Mush was being too quiet. I looked over at him, and he had his hands in his pockets. He was staring down at the ground while he was walking, and looked like he was trying to get one rock from Manhattan all the way to Trenton.
"You like Race, Bella?"
"What?" his question was so random, I thought I didn't hear him right.
"Da ya like Racetrack?"
"Like how?" I was a little confused, and wondered where this question had come from.
"Like if 'e asked ya ta be his goyl would ya?"
"No," I shook my head. "Where did that come from?"
"Uh, I dunno. How 'bout Skittery?"
"No, Mush, why are askin me dis?"
"I'm jus wundrin," he shrugged, and went back to his rock.
Why was he asking me all these questions? Did Race and Skittery like me after one day? I barely knew Skittery. Well, I barely knew any of them, but I knew Skittery close to the least. And Race was just Race. They couldn't like her. Maybe Mush was just trying to make conversation. No, there's better things to talk about beside Skit and Race. He must've been asking for a reason. "But seriously, Mush, why do you ask?" I really wanted to know why he was asking me these questions. It didn't make any sense.
"No reason, I was jus curious, dat's all," he answered. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Ya, right," I said, and pushed him playfully. "I know we've only been friends for one day, but I know you well enough to see that you're lying."
He just shook his head at me and kept walking. I sighed. I just couldn't figure this guy out. So I decided to think about Spot instead. I knew I had seen him before. I knew him from somewhere. But where? I wondered if he had ever lived in New Jersey.
"Ay, uh, Mush?" I asked timidly. I was afraid to talk about Spot, because I was sure Mush thought I like him.
"Ya?"
"I'm gonna ask ya sumptin about someone, but ya can't tink I like 'em. Kay?"
"Okay, what?"
"It's about Spot. How long has he been a newsie? I mean, do you know how long?"
"Not very long. Suh em (meaning something, but with a newsie accent) like four yeahs, I dunno. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I dunno, I jus have dis feelin I know 'im from somewheah's," I answered slowly.
PC^^^^^^^^^PC
Okay, so this left two people, and I was pretty sure I knew which one it was. I was pretty sure it was Blink, because it didn't make much sense for it to be David. Even though I didn't want to, I was about to ask her if she liked Blink, but she got to me first. She asked how long Spot had been a newsie, and went on to say that she thought she knew him from somewhere.
"Ya eva been ta Brooklyn?" I asked. If she had seen him anywhere, it was probably Brooklyn.
"Only once, when I was real little," she said. She shook her head. "No, I didn't see 'im in Brooklyn, it had to be Joisey."
"Well, I can't help ya dere," I said, smiling. I looked up, and realized I had no idea where we were. "Does any a dis stuff look familiar ta you?" I asked shakily.
"Not really, why?" she asked. "We're lost, ain't we?" she laughed.
I looked over at her. "How is dat funny?"
She stopped laughing immediately. "It ain't." She made a very serious expression, then burst out laughing again.
I didn't see what was so funny. "We need to find out wheah we are," I stated, above her giggles.
She stopped laughing when she saw a street sign. "I know wheah we are," she said quietly. I looked at her questioningly. "We're about six blocks from myhouse."
"Well, I guess it didn't take as long as I thought it would," I said honestly.
"Yeah, I could've spent more time wit Jack," she said, winking.
I shook my head at her and laughed. "Watch yer mouth, goyl. Let's jus git ya home, kay?" She nodded, and we were there within an hour. She opened the door and walked in.
"Aunt Claire!" she yelled. "Aunt Claire, I'm back!" She turned to me. "Why ain't she answerin me? She neva leaves..." her voice trailed off as she walked into the living room.
PC^^^^^^^^^^^^PC
I walked up to my house and opened the door. I walked in and called out to my aunt. "Why ain't she answerin me? She neva leaves da house unless dere's an emergency," my voice was getting progress-ively quieter as I walked into the living room. There was a note on the coffee table. It looked like it had been hastily written, and definitely by my aunt, because it was messy and there were many mistakes.
Mush came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "What's it say?" he asked softly. "I can't understand it."
"Uh...here, I'll read it: 'Bella, when you get this, I will be on a ship to Yemen. (yes, it's very random. Like Chandler *he-he*) I took the first chance I could and now we'll be out of each others life forever. Don't bother looking for money, I did not leave any. I left all your stuff and your brother's. Don't stay here, I sold the house. They will be here Monday. Aunt Claire.' "
"Oh, gosh, Bella, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," I said seriously, "it was only a matta a' time 'fore one of us left."
"I didn't know ya had a brudda," Mush commented.
I had forgotten about that. Brother? Since when? "I think she must've been drunk when she wrote dat. Cuz I didn't know I had a brudda eidda." I walked up the stairs and into my room. There were clothes everywhere, some mine, and some not. I walked over to my bed, and realized that most of the clothes on it would belong to a boy. There were pants and shirts and shoes, but they all looked they belonged to a four year old.
I went into my aunt's room and saw that the bed had five or six photo albums on it. 'Pictures? Claire took pictures and saved them?' I found that very hard to believe. I opened to the first page of one of them, and could tell right away they were old. Not just the pictures, but the album. The pages were yellowed and bent at the edges from years of turning. But the pictures! They were of my mother as a child, and Aunt Claire, and my grandparents. I only looked through the first book, then realized Mush was just standing quietly, watching me the whole time.
"Ya can leave now," I said quietly.
Mush stared at me quizzically. "What are ya talkin about, Bella?"
I really didn't want him to leave. I didn't know where I was going to stay, but I would think of something. I'd had to fend for myself before and I could do it again, especially now that I wasn't four years old anymore. I faintly remember having a companion, but I was never able to remember who it had been. I swallowed hard, and answered him. "Ya said ya'd walk me home, an ya did. So ya can leave now."
"I'm not leavin wid out ya, or at least til I know ya got a place ta stay."
PC^^^^^^^^PC
I watched silently as Bella looked through an old album. As she looked through it, tears were forming in her eyes and falling slowly down her cheeks. She turned the last page of the book and looked up at me. She looked surprised for a moment to see me there, then relaxed. "Ya can leave now," she said simply.
'Leave!? How could I possibly leave!?' "What are ya talkin about, Bella?"
"Ya said ya'd walk me home, an ya did. So ya can leave now."
"I'm not leavin wid out ya, or at least til I know ya got a place ta stay."
"No, Mush. Ya've done enough fer me already. I can't let ya-"
I put my finger over her lips to silence her, and tried not to look into her eyes. They were so penetrating, like they could see straight into my head, and know what I was feeling. "You're comin wid me, an dat's da end of it. So don't argue." She nodded, and I gently brushed her tears away. "Ya wanna leave tanight or in da mornin?"
"If we leave now will we make it back 'fore dark?" she asked.
"Probly not, but I'll pratect ya if ya wanna leave taday." She nodded, and walked into her room to pack some of her clothes. I put the photo albums in a bag, because I knew she would want them. They'd be a lot to carry back to Manhattan, but I could handle it. I walked to her door and watched from the doorway as she carefully folded the dresses. I smiled to myself, and walked over to her.
"Ya plannin on bein' a newsie?" I asked. She nodded and I continued. "Ya won't need but one er two a dose if yer gonna be a newsie." She looked confused, and I told her that most newsies were boys, and she'd probably sell better if she dressed like one. She wouldn't look out of place that way, like she would in her own clothes. "But ya might want some dresses if ya go da Medda's er if we-" I stopped myself quickly, barely in time. I had almost said "if we go on a date."
"If we what?" Bella asked, her eyes sparkling.
"Uh...we sometimes have dese parties at other places. Brooklyn and Queens and Harlem, places like dat, " I lied. I've always been a horrible liar. I hoped Bella didn't notice.
PC^^^^^^^^PC
"Ya might want some dresses if ya go da Medda's er if we-" Mush stopped mid-sentence. I was curious about what he was going to say. But he didn't continue.
"If we what?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too happy.
"Uh..." he paused for a second, then said, "we sometimes have dese parties at other places. Brooklyn and Queens and Harlem, places like dat."
I suddenly got very sad. I had hoped by 'We' that he meant he and I, but he meant all the newsies. My heart sank. I knew it would take me a very long time to get over Mush. But for now I had to deal with the situation at hand. "Do ya tink ya could carry dese clothes so I could carry dose albums?"
"Absolutely not," he said. The weird part was that he was serious. I shook my head in disbelief and he smiled broadly. "I carry da albums, you carry da dresses."
I sighed heavily, and lightly punched his arm. "What am I gonna do wit you?"
We walked basically in silence all the way back to Manhattan. It had gotten dark, and in the process, really cold, and I crossed my arms tightly across my chest and tensed my body. Not because I was scared but because my friend *Annie* had once told me that tensing up keeps you warmer. It worked, but only a little. It was just too cold. I looked over at Mush, and saw that he was shivering and his lower lip was quivering. I couldn't help smiling at how cute he looked.
"What now?" he asked suddenly. I looked away and blushed, afraid that he would somehow know what I was thinking.
"Nothing," I answered.
"So, tell me, is it Snitch?"
I had no idea what he was talking about. "Is who Snitch?"
"The guy ya got yer eye on," he said teasingly.
"I dunno, maybe," I answered jokingly. In the kind of voice that Mush could tell I was joking.
"So it ain't Snitch," he said, laughing.
I shook my head, and stared down at the ground. I couldn't keep saying no to all these people he was asking about, or he would find out who it really was, and that couldn't happen. "How bout you, Mush?" I said uneasily. "Anyone catchin yer attention?"
PC^^^^^^^^^^^PC
I knew it was Blink. It had been easy enough to figure out.
"How bout you, Mush? Anyone catchin yer attention?"
"Um...sorta," I answered, "but I ain't tellin ya any more den dat."
"Fine!" she answered huffily.
"Well, there's sometin else I tink we should talk about," I said slowly. I didn't want to talk about it, but I knew we couldn't keep it the way it was forever.
"What?" Bella asked, looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes.
"Dis whole situation we got 'ere. Da whole tin about playin along."
"Oh," she said quietly.
She didn't say anything for a while, and I didn't either. Finally, she spoke. "Well, I guess we can't really do it fereva, can we?" It was more of a statement than a question. "So we have two choices. We can break up, or we can jus say it was a joke the whole time."
"I tink we should say it was a joke," I said, and she nodded in agreement.
In a few minutes we were at the steps to the lodging house. I used all the courage I could muster, took a deep breath, and asked, "Whaddya say we have a liddle more fun wid 'em? Just fer a few minutes."
She nodded in agreement, and put her arm around my shoulders. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and we walked into the lodging house like that.
Dutchy was at the table talking to Kloppman when we walked in. I looked over to the poker table and saw Jack, Race, and Spot playing, with Blink sitting behind Jack. They all looked up when we came in, and when they saw Bella, they had looks of utter bewilderment on their faces.
I spoke before anyone had a chance to ask the question "Why is she back?"
"Dere was trouble at home, so Bella's gonna be stayin heah from now on."
"Okay." "Sure, whateva ya say Mush." "We'd be glad ta 'ave 'er."
Jack raised an eyebrow at us. "Mush, why don't cha take 'er upstaihs so ya can 'ave some privacy."
I looked down at Bella and winked at her. She smiled a little, and, very hesitantly, lifted her head up and took her arm down. We both just stood there like idiots for a few minutes until Spot spoke.
"Whaddya doin? Why ain't ya upstaihs, doin whateva ya do?"
Bella elbowed me, and I guessed that meant I was supposed to reveal our secret. "Well, boys, uh..." I stuttered. "Uh, we were sorta..."
"What!?" Spot asked annoyed. "Spit it out! Didja break up er sometin?"
"No, not exactly," I answered, "we was jus playin along da whole time. It was all jus a big joke." Even as I said the words, I felt like my heart had been torn in a million pieces.
Ok, well, that's the third part. The next part should be out soon, faster than the others since school gets out tomorrow (finally!). Buh-bye!