Katie was awaked by Kloppman waking the newsies. It was obvious that newsies weren't morning people, not even Kid Blink or Crutchy seemed to be happy to be up. She slowly sat up, shaking the sleep cobwebs from her head. She looked over at the small table between her bunk and the one occupied by Race. A slow smile spread across her face, there in a cup sat a half smoked cigar. Before she could reach for it though a hand reached and took the cigar. She looked over and saw Snipes with it in his mouth.
Race came over then and reached blindly for his precious stogie. "Hey Stutters give me back my cigar."
"I-I-Ise don't got it." Katie looked as innocent as possible not looking at either Race or Snipes.
"Well it ain't here and youse are just sitting there." Race looked at her accusingly.
Jack came over and saw that Snipes had the cigar, "Race lay off the guy, how normally takes youse cigars?"
Raced looked at Jack, "Snipes but he don't sleep there any more."
Jack just pointed at the younger newsie who took off running with Race chasing him, "Snipes give me it."
Jack sat down on the bunk next to Katie, "Don't mind them it's a…whatcha call it…happens all the time."
"Regular occurrence?" Katie tried to supply helpfully.
"Yeah that. So kid youse ready to sell?"
"I-I-Ise guess."
"Well youse selling with Race, come on, lets get going. Alright wes got papes to sell boys." Jack called out to his newsies and they all began tramping down the stairs where Kloppman counted heads on the way out.
Katie sat back watching the boys work their way towards the distribution docks. They seemed to be more interested in playing than working. They stopped at the nuns stall to get a piece of stale bread and cold coffee. Katie watched a woman wander through the newsies calling out for a Patrick. They finally made it to the distribution dock. They stood outside the gate chit chatting. David and Les came up as they spoke and David came to talk to Katie.
"So how was your night at the lodging house?" He started the conversation pleasantly.
"F-f-fine, except that Race a-a-accused me of stealing his cigar when Snipes had it." Katie wasn't sure about David.
He leaned in to near her ear, "I know you're a girl."
Katie leaned back and looked at him in shock, "What?"
"You're a girl aren't you? Don't worry I'm not gonna tell any of them." Dave reassured her.
Katie lowered her voice, hoping that no one else heard Dave's pronouncement, "Yes I am, please don't tell them."
"I won't, your secrets safe. But they aren't stupid, no matter how they act. They'll figure it out eventually." Dave looked at her seriously, and Katie looked at her shoes. "Don't keep it from them or it makes it worse."
Before Katie could respond the bell rang and the gates began to open. She followed the line of newsies in to get her first set of papers. "How many kid?" the man behind the snarled at her.
"T-t-thirty papes." Katie got out. The guy grumbled back to his assistants and they brought her the papes. Katie counted them and went to stand by Race.
"That's Weisel and the two thugs with him are the Delancy brudders. They's all a bunch of jerks, try not to cross them too early." Katie nodded.
Some non-verbal signal was given and the newsies trooped out to sell. Mush decided to chance it and sold with Race and Katie. As they walked to the races, both Race and Mush shared tips and showed the new "guy" how to sell papes. Katie watched them sell for a while before trying it for herself. She was fair at it, her voice didn't project as the guy's voices did but Mush assured her it would take time.
Finally all the papes were sold and Race went to go bet some money down on a "hot tip" he had heard about. They watched a couple of the races. Katie loved it. She even picked the right horse out her first time, which had Race grumbling about beginner's luck. It was getting dark as they headed back to the lodging house.
"So Stutters what did youse think about me racetrack?" Race asked with pride.
"It was just f-f-fine. I-I-Ise had a ball." Katie remembered to stutter in the nick of time. "W-W-When can wes go back?"
"Now here's a guy after me own heart. Youse know kid Ise didn't like youse when youse showed up here, but youse okay in me book now." Race threw his arm around Katie's shoulder, "So youse got any tips for me?"
Both Katie and Mush began laughing hysterically, "M-m-me got tips for y-y-youse?"
"Well youse were the one that won right?" Race tried to look a little offended but ended up joining in their laughter.
Jack and the rest of the guys looked up as they came in, and when Jack saw that Race and Stutters were getting along he smiled hugely as if to say, see that's because of me. Katie headed for bed, shrugging off the teasing she got because of it and curled up pulling the covers over her head. She was out like a light and didn't wake till morning.
After her first week or so life fell into a pattern, Race and Mush became two of her close friends and most days they found themselves selling at the racetrack. Katie also started to put on some weight from the fact that she was eating with more regularity. She also began to fill out, in her mind unfortunately. Dave was true to his word and hadn't breathed a word about her gender to anyone as far as she could tell. As she began to get use to using a deeper voice her stutter began to disappear, only to return when she was either very nervous or laughing. She had begun to make a life for herself and she enjoyed every minute of it.
Race came over then and reached blindly for his precious stogie. "Hey Stutters give me back my cigar."
"I-I-Ise don't got it." Katie looked as innocent as possible not looking at either Race or Snipes.
"Well it ain't here and youse are just sitting there." Race looked at her accusingly.
Jack came over and saw that Snipes had the cigar, "Race lay off the guy, how normally takes youse cigars?"
Raced looked at Jack, "Snipes but he don't sleep there any more."
Jack just pointed at the younger newsie who took off running with Race chasing him, "Snipes give me it."
Jack sat down on the bunk next to Katie, "Don't mind them it's a…whatcha call it…happens all the time."
"Regular occurrence?" Katie tried to supply helpfully.
"Yeah that. So kid youse ready to sell?"
"I-I-Ise guess."
"Well youse selling with Race, come on, lets get going. Alright wes got papes to sell boys." Jack called out to his newsies and they all began tramping down the stairs where Kloppman counted heads on the way out.
Katie sat back watching the boys work their way towards the distribution docks. They seemed to be more interested in playing than working. They stopped at the nuns stall to get a piece of stale bread and cold coffee. Katie watched a woman wander through the newsies calling out for a Patrick. They finally made it to the distribution dock. They stood outside the gate chit chatting. David and Les came up as they spoke and David came to talk to Katie.
"So how was your night at the lodging house?" He started the conversation pleasantly.
"F-f-fine, except that Race a-a-accused me of stealing his cigar when Snipes had it." Katie wasn't sure about David.
He leaned in to near her ear, "I know you're a girl."
Katie leaned back and looked at him in shock, "What?"
"You're a girl aren't you? Don't worry I'm not gonna tell any of them." Dave reassured her.
Katie lowered her voice, hoping that no one else heard Dave's pronouncement, "Yes I am, please don't tell them."
"I won't, your secrets safe. But they aren't stupid, no matter how they act. They'll figure it out eventually." Dave looked at her seriously, and Katie looked at her shoes. "Don't keep it from them or it makes it worse."
Before Katie could respond the bell rang and the gates began to open. She followed the line of newsies in to get her first set of papers. "How many kid?" the man behind the snarled at her.
"T-t-thirty papes." Katie got out. The guy grumbled back to his assistants and they brought her the papes. Katie counted them and went to stand by Race.
"That's Weisel and the two thugs with him are the Delancy brudders. They's all a bunch of jerks, try not to cross them too early." Katie nodded.
Some non-verbal signal was given and the newsies trooped out to sell. Mush decided to chance it and sold with Race and Katie. As they walked to the races, both Race and Mush shared tips and showed the new "guy" how to sell papes. Katie watched them sell for a while before trying it for herself. She was fair at it, her voice didn't project as the guy's voices did but Mush assured her it would take time.
Finally all the papes were sold and Race went to go bet some money down on a "hot tip" he had heard about. They watched a couple of the races. Katie loved it. She even picked the right horse out her first time, which had Race grumbling about beginner's luck. It was getting dark as they headed back to the lodging house.
"So Stutters what did youse think about me racetrack?" Race asked with pride.
"It was just f-f-fine. I-I-Ise had a ball." Katie remembered to stutter in the nick of time. "W-W-When can wes go back?"
"Now here's a guy after me own heart. Youse know kid Ise didn't like youse when youse showed up here, but youse okay in me book now." Race threw his arm around Katie's shoulder, "So youse got any tips for me?"
Both Katie and Mush began laughing hysterically, "M-m-me got tips for y-y-youse?"
"Well youse were the one that won right?" Race tried to look a little offended but ended up joining in their laughter.
Jack and the rest of the guys looked up as they came in, and when Jack saw that Race and Stutters were getting along he smiled hugely as if to say, see that's because of me. Katie headed for bed, shrugging off the teasing she got because of it and curled up pulling the covers over her head. She was out like a light and didn't wake till morning.
After her first week or so life fell into a pattern, Race and Mush became two of her close friends and most days they found themselves selling at the racetrack. Katie also started to put on some weight from the fact that she was eating with more regularity. She also began to fill out, in her mind unfortunately. Dave was true to his word and hadn't breathed a word about her gender to anyone as far as she could tell. As she began to get use to using a deeper voice her stutter began to disappear, only to return when she was either very nervous or laughing. She had begun to make a life for herself and she enjoyed every minute of it.