SHOUTOUTS…
Pegasus .:. Anywhoey-doey-shmoey? LOL, that sounds like something I'd say… hahaha! Wahoo, thanks for reviewing hun. :D
Dizzy .:. I feel sorry for Charlie too… I love the kid… actually, I love Six Strings the most of any of my created characters so far… but yeah, Charlie's right up there. No more deaths this chappy! Wahoo! Be happy. LOLOL.
Sobe A Lizard .:. Thanks dearie! Have you updated and I keep looking over it? If so, smack me in your review and make me go read it. Haha! Yeah, Spot will eventually turn nice, at least to Cowboy, because they've gotta be friends for the strike and all.
BitterSweet .:. Thank you Sarah!!!!!! :D But you're an awesome writer too. Sorry I haven't been to FOD in a while, my week has been CRAZY/HECTIC… Ahhh! LOLOL. I'd write about it tonight but I'm mucho lazy. I'm surprised I'm even uploading.
Moon*Star .:. Yes, Mushy Darling is tres unkillable… at least for me. Hehe! Oh, but don't worry about Seraphim… you'll be glad you're not her later in the story… **Mondie rubs hands together and smiles evilly** You see, I dreamed up this story ((literally… it was a dream of mine one night)) and it takes this weird turn soon. Yay! I love confusing people. It's grand fun. Oooh, Bye Bye Birdie? Yeah, I love that! Ursula is my favey character. Yay for your part too! :D And thanks for noticing my ff.net profile! Yeah, Court Jester and I are having a competition for the longest ff.net bio. Haha! Oh, and Mush on top? You mean Mush on top of ME? Cuz we all know I get that all the time… HAHAHA! *Mush nods*
Blinks-Tiger .:. Chill doll! LOL, I'm working on that chappy fic from the songfic I wrote about you. So hopefully **keep your fingers crossed on this one, cuz I have *so* little time lately that it's a miracle I got THIS chappy written** it'll be uploaded soon. Maybe in November. AHAHAHAHA! J/j.
Holiday .:. Ahhh! I can't function! You didn't sign your review with an ALOHA! AHHHHH! This can't be happening! LOLOLOL. I'm a dork, ignore me. And who knows, we could find in a future chappy that Spot had nothing to do with Challenge's death… I haven't quite decided yet whether I really want him to have been in on it or not. He could've just taken the credit so he could be leader. That Spot Conlon, he's a sly one…
rumor .:. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! I ~~love~~ Mush's singing voice… ahhh, have you heard him in A Goofy Movie? He sounds nothing like himself… it's insane… but SO CUTE! And when he sings in Mighty Ducks 2… "Don't you know that everything's on fi-ire?" I LOVE HIM! Yeah, little Lucy was smart… crazy little girl. She's gonna have some big parts coming up. And yeah, Mush'll live past the newsie life… the rest of the story rather counts on it. :D Haha! OH, and to remind you: You have to review chappies 5 AND 6 in this review!!! Cuz yeah! You do!
Maniac Conlon .:. Wahooness for the run-on review!!! It made me happy. I'll send you Trickster and Charlie's profiles tonight. Let me know if you want anyone else's… :D Oh, and ICQ is an instant messenging thing… it's basically all that we use in my town, like all the kids at my school… which is why I have it instead of MSN or anything… it's at www.icq.com in case you were wondering. :D
misprint .:. Mis!!! Hehe, update Eclipse RIGHT NOW! So I can read it tomorrow before work so I'll be happy at work! Hahahahaha. That way when I'm waitressing tables I'll be all distressed but then I'll think, "Oh, but remember what happened in chapter 23 of Eclipse?" AND THEN I'LL BE HAPPY! So you *gotta* update, you gotta! Becau—you gotta! Haha that was some Davey-ness… almost… Oh, and I won't smoke cigars. In fact, I won't smoke cigarettes. The smell drives me NUTS. Sick sick sick. I don't like the smell of coffee either. Thank you for all the sweet compliments!!! But you're a much better writer than I am, so you probably SHOULDN'T tell me that I'm good, LOL, I'll get a false ego! Yes, Spot *does* have a rather odd name for the leader of Brooklyn… :/ Hmmm. Sorry for almost making you cry. I heart Charlie too. Okay, so I heart Six Strings more, but whatever. Charlie's awesome too. I only kill off people I like. ((People I love, however, are immune. Like Mush, he's never dying. Six Strings, he's safe. If I ever include you in a story, you'll live through it. Oh wait, I *am* including you in my one top-secret parody that only you and Kimi know about ((and Shade, if you told her)) but yeah, you have to die in that one. Sorry. I didn't write the original.))
raider .:. Thanks dear! Here's more. :D
kimimay85 .:. I got no review from you!!!!! AHHH! But yeah, I can't post a chappy without a S.O. to you!! Haha. We have great fun at work. And Kyle Pollock actually worked. And Kyle Smith trained me. And Kyle Black was the dishwasher. And there are far too many Kyles there. LOLOLOL. Haha this was pointless… ah well. I hope you review soon! But I know how crazy our schedules are, so perhaps you won't get to.
Growth – Chapter 6
Not long after, everyone noticed Kid Blink's and Otter's dispositions. "Wha's wrong, Blink?" Freckle asked in a low tone.
Blink stared up at him, still seeming to look straight through him. "It's… Chahlie," he finally said, then closed his eye. Freckle stared at him a moment longer, then ordered all the younger kids upstairs. They groaned and complained, but went up.
All the older kids – Snoddy, Six Strings, Scales, Chocolate, Pie Eater, Skittery, Dafty, Rudolph, Monster, Dutchy, and Bumlets – gathered around Blink and Freckle. Otter slipped away to find Seraphim, who was chatting idly with a few of the other girls in the corner. She didn't want to hear Kid Blink talking about it. Mush, taking Lucy's hand and leading her up the rickety stairs with the other younger kids (the cut-off between "older kids" and "younger kids" was generally thought to be split between twelve and thirteen), wasn't really too down, because he knew Kid Blink would give him the full report in a few minutes' time.
When all the older boys were huddled together, Kid Blink, his eye still closed, recounted the full tale. He didn't leave anything out. Everyone gave an involuntary shudder when he described the little street kids going through Charlie's pockets. The amount of disrespect, even for street kids… it was shocking.
Six Strings, who was basically the only loner besides Charlie, had silent tears going down his cheeks. He'd always felt a small kinship with Charlie, only because they were the two who weren't loud and outgoing, the two who weren't completely accepted, the two who liked to hang back and watch. Chocolate noticed and put his arm around Six Strings' slim shoulders. Six Strings ducked his head so that his hair fell into his eyes but didn't move away from Chocolate's arm.
"But why Chahlie?" Freckle said softly, when the tale had been told. It was the only question on anyone's minds, because Charlie was quiet and safe. He would never have said anything to make anyone mad, or insulted anyone, or even gotten in anyone's way.
"Musta been random," predicted Skittery, scowling. "Jus' a random moidah. You said it yousself yestah-day, Frecks. Da streets is dangah-ous at night."
"I didn' wanna be proved right, Skitts," Freckle responded, and his green eyes flashed dangerously. "Whoeveh did dis is gonna pay."
"What is we gonna tell da youngah kids?" asked Scales, as always weighing options. "On one hand, we's can pretend nuttin's wrong, an' let 'em go about happily. On da uddah hand, dey alrea'y know somet'in's wrong, cuz dey was sent upstairs. An' we'll need ta tell Mush, so 'e can include Chahlie in 'is prayah. An' everyone'll figgah it out anyhow when dey heah da prayah. …But how can we tell all dem kids? Dey jus' saw 'im las' night."
Freckle sighed. "It's a part a' livin' like dis, Scales. Dey've all been exposed ta shit like dis befoah." He scowled darkly. "An' if dey haven', den it's high time dey was." He kept his eyes downcast as he said this, because it was his job to be the leader, and if the others could see the fear and hopelessness in his eyes, he wouldn't be the leader for long.
"Le's go up. We'se gotsta tell 'em. We'se gotsta." Chocolate spoke his words quietly, but they had tremendous response: everyone stood up and turned to the stairs.
"'Night, goils," called Bumlets, trying to keep his voice normal. "We's all goin' up ta bed nows."
The girls gave disappointed sighs, but returned the goodnight wish before heading out to their own lodging house.
Mush was sitting on his bunk, brushing through Lucy's thin, shiny hair, which had just been loosed from its suffocating braids. "Say g'night, Luce," said Freckle commandingly, and even she knew not to push her luck against the leader. She jumped up and turned her face to Mush, who obediently kissed her goodnight. Monster, looking ridiculously huge next to her tiny frame, took her hand to lead her down to her room.
Freckle ordered the other older boys to disperse and get ready for bed, so they wouldn't alert the younger kids. Then he and Kid Blink sat on either side of Mush, and began to tell him the tale.
The youngest boys were even louder and more rambunctious than usual, sword-fighting and stealing the older boys' prized possessions, just because they knew the older boys were dispirited, and didn't understand why.
Finally the little group meeting broke up. Kid Blink went to his bunk next to Mush's, and Freckle went around blowing out candles after ordering everyone into their bunks. Mush sat up in his bunk, clutching his candle.
Six Strings was sitting up as well, playing an unfamiliar tune. His hair still hid his eyes from everyone's view. As Mush wordlessly climbed out of his bunk and walked to the middle of the floor, he began to play softer as he looked up. If anyone had been watching him, they would have seen the tears glimmering in his brown eyes.
The younger boys began to sit up, wondering what Mush was doing. Freckle got into his own bunk, and turned so that he wasn't watching Mush. In fact, most of the older boys had turned their own faces into their pillows.
"Ya may not 'ave noticed, cuz 'e was s'posed ta be gone now," Mush began, the flame's light flickering across his face. "But one a' ours numbeh is gone.
"Chahlie was always nice an' pa-lite, an' 'e neveh called attention ta 'imself. He loved bein' a runnah, an' 'e loved us in much da same way dat 'e loved Queens."
Boots, Crutchy, Racetrack, Specs, Swifty, and Snipeshooter looked at each other in confusion.
Mush continued, "We'll all miss 'im, cuz 'e was a great pahson, an' a friend ta us all." He looked around the room, at the newsies who were trying to hide their tears. Six Strings was the only one who didn't seem to care that he was crying, as he continued his soft, sad song. "Deah God, please have you'se guahdian angels take Chahlie t'rough da gates inta Heaven. Amen." This time, no one echoed his amen; no one trusted his voice enough to answer. Boots, suddenly realizing what happened, flopped over onto his stomach and covered his ears. Mush finished, "Dis is in mem'ry a' Chahlie." He lifted the candle to his face, pursed his lips, and blew it out.
He shuffled his way to his bunk and, finally letting the emotion overcome him, buried his face in his pillow so no one would hear his smothered sobs.
Six Strings played through his new song again, letting his fingers find the familiar strings. It was the only sound beside the shaking breaths of those distressed.
A low baritone voice reverberated through the room when Six Strings began again. The voice was strong and clear. It was Chocolate, singing a low, melancholy song to the tune of Six Strings' accompaniment. The beautiful rhythm of his voice drifted many of the exhausted newsies to sleep, tears still wet on their cheeks.
After a while, the older boys who hadn't fallen asleep all got out of their bunks and crawled out the window onto the fire escape. Mush, still awake, padded after and crawled out with them.
Freckle looked slightly surprised to see him there, because all the other boys were fifteen and older: Six Strings, Scales, Chocolate, Dafty, Rudolph, Monster, and of course Freckle himself. Mush raised his sad, red eyes to Freckle's face, wondering if he'd get yelled at for following them out.
Instead, Freckle lightly cuffed the twelve-year old. "Looks like you'se growin' up, Mushy boy," he said, looking into his eyes. Mush dropped the gaze, and then followed them up onto the roof.
"I'se glad you'se came wit' us, Mush, actually," said Freckle, as the boys lit cigarettes and stretched out around the roof, some talking quietly, some just staring up at the stars, thinking.
"Why's dat?" Mush asked, shaking his head at the cigarette Freckle offered him. He didn't like the taste of tobacco.
Freckle thought for a moment, taking a long drag on his own cigarette. "Mush, dem youngah boys look up to ya, you know dat?"
"Yeah," Mush said, watching a cloud cover and then uncover the moon high above them.
"So I'm gonna count on you ta show 'em dat dis ain't da end a' da woild. Some a' 'em, like dat new one, Snipes, dey's neveh dealt wit' death befoah. You kin be sad dat Chahlie's gone, but try ta keep yer smile on yer face, like always, a'right? Chahlie'd wantcha ta smile, don'tcha t'ink?"
Mush could hardly hold the tears in as he nodded his head. Freckle looked other directions to let Mush keep his dignity and brush away the tears without attention called to it. "Yeah," Mush finally said. "E'd wan' me ta stay 'appy."
"An' is dere any way you'se kin go ta Queens ta-morra ta let 'em know what 'appened? Try ta take Blink; 'e'll need ta get out aftah ta-day, but ta-morra may be too oily fer 'im."
Mush nodded, then moved away from Freckle. He didn't want to hear anymore that night.
He lay in the middle of the flat roof, his arms tucked underneath his head, watching the stars chase each other around the heavens. He felt a smile flicker across his face, despite the shining tears gracing his cheeks. For a moment, he imagined the twinkling celestial stars were Charlie's usual wink, and found himself suddenly at peace. He reflected for a moment on the thought that he had one thing about himself which was an homage to each of the newsies he'd known who'd passed on. The tribute to Trickster was his lack of crying and also ripping off his pants at the knee, California's was his constant asking of questions (the fact that he'd done so when he was younger had always amused Cali), Spunky's was his listening to others (for that is what Spunky always did), Terrain's was his watching out for Lucy, the way Terrain always did for himself and Kid Blink when they were younger, Tweedle's was his singing (the two had often sang funny songs together), Tree's was his giving of advice, and Chester's was his helpfulness towards others. Mush lay there a while longer, thinking through all the great people he'd known, before climbing back down into the bunkroom.
His smile would be his homage to Charlie.