Warning: This story contains adult language, graphic violence, attempted
rape, attempted suicide, and sexually explicit themes. Reader's discretion
is advised.
Rating - R.
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. Apollonia, Giselle, Checkers, and other miscellaneous characters are all mine.
Chapter 13: A New Beginning
At the edge of town on the Lower East Side, the night was supremely busy. Prostitutes walked up and down the streets bartering themselves to the highest bidder, or to anyone who was willing to pay them their going rate. These sexual street urchins were many, in their varying appearances, ages, and complexions. Women stood on street corners, hung out in doorways, and leaned out of windows just to catch the eye of some man who needed sexual satisfaction. Whether they were getting it at home or not did not matter to these women. They were for sale.
Some women worked full-time on the streets and in the brothels while others worked part-time just to supplement their meager incomes. Men of varying statuses came to these streets looking for action. As Jack walked toward this red-light district of sorts, he saw all kinds of activities in play. An elegant carriage rode up to one of the streets. Jack paused to see that the man was young and rich and was in that section of the city for obvious reasons. He gestured to a pretty fille de joie to approach his carriage. She willingly complied with his wishes as she entered his mode of transportation.
Jack then witnessed one woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, talking to a man who looked like he was in his forties.
"Tell me how you wanna be done, lover?"
"Nice and slow." The older man stated. Jack looked on and noticed the man's wedding ring. Jack looked down discontentedly.
One moment later, a short, gingered-haired woman moved toward Jack in a swift manner as she linked her arm with his. "Jack Kelly! My, my, my, how are you, love? I never thought I'd see you coming to these quarters again. Tell me, how do you want to do it? Hard or gentle-like?"
"Have I evah had you, Ginger?" She shook her head no. "Then don't call me by my Christian name."
Ginger angrily stormed away. "You probably can't handle someone like me!"
"It doesn't take much to handle trash." Jack snapped back. Angrier than before, Ginger stomped her foot and briskly walked away, capturing the attention of another man that she knew would not turn her down.
Jack looked down towards the ground, wondering to himself why he was there. His feelings for Apollonia were still there, and for some reason, he felt that if he took another woman to bed that he would be cheating on her. But what he couldn't understand was how could he feel that way when she was not his to begin with?
But he was so damn horny. "What a damn time to get guilty!" He said to himself. He decided to just get it out of his system, find a woman, sleep with her, and try to be a good boy from then on.
Soon, he focused on a woman who was average in appearance, but she had a nice body. She seemed to be around eighteen years of age with brown hair and green eyes. A brigade of freckles decorated her face. She showed potential to be attractive in time, however. He walked over to her and handed her a stack of money. Without uncertainty, she put the money in a small pouch she kept around her waist and led him into a dilapidated building for quick, nighttime pleasures.
Upon entering the squalid edifice, he viewed many "johns" conducting business. Some men were up against the walls screwing women while others had women on tables with their legs hoisted in the air. They soon made it to the woman's room.
A bare, bleak space with a drawer, closet, and a bed was all that ornamented it. Immediately, she accosted him with kisses while pawing at his chest. He instructed her not to kiss him on the mouth. He felt that only women that he loved or cared about could do such. Hastily, he pushed her onto the bed, raised her dress, and entered her. He was not at all surprised to find that she was not wearing pantalets. Women in her line of work often times found it a bother. She began moaning as he mounted her. He was hoping that this affair would hopefully be his last. Seeking anonymous women to bed was becoming old, even though he always enjoyed himself. He wanted more from a woman, and he had hoped that the woman he wanted would eventually see him as a possible candidate for a relationship.
Once he finished, he lifted himself off of the young woman and laid beside her. She turned her body, facing the wall, and rested while Jack was on his back staring up at the ceiling. Although he just enjoyed himself for the few minutes it took for him to come, he then made the decision to terminate his sexual-seeking escapades with women who were for sale and set his sights higher. Whenever he needed sexual satisfaction, he would do what he had been doing since puberty in the bathrooms and bedrooms of lodging houses and refuges. Something that was natural that every man did in his lifetime. He then looked over at the young girl lying next to him, listening to her light breathing as she took a brief nap. He propped himself up on his elbow, with one leg bent and the other straight as he softly nudged her.
"Thank you." He whispered. She looked up to him with a questioning look on her face. No one had ever thanked her before. On that note, he jumped up and left the premises.
~
Jack woke up early the next morning to do some grocery shopping. His cupboards were becoming bare and the only mouth he had to feed was his own. After taking a quick bath, he got dressed and made his way to the small store where Crutchy worked. Today was Crutchy's day off and Jack had hoped to talk to him. He then decided to go to another grocery store that was known for having high-quality meats and vegetables. He didn't quite trust the open-air market or the vendors that sold their produce, so he skipped them altogether.
After exiting Langton's Grocery, he had come across a familiar place. Apollonia's bookstore/café was diagonally across the street from where he stood. It had been years since he went there, but he found it easily, with hardly any direction. He was anxious yet nervous about seeing her. He did not know what to expect; how would she react to him? He needed to check up on her. He had to see her face. Taking a deep breath, Jack made his way over to the bookstore. Entering it with ease as he kept his cool, Jack spotted her stocking more books onto a shelf that had been dusty and was in dire need of a cleaning.
"Are you back so soon? I thought you had no more wood varnish to bring me, Giselle." She looked over towards the door and came face to face with Jack. He nodded to her in acknowledgment. "Jack." She said in a mixed tone of astonishment and amusement.
"What a surprise. Come in." She briskly walked up to him to greet him. He gave her a kiss on the hand and stared at her serenely. "It's good to see you again, Apollonia."
"Please, come this way. I'll bring you something to drink and we can talk. We have so much to catch up on." She directed him to a cozy little table near the large window of her store. He sat down and observed the place, seeing that it was still neat and quaint as it was when he had been there last. She quickly came back with a mug and a plate of her famous beignets that had become popular with her customers ever since she opened for business. "I'll close early so no one will come around." She said while turning her open/close sign on her door. Slowly, she walked to the table and sat across from him.
"So, how have you been, Jack?"
"Okay, I guess. I have been trying to keep busy at the warehouse with work and all and I've been in touch with the guys. I know that they have been keeping you company and helping out with the business." Apollonia nodded, her heart racing a million miles a minute. Avoiding eye contact, Jack tried to maintain a calm demeanor. Apollonia looked him over wondering what his position was.
"I also came to see how you were doing. How has life been treating you?"
She looked down in a sulky fashion. "Well, I'm getting through it, slowly but surely. Friends keep telling me to hold on. 'Tough times don't last for long,' they say." Jack looked at her with kind eyes.
""Lord knows that I've tried to live my life as one, but it's so damn hard." She uttered the last few words in a whisper.
"I know that seeing me after all this time was not what you expected, but I have to be honest with you. I've missed you, Apollonia. I have wanted to talk to you for the longest time, ever since that night. I wanted to apologize for what I did. I wanted to tell you before, but I didn't think that you woulda wanted to see me."
"It's important that you're telling me now." Apollonia admitted to herself that it was sweet of Jack to come forward like this; she thought that he could have come sooner, but it was obvious why he didn't. Still evading her gaze, Jack forced himself to remain cool. He needed to find closure with her in the same manner as he did with Spot, although it was difficult. He remembered what Spot told him about looking after Apollonia. Carrying out the task was the easy part. Apollonia accepting his presence into her life was the key question.
"I saw Spot the week before he passed. We got to talking and we buried the hatchet about everything. And I wanted to come forward and let you know that everything is alright."
"I appreciate that, Jack. You have shown much valor."
"I don't know if you know this but I was at the funeral." Apollonia tilted her head, slightly shocked about his revelation. "I didn't think that you woulda been happy to see me at your husband's funeral, but I had to pay my respects. That was the least I could do that day. I mean, everyone was so sad and upset. I wasn't feeling too fine that day, either. Spot was a good friend and an awesome leader. You should be very proud of him."
Apollonia hung her head low, concurring silently to herself. "I know that you probably know all of this already. I mean, with everybody and there dog telling you how much of an influence Spot was and all, you must've of heard every story there is to tell about him."
"I'm never tired of hearing about Spot. It's refreshing to know that the man that you've spent some of the best years of your life with was well- loved and respected in a city such as this." Jack agreed.
"It could have been worse. People could have rejoiced his death and held a party in the streets. I'm glad that Spot was revered in high esteem." Jack turned serious.
"Did he evah tell you how we met?"
She shook her head no. "We met when I was about twelve. He was walking around Brooklyn like he owned the damn place. I was hanging around the docks one day and he got up in my face. He wasn't too tall, but his eyes told me that he wasn't someone that I should mess with. I wasn't scared of him, mainly because of his height, but he did look tough and I was a bit of a softie back then. He walked up to me and asked me about my business and when I told him that it wasn't any of his business, he charged at me. We both went crashing into the boards as we wrestled with each udda. We fought for a few minutes and we soon got tired. He then got up and reached his hand out to me. Once I got up, he asked me my name. I guess that he saw that I wasn't a pushover and realized that I wasn't there for any trouble. But his boys thought otherwise. They thought that Spot shoulda just kicked my ass and ordered me outta his territory. But that didn't happen. Some of the guys looked at me with a lotta hatred in their eyes. But Spot and I quickly became friends. We were sorta friendly rivals, Brooklyn and Manhattan, until the strike of 1899. And you know the rest."
Apollonia liked that Jack gave her a brief history about his friendship with her dearly departed. It was very comforting.
Tension started to build up in Jack. Even in Apollonia's soothing presence, he felt uptight. Even he was unsure why he felt that way. The ambiance of the two in her bookstore is what made him feel this way, he reasoned. In the stillness of their conversation, Jack looked around the store. He saw that much of it had stayed the same, with the exception of a few decorations here and there. He noticed that the infamous sofa that sat in front of the window was no longer there. He remembered all too well the episode that caused a slight controversy between him and David, and more so between him and Spot. Apollonia questioned to herself what was on Jack's mind. She wondered if he sensed that she was just as edgy as he, however she hid it well. Women were always good at that sort of thing.
"Would you like something to drink, Jack? A sarsaparilla perhaps?"
"No, thank you, sweetie. I've got a lotta shopping done and I'm not thirsty at the moment."
"Well, let me offer you something for coming over to see me. I, at least, owe you that." Before Jack could protest, Apollonia went to the counter and retrieved a box of beignets to give to him as a token of appreciation for his visit.
"Voila, for you, Jack." Jack smiled and happily accepted the gift. Seeing the clock on a wall, he realized that he still had business to attend to.
"Well, listen, I have ta go. I still have some stuff to take care of and I promised myself that I would finish it all before going to party with David." He said as he gathered his belongings.
"Okay, well, thanks again for coming, Jack."
Before leaving, Jack quickly turned around to face her one last time. "Listen, if you need somebody to talk to, or just to be near, don't hesitate to call me when you're lonely."
Apollonia looked at him considerately and nodded in appreciation for his kindness. Within seconds, Jack coolly left the establishment, with a strange comfort in his heart. He looked back at the store warmly for a brief moment. Smiling to himself, he proceeded to carry out his affairs for the day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. Apollonia, Giselle, Checkers, and other miscellaneous characters are all mine.
Chapter 13: A New Beginning
At the edge of town on the Lower East Side, the night was supremely busy. Prostitutes walked up and down the streets bartering themselves to the highest bidder, or to anyone who was willing to pay them their going rate. These sexual street urchins were many, in their varying appearances, ages, and complexions. Women stood on street corners, hung out in doorways, and leaned out of windows just to catch the eye of some man who needed sexual satisfaction. Whether they were getting it at home or not did not matter to these women. They were for sale.
Some women worked full-time on the streets and in the brothels while others worked part-time just to supplement their meager incomes. Men of varying statuses came to these streets looking for action. As Jack walked toward this red-light district of sorts, he saw all kinds of activities in play. An elegant carriage rode up to one of the streets. Jack paused to see that the man was young and rich and was in that section of the city for obvious reasons. He gestured to a pretty fille de joie to approach his carriage. She willingly complied with his wishes as she entered his mode of transportation.
Jack then witnessed one woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, talking to a man who looked like he was in his forties.
"Tell me how you wanna be done, lover?"
"Nice and slow." The older man stated. Jack looked on and noticed the man's wedding ring. Jack looked down discontentedly.
One moment later, a short, gingered-haired woman moved toward Jack in a swift manner as she linked her arm with his. "Jack Kelly! My, my, my, how are you, love? I never thought I'd see you coming to these quarters again. Tell me, how do you want to do it? Hard or gentle-like?"
"Have I evah had you, Ginger?" She shook her head no. "Then don't call me by my Christian name."
Ginger angrily stormed away. "You probably can't handle someone like me!"
"It doesn't take much to handle trash." Jack snapped back. Angrier than before, Ginger stomped her foot and briskly walked away, capturing the attention of another man that she knew would not turn her down.
Jack looked down towards the ground, wondering to himself why he was there. His feelings for Apollonia were still there, and for some reason, he felt that if he took another woman to bed that he would be cheating on her. But what he couldn't understand was how could he feel that way when she was not his to begin with?
But he was so damn horny. "What a damn time to get guilty!" He said to himself. He decided to just get it out of his system, find a woman, sleep with her, and try to be a good boy from then on.
Soon, he focused on a woman who was average in appearance, but she had a nice body. She seemed to be around eighteen years of age with brown hair and green eyes. A brigade of freckles decorated her face. She showed potential to be attractive in time, however. He walked over to her and handed her a stack of money. Without uncertainty, she put the money in a small pouch she kept around her waist and led him into a dilapidated building for quick, nighttime pleasures.
Upon entering the squalid edifice, he viewed many "johns" conducting business. Some men were up against the walls screwing women while others had women on tables with their legs hoisted in the air. They soon made it to the woman's room.
A bare, bleak space with a drawer, closet, and a bed was all that ornamented it. Immediately, she accosted him with kisses while pawing at his chest. He instructed her not to kiss him on the mouth. He felt that only women that he loved or cared about could do such. Hastily, he pushed her onto the bed, raised her dress, and entered her. He was not at all surprised to find that she was not wearing pantalets. Women in her line of work often times found it a bother. She began moaning as he mounted her. He was hoping that this affair would hopefully be his last. Seeking anonymous women to bed was becoming old, even though he always enjoyed himself. He wanted more from a woman, and he had hoped that the woman he wanted would eventually see him as a possible candidate for a relationship.
Once he finished, he lifted himself off of the young woman and laid beside her. She turned her body, facing the wall, and rested while Jack was on his back staring up at the ceiling. Although he just enjoyed himself for the few minutes it took for him to come, he then made the decision to terminate his sexual-seeking escapades with women who were for sale and set his sights higher. Whenever he needed sexual satisfaction, he would do what he had been doing since puberty in the bathrooms and bedrooms of lodging houses and refuges. Something that was natural that every man did in his lifetime. He then looked over at the young girl lying next to him, listening to her light breathing as she took a brief nap. He propped himself up on his elbow, with one leg bent and the other straight as he softly nudged her.
"Thank you." He whispered. She looked up to him with a questioning look on her face. No one had ever thanked her before. On that note, he jumped up and left the premises.
~
Jack woke up early the next morning to do some grocery shopping. His cupboards were becoming bare and the only mouth he had to feed was his own. After taking a quick bath, he got dressed and made his way to the small store where Crutchy worked. Today was Crutchy's day off and Jack had hoped to talk to him. He then decided to go to another grocery store that was known for having high-quality meats and vegetables. He didn't quite trust the open-air market or the vendors that sold their produce, so he skipped them altogether.
After exiting Langton's Grocery, he had come across a familiar place. Apollonia's bookstore/café was diagonally across the street from where he stood. It had been years since he went there, but he found it easily, with hardly any direction. He was anxious yet nervous about seeing her. He did not know what to expect; how would she react to him? He needed to check up on her. He had to see her face. Taking a deep breath, Jack made his way over to the bookstore. Entering it with ease as he kept his cool, Jack spotted her stocking more books onto a shelf that had been dusty and was in dire need of a cleaning.
"Are you back so soon? I thought you had no more wood varnish to bring me, Giselle." She looked over towards the door and came face to face with Jack. He nodded to her in acknowledgment. "Jack." She said in a mixed tone of astonishment and amusement.
"What a surprise. Come in." She briskly walked up to him to greet him. He gave her a kiss on the hand and stared at her serenely. "It's good to see you again, Apollonia."
"Please, come this way. I'll bring you something to drink and we can talk. We have so much to catch up on." She directed him to a cozy little table near the large window of her store. He sat down and observed the place, seeing that it was still neat and quaint as it was when he had been there last. She quickly came back with a mug and a plate of her famous beignets that had become popular with her customers ever since she opened for business. "I'll close early so no one will come around." She said while turning her open/close sign on her door. Slowly, she walked to the table and sat across from him.
"So, how have you been, Jack?"
"Okay, I guess. I have been trying to keep busy at the warehouse with work and all and I've been in touch with the guys. I know that they have been keeping you company and helping out with the business." Apollonia nodded, her heart racing a million miles a minute. Avoiding eye contact, Jack tried to maintain a calm demeanor. Apollonia looked him over wondering what his position was.
"I also came to see how you were doing. How has life been treating you?"
She looked down in a sulky fashion. "Well, I'm getting through it, slowly but surely. Friends keep telling me to hold on. 'Tough times don't last for long,' they say." Jack looked at her with kind eyes.
""Lord knows that I've tried to live my life as one, but it's so damn hard." She uttered the last few words in a whisper.
"I know that seeing me after all this time was not what you expected, but I have to be honest with you. I've missed you, Apollonia. I have wanted to talk to you for the longest time, ever since that night. I wanted to apologize for what I did. I wanted to tell you before, but I didn't think that you woulda wanted to see me."
"It's important that you're telling me now." Apollonia admitted to herself that it was sweet of Jack to come forward like this; she thought that he could have come sooner, but it was obvious why he didn't. Still evading her gaze, Jack forced himself to remain cool. He needed to find closure with her in the same manner as he did with Spot, although it was difficult. He remembered what Spot told him about looking after Apollonia. Carrying out the task was the easy part. Apollonia accepting his presence into her life was the key question.
"I saw Spot the week before he passed. We got to talking and we buried the hatchet about everything. And I wanted to come forward and let you know that everything is alright."
"I appreciate that, Jack. You have shown much valor."
"I don't know if you know this but I was at the funeral." Apollonia tilted her head, slightly shocked about his revelation. "I didn't think that you woulda been happy to see me at your husband's funeral, but I had to pay my respects. That was the least I could do that day. I mean, everyone was so sad and upset. I wasn't feeling too fine that day, either. Spot was a good friend and an awesome leader. You should be very proud of him."
Apollonia hung her head low, concurring silently to herself. "I know that you probably know all of this already. I mean, with everybody and there dog telling you how much of an influence Spot was and all, you must've of heard every story there is to tell about him."
"I'm never tired of hearing about Spot. It's refreshing to know that the man that you've spent some of the best years of your life with was well- loved and respected in a city such as this." Jack agreed.
"It could have been worse. People could have rejoiced his death and held a party in the streets. I'm glad that Spot was revered in high esteem." Jack turned serious.
"Did he evah tell you how we met?"
She shook her head no. "We met when I was about twelve. He was walking around Brooklyn like he owned the damn place. I was hanging around the docks one day and he got up in my face. He wasn't too tall, but his eyes told me that he wasn't someone that I should mess with. I wasn't scared of him, mainly because of his height, but he did look tough and I was a bit of a softie back then. He walked up to me and asked me about my business and when I told him that it wasn't any of his business, he charged at me. We both went crashing into the boards as we wrestled with each udda. We fought for a few minutes and we soon got tired. He then got up and reached his hand out to me. Once I got up, he asked me my name. I guess that he saw that I wasn't a pushover and realized that I wasn't there for any trouble. But his boys thought otherwise. They thought that Spot shoulda just kicked my ass and ordered me outta his territory. But that didn't happen. Some of the guys looked at me with a lotta hatred in their eyes. But Spot and I quickly became friends. We were sorta friendly rivals, Brooklyn and Manhattan, until the strike of 1899. And you know the rest."
Apollonia liked that Jack gave her a brief history about his friendship with her dearly departed. It was very comforting.
Tension started to build up in Jack. Even in Apollonia's soothing presence, he felt uptight. Even he was unsure why he felt that way. The ambiance of the two in her bookstore is what made him feel this way, he reasoned. In the stillness of their conversation, Jack looked around the store. He saw that much of it had stayed the same, with the exception of a few decorations here and there. He noticed that the infamous sofa that sat in front of the window was no longer there. He remembered all too well the episode that caused a slight controversy between him and David, and more so between him and Spot. Apollonia questioned to herself what was on Jack's mind. She wondered if he sensed that she was just as edgy as he, however she hid it well. Women were always good at that sort of thing.
"Would you like something to drink, Jack? A sarsaparilla perhaps?"
"No, thank you, sweetie. I've got a lotta shopping done and I'm not thirsty at the moment."
"Well, let me offer you something for coming over to see me. I, at least, owe you that." Before Jack could protest, Apollonia went to the counter and retrieved a box of beignets to give to him as a token of appreciation for his visit.
"Voila, for you, Jack." Jack smiled and happily accepted the gift. Seeing the clock on a wall, he realized that he still had business to attend to.
"Well, listen, I have ta go. I still have some stuff to take care of and I promised myself that I would finish it all before going to party with David." He said as he gathered his belongings.
"Okay, well, thanks again for coming, Jack."
Before leaving, Jack quickly turned around to face her one last time. "Listen, if you need somebody to talk to, or just to be near, don't hesitate to call me when you're lonely."
Apollonia looked at him considerately and nodded in appreciation for his kindness. Within seconds, Jack coolly left the establishment, with a strange comfort in his heart. He looked back at the store warmly for a brief moment. Smiling to himself, he proceeded to carry out his affairs for the day.
