Chapter 5

And so our secret rendezvous continued every night. Sometimes Mush would come alone, but more often he'd bring a friend or even two. I got to know them all pretty well: Jack, Snap, Racetrack, Snipeshooter, Bumlets, Crutchy, Skittery, and Snitch were just a few of them. They all laughed at the proper way I talked, and liked to imitate the way I pronounced words. Sometimes our meetings would last for hours into the night; sometimes, only a few minutes. I became more and more casual about my dress, eventually venturing to just wearing a nightgown under a robe. Mush liked it best when I wore my hair down.

I also continued to visit him everyday, and would give him my extra money whenever Grandfather gave it to me. Whenever that happened, he'd try to give it back to me; when I wouldn't take it, he'd buy me daffodils with it. All the other newsies also began calling me Daffodil, instead of Victoria.

This turned into a problem when, one Saturday, Father and I took a walk. "Mornin', Daffodil!" Crutchy told me as we walked by him. He tipped his hat and cheerfully grinned. I smiled at him.

" 'Daffodil'?" my father asked, wrinkling his nose at the name. "Whatever does he mean by that?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," I answered. Except it happened six more times. The last one to call me it was Mush.

"Look, young man, I don't know what you… you newsies mean by the term, 'daffodil,' but I can assure you that my daughter is up-standing and will amount to much more than you ever will! Therefore, I don't want you speaking to her. Especially not in that… casual tone of voice! She is above you, and I demand that you respect her!"

Mush looked him in the eye, and nodded. Tears filled my eyes as he let himself peek at me. "Don't you look at her!" my father scolded loudly. Mush turned away. It was all I could do to keep myself from jumping into his arms, but then we would be discovered, and Mush would be ordered to keep away from me. I couldn't bear that thought.

Mush didn't come to see me that night. I waited on the porch from ten o'clock until two in the morning, then took my candle inside with me. The next morning, there wasn't even an apology daffodil on my front porch, which I thought was odd.

Even Snap seemed different. "Mush, he don' feel so good today," he said stiffly when I inquired. "He stayed at the house."

"Where do you boys live, Snap?" I asked, looking him straight in the eye.

He shook his head. "It's no place for a lady like yourself, Daffodil."

I continued to stare him down. "Please, Snap. I have to talk to him." He finally gave me the address, and I was went to the house, after making one stop.

No one answered my knock, so I walked in. I looked around, but the house appeared empty. I found a staircase and walked up it, a creak accompanying my every step.

"Who's there?" a voice asked. It was Mush, and he didn't sound a bit sick to me. I knew he had stayed home so he didn't have to see me.

I entered the room with his voice. He looked over, and hid his surprise. "What're ya doin' here, Daffodil?"

I kept my hands behind my back. "Visiting you. Snap said you were sick."

"I ain't sick." He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Mush, I'm sorry for what my father said yesterday. It was out of line. He doesn't know you, or he'd—"

"He'd what, Victoria?" It was the first time he'd used my real name in a long time. "Tell you that ya couldn' see me, that's what!" He now turned to me and glared. "We can't make this work. You'se a rich… aristocrat, and I'm…" He turned away again and muttered, "a newsie."

"You're not just a newsie! You're vibrant, and aware, and sweet and funny and nice and you shouldn't punish me because my family is close- minded!" I stood and looked at him, tears starting in my eyes again.

"Punish you? I'm not punishin' you. I'm letting you live a better life."

"If your definition of a better life is one without you, then I'd rather have the worst life in the world." I stared at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, but that can't keep us."

"Yes, it can," I argued. "I won't let you give up on us." With that, I took out from behind my back the one item I'd stopped for. I handed him the single daffodil. "You let me step away from all the pointlessness of my life. You let me be Daffodil. And that is the most precious gift anyone's ever given me." Now the tears began to fall. "Please, come and be with me again," I said, kneeling beside the bed he was in. "I love you." I held his hand and kissed his fingers, one by one.

"I thought your dad made ya change youse mind abou' me," he said, clasping my hand tightly and pulling it closer to him. I sat on the edge of the bed. "I'se thought I'd never see you again."

"I waited four hours for you to come last night," I said softly.

"Then I apologize fer not comin'." He pulled me down towards him and gently kissed me. "You'se better be gettin' home before yer fam'ly misses ya."

"Will you come tonight?" I asked.

"Of course." He smiled at me, and I left the room.

On the way home, I reflected on how good he looked shirtless.

*

That evening turned out to be one of our worst at home. Mother, now looking more and more pregnant, was throwing a fit because she wanted a special pink towel clean, even though she'd only used it that morning and Rose hadn't had the time to wash it yet. Father didn't like the dinner, Grandfather was in a bad mood because the newsies strike had yet to end, and Grandmother was ill with a cold.

"Victoria?" Rose asked as she served dinner. "Are you feeling all right, child? You look exhausted."

I wanted to tell her that she should try staying up every night until all-hours just to be with a forbidden boy, but knew I couldn't.

"Oh, like she has a hard life," Mother said grumpily, waving her fork at me. On days when the pregnancy makes her agitated, she's liable to wave utensils around. "She sits on fluffy cushions and reads all day. When's she going to find a husband and get married? Then she'll know what a fine life I lead."

"Oh, stop whining!" Father said, throwing his napkin on the table. "And I cannot eat this food, it's atrocious."

"Me stop whining! What about you!" Mother squawked back, brandishing a spoon at him.

"My head hurts…" Grandmother said faintly.

"I'm so tired of this!" I finally burst out, standing up. Everyone stopped talking and stared at me. "I'm tired of the way you all act! All high and mighty, turning up your noses at anyone who seems to be beneath you? Well, guess what!" I glared at each person in turn. "I've been seeing a boy, one who you all wouldn't approve of. Not only that, but I've been getting to know his friends as well! And not only do they not have family money, but most of them don't even have families! And… I love him! And you, Father, it almost killed me yesterday when you yelled at him and told him he was beneath me, even though you didn't even know him!"

"Are you telling me," Father said through clenched teeth, standing up as well, "that you have been meeting with a common newsie?"

"Yes," I answered defiantly, lifting my chin.

"Oh, my heavens," my grandmother said, staring at me.

"And why did they all call you Daffodil?" Father asked dully, but I knew he'd already put it together in his head.

"It's Mush's favorite flower, and he said it would be my name if I were a newsie."

"Oh, my heavens!" Grandmother repeated. "Bonnie, bring me some wine!"

Father stared at me. "Go to your room. Stay there. And, I forbid you to see these newsies, ever again."

I stared at him evenly, then nodded. "Okay." I left the room and went upstairs. Somehow, I was now void of tears. But I did have a plan.