Raider () Oh, Lucy ain't going anywhere for a while. Mush's just being… Mush. Hahaha. Yeah, Mush and Blink grew apart… but they're growing back together. Yay. I love happy endings! ^_^
Misprint () Wahoo! You totally won the "longest review for chappy 7" award. YAY FOR RUN-ON REVIEWS!!! I put up The Spotty Horror Picture Show today… check it out!!! HAHAHA aka GIVE ME REVIEWS! I seem to be making Lucy more and more spoiled. In a way she reminds me of Claudia in Interview with the Vampire. Which I personally don't find a very flattering role. Ah well. Hahaha, yeah, I enjoyed the Davey diss too. I couldn't help myself. Besides, he gets a huuuuuuuge role in SHPS. So he should be happy. ((Okay, so I really just wanted to imagine Davey in the high heels. So sue me.)) I enjoyed your "go go Spot" chant when you were pounding the floor. HAHAHA! COME BACK HERE WITH MY RUBBER CHICKENS!!!!! **Mondie wields … an empty Pepsi can** Dang, Mush must've stolen all my good ammo in case I say I love someone. *Mush nods. He's sitting in the middle of a pile of firearms*.
Pegasus () I made you a Transylvanian in my Spotty Horror Picture Show movie… hope you don't mind. LOL. Oh well if you do, tough luck!
Moody () Thanks hun! Let me know when you upload new stories.
lange () Wahoo, shoutout #2 for you! Hmmm… DID Spot kill Challenge? All will come out in due time. All in due time! **Mondie dances around gleefully** I fully heart being the author and knowing where I'm going with this when NO ONE ELSE DOES!!!!! HAHAHAHA. Tres wonderful. Look, this is insanely rare that I update so close together nowadays. I used to update every day… then I got a job. LOL. And school started.
Moon*Star () Mmmm! Newsies Cereal!! **Mondie eats Mush with a spoon** Dirty, dirty, dirty! HAHAHAHAHA That makes it wonderful. Thanks for the review!!!!!!! And Mush won't be sad for long. Don't forget, in just ONE YEAR he's gotta be Movie-Mush. Happy-go-lucky and spastic and all that wonderful stuff. :)
Cassie () Thanks!!!!!!!! Yeah, I didn't mean for it to be so angsty! Somehow it is… ^_^ I don't know. It wasn't at ALL like this in my dream.
Blinks-Tiger () You better not have been thumping ME with Spot's cane!!! Or I'll say GRRRR to you. Hahahaha!
Jo () Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO you gave me two reviews without meaning to! LOLOL but I'll forgive you. HAHAHAHA and no, I'm not deleting one of them. :P So there.
Sobe a Lizard () It's a-ok, in basically all of Mis's stories I review, all I put is "awwwwww" … especially in the me/Mushy chappies… HEHEHEHE! MISPRINT I LOVE YOU!!! ::Ahem:: Are you so sure that Spot *didn't* kill Challenge? He sure split pretty fast… **wink wink, nudge nudge** HAHA, I love torturing all of you…
Maniac Conlon () Sorry about the killing. No one dies in this chappy!!! :D See ya latah Timby! Hope ya like this chappy.
BitterSweet () I'll read your stories sometime soon… well, that might be a lie. Sometime, I will read them. PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you too! And everyone else at FOD. Especially QS. :( He's my hunny. I miss Holly Rachael too, and Jimi Dragon… and Lauryn… and Obi-Wan… but Obi Wan deleted his diary. :( :( :( Tres sad. I'm about halfway through chapter 7 of Untouchables.
rumor () I cry at LOTS of movies. Hell, I cry at NEWSIES. And Mighty Ducks 2 and 3. HAHAHA I'm a loser like that. I bawled the last half of Black Hawk Down. Even with yummy boys in it. You can ask Kimi and Regor. It was patheticness. I do all SORTSA stuff at work that I get made fun of. It's tres wonderful. I'm such a dork. Oh, and Davey would be foreknowledge… as they meet Davey in 1899, and right now it's 1898. Heh. I heart Davey.
Lij () Thank you so much! :D
kimimay85 () Again, you haven't reviewed yet, but I can't post a chappy without saying hi to my Kimi Dear! HAHAHAHAHAHA PELTZ IS UP FOR HOMECOMING QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Mrs. Decker's gone insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best stories of today. AHHHHHHHHHH. Sometimes I heart the stupid stuff. Sick, only an hour before work. I'd better go take my shower. Or maybe I'll wait til after work… I don't think I want wet hair while working. SICK SICK SICK.
Growth – Chapter 8
The next day, Kid Blink went out selling with Otter as usual. The day went fairly quickly; it always seemed to, when he was with her. After dinner, he kissed her goodbye and headed back to the Lodging House. He had the strong hunch that Mush was there.
Blink kicked at a stone, sending it flying a few feet in front of him with every two steps. He hadn't let Rudolph's death get to him. He had learned long before not to let himself get too attached to fellow newsies. If one was to let himself get attached, then with every death, a little death occurred within himself.
He pushed the heavy wooden door open and strode inside. It wasn't that he hadn't cared about Rudy at all… Rudolph had actually been a decent leader the past two years, since Freckle's death. But Blink, in his heart, only truly cared about Mush and Otter. They were the only two to reside in his thoughts at all times. Up to the day before, he'd begun to think that Otter was the only person he really cared about. But yesterday… yesterday, Mush's vulnerability had caused the wall Blink was building against him to crumble. He couldn't believe he'd let so much pass between himself and his best friend.
There was only one person in the lobby of the Lodging House. She was seated delicately on the loveseat, her starched dress a stark comparison to the faded material of the furniture. Lucy. Blink stared at her for a moment, though blindly. Though he'd once cared for her welfare as much as Mush did, through the years she'd become a pain in his side. She always had to have the best, the most expensive, the least practical. And Mush was willing to thoughtlessly part with his hard-earned money, for her. For her! For that spoiled, blonde, angelic devil.
Blink rolled his eye to himself and headed up the worn stairs, which creaked with his every step. He walked into the bunkroom, which at first glance was empty. Then he saw Mush, sitting solemnly on his bunk, staring at nothing yet seeming to see everything.
Mush. The poor emotional one. He took everything to heart, and cared for everyone, and as Blink saw it, that was perhaps his one flaw.
"Whassa matta, Mush?" he asked lightly, hoping to snap Mush out of his reverie.
Mush raised his face so that his eyes rested on Blink's face, but it was as if he was looking through him, unfocused. "I saw dis boy I used ta know, Caleb, ta-day."
Blink didn't see what that had to do with the price of curdled milk on the moon, but he decided to humor his friend. "Okay, so what'd Caleb want?" he said.
Mush focused on Blink's face now, and then looked away. " 'E looked so…" He trailed off, then shook his head, looking at the ceiling. " 'E was me friend when we was five. I recognized 'im ta-day a'cuz a' 'is hair. It's blond, an' shiny, an' thick. Like you'se…" He stretched out a hand, as if, though he was bunks away from the door, he could touch Blink's hair. Blink moved forward, subconsciously drawn to Mush's enraptured face. "Dat, an' 'is muddah was poifectly awful. She has dese creepy eyes… anyhow, dat's not impor'ant. But dey stopped to buy one a' me papes ta-day. An' I knew who 'e was, an' I looked inta 'is eyes, an' I neahly cried right den an' dere. Cuz though ten yeahs have passed since I knew 'im, 'is eyes is still da same."
Blink didn't understand the story, or where it was going, but, hoisting himself onto Itey's bunk again, he motioned as if for Mush to continue.
"I came back heah and looked in da mirra, an' saw what I t'ought I'd see. Me eyes 'ave changed, Blink. Like yours. Like all 'a ours. Caleb's eyes still have da innocence of a five yeah old. 'E hasn't seen death. 'E hasn't seen torture, or even pain. 'E's lived in 'is woild, an' read 'is papahs abou' it, an' read 'is books about it, an' 'e don' have no idea what it's like." Mush swallowed, emotion showing plainly in his voice. It almost pained Blink to hear Mush sounding so exposed. Newsies weren't supposed to be weak.
Blink looked uneasily away, hoping almost that Lucy would come to the room. Anything, but to stop Mush from going on like this. You always t'ink too much, Mush, Kid Blink thought urgently in his mind.
But Mush wasn't done yet. "It ain't faih," he whispered, turning his head away. "Why did dis hafta happen ta me, huh? Why is it dat me life is so much diff'rent dan Caleb's? I've seen deaths at six yeahs old! I'se jus' sit back while da list a' newsie deaths grows longeh an' longeh ev'ry day, an' I don' do nuttin' abou' it!"
"Dere's nuttin' you'se can do, Mush," Blink answered gently, feeling his loathing leaving some.
Mush turned to him again, and, for the first time, Blink noticed that he was right about his eyes, at least. They were more tired now, more wise to the world. They seemed too old for his face, which still had a bit of baby fat around the edges. "But why me? Why us? It ain't faih."
"No one said it was." Blink knew he was feeding generic answers back to Mush. It was the kind of thing that wealthy gentlemen would say, or a rich, young power-seeker. People that had it better in the world and could look down and feel pity for the poor, but not understand it.
Suddenly Blink understood the separation between himself and Mush over the last continuing years. He realized that he looked down on Mush.
The two were supposed equals, close enough to be brothers, twins, and he looked down on him!
I t'ink I'm betteh dan him 'cuz I'se can handle death wit'out breakin' down! Blink's thoughts scared him, and he turned away, lest Mush see the thought in his eyes.
"Blink?" Mush's voice was small. "D'ya realize dat out 'a all da newsies we's known since we'se arrived heah at age six, on'y t'ree have lived t'rough it ta da real woild? On'y t'ree?"
Blink hadn't thought it before, but now he realized that Mush was correct. "I guess so," he answered.
"Doesn't dat scare ya? Who's gonna live from our lodgin' house right now? You, me, Cowboy? You, me, Specs? Will you an' I even make it?"
Blink found himself annoyed with the fact that whenever Mush cut off talking, he made his last sentence seem more urgent than the rest of his speech. Then he let himself actually think of what Mush was saying. "Don' t'ink dat way, Mush," he said coldly, jumping down from Itey's bunk. "You'se'll on'y end up scarin' yousself."
Mush watched him walk from the room, then sighed and buried his face in his arms. No one understood him anymore.
That night, as much to take their minds off of Rudy's death as to watch Chocolate and Six Strings perform, nearly all the newsies left the Lodging House for Irving Hall. Even Mush decided to come.
Lucy had only been to Medda's two times before, and she'd been quite young both times. Mush usually didn't allow her to come, because he felt she was so young and didn't need to stay up late. But this time, he figured she needed it just as much as everyone else.
Chocolate and Six Strings were one of the first acts, and as they took their places center stage, all the newsies hung over the balcony railing to whistle and scream for their friends. Six Strings smiled, looking a bit intimidating in his stage makeup; his hair was washed and beautiful, much unlike when he'd been a newsie. He raised his hand in a silent acknowledgment of them. Chocolate, who was dressed elegantly and, too, looked much more dignified than he ever had as a newsie, smiled at all of them up in the balcony. He felt a tinge of regret in his heart when he remembered the fraternity of being a newsie.
The two began their routine, a bit of a comedy-song number. They'd done it countless times, for countless audiences, but never had been so warmly received as this. They got a standing ovation… at least from the balcony.
Mush looked over at Lucy some time later. He'd been just as excited as everyone else to see Six Strings and Chocolate again, but the excitement had worn off when they'd taken their bows and now… now, he was feeling the same dread as he had that afternoon.
But Lucy was thriving.
She was sitting up stock-straight in her seat, her eyes on the performers, her nine-year old lips apart in wonder. She licked at them anxiously, then gaped some more. It was almost as if she would jump right onto the stage and perform herself, if she were given the opportunity. Mush laughed to himself, chuckling a bit. Yeah, right, he chastised himself. But he looked at Lucy again, and saw the hunger in her eyes. He pulled her small body to his chest, and didn't let go for the rest of the show. He didn't want to let her go. Not yet.
That night, Blink tuned out during Mush's prayer. He had never done so before, but letting Mush's rhythmic voice scale up and down gave a comforting lull to Blink's thoughts. He thought about Otter, and Lucy, and Chocolate and Six Strings (who were sleeping in two empty beds in the bunkroom tonight for old times' sake), but most of all, he thought about Mush's words earlier. The thought that only three of them currently sleeping in that bunkroom would survive…
It really wasn't fair.
And, God, he'd again acted like a bastard to Mush. I've really got to staht checkin' meself, he decided. Me tempeh gets da woist a' me all too often.
"…An' please bless me bes' friend in da whole woild, Kid Blink," Mush said softly, though his voice carried through the Lodging House. "Amen."
"Amen," everyone echoed.
Six Strings' voice came smoothly, riding along the stale breeze from the open window. "An' Lord, please bless Mush. Amen."
"Amen." Even amidst many newsies' voices, Chocolate's deep, loud voice rumbled through the room, attacking and drowning out everyone else.
Blink sighed to himself, turning over in his bed and pulling his sheet up to his chin. Yes, God, bless Mush, he thought silently, hoping that God would have stuck around for a newsie's internal prayer. Cuz 'e's me on'y link ta sanity.
And, for the first time, Kid Blink let himself cry over the loss of Rudolph.