Not belonging to me.
Hey! My birthday's on the twenty-second! Write me something! Like a story…or a review…*hinthintnudgenudge*
Note: this is in the past. Still narrated by Pie Eater. Oh, and sorry about the indents and lack there of. Word went wacko on me. And yes, Race will be explained in the next chapter. And to make this even longer, Flips is a real character, just was never named in the movie. He's that black guy who's snapping in the beginning and who waves his hat around and screams "whoohoo" at the beginning of TWWK.
~*~
I was sitting on the stairs, back to the wall, where I could see everyone below me. I had a cigarette and was pretending to be interested in a copy of yesterday's paper. It'd only been three weeks or so since I'd first showed up at the Lodging House, but I already knew it was best to look busy. Not too busy to find time for someone, though. It was a fine line we were walking. Racetrack was looking around the room for someone to play cards with- he was probably low on money again. I was careful not to meet his gaze.
Just when I thought I was in danger of being noticed, the old door slammed open against the wall. Tiger strode into the room, immediately commanding everyone's attention. The left side of his face was dark with bruises and blood and one arm hung awkwardly. He was pale, but his gray eyes snapped harshly as he delivered his message.
"Dey got Coal." He stood there for a long moment before turning and disappearing back into the streets.
Coal was our leader, the head of the Manhattan boys. Tiger was his second in command, always angry, and fiercely loyal. A group from Brooklyn had found the two of them. Tiger got away, Coal didn't. They found him again, though. He never came back after he left that day. Manhattan was bad, a war zone after it happened. But Brooklyn has always been and always will be worse. You couldn't pay me all the money in the world and offer me the position of president to set foot in Brooklyn after dark.
I was almost afraid to go to sleep that night. Well, more afraid than I'd grown used to being. Whispered plans and threats flew around the bunkroom. You could feel the tension stretching across the air. If Tiger didn't come back the next day, we'd be left without a leader. Which meant that any boy who felt he had the right to the post could try to claim it. And that meant a war within Manhattan. A war which could end up costing you your life.
Tiger never returned, of course. Bumlets found him dead. Of course, he might have been found before he died, I don't know. You see, Bumlets was one of Jack's most loyal boys. And Jack wanted to be leader. As soon as the news reached the lodging house, the fight began. It wasn't all physical, by any means, though there were quite a few confrontations between Jack's boys and Kid's boys. No one sold alone that day, or any of the days afterwards. I sold with Jake, though we never really spoke. We were both determined not to take a side. Supporters of either person could be very persuasive, especially when they got you alone. The only others who stayed out of the whole affair were Race and Skittery, but no one bothers them.
The first real fight was that afternoon in the square. Snoddy, Swifty, and Flips were there from Kid's side, Itey, Snitch, and Dutchy from Jack's. I'm not really sure who won, but they were all in pretty bad condition afterwards. Jack and Kid themselves weren't there, of course. They never got into fights and always kept someone near them. They wouldn't have been safe otherwise. After the fight, some of the boys started coming in beat up. The first day Specs and Boots, from Kid's side. The next day, Snipeshooter and Crutchy, from Jack's side. They never could say who did it, but we all had our guesses. The only people who never got too involved were Mush and Bumlets. They acted as a kind of bodyguard. Of course, they were probably responsible for some of the roughing up. Jake and I even got some of it. Swifty, Snoddy, and Specs had us pretty well when a group from Jack's side showed up. I'm not sure what would've happened if they didn't get involved in fighting each other.
Everything came to a head about a week later. At the Distribution Center that morning, both Jack and Kid had tried to claim first in line. This started some blows flying between their followers, and then between the two of them. Buying papers was completely forgotten, and anyone could have gone and gotten theirs, but the only person who dared to was Racetrack. The bulls showed up on the scene and we all had to run for it. We missed the morning edition, except for Race and Skitt. Jack and Kid never came back to the Lodging House with us. They disappeared. The amount of fighting that day was incredible. Even Mush and Bumlets and the younger kids got involved. I spent most of the day in a restaurant, only returning to the Lodging House a few minutes before curfew. Jack and Kid still hadn't come back. The next morning, though, they returned as we were washing up. They were both covered in bruises, scabs, and dried blood. Jack stood a step in front of Kid, and smiled that sick, self-satisfied smile at us all.
"Why don't you tell them who their leader is, Blink?" Kid stepped out from behind him and the room fell silent. He was almost unrecognizable, his face was so covered in bruises and blood. And he wore a patch over one eye.
"Jack's our leader, of course. He'll be a fine one." Then he grinned at us, the same exact grin he used to have. There was no trace of pain, anger, or regret. "C'mon, we've got papes to sell."
No newsie ever cries. It's an unwritten law. Mush looked pretty close to it, though. So did Boots. Everyone was silent, staring at the two boys, both so seemingly happy. Then we started towards the door, Jack's followers first. They were quick to grin and laugh and everything was normal within a few seconds.
Now, of course, it doesn't matter who supported who, except in terms of who Jack favors. Everyone loves him now. Everyone's perfectly loyal. Because you just don't oppose Jack Kelly if you want to stay alive. Especially now that Kid Blink's his devoted second. No one will ever know exactly what happened, but we saw him break Kid's spirit. One of the fiercest, most tenacious, independent newsies is now just his puppet.
No, whatever you do, you don't oppose Jack Kelly.
~*~
EEEEEEEEEE! *bounces* reviews reviews reviews! And only on a really short prologue! Wow! I'm honored, you guys. So I will try my hand at shoutouts.
The masked ownder: I think he does need a hug. And no, Pie Eater is not related to Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, that I know of. ^_^
Crunch: Oh…wow…thank you. I'm sorry about the evil newsies, but it's necessary. See what I mean? *points at above chapter* forgive me, please! I don't think they're really like that!
Thumbsucker Snitch: Evil!Snitch….hehe…currently, I haven't planned that one. ^_^ But then again, I haven't planned much of this yet.
Hotshot: Yeah, the problem is I already have a piece called No One Sees, which is the same premise, but not newsies. *sigh* Maybe I'll retitle that one. You're going to have to break away from the movie a bit to make this believable *wince* sorry. Eh. Don't think I managed to un-cliqueate (hehe) this, but maybe it's done in a different way? Oh, well. Thanks!
Kitten-Luv/LucifersEnvoyAngel: Eh. Long name you've got there. Isn't he cool? He was the perfect narrator for this one.
Cards: lol here you go. Next chapter should be shorter, but it'll probably take longer. Sorry….
Dr. Linkinshlof: Thank you! Er…race's diary? Heehaw….hehehe…..*nervous laughter* yeah, I'll finish it sometime, hopefully.
Keza: hehehe….Pie Eater fans. Yeah, I'm trying for something long here. *crosses fingers* thank you!
Merlin's Quill: Yeah, it's not supposed to really fit in with the rest of the story. Just kind of give a premise. o.O I don't want to know what she did….cause if you're thinking what I'm thinking…ok, never mind. This is getting too convoluted. Well, I can try a long fic! Can't I? ^_^
Falco Conlon: Eeep! Here's a chapter! I'd like to remain alive, please!
Raven's Wing: Thank you! Candy corn? o.O where?! *runs off in search of candy corn*
Moods: Wow, thanks a lot! Here's another chapter, next one should be up soon. *screams at snickering peanut gallery* it should, really!
Misprint: Thank you, I try. Hehehe….I do stuff like that. Or when someone says a line. Like "go home". Then I start reciting from there…hehe. Ok, getting off topic. Yes, quite deep….*backs away*
Raeghann: The rest is coming. Thanks!