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Grabs yelled out the headlines loudly, waving his papes energetically in the air and flashing a smile to the passersby. It hadn't been a terrible day. Not a great day either, but still, suitable enough for him. He waved his paper in the air again, but swallowed, giving his sore throat a chance to relax for a moment. When he did this, he looked down the road and sighed. Joy was there. Joy was Kid Blink's daughter and his best friend's sister. It was an awkward situation for a boy of seventeen to express his feelings for a girl that he had known all his life, but he felt he was making do pretty well. Things had changed so drastically in the past few years.
For one thing, he was seventeen years old. It was unusual to him to be that old. He thought it made him sound like an old geezer, but his father was older and he didn't look a day passed twenty, so he figured he didn't look TOO old. His father never really seemed to age actually. Nor his mother. They both seemed timeless. Of course everyone always second guessed his father's age if they didn't know Racetrack personally. And they would most always be wrong. It was the same with his mother. His mother was a very important thing in his life. She was always vibrant and full of life. It was this energy that kept him going somedays.
Fairy was like that as well, but not as much as Angel. Fairy was sixteen and his 'baby' sister had grown up to be thirteen years old. It seemed almost unreal how old he and his siblings were. Where did the time go? Fifteen year old Picks and Pockets hadn't changed since their childhood, always getting into trouble, always causing mischief. It was even worse because they both had a crush on the same girl. Grabs shook his head with a small chuckle. His little brothers would of course choose to take a liking to the first born daughter of Brooklyn. Jade Conlon, fifteen, had grown up to be a beauty, just as her proud father had foretold when she was born. Her looks far surpassed the other's expectations, her looks reminicent of her father's proud face, with her mother's soft expressive eyes. Those eyes which had given her her name, became more green as she grew, sparkling almost alive things was the way the twins described them. And they were quite accurate in their descriptions.
Poor somewhat shy Pockets would try to win her affections in one way, while his more outgoing brother Picks would keep Jade laughing with his jokes, often causing fights among the two brothers. Sometimes Pockets would simply give up and shuffle off, but Jade would call after him, causing dismay to Picks. It was humorous situation to Grabs, but he didn't care. He had his own crush to deal with. Joy was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, since a few years ago. It was funny how he had never really noticed before, how her eyes sparkled and shone, and how her golden hair glistened like the finest gold in the sunlight. She had captured him hook, line, and sinker, and he didn't know how to cope.
But he knew he wasn't the only sibling of his family to deal with liking someone. His sister Sunshine, Angel's twin, thirteen, had always been shy and dreamy, and so it was understandable that she didn't know how to deal with the fact that she liked the first born son of Spot Conlon. Sketch Conlon had long grown out of his drawing habits, but he was still what the others would call, slick. He had inherited his father's looks and ways through and through, making any girl smile and giggle by merely winking his gray-blue eyes in their direction.
But the thing was, Sketch rarely had respect for the girls he flirted with. Merely toyed with them, then dropped them rather unceremoniously. But he had always been respectful of the girls in the Higgins family. "He betta continue ta be dat way too. Uddawise if he hoits Sunny, I swear I'll pound him flat." Grabs muttered protectively under his breath. If it wasn't bad enough that Sunshine liked Sketch, it was even worse that he was older than she, only two years, but two years too many for the shy Sunshine. She could barely speak to him without her voice trembling, much less tell him of her affections. So far Sketch had been anything but disrespectful towards her, but still, Grabs kept his eyes open, just in case.
His other siblings were either not interested in the opposite sex, or simply were too young. Fairy had never really cared for any particular boy. She merely smiled and chatted with them, not knowing that she was drawing them in slowly but surely with her enchanting ways. Taps was simply too young to be thinking of girls at eleven, but that didn't stop him. Merely for the sake of comparison, Grabs thought that he could be a miniature of Sketch Conlon in his dashing ways. Winking his deep blue eyes and smiling at girls was not beyond him, and he did it daily, much to his family's dismay. Grabs' sister Angel, Sunshine's twin, was the opposite of her twin. She was outgoing and outspoken, willing to say anything, anytime, anywhere, no matter the consequences. She looked most like her mother but did not care to flirt with boys. She merely wanted to hang out with them. She was a tomboy of sorts, more so than the rest, but the problem was her looks were so fetching, that most of the boys were tongue-tied around her. This was primarily the reason that she was simply not interested in them. Cowboy, now fourteen, was still a dreamer, though a little more practical than he had been formerly. He too thought of girls, but like Sunshine, was too shy to say anything.
His youngest sister, the newest edition to the Higgins family was now nine years old. The only real way to describe her was to say she was an 'snow maiden'. Flaxen, almost white hair, light blue eyes, and a fair complexion made her quite a pretty little girl. The Higgins' youngest was charming in her little ways, the way she scrunched up her tiny nose when she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she would sit on her father's lap and babble to him about her day. The only way to describe her was charming. Her name had come from the descriptive phrase 'snow maiden.' After Spot had seen the little girl after she was born, he smiled and called her that very phrase. Grabs had grinned and said, "So Mama, is she made of ice?" The parents had looked at each other, smiled and Deirdre Rose Higgins was christened Ice.
Generally Ice spent all her time with Taps. She adored Taps. Anything he did was right and good, even though he was no angel. She sold papers with him and he would look out for her. It was a thing he was proud of, the fact that he was responsible for his baby sister and he cherished the duty, but it got obnoxious when he wanted to play with his friends and she wanted to tag along. But still, it could be said that the big children took care of the little children, and the little children took care of the very little ones, and they all took care of their parents. Between nine of them, they brought in quite a bit of money with their selling the papes.
Racetrack was now thirty-five years old, Bright Eyes thirty-four. Though Grabs may have thought the both of them were timeless, they certainly didn't seem to think so. Racetrack still worked in the Manhattan Distribution Office and Bright Eyes continued to help him. Together they made a perfect team, both out of their work and while doing their work. Whatever they did together flowed perfectly, as if it had been formerly planned. That was the same with raising their large brood. It had frightened Racetrack somewhat the hot sweltering day that Grabs had been born.
It was so hot that day, and it didn't help his nerves any. He paced outside the room where Bright Eyes was, and ignored Jack and Spot's snide comments about him making holes in the floor and how Kloppman would have a fit. He wasn't sure what he would do. It was his first child. He and Bright Eyes hadn't raised enough money to buy their own place and were still living in the Lodging House, which offered little or no privacy. And with a new baby. He was worried about everything. But he finally realized that he could make everything work when he saw his little son for the first time.
Before he was scared to death, and he was still scared, but it diminished slightly when he saw his first born son. He had confessed his fear to Bright Eyes before she had Grabs, and she had confessed the same kind of fear. "You shouldn't be so afraid. You ain't havin' da baby." She said with a smile, but Racetrack could still see the fear that she harbored. It was then that he placed his palm over her hand and whispered, "Den we'll git through it tegedda 'kay?" With a nod and a spit-shake, they agreed and they had carried it out throughout their seventeen years of marriage. True it had been hard, but they both got through it. They helped each other raise their nine children and they both comforted each other at the loss of their other two babies who hadn't had the chance to live. They were there for each other, and that was all that counted.
Grabs was startled out of his daydreaming when a low voice spoke out. "Heya Grabs! Hows da papes sellin'?" He looked up quickly and saw the smiling face of Craps and Joy. Craps was Joy's sister and one of Grabs' best friends. When he managed to finally look at Joy, she caught his glance and he quickly averted his dark brown eyes. "It's doin' good Craps. You guys quittin'?" Grabs asked quickly. Craps nodded and put his arm around Joy. "Yeah, me an' Joy gotta shove off. We's got a craps game at 'bout eight tenight." Craps said as he began to walk off. Grabs looked after Joy longingly as he said good-bye and watched her till she was out of sight.
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Grabs yelled out the headlines loudly, waving his papes energetically in the air and flashing a smile to the passersby. It hadn't been a terrible day. Not a great day either, but still, suitable enough for him. He waved his paper in the air again, but swallowed, giving his sore throat a chance to relax for a moment. When he did this, he looked down the road and sighed. Joy was there. Joy was Kid Blink's daughter and his best friend's sister. It was an awkward situation for a boy of seventeen to express his feelings for a girl that he had known all his life, but he felt he was making do pretty well. Things had changed so drastically in the past few years.
For one thing, he was seventeen years old. It was unusual to him to be that old. He thought it made him sound like an old geezer, but his father was older and he didn't look a day passed twenty, so he figured he didn't look TOO old. His father never really seemed to age actually. Nor his mother. They both seemed timeless. Of course everyone always second guessed his father's age if they didn't know Racetrack personally. And they would most always be wrong. It was the same with his mother. His mother was a very important thing in his life. She was always vibrant and full of life. It was this energy that kept him going somedays.
Fairy was like that as well, but not as much as Angel. Fairy was sixteen and his 'baby' sister had grown up to be thirteen years old. It seemed almost unreal how old he and his siblings were. Where did the time go? Fifteen year old Picks and Pockets hadn't changed since their childhood, always getting into trouble, always causing mischief. It was even worse because they both had a crush on the same girl. Grabs shook his head with a small chuckle. His little brothers would of course choose to take a liking to the first born daughter of Brooklyn. Jade Conlon, fifteen, had grown up to be a beauty, just as her proud father had foretold when she was born. Her looks far surpassed the other's expectations, her looks reminicent of her father's proud face, with her mother's soft expressive eyes. Those eyes which had given her her name, became more green as she grew, sparkling almost alive things was the way the twins described them. And they were quite accurate in their descriptions.
Poor somewhat shy Pockets would try to win her affections in one way, while his more outgoing brother Picks would keep Jade laughing with his jokes, often causing fights among the two brothers. Sometimes Pockets would simply give up and shuffle off, but Jade would call after him, causing dismay to Picks. It was humorous situation to Grabs, but he didn't care. He had his own crush to deal with. Joy was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, since a few years ago. It was funny how he had never really noticed before, how her eyes sparkled and shone, and how her golden hair glistened like the finest gold in the sunlight. She had captured him hook, line, and sinker, and he didn't know how to cope.
But he knew he wasn't the only sibling of his family to deal with liking someone. His sister Sunshine, Angel's twin, thirteen, had always been shy and dreamy, and so it was understandable that she didn't know how to deal with the fact that she liked the first born son of Spot Conlon. Sketch Conlon had long grown out of his drawing habits, but he was still what the others would call, slick. He had inherited his father's looks and ways through and through, making any girl smile and giggle by merely winking his gray-blue eyes in their direction.
But the thing was, Sketch rarely had respect for the girls he flirted with. Merely toyed with them, then dropped them rather unceremoniously. But he had always been respectful of the girls in the Higgins family. "He betta continue ta be dat way too. Uddawise if he hoits Sunny, I swear I'll pound him flat." Grabs muttered protectively under his breath. If it wasn't bad enough that Sunshine liked Sketch, it was even worse that he was older than she, only two years, but two years too many for the shy Sunshine. She could barely speak to him without her voice trembling, much less tell him of her affections. So far Sketch had been anything but disrespectful towards her, but still, Grabs kept his eyes open, just in case.
His other siblings were either not interested in the opposite sex, or simply were too young. Fairy had never really cared for any particular boy. She merely smiled and chatted with them, not knowing that she was drawing them in slowly but surely with her enchanting ways. Taps was simply too young to be thinking of girls at eleven, but that didn't stop him. Merely for the sake of comparison, Grabs thought that he could be a miniature of Sketch Conlon in his dashing ways. Winking his deep blue eyes and smiling at girls was not beyond him, and he did it daily, much to his family's dismay. Grabs' sister Angel, Sunshine's twin, was the opposite of her twin. She was outgoing and outspoken, willing to say anything, anytime, anywhere, no matter the consequences. She looked most like her mother but did not care to flirt with boys. She merely wanted to hang out with them. She was a tomboy of sorts, more so than the rest, but the problem was her looks were so fetching, that most of the boys were tongue-tied around her. This was primarily the reason that she was simply not interested in them. Cowboy, now fourteen, was still a dreamer, though a little more practical than he had been formerly. He too thought of girls, but like Sunshine, was too shy to say anything.
His youngest sister, the newest edition to the Higgins family was now nine years old. The only real way to describe her was to say she was an 'snow maiden'. Flaxen, almost white hair, light blue eyes, and a fair complexion made her quite a pretty little girl. The Higgins' youngest was charming in her little ways, the way she scrunched up her tiny nose when she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she would sit on her father's lap and babble to him about her day. The only way to describe her was charming. Her name had come from the descriptive phrase 'snow maiden.' After Spot had seen the little girl after she was born, he smiled and called her that very phrase. Grabs had grinned and said, "So Mama, is she made of ice?" The parents had looked at each other, smiled and Deirdre Rose Higgins was christened Ice.
Generally Ice spent all her time with Taps. She adored Taps. Anything he did was right and good, even though he was no angel. She sold papers with him and he would look out for her. It was a thing he was proud of, the fact that he was responsible for his baby sister and he cherished the duty, but it got obnoxious when he wanted to play with his friends and she wanted to tag along. But still, it could be said that the big children took care of the little children, and the little children took care of the very little ones, and they all took care of their parents. Between nine of them, they brought in quite a bit of money with their selling the papes.
Racetrack was now thirty-five years old, Bright Eyes thirty-four. Though Grabs may have thought the both of them were timeless, they certainly didn't seem to think so. Racetrack still worked in the Manhattan Distribution Office and Bright Eyes continued to help him. Together they made a perfect team, both out of their work and while doing their work. Whatever they did together flowed perfectly, as if it had been formerly planned. That was the same with raising their large brood. It had frightened Racetrack somewhat the hot sweltering day that Grabs had been born.
It was so hot that day, and it didn't help his nerves any. He paced outside the room where Bright Eyes was, and ignored Jack and Spot's snide comments about him making holes in the floor and how Kloppman would have a fit. He wasn't sure what he would do. It was his first child. He and Bright Eyes hadn't raised enough money to buy their own place and were still living in the Lodging House, which offered little or no privacy. And with a new baby. He was worried about everything. But he finally realized that he could make everything work when he saw his little son for the first time.
Before he was scared to death, and he was still scared, but it diminished slightly when he saw his first born son. He had confessed his fear to Bright Eyes before she had Grabs, and she had confessed the same kind of fear. "You shouldn't be so afraid. You ain't havin' da baby." She said with a smile, but Racetrack could still see the fear that she harbored. It was then that he placed his palm over her hand and whispered, "Den we'll git through it tegedda 'kay?" With a nod and a spit-shake, they agreed and they had carried it out throughout their seventeen years of marriage. True it had been hard, but they both got through it. They helped each other raise their nine children and they both comforted each other at the loss of their other two babies who hadn't had the chance to live. They were there for each other, and that was all that counted.
Grabs was startled out of his daydreaming when a low voice spoke out. "Heya Grabs! Hows da papes sellin'?" He looked up quickly and saw the smiling face of Craps and Joy. Craps was Joy's sister and one of Grabs' best friends. When he managed to finally look at Joy, she caught his glance and he quickly averted his dark brown eyes. "It's doin' good Craps. You guys quittin'?" Grabs asked quickly. Craps nodded and put his arm around Joy. "Yeah, me an' Joy gotta shove off. We's got a craps game at 'bout eight tenight." Craps said as he began to walk off. Grabs looked after Joy longingly as he said good-bye and watched her till she was out of sight.
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