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He always had leadership qualities. He may not have been the oldest,
but he knew how to get people to listen. That took talent. He didn't
believe himself to be intelligent, but we knew beyond the foul mouth
and black eyes he had the potential to be something…great. His
father never saw that in him. Probably because the only potential he
had was to get himself thrown in prison. The thought of his son
doing better than him didn't appeal to him in the slightest. As bad
as it may sound, Francis was better off without him.
His mother died years ago. How, I can not say, but the world might
just be a better place without her. I don't mean to sound cruel, but
whenever Francis's father would do…something…to him, she would just
stand and watch. He told me once that he turned to look at her once,
when his father was tearing his skin with the buckle of his belt,
and she just smiled and turned away. That look on her face is burned
inside his head forever.
When she died and his father was finally in jail, Francis was sent
to an orphanage near Greenwich Village. Needless to say, he didn't
last long. There were too many people like his parents running the
place. After several failed attempts, he finally escaped, running
from the orphanage like his life depended on it. He didn't tell us
about his parents at first, and even lied about his past every
chance he got. It might have been because he thought that if we knew
the truth then we would ostracize him or something. I don't blame
him for lying. People lie when they're ashamed. I know I used to.
He adopted the name Jack Kelly at the Refuge. Some kid came in with
a comic or something with a cowboy on the front. Knowing
that "Francis" didn't sound much like cowboy material, he decided to
change it. He read one called Cowboy Jack, and his sidekick was Sam
Kelly, the fastest gunslinger in Santa Fe. I guess that's where his
love for the West started.
We all thought Jack was going to leave after the strike, but to our
surprise he stayed around a bit longer. He sorted out his issues and
even had a small relationship with David's sister, Sarah, before he
decided to officially leave for Santa Fe for good. The others were
starting to leave the lodging house and get on with their lives, and
Jack figured it was time for him to do the same. He dropped the
Cowboy Jack comic he had taken from the Refuge on the desk of the
lodging house for the next lonely kid who desperately wanted
something to strive for and believe in.
I didn't even have to look at the name in the top left corner of the
envelope. Once I saw the Santa Fe address, I knew it was him. Inside
was a story he had written for orphaned children that were shipped
like cattle to the West to find family. He told me in a letter with
it that he owned a type of lodging house in Santa Fe. He was still
Jack "Cowboy" Kelly, except for one thing. Instead of telling the
children of New York fictional tales of the West, he told the kids
of Santa Fe true stories of New York.
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There you go!!! Chapter 5!!! Hope you liked it!!!
Stretch