A/N- I have gotten comments that the way Amanda and Katie talk sound really weird. Just to let you know, Amanda and Katie are really weird., and that is how we talk. Amanda is myself, and Katie is my buddy, and fellow Newsies freak. Katie really talks like that, but it's not actually annoying when she says it, really. I have also been asked how old Amanda and Katie are. I am 20. Katie is 16. As of right now, no casting call, but I tend to be slightly fickle, and change my mind on things, so someday, maybe.
Back to the zaniness! Spontaneity rules!
"Nope." Amanda told Sarah. "I just don't do dresses."
"A woman's proper attire is a dress or a skirt." Sarah informed her.
"Hmmmm, let me think about it..... No." Amanda said, shaking her head determinedly.
"I agree with her." Katie nodded, pointing at Amanda.
Sighing, Sarah dropped the skirt she was holding back into the trunk she pulled it from. She looked around the small seamstress' shop where she worked, and smiled and shook her head at Bumlets. "I tried." she told him.
"It wasn't my idea anyway. Jack thought they should be able to blend into the crowd better. He should be around soon to check on them."
As if on cue, they heard the jingle of the bell that was hung on the top of the door.
"How's my girl?" Jack asked Sarah, giving her a quick hug, and a kiss on the cheek.
"They wouldn't go for it. I can't get them to even try on anything." Sarah told him.
"You will be safer on the streets in a dress!" Jack informed them.
"Why, so someone steps on the hem, and I can't run away." Katie asked innocently.
"Or so I can trip over my own feet, trying to walk, and fall down and hit my head, knocking me unconscious?" Suggested Amanda.
"Or the ash from someone's yucky cigarette lands on it, and I go up in flames" Added Katie. "Cigarettes are very gross, and they are bad for you, and the people around you." Katie informed Bumlets and Jack, who just looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"Yup." Nodded Amanda. "So, why again would you say we would we be safer in a dress?"
"You are less likely to be accosted by strangers." Sarah told them.
Katie whispered in Amanda's ear, "What does accosted mean?"
"Bothered.... um, like if someone stopped us on the street." Amanda whispered her explanation.
"Oh, I knew that." Katie giggled.
"But why? Won't people avoid us if we are different?" Amanda asked Jack.
"Plus, you already made us promise not to go off alone. How are we going to be accosted if we are with other newsies?" Katie pointed out.
defeated, Jack threw his hands up in the air, and told them, "You win, unless something happens to change my mind." before putting his arm around Sarah and telling her, "I'll be back with the noon meal"
She just grinned, her eyes shining.
"You guys go ahead, I'll be along soon." Jack told Bumlets.
"Alright, lets go girls." Bumlets told Amanda and Katie before he opened the door for them to exit the shop.
They all walked out, and as Bumlets held the door handle to make sure the door didn't slam, he looked back through the glass panel in the door, to see Jack and Sarah, in a passionate kiss. Shaking his head, he
turned and smiled at the 2 girls in front of him. "Ready to get going?"
Dutchy called out the headlines with a huge stack of papes sitting next to him on a large crate.
"Dutchy!" a voice called out from across the street, and down a ways.
Dutchy whirled around, and grinned at Bumlets, Katie, and Amanda. He couldn't tell which of the girls called out his name, but whichever one it was, has a set of lungs, there was no way Bumlets could have called out and gotten his attention with his quiet voice.
Amanda happily waved at him, grinning. "How's it rollin'?" She called out as they started walking towards him.
~ So it's Amanda that has the loud voice.~ Dutchy thought to himself. "No luck at Sarah's?" Dutchy asked them as they walked up to him, since they were still wearing their clothes they left the lodging house in this morning. Katie wore pretty much the same thing she had the day before, her blue pants she called jeans, and a red thick long sleeved shirt, with a hood, and a funny pocket on the front., even though it was hot out. Amanda's attire was a bit more drastic. First of all, her pants were wider at the bottom than the top. Her shirt not only was cut off to have shortened sleeves, it had this funny painted on deisgn on the front of it, with these four men, and it said "The Beatles". She also, oddly enough, was wearing jewelry made from chains, and metal pieces attached to leather. She also had a chain looped around her belt lop, and the other end went in her back pocket. Such odd adornment, and not at all ladylike.
Amanda and Katie shook their heads, and Bumlets chuckled. "They wouldn't go for it." he told Dutchy.
"I don't blame them." Dutchy said to Bumlets, "I hate wearing dresses too." he said seriously, before a smile crept in at the corners of his mouth.
All four of them erupted in laughter.
"Oh yeah, here's yer papes." Dutchy said to Bumlets, motioning to the large stack behind him on a crate.
"Um, why does Bumlets need that many papers?" Katie asked, eying the very large stack.
"They aren't all his." Dutchy explained. "Jack told me to get him his usual 100, Bumlets 80, and the each of you girls 50, plus, my own. Skittery had to help me carry them all."
"So we get to go sell, even if we are not wearing dresses?" Katie asked, excited.
"I guess so, since Jack gave his permission for you to wear those clothes." Answered Bumlets.
"Good, because I still wouldn't wear a dress." Amanda grinned.
Dutchy divided the papers, and by the time he had finished passing them all out, Jack had come over from across the street.
After picking up his papers, he informed Amanda and Katie, "You'se gonna sell wid me today, since I just happen to be the best there is, I can teach you a bit about sellin." He informed them with a cocky nod of his head.
"Okie day." Katie shrugged.
"What?" asked Jack, confused.
"Okie day." She repeated.
"And that means what?" Jack wondered aloud.
"Of course. Okie day. OK. Okaly dokaly. Ya get it now?" Katie asked.
"Uh, I think so." Jack said uncertainly, looking at Amanda for help.
"She means alright." Amanda grinned. "Oh, and by the way, 'nyan' means so-so, and 'meh' means not so good." @KATIE, know of any other words that need defining?@
"Why does she speak another language, where is she from?" Dutchy whispered to Amanda.
"No one really knows for sure." Amanda responded, giggling.
"Are you laughing at me?" Katie demanded.
"Yes!" Amanda declared happily, pointing at her.
"You better watch it!" Katie stated threateningly.
Jack, Dutchy, and Bumlets looked at each other, not sure if they were to expected the strange girls to start fighting or not.
"Or what?" Amanda asked, before sticking her tongue out at Katie and blowing raspberries at her, while sticking her thumbs in her ears, and wiggling her fingers at her.
"That's it!" Katie announced as she rushed at Amanda, and before any of the guys could stop her, she was tickling Amanda in the stomach, who was laughing hysterically, and soon fell over, flailing on the ground.
Bumlets grabbed Katie, pinning her arms to her sides, and pulled her back, while Dutchy helped Amanda to her feet.
Still gasping for breath, Amanda collapsed into the side of the building behind them.
"That's for waking me up the way you did!" Katie said mockingly, as Bumlets let go of her.
"This isn't over!" Amanda said mischievously.
"Yes, it is." Jack declared, interrupting them.
"No it's not!" both girls said in unison, laughing.
"I don't wanna hear you fighting all day." Jack informed them.
Giggling, Amanda said, "Ok, then you don't have to hear us fighting." before she waved at Katie to get her attention, and started using sign language. *I will get you later*
Katie responded with more sign language *I don't think so.*
The three guys all looked at them like they were crazy.
Grinning, Amanda looked at them and stated, signing, and voicing, "We have a friend that is deaf, and we use sign language all the time. It's fun."
Katie signed to Amanda, *They think we are crazy.*
*That's because we are.* Amanda declared.
"Why was she pointing at us? What is she saying?" Bumlets demanded.
"I'm not gonna tell you!" Amanda said in a singsong voice.
"What are you teasing ME for, I helped you out when she attacked you!" Bumlets pleaded.
"Calm down, Bumlets, we weren't saying anything bad about you!." Katie told him, patting him on the shoulder.
"She wouldn't ever hurt me anyway, for one thing, she's not strong enough." Amanda said.
"And you think you're pretty strong?" Jack asked, "Then why did you fall down when she touched you?"
"Because I am very ticklish. And for a girl, yes, I am pretty strong." She defended.
"Why, are you a fighter or something?" Jack wanted to know.
"I have never been in a fight in my life, but I can punch hard."
"You don't look very strong, I bet you can't hit as hard as you think you can." Jack snorted.
"I am not saying I am stronger than you are, or anything, but I am most certainly stronger than Katie is." Amanda retorted defensively.
"She is, she is!" Katie confirmed with a fierce nod.
"Prove it." Jack said, patting his arm, and motioning for her to hit him.
"You honestly want me to hit you, as hard as I can, in the arm." Amanda asked.
"You can't hurt me." He stated.
"Alright, but only because you told me to do it." Amanda agreed reluctantly.
She took a deep breath, took aim, and punched him as hard as she could in the arm.
His eyes grew as big as saucers as his whole body tensed up, and he reached up, gingerly touching his arm, right where she hit him. He tried not to call out, but after a few seconds of a delayed reaction, he yelped, "Ow, ow, grrrrrr" he growled, still trying not to yell.
Dutchy and Bumlets were as surprised as Jack, and were standing there in amazement, Dutchy even had his mouth hanging open.
"So, Jack, do ya think you can still carry all hundred of your papes now?" Amanda asked sweetly.
"I think we better give him some time to recover." Katie grinned at Jack.
"Still rubbing his sore arm, he grudgingly admitted, "You were right, I aint never seen no girl with a swing like that one."
"And just to let you know.... that will happen again, if you lie to me, and I find out about it. I'm not talkin about lying about the headlines, that's part of the job, but personally, if you lie to me, I get really mad" Amanda informed him.
"I got it, I got it. That hurt!" Jack admitted. "Are you girls ready to learn how to sell now?"
"I suppose so, as long as you have recovered enough" Katie teased.
Jack didn't verbally respond, but he did flash her a look that said to knock it off.
Giggling, Katie and Amanda picked up their papers.
"I guess I'll see you guys later." Amanda said, flashing Dutchy and Bumlets a grin.
"Yeah, later." Katie added while Jack picked up his papes, and started walking down the street, leaving behind Dutchy and Bumlets to stand there in amazement over the interesting 2 minutes they had just spent with them.
Looking through the paper, Katie commented to Amanda, "Look, a lady was mugged, right in front of the Bank of Manhattan. The thief got away with her purse, which contained some petty cash, and her favorite fountain pen, among other things." she said giggling.
"What's so funny?" Amanda asked puzzled.
"This one can be about the bank robber that stole all the money at the bank." she whispered to Amanda before raising her voice for Jack to hear, "Jack, is this a good selling spot?"
Looking around, he said, "It's not too bad, lets try here, and if it doesn't work, then we can find another one."
"Sounds good to me." Katie nodded
"First thing ya gotta learn, is these headlines don't exactly sell da papes most of the time, so you gots to improve them a bit. Like, see here, it says the mayor's wife slipped and broke her wrist getting out of the family carriage."
"And I am guessing that is not quite exciting enough to sell the papes?" Asked Amanda..
After nodding at them, Jack help up a paper, and shouted into the small crowd, "Mayor's wife, the victim of a terrible carriage accident."
"How much?" asked a passerby.
"One cent." Answered Jack as he pulled a paper from the stack, and held it out to the man, who took it, and placed a penny in his hand. Another man was ready to buy a paper when that man walked on, and a few more after that.
When his customers left, he turned back to the girls, and said, "See, it sells better that way."
"Can I try?" Katie asked innocently.
"Go right ahead." Jack encouraged.
After grinning at Amanda, Katie stepped out into the small crowd, and called out, "Bank robber hits the Bank of Manhattan! The latest news about the robbery at Manhattan bank, for a mere cent!"
"Hey! that's my bank!" shouted a man in a tan suit with a walking cane, who hurried over to buy a copy.
It seemed like everyone that was in sight, had money in the Bank of Manhattan, and was concerned enough to buy a paper, so it didn't take very long for Katie to get rid of almost a third of her papers.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Jack asked her
"Only when we helped Bumlets finish selling yesterday." Katie told him.
Even with her good headline improving skills, Jack still sold out faster than Katie did, but not by much. Amanda had a bit more trouble than Katie did, partly because people were avoiding her. There were people that would walk across the street, instead of walking past her, and then cross back over. Because of this, Jack and Katie stood across the street from her, that a way, almost everyone walked past them, and they sold their papes pretty quickly. When there were lulls in business, and the crowd thinned down, Katie and Amanda signed to each other from across the street. for some reason, this annoyed Jack, a lot.
"Will you guys stop that?" Jack demanded for the umpteenth time.
"This isn't hurting you, is it, Jack?" asked Katie
Puzzled, Jack responded, "How in the world could that hurt me?"
"If it doesn't hurt you, then it's ok to keep doing it." Katie informed him before turning back to Amanda
*Amanda, Jack doesn't like us signing, he keeps telling me I need to stop.* Katie informed her.
they both laughed, and Amanda signed back * Whatever, he'll live, it's ok.*
Seeing them look at him, and laugh, Jack started grinding his teeth. ~They's aint like any other girls I've ever met, they don't listen, and do just what I tell them, they aint got no respect..~ Jack though to himself.
When they had sold all of thir papers, (Katie and Jack had to help Amanda) they headed over to Tibby's to get something to calm their grumbling tummies. They were walking in silence down the street, when Amanda felt someone brush up against her, pulling her wallet from her back pocket. He didn't get very far, before he realized that it was attached to a chain that was attached to her belt loop. The pull from the chain, actually caused him to stumble, and he fell, dropping the wallet, that just swung back, and hit Amanda's leg.
"Fingers!" Jack snarled at him, as Amanda put her wallet back in her pocket. "What do you think you are doing? What is our agreement?"
With a look of surprise, still sitting on the ground, he said, "I don't sneak from 'Hattan newsies, and 'Hattan newsies don't soak me, but dey's can't be 'Hattan newsies, I aint nevah seen dem before"
"I told you that you had to keep tabs on who was who, it's not my job to tell you, since you don't announce your presence around me."
"I'se sorry Jack, it won't happen again!" he said, scurrying to his feet, and disappearing around the corner.
"What was that about?" Amanda asked Jack.
"Fingers is just one of the many pickpockets and scroungers that us newsies don't care for." Jack answered. "But he's no trouble, he won't even pick on Les anymore, he's too scared of us." he said as he opened the door to Tibby's and held it for them.
As thgey walked in to the restaurant, they noticed that it was already about half full, with most of the crowd newsies.
Calling out a greeting to the waiter, Jack asked the girls what they wanted to eat, and they boith shrugged, so he told the waiter, "Three specials." Before leading the way over to the table that Mush, Racetrack, Skittery, and Kid Blink were sitting at, and motioned for them to sit down. After thay had all gotten settled, Jack told the rest of the guys about their encounter with Fingers.
"So now I understand why you have the chain, at your waist, but what's the purpose of the chains around your neck?" Asked Blink, who had been pondering that ever since he saw her with them on.
"Where we come from, different people wear different styles of clothing, and jewelry, and it has nothing to do with the amount of money you wear. Some people dress like Katie does, some dress like me, well, in this style, I should say, but alot of them wear very different clothes." She tried to explain.
"How different?" Jack asked.
"First of all, a lot of young men wear shirts that would fit 2 normal men, and pants that are way bigger than even mine, and they fall down, and show their underpants, because the waist comes down to here." Amanda stood so she could motion about 8 inches below her own waist. "Then they have to walk like this, and waddle, with their feet apart really far, so their pants don't fall down to their ankles." She said, demonstrating. "Usually, they have their shoelaces untied, with the ends tucked in. Then their shoes are so loose, that they shuffle around like this." She said, showing them. "Then, you put it all together, and they walk like this." She said, strutting, shuffling, and holding up her pants.
When they saw this, all five of the guys burst out laughing.
"Why do they do that?" Jack asked , almost gasping for breath from laughing so hard, as Amanda sat back down
Katie giggled, "That's the funny part, they think they look good! Some girls do that too, but not many."
"Don't all the girls around there wear dresses?" Skittery asked, puzzled.
"Most girls wear pants, and shirts that are so short that they show their bare stomach." Katie explained.
Racetrack almost choked on the sip of water he just took, and started coughing. The rest of the guys jaws were dropped.
"Breathe in your nose, and out of your mouth.," Amanda advised Racetrack. "It helps you stop coughing when something goes down the wrong tube."
"Girls show bare skin on their stomachs?" Mush asked, appalled.
"Yeah, and sometimes they wear skirts that come up way higher than their knees too." Amanda told them
"I sleep in more clothes than some girls wear during the day." Katie told them.
"Where are you from, anyway?" asked Racetrack.
Amanda and Katie just looked at each other, trying to figure out what to tell them, since they very well couldn't say Seattle, since that was an actual city.... and their Seattle is a far cry from the Seattle that these boys have probably heard of.
"Ummm, it's called SeaTac." Said Katie, just hoping that they had never heard of it.
They received puzzled looks from everyone at the table.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Amanda explained, "It's west from here."
"Never heard of it" answered Race.
"Me neither." confirmed Skittery as their waiter came over with a tray of food for them.
"That was good!" exclaimed Katie as she put down her fork, after eating her last bite.
"Yeah it was." Amanda agreed
"Now we have to go back for the afternoon edition." Racetrack said, slumping in his seat.
"I suggest that you take off a few of your necklaces and stuff, Amanda" Katie told her, "You will prolly have better luck in not scaring people." she giggled.
"That's probably true." Amanda nodded, unhooking her necklaces, and piling them on the table, then she pulled off her brightly colored beaded bracelets, that went a third of a way to her elbow, and put them with the necklaces, and removed all her rings, except for one, and added them to the pile. "I never go without wearing this ring" She explained, holding up her pointer finger on her right hand, which had the ring on it.
"That's a big pile of jewelry for one person." Racetrack commented as Amanda started shoving it in her pockets.
"Ok, now stand up, and let us see the difference." Blink instructed.
Amanda stood up and backed away from the table so that they could see the full effect, and asked, "what do you think?"
"That shirt sticks out too much, what are 'The Beatles' anyway?" Blink asked reading her shirt.
"They play music." Amanda answered. "Should I go back to the lodging house and get a different one? But I don't think the others I have are improvements, I think I might just have printed t-shirts."
Kid Blink looked at Amanda standing there, thinking. Without saying anything, Blink unbuttoned his shirt, and pulled it off, so he was just wearing an undershirt. Handing it to her, he sad, "Wear this over your shirt, then you should be fine."
"Are you sure, are you alright with just wearing that shirt?" Amanda asked, still holding the shirt in her hands.
"Go ahead, it's alright." Blink reassured her, and she shrugged her shoulders before putting it on, and buttoning it up.
"Now that's a lot better!" Race commented when she buttoned the last button.
"Should we get going, we still gots some sellin to do." reminded Mush.
"Yeah, lets go." Skittery suggested, as the rest of them stood, and put the money for their meals on the table, before filing out into the sun.
"Since most of the people that buy the papers in the morning, don't bother to buy them in the afternoon, you can't sell nearly as much, unless there is a new cover story that's really big." advised Jack as they walked back towards the same distribution center that Dutchy bought their papers from that morning.
They walked up to the counter as Snipeshooter and Itey were picking their stacks up from where Morris had just set them down.
"Hiya boys" Jack greeted them.
"Hi Jack" they chorused as they walked past him on their way back out onto the street.
"Hey,. Weas, dese two are our newest addition to the group, Amanda and Katie, girls, this is Weasel" he told them.
"Hiya Mr. Weasel" echoed Katie and Amanda, grinning.
"Actually, the name's Wiesel." he corrected.
"That's just what we said... Weasel." said Amanda innocently.
Looking at her funny, he said it again, more slowly. "W..ie..s..el"
Her eyes brightening mischievously, Amanda mimicked the way he spoke, "W..ea..s..el"
The grins the newsies were trying to suppress, now burst out as full blown laughs.
"What are you, stupid or somethin?" Morris asked her.
Amanda looked at Katie with a gasp. "He insults my intelligence in front of me."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, his intellagence is rivaled soley by garden tools.
"You think you's smarter than me, girl?" He asked haughtily.
"Hmmm, let me think about that for a minute...... indubitably." Amanda answered.
"I agree." said Katie.
"Ask me anything, I bet I know more about the topic 'den you'se girls put together."
"What do we get when we beat you?" Asked Katie.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, he responded, "I'll buy both your papers for 2 weeks, and if I win, since yer girls, ya gots ta do my laundry for 2 weeks."
"You're on" Katie confirmed.
Without missing a beat, Amanda challenged, "What are your views on antidisestablishmentarianism?"
"That's a good one." Katie said, putting her hand out to give Amanda a high five.
Blinking his eyes, Morris asked "Say that again?"
"Are you for, or against antidisestablishmentarianism?" Katie asked
"I...ah....um....How many papes would you like today?" he asked, looking down at the counter.
"Wow, someone's discombobulated." Katie commented, and was met with a look of great confusion..
Leaning on the counter, she asked him, "So how many papes does Jack usually get at this time of day?"
Feeling flustered, Morris answered, "... 'bout 60, why?"
"That's how many we each want." Amanda said, and Katie confirmed with a nod.
Weasel smacked Morris upside the head, and told him, "I'll put it on yer tab, and you best be savin yer money from now on, cuz I aint payin for you to buy no girls as many papes as they can carry for 2 weeks."
"Thank you!" Katie said brightly to Morris as he handed her the stacks of papers.
"Have a nice day!" Amanda said, happily waving, grinning at him. The fact that he scowled at her didn't deminish her smile, but it in fact intensified.
Back to the zaniness! Spontaneity rules!
"Nope." Amanda told Sarah. "I just don't do dresses."
"A woman's proper attire is a dress or a skirt." Sarah informed her.
"Hmmmm, let me think about it..... No." Amanda said, shaking her head determinedly.
"I agree with her." Katie nodded, pointing at Amanda.
Sighing, Sarah dropped the skirt she was holding back into the trunk she pulled it from. She looked around the small seamstress' shop where she worked, and smiled and shook her head at Bumlets. "I tried." she told him.
"It wasn't my idea anyway. Jack thought they should be able to blend into the crowd better. He should be around soon to check on them."
As if on cue, they heard the jingle of the bell that was hung on the top of the door.
"How's my girl?" Jack asked Sarah, giving her a quick hug, and a kiss on the cheek.
"They wouldn't go for it. I can't get them to even try on anything." Sarah told him.
"You will be safer on the streets in a dress!" Jack informed them.
"Why, so someone steps on the hem, and I can't run away." Katie asked innocently.
"Or so I can trip over my own feet, trying to walk, and fall down and hit my head, knocking me unconscious?" Suggested Amanda.
"Or the ash from someone's yucky cigarette lands on it, and I go up in flames" Added Katie. "Cigarettes are very gross, and they are bad for you, and the people around you." Katie informed Bumlets and Jack, who just looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"Yup." Nodded Amanda. "So, why again would you say we would we be safer in a dress?"
"You are less likely to be accosted by strangers." Sarah told them.
Katie whispered in Amanda's ear, "What does accosted mean?"
"Bothered.... um, like if someone stopped us on the street." Amanda whispered her explanation.
"Oh, I knew that." Katie giggled.
"But why? Won't people avoid us if we are different?" Amanda asked Jack.
"Plus, you already made us promise not to go off alone. How are we going to be accosted if we are with other newsies?" Katie pointed out.
defeated, Jack threw his hands up in the air, and told them, "You win, unless something happens to change my mind." before putting his arm around Sarah and telling her, "I'll be back with the noon meal"
She just grinned, her eyes shining.
"You guys go ahead, I'll be along soon." Jack told Bumlets.
"Alright, lets go girls." Bumlets told Amanda and Katie before he opened the door for them to exit the shop.
They all walked out, and as Bumlets held the door handle to make sure the door didn't slam, he looked back through the glass panel in the door, to see Jack and Sarah, in a passionate kiss. Shaking his head, he
turned and smiled at the 2 girls in front of him. "Ready to get going?"
Dutchy called out the headlines with a huge stack of papes sitting next to him on a large crate.
"Dutchy!" a voice called out from across the street, and down a ways.
Dutchy whirled around, and grinned at Bumlets, Katie, and Amanda. He couldn't tell which of the girls called out his name, but whichever one it was, has a set of lungs, there was no way Bumlets could have called out and gotten his attention with his quiet voice.
Amanda happily waved at him, grinning. "How's it rollin'?" She called out as they started walking towards him.
~ So it's Amanda that has the loud voice.~ Dutchy thought to himself. "No luck at Sarah's?" Dutchy asked them as they walked up to him, since they were still wearing their clothes they left the lodging house in this morning. Katie wore pretty much the same thing she had the day before, her blue pants she called jeans, and a red thick long sleeved shirt, with a hood, and a funny pocket on the front., even though it was hot out. Amanda's attire was a bit more drastic. First of all, her pants were wider at the bottom than the top. Her shirt not only was cut off to have shortened sleeves, it had this funny painted on deisgn on the front of it, with these four men, and it said "The Beatles". She also, oddly enough, was wearing jewelry made from chains, and metal pieces attached to leather. She also had a chain looped around her belt lop, and the other end went in her back pocket. Such odd adornment, and not at all ladylike.
Amanda and Katie shook their heads, and Bumlets chuckled. "They wouldn't go for it." he told Dutchy.
"I don't blame them." Dutchy said to Bumlets, "I hate wearing dresses too." he said seriously, before a smile crept in at the corners of his mouth.
All four of them erupted in laughter.
"Oh yeah, here's yer papes." Dutchy said to Bumlets, motioning to the large stack behind him on a crate.
"Um, why does Bumlets need that many papers?" Katie asked, eying the very large stack.
"They aren't all his." Dutchy explained. "Jack told me to get him his usual 100, Bumlets 80, and the each of you girls 50, plus, my own. Skittery had to help me carry them all."
"So we get to go sell, even if we are not wearing dresses?" Katie asked, excited.
"I guess so, since Jack gave his permission for you to wear those clothes." Answered Bumlets.
"Good, because I still wouldn't wear a dress." Amanda grinned.
Dutchy divided the papers, and by the time he had finished passing them all out, Jack had come over from across the street.
After picking up his papers, he informed Amanda and Katie, "You'se gonna sell wid me today, since I just happen to be the best there is, I can teach you a bit about sellin." He informed them with a cocky nod of his head.
"Okie day." Katie shrugged.
"What?" asked Jack, confused.
"Okie day." She repeated.
"And that means what?" Jack wondered aloud.
"Of course. Okie day. OK. Okaly dokaly. Ya get it now?" Katie asked.
"Uh, I think so." Jack said uncertainly, looking at Amanda for help.
"She means alright." Amanda grinned. "Oh, and by the way, 'nyan' means so-so, and 'meh' means not so good." @KATIE, know of any other words that need defining?@
"Why does she speak another language, where is she from?" Dutchy whispered to Amanda.
"No one really knows for sure." Amanda responded, giggling.
"Are you laughing at me?" Katie demanded.
"Yes!" Amanda declared happily, pointing at her.
"You better watch it!" Katie stated threateningly.
Jack, Dutchy, and Bumlets looked at each other, not sure if they were to expected the strange girls to start fighting or not.
"Or what?" Amanda asked, before sticking her tongue out at Katie and blowing raspberries at her, while sticking her thumbs in her ears, and wiggling her fingers at her.
"That's it!" Katie announced as she rushed at Amanda, and before any of the guys could stop her, she was tickling Amanda in the stomach, who was laughing hysterically, and soon fell over, flailing on the ground.
Bumlets grabbed Katie, pinning her arms to her sides, and pulled her back, while Dutchy helped Amanda to her feet.
Still gasping for breath, Amanda collapsed into the side of the building behind them.
"That's for waking me up the way you did!" Katie said mockingly, as Bumlets let go of her.
"This isn't over!" Amanda said mischievously.
"Yes, it is." Jack declared, interrupting them.
"No it's not!" both girls said in unison, laughing.
"I don't wanna hear you fighting all day." Jack informed them.
Giggling, Amanda said, "Ok, then you don't have to hear us fighting." before she waved at Katie to get her attention, and started using sign language. *I will get you later*
Katie responded with more sign language *I don't think so.*
The three guys all looked at them like they were crazy.
Grinning, Amanda looked at them and stated, signing, and voicing, "We have a friend that is deaf, and we use sign language all the time. It's fun."
Katie signed to Amanda, *They think we are crazy.*
*That's because we are.* Amanda declared.
"Why was she pointing at us? What is she saying?" Bumlets demanded.
"I'm not gonna tell you!" Amanda said in a singsong voice.
"What are you teasing ME for, I helped you out when she attacked you!" Bumlets pleaded.
"Calm down, Bumlets, we weren't saying anything bad about you!." Katie told him, patting him on the shoulder.
"She wouldn't ever hurt me anyway, for one thing, she's not strong enough." Amanda said.
"And you think you're pretty strong?" Jack asked, "Then why did you fall down when she touched you?"
"Because I am very ticklish. And for a girl, yes, I am pretty strong." She defended.
"Why, are you a fighter or something?" Jack wanted to know.
"I have never been in a fight in my life, but I can punch hard."
"You don't look very strong, I bet you can't hit as hard as you think you can." Jack snorted.
"I am not saying I am stronger than you are, or anything, but I am most certainly stronger than Katie is." Amanda retorted defensively.
"She is, she is!" Katie confirmed with a fierce nod.
"Prove it." Jack said, patting his arm, and motioning for her to hit him.
"You honestly want me to hit you, as hard as I can, in the arm." Amanda asked.
"You can't hurt me." He stated.
"Alright, but only because you told me to do it." Amanda agreed reluctantly.
She took a deep breath, took aim, and punched him as hard as she could in the arm.
His eyes grew as big as saucers as his whole body tensed up, and he reached up, gingerly touching his arm, right where she hit him. He tried not to call out, but after a few seconds of a delayed reaction, he yelped, "Ow, ow, grrrrrr" he growled, still trying not to yell.
Dutchy and Bumlets were as surprised as Jack, and were standing there in amazement, Dutchy even had his mouth hanging open.
"So, Jack, do ya think you can still carry all hundred of your papes now?" Amanda asked sweetly.
"I think we better give him some time to recover." Katie grinned at Jack.
"Still rubbing his sore arm, he grudgingly admitted, "You were right, I aint never seen no girl with a swing like that one."
"And just to let you know.... that will happen again, if you lie to me, and I find out about it. I'm not talkin about lying about the headlines, that's part of the job, but personally, if you lie to me, I get really mad" Amanda informed him.
"I got it, I got it. That hurt!" Jack admitted. "Are you girls ready to learn how to sell now?"
"I suppose so, as long as you have recovered enough" Katie teased.
Jack didn't verbally respond, but he did flash her a look that said to knock it off.
Giggling, Katie and Amanda picked up their papers.
"I guess I'll see you guys later." Amanda said, flashing Dutchy and Bumlets a grin.
"Yeah, later." Katie added while Jack picked up his papes, and started walking down the street, leaving behind Dutchy and Bumlets to stand there in amazement over the interesting 2 minutes they had just spent with them.
Looking through the paper, Katie commented to Amanda, "Look, a lady was mugged, right in front of the Bank of Manhattan. The thief got away with her purse, which contained some petty cash, and her favorite fountain pen, among other things." she said giggling.
"What's so funny?" Amanda asked puzzled.
"This one can be about the bank robber that stole all the money at the bank." she whispered to Amanda before raising her voice for Jack to hear, "Jack, is this a good selling spot?"
Looking around, he said, "It's not too bad, lets try here, and if it doesn't work, then we can find another one."
"Sounds good to me." Katie nodded
"First thing ya gotta learn, is these headlines don't exactly sell da papes most of the time, so you gots to improve them a bit. Like, see here, it says the mayor's wife slipped and broke her wrist getting out of the family carriage."
"And I am guessing that is not quite exciting enough to sell the papes?" Asked Amanda..
After nodding at them, Jack help up a paper, and shouted into the small crowd, "Mayor's wife, the victim of a terrible carriage accident."
"How much?" asked a passerby.
"One cent." Answered Jack as he pulled a paper from the stack, and held it out to the man, who took it, and placed a penny in his hand. Another man was ready to buy a paper when that man walked on, and a few more after that.
When his customers left, he turned back to the girls, and said, "See, it sells better that way."
"Can I try?" Katie asked innocently.
"Go right ahead." Jack encouraged.
After grinning at Amanda, Katie stepped out into the small crowd, and called out, "Bank robber hits the Bank of Manhattan! The latest news about the robbery at Manhattan bank, for a mere cent!"
"Hey! that's my bank!" shouted a man in a tan suit with a walking cane, who hurried over to buy a copy.
It seemed like everyone that was in sight, had money in the Bank of Manhattan, and was concerned enough to buy a paper, so it didn't take very long for Katie to get rid of almost a third of her papers.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Jack asked her
"Only when we helped Bumlets finish selling yesterday." Katie told him.
Even with her good headline improving skills, Jack still sold out faster than Katie did, but not by much. Amanda had a bit more trouble than Katie did, partly because people were avoiding her. There were people that would walk across the street, instead of walking past her, and then cross back over. Because of this, Jack and Katie stood across the street from her, that a way, almost everyone walked past them, and they sold their papes pretty quickly. When there were lulls in business, and the crowd thinned down, Katie and Amanda signed to each other from across the street. for some reason, this annoyed Jack, a lot.
"Will you guys stop that?" Jack demanded for the umpteenth time.
"This isn't hurting you, is it, Jack?" asked Katie
Puzzled, Jack responded, "How in the world could that hurt me?"
"If it doesn't hurt you, then it's ok to keep doing it." Katie informed him before turning back to Amanda
*Amanda, Jack doesn't like us signing, he keeps telling me I need to stop.* Katie informed her.
they both laughed, and Amanda signed back * Whatever, he'll live, it's ok.*
Seeing them look at him, and laugh, Jack started grinding his teeth. ~They's aint like any other girls I've ever met, they don't listen, and do just what I tell them, they aint got no respect..~ Jack though to himself.
When they had sold all of thir papers, (Katie and Jack had to help Amanda) they headed over to Tibby's to get something to calm their grumbling tummies. They were walking in silence down the street, when Amanda felt someone brush up against her, pulling her wallet from her back pocket. He didn't get very far, before he realized that it was attached to a chain that was attached to her belt loop. The pull from the chain, actually caused him to stumble, and he fell, dropping the wallet, that just swung back, and hit Amanda's leg.
"Fingers!" Jack snarled at him, as Amanda put her wallet back in her pocket. "What do you think you are doing? What is our agreement?"
With a look of surprise, still sitting on the ground, he said, "I don't sneak from 'Hattan newsies, and 'Hattan newsies don't soak me, but dey's can't be 'Hattan newsies, I aint nevah seen dem before"
"I told you that you had to keep tabs on who was who, it's not my job to tell you, since you don't announce your presence around me."
"I'se sorry Jack, it won't happen again!" he said, scurrying to his feet, and disappearing around the corner.
"What was that about?" Amanda asked Jack.
"Fingers is just one of the many pickpockets and scroungers that us newsies don't care for." Jack answered. "But he's no trouble, he won't even pick on Les anymore, he's too scared of us." he said as he opened the door to Tibby's and held it for them.
As thgey walked in to the restaurant, they noticed that it was already about half full, with most of the crowd newsies.
Calling out a greeting to the waiter, Jack asked the girls what they wanted to eat, and they boith shrugged, so he told the waiter, "Three specials." Before leading the way over to the table that Mush, Racetrack, Skittery, and Kid Blink were sitting at, and motioned for them to sit down. After thay had all gotten settled, Jack told the rest of the guys about their encounter with Fingers.
"So now I understand why you have the chain, at your waist, but what's the purpose of the chains around your neck?" Asked Blink, who had been pondering that ever since he saw her with them on.
"Where we come from, different people wear different styles of clothing, and jewelry, and it has nothing to do with the amount of money you wear. Some people dress like Katie does, some dress like me, well, in this style, I should say, but alot of them wear very different clothes." She tried to explain.
"How different?" Jack asked.
"First of all, a lot of young men wear shirts that would fit 2 normal men, and pants that are way bigger than even mine, and they fall down, and show their underpants, because the waist comes down to here." Amanda stood so she could motion about 8 inches below her own waist. "Then they have to walk like this, and waddle, with their feet apart really far, so their pants don't fall down to their ankles." She said, demonstrating. "Usually, they have their shoelaces untied, with the ends tucked in. Then their shoes are so loose, that they shuffle around like this." She said, showing them. "Then, you put it all together, and they walk like this." She said, strutting, shuffling, and holding up her pants.
When they saw this, all five of the guys burst out laughing.
"Why do they do that?" Jack asked , almost gasping for breath from laughing so hard, as Amanda sat back down
Katie giggled, "That's the funny part, they think they look good! Some girls do that too, but not many."
"Don't all the girls around there wear dresses?" Skittery asked, puzzled.
"Most girls wear pants, and shirts that are so short that they show their bare stomach." Katie explained.
Racetrack almost choked on the sip of water he just took, and started coughing. The rest of the guys jaws were dropped.
"Breathe in your nose, and out of your mouth.," Amanda advised Racetrack. "It helps you stop coughing when something goes down the wrong tube."
"Girls show bare skin on their stomachs?" Mush asked, appalled.
"Yeah, and sometimes they wear skirts that come up way higher than their knees too." Amanda told them
"I sleep in more clothes than some girls wear during the day." Katie told them.
"Where are you from, anyway?" asked Racetrack.
Amanda and Katie just looked at each other, trying to figure out what to tell them, since they very well couldn't say Seattle, since that was an actual city.... and their Seattle is a far cry from the Seattle that these boys have probably heard of.
"Ummm, it's called SeaTac." Said Katie, just hoping that they had never heard of it.
They received puzzled looks from everyone at the table.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Amanda explained, "It's west from here."
"Never heard of it" answered Race.
"Me neither." confirmed Skittery as their waiter came over with a tray of food for them.
"That was good!" exclaimed Katie as she put down her fork, after eating her last bite.
"Yeah it was." Amanda agreed
"Now we have to go back for the afternoon edition." Racetrack said, slumping in his seat.
"I suggest that you take off a few of your necklaces and stuff, Amanda" Katie told her, "You will prolly have better luck in not scaring people." she giggled.
"That's probably true." Amanda nodded, unhooking her necklaces, and piling them on the table, then she pulled off her brightly colored beaded bracelets, that went a third of a way to her elbow, and put them with the necklaces, and removed all her rings, except for one, and added them to the pile. "I never go without wearing this ring" She explained, holding up her pointer finger on her right hand, which had the ring on it.
"That's a big pile of jewelry for one person." Racetrack commented as Amanda started shoving it in her pockets.
"Ok, now stand up, and let us see the difference." Blink instructed.
Amanda stood up and backed away from the table so that they could see the full effect, and asked, "what do you think?"
"That shirt sticks out too much, what are 'The Beatles' anyway?" Blink asked reading her shirt.
"They play music." Amanda answered. "Should I go back to the lodging house and get a different one? But I don't think the others I have are improvements, I think I might just have printed t-shirts."
Kid Blink looked at Amanda standing there, thinking. Without saying anything, Blink unbuttoned his shirt, and pulled it off, so he was just wearing an undershirt. Handing it to her, he sad, "Wear this over your shirt, then you should be fine."
"Are you sure, are you alright with just wearing that shirt?" Amanda asked, still holding the shirt in her hands.
"Go ahead, it's alright." Blink reassured her, and she shrugged her shoulders before putting it on, and buttoning it up.
"Now that's a lot better!" Race commented when she buttoned the last button.
"Should we get going, we still gots some sellin to do." reminded Mush.
"Yeah, lets go." Skittery suggested, as the rest of them stood, and put the money for their meals on the table, before filing out into the sun.
"Since most of the people that buy the papers in the morning, don't bother to buy them in the afternoon, you can't sell nearly as much, unless there is a new cover story that's really big." advised Jack as they walked back towards the same distribution center that Dutchy bought their papers from that morning.
They walked up to the counter as Snipeshooter and Itey were picking their stacks up from where Morris had just set them down.
"Hiya boys" Jack greeted them.
"Hi Jack" they chorused as they walked past him on their way back out onto the street.
"Hey,. Weas, dese two are our newest addition to the group, Amanda and Katie, girls, this is Weasel" he told them.
"Hiya Mr. Weasel" echoed Katie and Amanda, grinning.
"Actually, the name's Wiesel." he corrected.
"That's just what we said... Weasel." said Amanda innocently.
Looking at her funny, he said it again, more slowly. "W..ie..s..el"
Her eyes brightening mischievously, Amanda mimicked the way he spoke, "W..ea..s..el"
The grins the newsies were trying to suppress, now burst out as full blown laughs.
"What are you, stupid or somethin?" Morris asked her.
Amanda looked at Katie with a gasp. "He insults my intelligence in front of me."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, his intellagence is rivaled soley by garden tools.
"You think you's smarter than me, girl?" He asked haughtily.
"Hmmm, let me think about that for a minute...... indubitably." Amanda answered.
"I agree." said Katie.
"Ask me anything, I bet I know more about the topic 'den you'se girls put together."
"What do we get when we beat you?" Asked Katie.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, he responded, "I'll buy both your papers for 2 weeks, and if I win, since yer girls, ya gots ta do my laundry for 2 weeks."
"You're on" Katie confirmed.
Without missing a beat, Amanda challenged, "What are your views on antidisestablishmentarianism?"
"That's a good one." Katie said, putting her hand out to give Amanda a high five.
Blinking his eyes, Morris asked "Say that again?"
"Are you for, or against antidisestablishmentarianism?" Katie asked
"I...ah....um....How many papes would you like today?" he asked, looking down at the counter.
"Wow, someone's discombobulated." Katie commented, and was met with a look of great confusion..
Leaning on the counter, she asked him, "So how many papes does Jack usually get at this time of day?"
Feeling flustered, Morris answered, "... 'bout 60, why?"
"That's how many we each want." Amanda said, and Katie confirmed with a nod.
Weasel smacked Morris upside the head, and told him, "I'll put it on yer tab, and you best be savin yer money from now on, cuz I aint payin for you to buy no girls as many papes as they can carry for 2 weeks."
"Thank you!" Katie said brightly to Morris as he handed her the stacks of papers.
"Have a nice day!" Amanda said, happily waving, grinning at him. The fact that he scowled at her didn't deminish her smile, but it in fact intensified.