon. Ya promised
ya'd leave when ya awm was healed. It ain't lookin' too bad now."
"Fine. But Santa Fe?"
"Look, I'm goin', but I'd suah like it if you'd come wit me." I frowned. "Awrigh',
how 'bout dis: marry me. I mean, I ain't got a ring or nuthin', but..."
I sat there dumbfounded for a minute, not knowing what to say at all. This was my best friend
in the entire world, but I wasn't sure if I *loved* him. I had to say something fast, or lose
him forever.
"Emily?" That was it. He called me by my name when we were alone sometimes, but this
was different.
"Jack, let me think about it okay? I can't just jump in and be a wife in a night's
time. This is a life-"
"I undahstand. You wanna head back to Medda's?"
"Okay." I helped him up, and we started back.
*~~*
"Hi huns." I heard Medda say as we walked back into the birthday arena. "And just
what were the two of you doing out so late?"
"Just goin' fah a walk, Medda."
"I'm sure that's all, Kelly."
"What are you insinuating, Miss Larkson? We went for a walk, and whatever happened
during that walk-" I stopped in a realization. "You told her. You told her didn't you?" I
was infuriated. "No. I bet she suggested it." I turned to her. "Didn't you. You think if he
proposes...if I get married, well then that just fixes everything right? I'm sorry lady, but you
can't fix my life. You can't fill in that hole where my mother was. You took her from me, and
you...you..." I started to cry so hard, it became difficult to breathe. I was not a pretty sight.
"I'm sorry. What was that honey? I wasn't trying to do anything." She looked to Jack.
"You proposed to her?" She whispered.
"Yeah, well I tried. You know." Jack answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"What...you didn't know?" I looked up to see quite a few familiar faces gathered around,
looking completely confused. Skittery, Blink, and Spot started talking at once.
"Jackey-boy's getting' married?" "Why didn' you tell us?" "You gonna be an ol' man?"
"Will you all stawp tawking. She ain't ansahed yet, and besides, it ain't no one's
business but ouah's. C'mon Bit, les go."
"I'm not going. I'll...I'll see you guys later." I ran out the door and didn't look
back. I ran down to the Brooklyn Bridge, and looked out over the river-my little piece of
heaven. I stood there for what felt like the better half of an hour, when I saw a familiar
lanky figure walking towards me. He took off his cap and let his blonde, chin length hair
flow freely.
"Nevah feeah, Brooklyn is heah." I didn't respond, so he tried again. "So ya like
Jackey-boy ah what?"
"Spot,"
"Yeah?"
"You don't know when to shut up do you?"
"Nope."
"Then tell me, what should I do?"
"Well, he likes ya,"
"Yeah."
"And you like him?"
"Yeah."
"Ya love him?"
"Yeah. I mean-"
"Den marry da fella befoah I toin gray."
"Thanks."
"And, look Bit. About Medda. She ain't meant fah ya ma ta get hoit. It was a accident."
"I know. I'll talk to her in the morning." And then we just stood there.
The Brooklyn boys started showing up about a half an hour later. One of them muttered
something about "a damn fine cake." Spot walked me home again.
"Seems like we do dis a little too often fah da Cowboy's liken'." Spot said as he
gestured to the window where a tall figure seemed to be peering out.
"He'll get over it."
"You gonna be okay?"
"I think so."
"Bit, I gotta request."
"What's that?"
"Can I give ya away?"
"Sure." I walked into the Lodging house and greeted Mr. Kloppman. As I started up
stairs I heard a door slam and the floorboards started to creek. I saw Jack standing at the
top, and I ran up to him. He leaned over, hugged me, and told me I had a lot of explaining to
do for the boys.
I walked in and all of the hussle and bussle stopped. They all stared at me. I didn't know
whether they were angry at me for leaving their fine party, confused about the proposal, or
about Medda.
Skittery stood up from his bed, picked something up and hid it behind his back. He walked
towards me, with a clumsy grin on his face and handed me a plate, with a home made piece of
cake on it.
"We saved dis fah ya." He said. Jack took it from me, picked the cake up with his
hand, and threw it in my face. I knew all was forgiven. All the boys started throwing pillows
at me, and laughing. I fought back, and somehow we all formed two teams. The pillow fight
lasted all night. There was a time, I'm not sure when, but I was standing next to Jack and the
whole world seemed to stop for a moment. He looked at me smiling.
"What?" He asked.
"Yes."
"What?"
"I said 'yes,' stupid."
"Aw you-? Ya mean-? Hey fella's! We's gettin' married!!" All the boys stopped for a
second.
"Bit and Cowboy? I knew it. Coulda made five bucks." I heard Race say, so I threw a
pillow at him. All the ruckus started again.
About two weeks had gone by since the incident in the ally. Jack was back in the
Lodging House, and Oscar and Morris actually had a trial. They were sent to a real correctional
facility since the court ruled that it was attempted murder. They'll be there for a while.
Jack was on crutches, so he tried to stay away from Crutchy during the day. Some of
the boys joked that he just did all this for sympathy on the streets. It seemed like everything
was getting back to normal for them. I wasn't so lucky.
I was still dealing with being an orphan and my birthday was coming up. The boys knew
it was on May seventh, and I heard them planning something at Medda's. I didn't want to
celebrate though. My mother was gone, and she was the one that had actually given me my
birthday. It didn't seem fair. I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for a year, but the
day finally came, and hiding wasn't and option.
I woke up with the sun beaming against my face. The boys had let me sleep in on
account of the day. I got up and did my morning routine as usual, and went down stairs.
Nobody was around. I decided not to take the day off, so I went to the distribution center.
Sure enough, all of the newsies were there. Race handed me fifty papes. Said it was his gift
to me. He had a good day at the track yesterday, so he could afford it. I wasn't about to say
no to free papes.
I walked with Jack for the day. With him on crutches and me being a girl, we figured
we could move all the papes we had that day, with none to spare. We were right. We finished
up at around nine, and Jack said he left something at Medda's that he needed to pick up. Oh
boy, I thought sarcastically to myself, this is it.
We walked in through the back door. He grabbed my shoulder and I helped him up the
stairs towards the stage.
"Now Cowboy, what exactly did you leave here?" I asked as we stepped into the darkness
of the theater.
"Da boys." He answered, and the lights went up all around us. Every newsie from New
York was there. Spot and his Brooklyn gang, I noticed, were front row, while the Manhattan boys
took to the balconies. Some kids from Harlem and the Bronx were spread around. I knew it was
coming, but I was still surprised at the magnitude of it all. I looked at Jack, who said, "Ya
welcome," before I could say anything. He picked up his hands, and made a funny motion, which
must have been a signal, because all of the boys in the entire theatre sang a rendition of the
Birthday Song. My eyes started to well up, but I wouldn't let them see me cry. Not now. I
just smiled and looked ahead of me.
When they were finished, Kid Blink, Davey, Boots, and Specs carried the biggest birthday cake I
had ever seen, up to the stage. It was brown, and kind of sloppy, with one big candle in the
middle.
"On'y Jack knows how old you'se is, an' he won't tell us, so we's just got ya one
candle." Blink explained.
"It's home made, so we're sorry about the mess." David was clarifying the matter of
the cake. It didn't look like it was bakery made to me, but I let them think it did.
"It's-it's wonderful. I love it." I said, looking away as the tears pressed against
the back of my eyes, begging to burst through.
"What'sa mattah?" Jack turned to me, the stage lights reflecting in his hazel eyes.
"I'm just so...so happy. Excuse me." I walked out to the wings, Jack following closely.
"Yeah ya happy. So why ya cryin'? Ain't no way you'se is dat happy from a cake."
"It's my mama. She should be here. It's-she died here you know? And Medda..."
"Oh jeez. I guess we ain't thought a dat. S'my fuwalt. You wanna get outta heah?"
"Yeah."
"Awrigh' lemme go tell de oddahs."
*~~*
Jack took me back to my old house. We sat on the steps and didn't say much for a while.
He was just there for me, like he always was.
"So you wanna tawk now?" He asked reproachful.
"Not really."
"Okay, dat's feah. Den I'll tawk. Look, I'm eighteen now. I ain't a kid no mowah.
You know? I can't sell papes ewall my life. I'm leavin' soon. I'm goin' to Santa Fe like I
ewalways said."
"Oh, that's just what I need to hear right now. Thanks Jack. You always know what to
say." I said sarcastically.
"Well I ain't leavin' yet. I'm waitin' fah sumthin."
"Mhmm. And what, pray tell, are you waiting for."
"See I got dis friend, and dey's in a bit of a spot right now. Dey lost someone dey
love, and dey think dey's life is ovah. I can't leave 'em high and dry like dat."
"I see."
"And plus, well I kinda like dis friend, and I ain't in da habit of liken my friends,
if ya know what I'm sayin', so I wanna stay a little while and see how it all toins out. Then
I'm leavin'."
"You gotta thing for Race?" We laughed, but somehow I felt another chapter of my life
was closing at the very second, and I didn't want to turn the page to the next one yet.
"You know what I'm tryin' to say heah. You tryin' ta make dis hawd, ain't ya?"
"Like always."
"Come wit me?"
"What? Are you mad?"
"You'se is sixteen now, and you'se ain't gonna be sellin' papes soon. Ya promised
ya'd leave when ya awm was healed. It ain't lookin' too bad now."
"Fine. But Santa Fe?"
"Look, I'm goin', but I'd suah like it if you'd come wit me." I frowned. "Awrigh',
how 'bout dis: marry me. I mean, I ain't got a ring or nuthin', but..."
I sat there dumbfounded for a minute, not knowing what to say at all. This was my best friend
in the entire world, but I wasn't sure if I *loved* him. I had to say something fast, or lose
him forever.
"Emily?" That was it. He called me by my name when we were alone sometimes, but this
was different.
"Jack, let me think about it okay? I can't just jump in and be a wife in a night's
time. This is a life-"
"I undahstand. You wanna head back to Medda's?"
"Okay." I helped him up, and we started back.
*~~*
"Hi huns." I heard Medda say as we walked back into the birthday arena. "And just
what were the two of you doing out so late?"
"Just goin' fah a walk, Medda."
"I'm sure that's all, Kelly."
"What are you insinuating, Miss Larkson? We went for a walk, and whatever happened
during that walk-" I stopped in a realization. "You told her. You told her didn't you?" I
was infuriated. "No. I bet she suggested it." I turned to her. "Didn't you. You think if he
proposes...if I get married, well then that just fixes everything right? I'm sorry lady, but you
can't fix my life. You can't fill in that hole where my mother was. You took her from me, and
you...you..." I started to cry so hard, it became difficult to breathe. I was not a pretty sight.
"I'm sorry. What was that honey? I wasn't trying to do anything." She looked to Jack.
"You proposed to her?" She whispered.
"Yeah, well I tried. You know." Jack answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"What...you didn't know?" I looked up to see quite a few familiar faces gathered around,
looking completely confused. Skittery, Blink, and Spot started talking at once.
"Jackey-boy's getting' married?" "Why didn' you tell us?" "You gonna be an ol' man?"
"Will you all stawp tawking. She ain't ansahed yet, and besides, it ain't no one's
business but ouah's. C'mon Bit, les go."
"I'm not going. I'll...I'll see you guys later." I ran out the door and didn't look
back. I ran down to the Brooklyn Bridge, and looked out over the river-my little piece of
heaven. I stood there for what felt like the better half of an hour, when I saw a familiar
lanky figure walking towards me. He took off his cap and let his blonde, chin length hair
flow freely.
"Nevah feeah, Brooklyn is heah." I didn't respond, so he tried again. "So ya like
Jackey-boy ah what?"
"Spot,"
"Yeah?"
"You don't know when to shut up do you?"
"Nope."
"Then tell me, what should I do?"
"Well, he likes ya,"
"Yeah."
"And you like him?"
"Yeah."
"Ya love him?"
"Yeah. I mean-"
"Den marry da fella befoah I toin gray."
"Thanks."
"And, look Bit. About Medda. She ain't meant fah ya ma ta get hoit. It was a accident."
"I know. I'll talk to her in the morning." And then we just stood there.
The Brooklyn boys started showing up about a half an hour later. One of them muttered
something about "a damn fine cake." Spot walked me home again.
"Seems like we do dis a little too often fah da Cowboy's liken'." Spot said as he
gestured to the window where a tall figure seemed to be peering out.
"He'll get over it."
"You gonna be okay?"
"I think so."
"Bit, I gotta request."
"What's that?"
"Can I give ya away?"
"Sure." I walked into the Lodging house and greeted Mr. Kloppman. As I started up
stairs I heard a door slam and the floorboards started to creek. I saw Jack standing at the
top, and I ran up to him. He leaned over, hugged me, and told me I had a lot of explaining to
do for the boys.
I walked in and all of the hussle and bussle stopped. They all stared at me. I didn't know
whether they were angry at me for leaving their fine party, confused about the proposal, or
about Medda.
Skittery stood up from his bed, picked something up and hid it behind his back. He walked
towards me, with a clumsy grin on his face and handed me a plate, with a home made piece of
cake on it.
"We saved dis fah ya." He said. Jack took it from me, picked the cake up with his
hand, and threw it in my face. I knew all was forgiven. All the boys started throwing pillows
at me, and laughing. I fought back, and somehow we all formed two teams. The pillow fight
lasted all night. There was a time, I'm not sure when, but I was standing next to Jack and the
whole world seemed to stop for a moment. He looked at me smiling.
"What?" He asked.
"Yes."
"What?"
"I said 'yes,' stupid."
"Aw you-? Ya mean-? Hey fella's! We's gettin' married!!" All the boys stopped for a
second.
"Bit and Cowboy? I knew it. Coulda made five bucks." I heard Race say, so I threw a
pillow at him. All the ruckus started again.