A lone figure, dressed in boy's clothes and partially hidden by shadows,
stood across the street from the Manhattan Newsboy's Lodging House,
watching as boys of all shapes and sizes laughed, jumped, trudged, and
stumbled their way indoors. One in particular caught the figure's eye – a
short, black-haired boy with a jaunty step and a whistling tune. He was
with a couple of other boys, all laughing and generally full of comradery.
If possible, the figure's eyes darkened farther as it pushed off the
doorframe it'd been leaning against and walked away. The figure entered a
building, only to walk out again in a few minutes, now garbed in a low-cut
dress, stained in some places, neatly mended in others. She gathered a
deep breath (to the delight of some passers-by) and began to walk towards a
second figure that had been following her closely the whole time, ready to
collect payment before any of his customers took delight in the "product"
he was selling.
The next day, around noon, most of the Manhattan newsies were gathered around the statue of Horace Greeley, most waiting for the surrounding businesses to let out for lunch. Racetrack, having disposed of his papers earlier that morning, was trying to set up a dice game so he could make money with which to place his bets for that afternoon. Unable to find anyone willing to lose to his slight-of-hand, he began to walk merrily towards the tracks, calculating the profits he would have made on the horses he would have bet on. Turning down an alley, he felt a hand close on his collar as he was suddenly pushed straight towards the side of a building. Head spinning, he whirled around (which didn't exactly do wonders for his head), fists upraised to block a coming punch. When the expected attack did not come he cautiously lowered his arms and raised his head to find himself staring at a petite female in a conservative brown skirt and blue blouse. As he was instinctively admiring her more feminine attributes, her face slowly registered, as did her voice and what she was saying… "Hello big brother."
Recoiling, Race shook his head, while thumping it with the heel of his hand to clear the thought that had been about to form. "Janey?" he gasped incredulously, "Is that really you?"
"Considering your other sister is only 8, I would have to say I'm the only one tall enough to still call you that," said the girl icily.
"What are you doing here?" Race asked joyfully, reaching out to embrace her, "I haven't seen you in …"
"3 years, 9 months, next Tuesday," said Janey, smoothly stepping away from his arms. "However," she continued, "This isn't a pleasure call…just thought you'd like to know, Mom's dying."
Racetrack sank to his knees, stunned, and leaned against the wall….which reminded him… "How…Is that why you gave me such a greeting?! Janey, I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"
"Why should you?" Janey bit back angrily. "Its not like we've seen you since you ran away, you never come home, never write, why should you know about Mom, or Dad, for that matter….not that you'd care, but…"
"What about Dad?" Racetrack asked quietly, not knowing what to expect, or even what he wanted to expect.
Janey laughed bitterly, "He's been dead for over 2 years now. Supposedly slipped while working over by the docks…probably just got too active with that switch," she shrugged, uncaring, and continued coldly, "You know the one, woven thick and metal-tipped at one end, the wires on the other…"
"I remember," Race cut her off harshly, defensive now that his sister's cold sarcasm had begun to sink in. " So why didn't you find me then, I could have come home and helped…"
Race was cut off as Janey reared back and gave him a full-armed slap. "We were suppose to find you?!?!" she shrieked incredulously, "You left us Nickolas! Where were you checking up on us to see if we needed help, or to say hi, or even to make sure Mom knew you were alright?!?!?"
"I couldn't go back there, Janey, you know that," Race cried, his voice full of pain, for her, for his memories, and for what she was doing to him.
"No, Nick," Janey said accusingly, "I know you didn't want to come back, and we all paid the price for it."
"What do you mean? If Dad died you all should have been fine…" Race replied, confused.
"Yeah right, RACE," Janey sneered, " Dad made most of the money, remember? You and I might have been used to going hungry, but Patrica and William were so young….they both take care of some rich folk's pets after they go to school…there's no way I'm putting them to work this young," she said angrily, "even if…" she cut off abruptly.
"If what?" Race said, desperate to know, "Janey, what happened?"
Janey firmed her shoulders, straightened her spine and said, " Mom's not going to live, Nick, if you want to come see her it has to be now…otherwise I'm not coming back for you again."
"Lead the way," Race said somberly.
Janey did lead the way, down several dozen blocks, Race paled as the streets grew dirtier and more crowded. As she turned down the final street and led Race up a few steps, an old gray-haired woman stopped her with "You know there's no more room, girl, and I don't hold with none of that business here."
Janey reddened, but kept her composure, while Race's attention was bewildered by his surroundings. In a low voice she replied, "Its alright, Mrs. Kapowalski, he's just here to see Mom."
"Hrmph," snorted the woman, but she let them pass.
"What was that about?" asked Race.
"None of your business," snapped Janey as she led them up several flights of stairs.
"What do you mean 'none of my business,'" cried Racetrack as he rushed to follow her, "You're my family, I've got a right to kn…."
"No you don't!!" screamed Janey, finally losing patience with him, "You lost that right 3 years ago when you walked out on us…..no, cheated to walk out on us."
"I had no choice, " yelled Racetrack, "Dad was…"
"Dad was what, Nick? Beating you? Well he beat me too, and William, although he doesn't remember much. You left Nick, and believe me it got a lot worse afterwards." She pushed up her skirt to her knee, where a collection of quarter-sized burn scars greeted Race's horrified eyes. "The cigars you both like so much….lets just say he stopped using ashtrays."
"William?…Patty?" Race gasped, unthinkingly.
"They've each got a few…not so many after Mom and I started hiding them from him, but enough for them to never wish he was still here." She replied, steadily meeting his gaze with a cold one of her own.
"You gotta believe me," Race fell to his knees, pleading for his baby sister's forgiveness, "I didn't know…"
"You never tried to find out," She said scoffed.
"No!" Race shouted, "I came back…once, about six months later,…and saw you…all of you, sitting around the table, laughing, happy" Race continued brokenly, "I just…figured I'd done the right thing." He trailed of quietly.
"Yeah," Janey sneered, "there were some times like that, once every few months work went well and he forgot to stop by the pub on his way home…..After you'd been gone a year they stopped happening altogether."
"Janey," Race began, "I am so sorry, you have to believe me."
"No, I don't." she said firmly. "You remember that night as well as I do: Dad had finally stopped hitting you…passed out on the floor and Mom dropped off to sleep from nervous exhaustion, all the while using her body to shield Patrica and William. I caught you with a bundle under your arm and a foot out the door."
"Yeah," Race grinned, "You challenged me to a single game of 5-card stud, winner take all."
"I dealt," she said bitterly, "thought I was going to win the whole time….I had a full house, 3 7's and 2 jacks….then you laid down a royal flush." She began to snicker, "Stupid me actually thought luck had been with you that night, maybe you were suppose to leave…..then I find out the deck suddenly has an extra set of crowns. You cheated on the most important game I ever played….and now tell me I have to believe you…." She let out a short, sarcastic bark of laughter, eyes never leaving doubt as to their feelings about him.
Race had the decency to flush bright red, mumbling, "I had to get outta there Janey….I had to."
"Yeah well, you got out….that was then, this is now and this is it. You've got one hour before I go to pick the kids up from school…don't be here when we get back."
"Why?" Race protested, "they're my brother and sister too, Janey, I want to see them."
"You lost all your rights the night you laid down those cards," she scream at him, "and until you have the smallest understanding of how many nights William waited by the door for you to come home, you will not see him, or Patty, again!" She smoothed her skirt and calmed her voice until it made the inside of an icebox sound cozy, "Now, your time's wasting, why don't you make good what you have."
Stunned, Racetrack nodded and entered the door they had, unbeknownst to him, stopped in front of while fighting. Janey did not follow him. Slowly he looked around the two-room flat – he was standing in the kitchen area – which was clean for all that it was bare except for a few pallets on the floor and a box of mismatched dishes and utensils. He went through the curtain that hung in the doorway leading to the bedroom. Lying on a small frame bed was his mother, not as he remembered her, but sickly, pale, and near death. She was sleeping, but awoke with a start when he sat down by her feet. "Janey?" she called out weakly, "William?" Suddenly her eyes focused on Racetrack and she gasped, eyes filling with tears…and fear. "Nikolas?" she gasped, "Am I dead?"
"No, Mom," Race gave a weak smile and continued speaking softly, "You're not dead, Janey found me today and told me how you were doing."
"She's so afraid," his mother murmured, clasping Race's hands in hers. "She's held this family together, but doesn't know how to be strong for herself. Now she's afraid I'll leave….but this will pass, and I'll go back to work…now that we're all together again….everything will be fine."
Racetrack winced, reminded of his sister's ultimatum, clasped his mother in a tight hug that she seemed to take as an agreement.
"Now," she said, "tell me about yourself, Nickolas. What have you been doing all these years?" She settled back to listen attentively.
Race began telling her all about his life and for the remainder of the hour they sat and talked about things….Race as a child, his siblings, his family's life, anything at all they could talk about the did, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying.
A little past the time he was suppose to have left, Race heard the door open, and Janey put her head in past the curtains. Race nodded and turned to his mother, "I'll be back again tomorrow," he said, lightly kissing her cheek as she fell back into the pillows, clearly exhausted.
"Promise?" she asked weakly.
"Promise." He replied, sweeping her into one last hungry embrace.
As Janey closed the door to the room silently, he said, "I will be back tomorrow."
"Returning has never been your strong suit, Racetrack," she said quietly, but firmly, "we'll see tomorrow, tomorrow."
"Let me see Patrica and William," Racetrack pleaded the small figure standing before him.
"No." she said firmly.
"Why not?" Race cried, frustrated.
"They're my responsibilities. I don't want them to be hurt, and the simplest answer is truly that I don't trust you with them. " Janey replied calmly, coldly.
"What?!?!" Racetrack yelled, "that's ridiculous, what in the world do you think I'd do?"
"Does it matter?" she replied. "The fact is," she continued, "that they are my charges and I will protect them with my life. Unfortunately for you, that also means that you will not see them until such a time that I trust you again." She snorted again, "and if I were you, I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon."
Racetrack was floored. He hadn't expected to be denied the chance to see his younger siblings again. Especially not by one of them. He didn't understand, this was…..
"Now, if you'll walk yourself to Manhattan, Boxer here, " she motioned to a rather large, heavily muscled figure who emerged from the shadows at the end of the hall, "will make sure you don't get lost." Motioning for Racetrack to proceed down the stairs, Janey followed behind Boxer.
Once outside, Race turned to Janey, "What time should I be here tomorrow?"
Narrowing her eyes, she replied, "If you can remember the way back, be here at noon, that'll give you two hours with Mom, but I'm not letting Patty or William near you for quite a while longer."
"How long?" Race asked with pleading in his eyes.
"Depends on how long it takes me to trust my own big brother again." With that parting shot, Janey motioned for Boxer to begin Race's escort to Manhattan. Once they were out of sight she raced towards the small school her brother and sister attended during the day.
Later that night a glowing thought occurred to Racetrack: she hadn't told him he couldn't come back.
**************************************************************************** **
Days passed and Race spent two hours from noon to two of every one with his mother, who grew steadily worse as time passed. She told him everything that had happened during his absence, from the beatings, which she and Janey had completely assumed by hiding the younger ones, to Janey's jobs as a laundress and waitress, to Patrica and William's teacher's glowing note a few weeks prior raving about their amazing successes in school. He never really saw Janey, although she checked in at the beginning and end of his every visit, and definitely made sure that Boxer was there to walk him back to Manhattan.
One day things were different, when he went to the apartment a new family had moved in, and they knew nothing about his mother or siblings. They told him to check in with the landlady to see if they had told her anything.
**************************************************************************** **
"Yeah, she gave me something to give to you," Mrs. Kapowalski said, "this is it." She handed him a piece of paper, folded into thirds.
He opened it to see five cards fall to the floor, 3 7's and 2 jacks. The paper read, Nickolas, I'll meet you at the Horace Greenley statue at midnight tonight. Don't be late. Cursing loudly the whole time he was escorted out of the tenement on the end of Mrs. Kapowalski's broom, Race crumpled the note into his pocket and set out to Manhattan. 12 hours. 12 hours until he found out what his sister was up to now.
Race was in a foul mood for those 12 hours too, snapping at Blink for a joke he'd made, scaring away Les because he reminded him of William, even telling Cowboy to shove off when the Manhattan leader asked if he wanted to play poker. The rest of the boys exchanged glances, and tried to stay out of the marauding Irishman. When the clock struck 11, Racetrack couldn't stand it any longer and bolted out of the Lodging House. Arriving at the statue he waited impatiently until 11:30, when he saw the first sign of life he'd seen all night. Some hooker and her pimp arguing in an alleyway….he scoffed it off and let his eyes roam in the other direction. Eventually they stopped arguing, he noticed offhandedly, as he was still watching for Janey.
She emerged about ten minutes later…..from the same alley…and there was the pimp leaning against a building….but she wasn't wearing…..there was a bundle beside the pimp….oh no, Race thought. Out loud he said, "Janey, please tell me you're not a whore….tell me anything but that…." He trailed off, searching for an answer in her face.
"Nickolas, three days after you left we started running out of money. So Dad sold my nights to Johnny, the guy over there. Boxer is his enforcer. I do not regret a damn thing about having to provide for my family." She said this all quietly, eyes locked on his the whole time. "Mom didn't know."
"She's dead?" Race asked tremulously, not wanting any of it to be true.
"Yeah. But thanks to you, she died happily, thinking we're all a family again." Janey smiled softly. "And thanks to her we'll get the chance to be just that."
"Really?" said Race hopefully, "You'll let me be with you guys?"
"Maybe." said Janey. "See the original plan for when Mom died was to just leave, not give you a second chance with us." She laughed quietly, disturbing Race for some reason. "But now, I'm giving you the same chance you gave me, one round of five-card stud. You win, you can come back with us. You lose, and its your turn to find us." She brought the cards out from her pocket and silently handed them to him.
Race shuffled quickly, expertly dealing them each five cards. He unabashedly cheated, using every trick he had. Unfortunately, he hadn't prepared for this, and had no cards stashed up his sleeves. When it came time to lay down his cards, two pair, nines and jacks, he really thought he'd won.
She laid down a royal flush.
"That's impossible!" Race cried out, "You cheated!" He leapt to his feet, reaching out to grab Janey by the arm, only to find himself held in Boxer's viselike grip.
Janey scoffed, "Nickolas, I waited for over 3 years for you to come back to us…now it no longer concerns me. Now I'm not the one that has to care, you have to find us." She leaned in close to his ear. "But don't worry big brother, I'll give you a hint….more than you gave us anyways…..we're all going home."
"What?!….No!….Janey you have to tell me mo….JANEY!!" the last bit desperately screamed as Race watched his baby sister walk over to her pimp, pick up her working clothes, and walk away from him, taking his family with her.
The next day, around noon, most of the Manhattan newsies were gathered around the statue of Horace Greeley, most waiting for the surrounding businesses to let out for lunch. Racetrack, having disposed of his papers earlier that morning, was trying to set up a dice game so he could make money with which to place his bets for that afternoon. Unable to find anyone willing to lose to his slight-of-hand, he began to walk merrily towards the tracks, calculating the profits he would have made on the horses he would have bet on. Turning down an alley, he felt a hand close on his collar as he was suddenly pushed straight towards the side of a building. Head spinning, he whirled around (which didn't exactly do wonders for his head), fists upraised to block a coming punch. When the expected attack did not come he cautiously lowered his arms and raised his head to find himself staring at a petite female in a conservative brown skirt and blue blouse. As he was instinctively admiring her more feminine attributes, her face slowly registered, as did her voice and what she was saying… "Hello big brother."
Recoiling, Race shook his head, while thumping it with the heel of his hand to clear the thought that had been about to form. "Janey?" he gasped incredulously, "Is that really you?"
"Considering your other sister is only 8, I would have to say I'm the only one tall enough to still call you that," said the girl icily.
"What are you doing here?" Race asked joyfully, reaching out to embrace her, "I haven't seen you in …"
"3 years, 9 months, next Tuesday," said Janey, smoothly stepping away from his arms. "However," she continued, "This isn't a pleasure call…just thought you'd like to know, Mom's dying."
Racetrack sank to his knees, stunned, and leaned against the wall….which reminded him… "How…Is that why you gave me such a greeting?! Janey, I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"
"Why should you?" Janey bit back angrily. "Its not like we've seen you since you ran away, you never come home, never write, why should you know about Mom, or Dad, for that matter….not that you'd care, but…"
"What about Dad?" Racetrack asked quietly, not knowing what to expect, or even what he wanted to expect.
Janey laughed bitterly, "He's been dead for over 2 years now. Supposedly slipped while working over by the docks…probably just got too active with that switch," she shrugged, uncaring, and continued coldly, "You know the one, woven thick and metal-tipped at one end, the wires on the other…"
"I remember," Race cut her off harshly, defensive now that his sister's cold sarcasm had begun to sink in. " So why didn't you find me then, I could have come home and helped…"
Race was cut off as Janey reared back and gave him a full-armed slap. "We were suppose to find you?!?!" she shrieked incredulously, "You left us Nickolas! Where were you checking up on us to see if we needed help, or to say hi, or even to make sure Mom knew you were alright?!?!?"
"I couldn't go back there, Janey, you know that," Race cried, his voice full of pain, for her, for his memories, and for what she was doing to him.
"No, Nick," Janey said accusingly, "I know you didn't want to come back, and we all paid the price for it."
"What do you mean? If Dad died you all should have been fine…" Race replied, confused.
"Yeah right, RACE," Janey sneered, " Dad made most of the money, remember? You and I might have been used to going hungry, but Patrica and William were so young….they both take care of some rich folk's pets after they go to school…there's no way I'm putting them to work this young," she said angrily, "even if…" she cut off abruptly.
"If what?" Race said, desperate to know, "Janey, what happened?"
Janey firmed her shoulders, straightened her spine and said, " Mom's not going to live, Nick, if you want to come see her it has to be now…otherwise I'm not coming back for you again."
"Lead the way," Race said somberly.
Janey did lead the way, down several dozen blocks, Race paled as the streets grew dirtier and more crowded. As she turned down the final street and led Race up a few steps, an old gray-haired woman stopped her with "You know there's no more room, girl, and I don't hold with none of that business here."
Janey reddened, but kept her composure, while Race's attention was bewildered by his surroundings. In a low voice she replied, "Its alright, Mrs. Kapowalski, he's just here to see Mom."
"Hrmph," snorted the woman, but she let them pass.
"What was that about?" asked Race.
"None of your business," snapped Janey as she led them up several flights of stairs.
"What do you mean 'none of my business,'" cried Racetrack as he rushed to follow her, "You're my family, I've got a right to kn…."
"No you don't!!" screamed Janey, finally losing patience with him, "You lost that right 3 years ago when you walked out on us…..no, cheated to walk out on us."
"I had no choice, " yelled Racetrack, "Dad was…"
"Dad was what, Nick? Beating you? Well he beat me too, and William, although he doesn't remember much. You left Nick, and believe me it got a lot worse afterwards." She pushed up her skirt to her knee, where a collection of quarter-sized burn scars greeted Race's horrified eyes. "The cigars you both like so much….lets just say he stopped using ashtrays."
"William?…Patty?" Race gasped, unthinkingly.
"They've each got a few…not so many after Mom and I started hiding them from him, but enough for them to never wish he was still here." She replied, steadily meeting his gaze with a cold one of her own.
"You gotta believe me," Race fell to his knees, pleading for his baby sister's forgiveness, "I didn't know…"
"You never tried to find out," She said scoffed.
"No!" Race shouted, "I came back…once, about six months later,…and saw you…all of you, sitting around the table, laughing, happy" Race continued brokenly, "I just…figured I'd done the right thing." He trailed of quietly.
"Yeah," Janey sneered, "there were some times like that, once every few months work went well and he forgot to stop by the pub on his way home…..After you'd been gone a year they stopped happening altogether."
"Janey," Race began, "I am so sorry, you have to believe me."
"No, I don't." she said firmly. "You remember that night as well as I do: Dad had finally stopped hitting you…passed out on the floor and Mom dropped off to sleep from nervous exhaustion, all the while using her body to shield Patrica and William. I caught you with a bundle under your arm and a foot out the door."
"Yeah," Race grinned, "You challenged me to a single game of 5-card stud, winner take all."
"I dealt," she said bitterly, "thought I was going to win the whole time….I had a full house, 3 7's and 2 jacks….then you laid down a royal flush." She began to snicker, "Stupid me actually thought luck had been with you that night, maybe you were suppose to leave…..then I find out the deck suddenly has an extra set of crowns. You cheated on the most important game I ever played….and now tell me I have to believe you…." She let out a short, sarcastic bark of laughter, eyes never leaving doubt as to their feelings about him.
Race had the decency to flush bright red, mumbling, "I had to get outta there Janey….I had to."
"Yeah well, you got out….that was then, this is now and this is it. You've got one hour before I go to pick the kids up from school…don't be here when we get back."
"Why?" Race protested, "they're my brother and sister too, Janey, I want to see them."
"You lost all your rights the night you laid down those cards," she scream at him, "and until you have the smallest understanding of how many nights William waited by the door for you to come home, you will not see him, or Patty, again!" She smoothed her skirt and calmed her voice until it made the inside of an icebox sound cozy, "Now, your time's wasting, why don't you make good what you have."
Stunned, Racetrack nodded and entered the door they had, unbeknownst to him, stopped in front of while fighting. Janey did not follow him. Slowly he looked around the two-room flat – he was standing in the kitchen area – which was clean for all that it was bare except for a few pallets on the floor and a box of mismatched dishes and utensils. He went through the curtain that hung in the doorway leading to the bedroom. Lying on a small frame bed was his mother, not as he remembered her, but sickly, pale, and near death. She was sleeping, but awoke with a start when he sat down by her feet. "Janey?" she called out weakly, "William?" Suddenly her eyes focused on Racetrack and she gasped, eyes filling with tears…and fear. "Nikolas?" she gasped, "Am I dead?"
"No, Mom," Race gave a weak smile and continued speaking softly, "You're not dead, Janey found me today and told me how you were doing."
"She's so afraid," his mother murmured, clasping Race's hands in hers. "She's held this family together, but doesn't know how to be strong for herself. Now she's afraid I'll leave….but this will pass, and I'll go back to work…now that we're all together again….everything will be fine."
Racetrack winced, reminded of his sister's ultimatum, clasped his mother in a tight hug that she seemed to take as an agreement.
"Now," she said, "tell me about yourself, Nickolas. What have you been doing all these years?" She settled back to listen attentively.
Race began telling her all about his life and for the remainder of the hour they sat and talked about things….Race as a child, his siblings, his family's life, anything at all they could talk about the did, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying.
A little past the time he was suppose to have left, Race heard the door open, and Janey put her head in past the curtains. Race nodded and turned to his mother, "I'll be back again tomorrow," he said, lightly kissing her cheek as she fell back into the pillows, clearly exhausted.
"Promise?" she asked weakly.
"Promise." He replied, sweeping her into one last hungry embrace.
As Janey closed the door to the room silently, he said, "I will be back tomorrow."
"Returning has never been your strong suit, Racetrack," she said quietly, but firmly, "we'll see tomorrow, tomorrow."
"Let me see Patrica and William," Racetrack pleaded the small figure standing before him.
"No." she said firmly.
"Why not?" Race cried, frustrated.
"They're my responsibilities. I don't want them to be hurt, and the simplest answer is truly that I don't trust you with them. " Janey replied calmly, coldly.
"What?!?!" Racetrack yelled, "that's ridiculous, what in the world do you think I'd do?"
"Does it matter?" she replied. "The fact is," she continued, "that they are my charges and I will protect them with my life. Unfortunately for you, that also means that you will not see them until such a time that I trust you again." She snorted again, "and if I were you, I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon."
Racetrack was floored. He hadn't expected to be denied the chance to see his younger siblings again. Especially not by one of them. He didn't understand, this was…..
"Now, if you'll walk yourself to Manhattan, Boxer here, " she motioned to a rather large, heavily muscled figure who emerged from the shadows at the end of the hall, "will make sure you don't get lost." Motioning for Racetrack to proceed down the stairs, Janey followed behind Boxer.
Once outside, Race turned to Janey, "What time should I be here tomorrow?"
Narrowing her eyes, she replied, "If you can remember the way back, be here at noon, that'll give you two hours with Mom, but I'm not letting Patty or William near you for quite a while longer."
"How long?" Race asked with pleading in his eyes.
"Depends on how long it takes me to trust my own big brother again." With that parting shot, Janey motioned for Boxer to begin Race's escort to Manhattan. Once they were out of sight she raced towards the small school her brother and sister attended during the day.
Later that night a glowing thought occurred to Racetrack: she hadn't told him he couldn't come back.
**************************************************************************** **
Days passed and Race spent two hours from noon to two of every one with his mother, who grew steadily worse as time passed. She told him everything that had happened during his absence, from the beatings, which she and Janey had completely assumed by hiding the younger ones, to Janey's jobs as a laundress and waitress, to Patrica and William's teacher's glowing note a few weeks prior raving about their amazing successes in school. He never really saw Janey, although she checked in at the beginning and end of his every visit, and definitely made sure that Boxer was there to walk him back to Manhattan.
One day things were different, when he went to the apartment a new family had moved in, and they knew nothing about his mother or siblings. They told him to check in with the landlady to see if they had told her anything.
**************************************************************************** **
"Yeah, she gave me something to give to you," Mrs. Kapowalski said, "this is it." She handed him a piece of paper, folded into thirds.
He opened it to see five cards fall to the floor, 3 7's and 2 jacks. The paper read, Nickolas, I'll meet you at the Horace Greenley statue at midnight tonight. Don't be late. Cursing loudly the whole time he was escorted out of the tenement on the end of Mrs. Kapowalski's broom, Race crumpled the note into his pocket and set out to Manhattan. 12 hours. 12 hours until he found out what his sister was up to now.
Race was in a foul mood for those 12 hours too, snapping at Blink for a joke he'd made, scaring away Les because he reminded him of William, even telling Cowboy to shove off when the Manhattan leader asked if he wanted to play poker. The rest of the boys exchanged glances, and tried to stay out of the marauding Irishman. When the clock struck 11, Racetrack couldn't stand it any longer and bolted out of the Lodging House. Arriving at the statue he waited impatiently until 11:30, when he saw the first sign of life he'd seen all night. Some hooker and her pimp arguing in an alleyway….he scoffed it off and let his eyes roam in the other direction. Eventually they stopped arguing, he noticed offhandedly, as he was still watching for Janey.
She emerged about ten minutes later…..from the same alley…and there was the pimp leaning against a building….but she wasn't wearing…..there was a bundle beside the pimp….oh no, Race thought. Out loud he said, "Janey, please tell me you're not a whore….tell me anything but that…." He trailed off, searching for an answer in her face.
"Nickolas, three days after you left we started running out of money. So Dad sold my nights to Johnny, the guy over there. Boxer is his enforcer. I do not regret a damn thing about having to provide for my family." She said this all quietly, eyes locked on his the whole time. "Mom didn't know."
"She's dead?" Race asked tremulously, not wanting any of it to be true.
"Yeah. But thanks to you, she died happily, thinking we're all a family again." Janey smiled softly. "And thanks to her we'll get the chance to be just that."
"Really?" said Race hopefully, "You'll let me be with you guys?"
"Maybe." said Janey. "See the original plan for when Mom died was to just leave, not give you a second chance with us." She laughed quietly, disturbing Race for some reason. "But now, I'm giving you the same chance you gave me, one round of five-card stud. You win, you can come back with us. You lose, and its your turn to find us." She brought the cards out from her pocket and silently handed them to him.
Race shuffled quickly, expertly dealing them each five cards. He unabashedly cheated, using every trick he had. Unfortunately, he hadn't prepared for this, and had no cards stashed up his sleeves. When it came time to lay down his cards, two pair, nines and jacks, he really thought he'd won.
She laid down a royal flush.
"That's impossible!" Race cried out, "You cheated!" He leapt to his feet, reaching out to grab Janey by the arm, only to find himself held in Boxer's viselike grip.
Janey scoffed, "Nickolas, I waited for over 3 years for you to come back to us…now it no longer concerns me. Now I'm not the one that has to care, you have to find us." She leaned in close to his ear. "But don't worry big brother, I'll give you a hint….more than you gave us anyways…..we're all going home."
"What?!….No!….Janey you have to tell me mo….JANEY!!" the last bit desperately screamed as Race watched his baby sister walk over to her pimp, pick up her working clothes, and walk away from him, taking his family with her.