Some of those kids with parents wish they were more independent. Like, free
I guess. I'd probably want that too, if I was them. I guess the grass is
always greener, ya know? On the other side, they say. More like on the rich
other side. Poor street kids like me would do anything for a permanent roof
over their heads and food on the table every night. Not that I'm saying all
those other kids got it good. What I mean is, most of them still work 14
hours a day to feed their families. I'm just feeding myself.
I'm as free as they come, an orphan and a newsboy at that. I was born on a cold December day. Too cold I think. I'm told my mother left me on the doorstep of Sheltering Arms orphanage in the Manhattan Borough the same day I was born. Doesn't matter much though. I was out of there when I was ten. I don't think they ever noticed I left. That was about five years ago, and I haven't been under a roof since. "Carryin' the banner" is what they call it on the streets. Why don't I sleep in the lodge houses? I don't like people. Plus, most of those kids got family somewhere or at some time. All of them aren't like me.
Not that I could afford it anyways. If I want live like I do. Unlike the factory kids I don't a steady check every day. See, if I sell all I take I eat that night, if I don't, well you get the picture. Yeah all the other newsies are like that too, just, I dunno. I don't like it ok. I don't and never will. I was born alone and that's how I'll stay.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not anti-social, and I know I'm not the only one with problems. I'm better off then a lot. Like I said before. I've seen these kids who can't speak a word of English trying anything to get money. New York's been my home my whole life. I know it like the back of my hand, but half the kids I see don't. Not that you can call them kids really. No one who has to work in a factory all is a kid. It's the ones who have it easy that have time to be kids. There's no time to be stupid on the streets if you want to survive.
I guess I can't live the way I do forever, if I live that long. It's not easy selling papers all day then sleeping under bench in Central Park at not, but it also ain't easy to change. I think of myself, as being so alone, but aren't we all?
I'm as free as they come, an orphan and a newsboy at that. I was born on a cold December day. Too cold I think. I'm told my mother left me on the doorstep of Sheltering Arms orphanage in the Manhattan Borough the same day I was born. Doesn't matter much though. I was out of there when I was ten. I don't think they ever noticed I left. That was about five years ago, and I haven't been under a roof since. "Carryin' the banner" is what they call it on the streets. Why don't I sleep in the lodge houses? I don't like people. Plus, most of those kids got family somewhere or at some time. All of them aren't like me.
Not that I could afford it anyways. If I want live like I do. Unlike the factory kids I don't a steady check every day. See, if I sell all I take I eat that night, if I don't, well you get the picture. Yeah all the other newsies are like that too, just, I dunno. I don't like it ok. I don't and never will. I was born alone and that's how I'll stay.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not anti-social, and I know I'm not the only one with problems. I'm better off then a lot. Like I said before. I've seen these kids who can't speak a word of English trying anything to get money. New York's been my home my whole life. I know it like the back of my hand, but half the kids I see don't. Not that you can call them kids really. No one who has to work in a factory all is a kid. It's the ones who have it easy that have time to be kids. There's no time to be stupid on the streets if you want to survive.
I guess I can't live the way I do forever, if I live that long. It's not easy selling papers all day then sleeping under bench in Central Park at not, but it also ain't easy to change. I think of myself, as being so alone, but aren't we all?