Thanks again to klover, rae kelly, and caroline. And new thanks to T.H. you can tell me it over and over again, but it takes me awhile to believe it. the basic premise is that pulitzer arranged for david and jack to be "removed from the picture" two days before the rally.
Ch. 4
Four grey walls. They ran unblinking from floor to ceiling, swallowing the sparse room in the intensity of their wide, gaping mouth. Only two interruptions broke the desperate monotony of the walls: a cruel celled window in one corner, and a small, sturdy, and most importantly, locked, door in another. "I've gotta find a way out of here." Jack needed to speak the words aloud to himself, needed some human noise to fill the vacuum of the room. "The rally's tomorrow."
In the past hour, Jack had ran his fingers over every inch of space, searching for a way out, one he knew wouldn't exist. His fingers still rang from the stubbly granite of the walls. "The rally is tomorrow," he muttered to himself, distressed, sinking onto the yellow dust of his cot. He had to be there for the rally.
"At least they've still got Dave," Jack rubbed his face in his hands, somewhat comforted by the familiarity of the newsprint, its light tarriness and inky scent. "They can make it with Dave. He's just gotta get the guts ta lead. But he will."
***
"Oww…" he moaned, his hand instinctively tracing the back of his head. Finding a moist bump, David Jacobs withdrew the hand, pushing the thin layer of sticky redness that covered it from his mind, and let it and his other hand press against the cold floor to raise himself to standing. He forced his mind to clear with the adjustment of his eyes. Try as he might, David couldn't yet remember what happened. He did know where he had to be. "The rally…" a groan escaped his lips. They needed to plan. He'd been on his way over to the Lodging House to discuss that very subject with Jack when…
Shaking his head, David decided to drop the reflections for now. They aggravated his pounding brain. The newsie focused on his surroundings. Four dark, imposing walls. No windows. David checked the door knob to satisfy his curiosity, but found it locked, as he'd known he would.
I'll figure it out tomorrow, once I can think straight. David lay back down, unconsciously curling on the chilly, thin cot beneath him.
