Chapter 6
"Hey Bristles, stop luggin and drag your feet ovah heah! We ain't got all day to get our papes!! And like I said, we want ta get da good sellin spots."
Sunny's voice was ringing in my ears. I could barely hear her. All I could think about was Spot Conlon. I couldn't stop imagining myself in his arms and a tight embrace. Stop this right now, Katarina Strutley, I heard a voice inside of me scold. Besides, you don't even know him! Still, those eyes, so deep and passionate…once again, Sunny's voice snapped me back into reality and we set off to get our papes.
We were pretty early, so I didn't get to meet any other newsies. But it was interesting. Since I didn't have any money to pay for the papes, Hope kindly spared me some money and bought 20 papes for me. Although she bought 100 for herself, she explained that I was only a beginner and didn't want to 'lay a heap on my back'. She also told me about the Manhattan newsies that went on strike because of Joe Pulitzer 'jackin up da papes' prices'. I was eager to learn and wanted more papes to sell, but I felt that it wasn't worth arguing with her and Sunny. They were pretty stubborn and I knew they were just looking out for me. I didn't want to turn down their kindness. Pretty soon, I was all set to start selling my papes. Sunny told me just to stay near the Lodge House. Since I wasn't too familiar with this part of Brooklyn, it would've been easy for me to get lost. Everything was just so exciting to me that I wanted to go everywhere, but I decided to stay put and behave.
I sold my papes on the street of where the Lodge House was, but quickly discovered that it was not as easy as it looked. Not everybody wanted to read the news, and most of them who did buy a pape from me just did it out of pity. I had to admit, I was not very good at selling them either. It was almost lunchtime and I had only sold 5 papes. There were still 15 more to go. I sighed and decided that selling papes wasn't the best way for me to make a living. I thought about going to look for Sunny, and had just started walking when I heard someone call out to me. I turned to see who it was and when I saw, I stopped cold.
Walking towards me was a tall boy with blondish-brown hair and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. It took me a while to realize who he really was, but remembering what Sunny and the other girls had said about him, I decided not to mention it. It was likely that he didn't remember me anyways. Spot Conlon was a lady's man. It was probably a daily activity for him to go saving some girl in trouble. He walked towards me and stopped. I looked up at him, and he looked at the stack of papes under my arm and frowned.
"Why you still got dat many papes? Dey should be in someone else's hands by now. Hey, I haven't seen you round heah. You new?"
I stammered a yes, and he grinned.
"Ah, dat's how all da goils are like on da foist day of sellin. Of coise, we boys ain't got nutin ta worry about. Specially me. I'se Spot Conlon. Leadah of da Brooklyn Newsies. And da best lookin one too. You do know who I am, dontcha?"
I most certainly did, but I hadn't expected him to be so egotistical. It seemed that Spot Conlon thought more highly of himself than I thought. But I didn't know if I liked that about him or not. Seeing that I didn't respond to his question, he quickly spoke again.
"Heh, dat's what I expected. Hey, you're wit Sunny, right? C'mon then, she wanted me to find you so that we could go eat lunch."
He grabbed my arm and we walked off. All along the way, I was feeling confused. Spot Conlon was much more different than I had thought he was. He had a smart mouth, if I had to say so. And he was so egotistical! Suddenly, I wasn't so sure if I liked him or not.
Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of a restaurant. I looked in and saw all of the girl newsies waving at me, along with the other boy newsies. Some were gaping at me, and others were looking from me to Spot and started to whisper excitedly. Spot pulled me in, and I was swept away by Hope while Sunny and Spot spit in their own hands and shook. I would've been disgusted, but I was not living a lady life anymore. Suddenly, one of the newsies spoke up.
"Hey, wats dis? We gotta looker heah!"
The rest of the guy newsies cheered and whistled, and Sunny told them to shut up. She quickly introduced me to everybody, which included the Manhattan newsies, and told me that they were the newsies that went on strike. I met the leader of the Manhattan newsies, who was also Spot's pal, Jack Kelly. He was tall, good-looking, and much nicer than Spot. He said to me that they had come to Brooklyn to see how Spot and Sunny's newsies were, but quickly whispered that Racetrack, another one of the Manhattan newsies, had actually made the suggestion so that he could get an excuse to see Hope. I had met Racetrack also. He seemed to have gotten his nickname from a love of horse races, and also had a love for gambling. He seemed very sweet and I could tell why he and Hope liked each other.
After everybody ordered their food, they sat down and started chatting. I sat next to Sunny, since I figured that Hope wanted to be left alone with Racetrack, and to my surprise, Spot took a seat next to me. My heart pounded at first, but then I thought, don't get too excited, after all, he is Sunny's best friend. Why wouldn't he want to sit near her? I quickly put it out of my mind and started to dig into my food that had just come.
As I started eating, I heard Sunny say casually, "So, uh, Spot, I hear dat you'se been savin damsels in distress, eh?"
Spot shrugged and said "nah, it was a piece a cake. Grinds again. But she didn't even try to stand up for herself! She just left it all to me. And when I tried to give her a hand, she just ran off! Guess she ain't cut out to roamin the streets. And she's too hoity-toity for me, anyway."
I heard every word of their conversation, and hearing what Spot said, I instantly set my fork down, stood up, and strode out of the restaurant. It seemed that Jack knew what was going on, so he followed me out.
I walked briskly, trying to lose him, but Jack wouldn't give up. He continued following me, and finally, he ran in front of me and stopped me.
"Bristles, you can't do dis,"
I fought back tears and looked away from him. "He thinks I'm hoity-toity! I knew I never should've become a newsie, anyway,"
Jack looked at me and said, "listen, I know dat Spot's got a smart-mouth, but you gotta live wit dat. He's not what he seems. For all I know, he's probly back dere worryin boutcha,"
"well, then, why doesn't he come here and tell me that he's worried himself?"
"cuz Spot's not like dat. He hates being wrong, and he nevah admits it when he is. And it's not easy ta pry an apology outa him. So, you wipe off dose tears off of your face and we get back before everyone starts wonderin where we went, alright?"
I nodded and gave Jack a grateful smile. I was glad that someone here besides Sunny and Hope understood me. When we got back, Sunny ran towards us with her face filled with worry.
"Wheredja go? I was worried boutcha! Don't evah do dat again, ye hear?"
I nodded quickly and said that I wanted to get back to the Lodge House. Sunny looked at me, but agreed. She told Hope to get me back and make sure I'd get some rest. She said that since this was the first time I had been selling papes, I'd definitely be tired. As Hope led me out, I could sense that Spot was watching me, but didn't check to make sure.
****
As Bristles walked out of the door, Jack looked over at Spot and saw that he was staring at her. He quickly went over to him and sat down.
"You really hoit dat goil's feelins, ye know. She just wanted to fit in. Did you see dat look on her face when you called her a hoity-toity? Ye really gotta start thinking about that cleanin out dat mouth of yours or you'll nevah get her."
Spot turned red, but quickly said, "Who said I wanted hoir? Like I said, she is a hoity-toity. And dat's ain't what da leadah of Brooklyn wants,"
Jack sighed and shook his head. He knew Spot too well, but didn't say anything. Spot was never serious about a girl, but Jack had never seen him act like this around one. It was like he was hiding something. As he got up to leave the table, Spot stopped him and said, "Just don't tell hoir, alright? I trust you on dat. I know she doesn't fancy me, but I'll try harder."
Jack looked at Spot, and he grinned and they spit shook again.
