Grudges Amongst Everyone
Kid Blink's POV
"YOU!?!?!?!" We all yelled. Several secretaries and reporters looked our way and then went back to their paper work. Denton walked over to where I was standing and ended up ushering us the girls, Mr. Monroe and I into his office.
"Kid Blink, you know these two ladies?" I nodded but didn't say anything. My eyes were still on Katelin and Brina. From what I could tell, Brina looked as though she was going to have steam come out of her ears and Katelin looked a bit scared. Both Mr. Monroe or Denton had not noticed the looks on the girl's faces yet and just as they turned to ask the girls the same question, their faces went neutral. Interesting how girls can do that so fast.
"Brina, do you two know this gentleman?" Mr. Monroe looked right at his daughter.
"Yes, we met him yesterday while we went on our walk around the city." Denton turned back to me with a somewhat relieved look on his face. My guess is that he thought we had a bad encounter on which I guess we did. Another guess of mine is that Brina and Katelin don't want to talk about it.
I looked back to Brina and saw that the look she was giving me could kill me. This made me hot under the eye patch and felt the need to get out of the room..NOW!! I bounced back to reality when Denton tried to get my attention.
"I have an idea Kid. How about you show these two ladies a better tour of New York instead of working here in the office. I bet you could get news from the others about different things going on."
'Well it's either working in here all day or visiting friends. I think I'll go with the friends idea though I really don't feel like being alone with Brina.' I thought to myself.
"Okay I'll show them around New York." Denton smiled and then ushered us outside his office saying that he had to discuss some things with Mr. Monroe. Once the door closed, Brina turned on her heel and faced me.
"YOU! If I had known YOU were going to be here today, I would not have let my father talk me into coming. After what you did to Katelin yesterday, I'm surprised you have the nerve to come up out of the hole you live in." Brina grabbed Katelin's arm and pulled her to the door. I saw Katelin wince in pain so that shows that Brina grabbed the bruise.
'She should really put ice on that thing.' I thought. I walked steadily, following them out of the building.
~*~*Brina's POV~*~*
I cannot believe that we now have another name to report to the police on the incident yesterday.
"We have all 3 names Katelin. This means we can now report them to the police."
I continued to walk and didn't notice Katelin wasn't beside me until she spoke up.
"No." That took me completely by surprise and nearly caused me to collide with passersby. I turned around and saw that she was several feet behind me. I walked back to where she was.
"What do you mean no? Those guys hurt you and caused you to bruise. You should report them to the police." I looked at with disbelief at her saying no.
"I.. I.. don't want to re..report him or hiss. Friends." I still stood there in disbelief.
"Why? Those 3 guys hurt you and who knows what else they could have done to you if David and I hadn't come along." Katelin cleared her throat and I knew this was not good. The only time she did this was when she was mad and the strangest thing is, she talks clearly without the stutter.
"I know what they would have done Savannah Brina Monroe!" Oh oh, the use of my full name. Not a good sign.
"Jack Kelly may have been hit by my fist, but he asked me if I was okay. He wanted to make sure I wasn't hurt from falling onto the ground. I found this out from Kid Blink today when he showed me the way to the Sun building because you were to much in a hurry to wait for me."
I was about to mention that I had to leave but decided not to since once Katelin got mad, there was barely anything to stop her rant.
~*~*FLASHBACK earlier that year~*~*
Katelin sat by the window reading one of the many stories she had in her bookcase. All the books had belonged to her mother and father and she just loved reading them over and over again. I was sitting on my bed brushing out my hair for I had just had my bath and if I didn't tend to it, it would get all tangled and I hated that. As I brushed my hair I looked to Katelin and tried to remember why we were such good friends. Sure I helped her to learn how to speak and defended her from the jackass we had known as children but what made her come to me? We were opposites.
My train of thought was lost for about two minutes until I realized that Katelin had gotten up and was at her bookcase again. She had put away her book and was looking for another one I guess. The look on her face seemed to go from the pleasant little smile she normally wore to a worried expression. Her search then went quicker as if she was looking for something in particular. She stopped and then turned to me.
"Uh. Brina. Do you k.know w..w.where my sm..small red book is?"
'Her small red book?' I racked my brain trying to think of a book. I suddenly remembered a ratty looking one that I had given to Andrew one day as a prop for a play he was working on. It was to go in a fire for kindling in the story. I don't know if he ever gave it back.
"Oh that book. I've seen it. I gave it to Andrew for a prop for his play."
I continue to brush my hair and the next thing I knew, Katelin had me by the hair.
"WHAT! What do you mean you gave it to Andrew for the play? That play is about book burning!"
"I gave him the book because it was taking up room on the bookcase. It was ratty and old so I just gave it to him."
I looked at Katelin and saw a fire flame up in her eyes. Suddenly I felt as though I shouldn't have done what I did.
"HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THAT? THAT WAS MY MOTHER'S JOURNAL! YOU HAD BETTER HOPE THAT ANDREW BURNED IT OR I WILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN!!!"
Katelin ran out of the room and out of the house from what I could hear. I prayed to myself that Andrew hadn't burned it because I couldn't bear the thought of Katelin being mad at me.
~*~*End of flashback~*~*
I was lucky that day for Andrew hadn't burned the book. As it turned out, he had read a little of the beginning and seeing that it had belonged to Katelin's mother and knowing how much she meant to her, he put it aside until she came to call.
I snapped back to the present and realized that Katelin had finished yelling at me about how she didn't want to report the boys. I also realized that she was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh great. Just what I need is a girl pissed off at me and now lost in Manhattan." I noticed Kid Blink coming up to me.
"Where's Katelin?"
"I don't know. She was yelling at me at one point and then the next thing I knew, she was gone. This is not good because once she cools off, she will be too shy to talk to anyone for directions."
I started to walk away and Kid Blink ran up beside me.
"Before we start looking for her, I need to know a few things. First of all, why is she mad? Second, why would she be too scared?" I took a breath and relayed to the guy why she was mad at me and why she would be too scared. When I was finished, Kid Blink looked like he was ticked off.
"I'm ticked that you could think of reporting me, Jack and Racetrack to the bulls even though we weren't trying to hurt her. We were just worried about whether or not she was okay. You can go find her on you own."
Kid Blink walked off in a huff.
"Just what I need, another person mad at me." I began to walk in the opposite direction and tried to think of where Katelin would go.
~*~*Meanwhile with Kid Blink~*~*
I can't believe she could think of reporting us to the bulls when we were just making sure Katelin was okay. Not paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into someone.
"Oh sorry." The person mumbled and kept going. If I hadn't looked up, I would of passed the person who had stuck up for me.
"Katelin! Wait up." She looked up and realized whom it was that she had bumped into.
"Oh hello Kid Blink. I'm sorry for going off without telling you and Brina where I was. She just got me so ticked off about the idea of reporting you guys that I just got very mad."
Strands of her hair had fallen from her cap and with the sun coming down on it she looked very pretty. I then realized that she wasn't stuttering anymore.
"Uh. what happened to your stutter?"
"Oh it goes away when I get mad and rant. Brina has told me this happens and I'm happy it does since I only learned how to talk when I was 9." I gave a shocked and confused look and she laughed. She has a very charming laugh. She went into the story of how she lost her parents and such. She talked about these guys Andrew and Michael and with her mentioning them I started to feel down, but didn't show it.
"Don't worry. They're ju.just friends. After th. the jerk Francis Sullivan left, they he. helped me to talk."
WHOA! Wait just a minute. What name did she just say? Francis Sullivan? But that's Jack? He never told any of the guys that he was from Chicago. He would never be that mean to someone especially a girl? I guess Katelin had noticed that I had gone quiet because she tilted her head to one way with a questioning look on her face.
"Wh. what's wrong?" I didn't want to tell her about Jack yet until I was absolutely sure. I would ask him tonight during the poker game.
"Oh it's nothing. I just remembered that I'm supposed to show you around New York and we better get to it before it gets dark." We stood up from where we were sitting on the grass and I held out my arm. She took it with a slight blush on her face. She turned her head so I wouldn't notice but I have a way of noticing.
I showed her around New York and introduced her to Mush and Specs. They were going to Tibby's. They asked us to join them but Katelin piped up that she had to get home. I ended up walking her home and saw that she lived about a block from Medda's. We said good-bye, she walked in and I walked off to the Lodging House to have a little talk with Jack Kelly.
~*~*Later that night~*~*
Racetrack's POV
I sat at the table, my cigar in my mouth and a lousy hand before me. The guys around me were Mush, Specs, Jack and Skittery.
"Okay guys, what does everyone want?"
"One." Mush answered sliding his card to the middle.
"Two." Said Specs.
Both Skittery and I took two each and my hand improved a little. I looked to Jack and asked him what he wanted. He was just about to answer when Kid Blink came storming in the house. He ran straight to Jack and punched him in the face. It didn't knock him over or anything but Mush and I had to hold back Jack before he could hit Kid. Specs and Skittery tried to hold back a fuming Kid Blink.
"What is this all about?" Kloppman asked as he came around from behind the check in counter.
"I've got a question for you Francis." When anyone called Jack "Francis" since the strike, then he or she meant business. My girlfriend Fastdancer is the only one who can get away with calling him that just jokingly.
"Well I'll talk to you just as long as you don't hit me again." Kid nodded and we all sat down except for him because he was still a little angry. By now Fastdancer had shown up and was sitting next to me and Dodger showed up. She gave Kid Blink a hug and then sat down next to Specs. She and Kid Blink used to go out but then Dodger's cousins showed up and she had to leave for a while. This ended up causing them to break but kept them being friends. Anyways, Kid stood before Jack and asked him the questions.
"Jack, did you ever know a girl named Katelin Standish?" We all looked to Jack and saw a smirk come to his face.
"Yeah I knew her. I never told you guys but I came from Chicago before coming here."
"Did you ever tease her?" Jack nodded his head.
"I was 12 years old and she couldn't talk so of course I teased her. It was so easy to get to her. I teased her about that and the fact that her mom had died. She was very pathetic and I'd be surprised if she ever learned how to talk. I hope Andrew and Michael kept it up. Now, can we get back to the game?"
Jack turned back to the table and just as he did, Dodger stood up and slugged him. We all stared in awe because she rarely did this. She then stormed for the door. Fastdancer followed and so did Kid Blink. Before he left, he turned to Jack.
"That was stupid what you did. Oh and by the way, Katelin has learned how to talk. She's the one who gave you that bruise the other day. Brina's here too." And he walked out. I narrowed my eyes and threw my cards at him and then followed the others.
~*~*Outside~*~*
Kid Blink's POV
"Dodger, wait up. Why did you soak Jack? You haven't even met Katelin."
Dodger turned to me.
"I'se soaked 'im because she means a lot to youse. I'se could tell when youse asked your questions. I'se gonna go 'ome to Midtown. Do all of youse guys wanna come? I'm sure Whiz would let youse stay." Race, Fast and I nodded. We all walked off towards Midtown and as far as I could tell, we all had a grudge against Jack and that would last a while, especially Dodger's.
A/N: This is a call out to all of you who have reviewed my story so far. Thanks a lot. I'll review yours if you mine. Fastdancer you're in this one so if any ideas spark up, tell me. Until the next chapter, everyone gets a Newsie cutout!
Kid Blink's POV
"YOU!?!?!?!" We all yelled. Several secretaries and reporters looked our way and then went back to their paper work. Denton walked over to where I was standing and ended up ushering us the girls, Mr. Monroe and I into his office.
"Kid Blink, you know these two ladies?" I nodded but didn't say anything. My eyes were still on Katelin and Brina. From what I could tell, Brina looked as though she was going to have steam come out of her ears and Katelin looked a bit scared. Both Mr. Monroe or Denton had not noticed the looks on the girl's faces yet and just as they turned to ask the girls the same question, their faces went neutral. Interesting how girls can do that so fast.
"Brina, do you two know this gentleman?" Mr. Monroe looked right at his daughter.
"Yes, we met him yesterday while we went on our walk around the city." Denton turned back to me with a somewhat relieved look on his face. My guess is that he thought we had a bad encounter on which I guess we did. Another guess of mine is that Brina and Katelin don't want to talk about it.
I looked back to Brina and saw that the look she was giving me could kill me. This made me hot under the eye patch and felt the need to get out of the room..NOW!! I bounced back to reality when Denton tried to get my attention.
"I have an idea Kid. How about you show these two ladies a better tour of New York instead of working here in the office. I bet you could get news from the others about different things going on."
'Well it's either working in here all day or visiting friends. I think I'll go with the friends idea though I really don't feel like being alone with Brina.' I thought to myself.
"Okay I'll show them around New York." Denton smiled and then ushered us outside his office saying that he had to discuss some things with Mr. Monroe. Once the door closed, Brina turned on her heel and faced me.
"YOU! If I had known YOU were going to be here today, I would not have let my father talk me into coming. After what you did to Katelin yesterday, I'm surprised you have the nerve to come up out of the hole you live in." Brina grabbed Katelin's arm and pulled her to the door. I saw Katelin wince in pain so that shows that Brina grabbed the bruise.
'She should really put ice on that thing.' I thought. I walked steadily, following them out of the building.
~*~*Brina's POV~*~*
I cannot believe that we now have another name to report to the police on the incident yesterday.
"We have all 3 names Katelin. This means we can now report them to the police."
I continued to walk and didn't notice Katelin wasn't beside me until she spoke up.
"No." That took me completely by surprise and nearly caused me to collide with passersby. I turned around and saw that she was several feet behind me. I walked back to where she was.
"What do you mean no? Those guys hurt you and caused you to bruise. You should report them to the police." I looked at with disbelief at her saying no.
"I.. I.. don't want to re..report him or hiss. Friends." I still stood there in disbelief.
"Why? Those 3 guys hurt you and who knows what else they could have done to you if David and I hadn't come along." Katelin cleared her throat and I knew this was not good. The only time she did this was when she was mad and the strangest thing is, she talks clearly without the stutter.
"I know what they would have done Savannah Brina Monroe!" Oh oh, the use of my full name. Not a good sign.
"Jack Kelly may have been hit by my fist, but he asked me if I was okay. He wanted to make sure I wasn't hurt from falling onto the ground. I found this out from Kid Blink today when he showed me the way to the Sun building because you were to much in a hurry to wait for me."
I was about to mention that I had to leave but decided not to since once Katelin got mad, there was barely anything to stop her rant.
~*~*FLASHBACK earlier that year~*~*
Katelin sat by the window reading one of the many stories she had in her bookcase. All the books had belonged to her mother and father and she just loved reading them over and over again. I was sitting on my bed brushing out my hair for I had just had my bath and if I didn't tend to it, it would get all tangled and I hated that. As I brushed my hair I looked to Katelin and tried to remember why we were such good friends. Sure I helped her to learn how to speak and defended her from the jackass we had known as children but what made her come to me? We were opposites.
My train of thought was lost for about two minutes until I realized that Katelin had gotten up and was at her bookcase again. She had put away her book and was looking for another one I guess. The look on her face seemed to go from the pleasant little smile she normally wore to a worried expression. Her search then went quicker as if she was looking for something in particular. She stopped and then turned to me.
"Uh. Brina. Do you k.know w..w.where my sm..small red book is?"
'Her small red book?' I racked my brain trying to think of a book. I suddenly remembered a ratty looking one that I had given to Andrew one day as a prop for a play he was working on. It was to go in a fire for kindling in the story. I don't know if he ever gave it back.
"Oh that book. I've seen it. I gave it to Andrew for a prop for his play."
I continue to brush my hair and the next thing I knew, Katelin had me by the hair.
"WHAT! What do you mean you gave it to Andrew for the play? That play is about book burning!"
"I gave him the book because it was taking up room on the bookcase. It was ratty and old so I just gave it to him."
I looked at Katelin and saw a fire flame up in her eyes. Suddenly I felt as though I shouldn't have done what I did.
"HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THAT? THAT WAS MY MOTHER'S JOURNAL! YOU HAD BETTER HOPE THAT ANDREW BURNED IT OR I WILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN!!!"
Katelin ran out of the room and out of the house from what I could hear. I prayed to myself that Andrew hadn't burned it because I couldn't bear the thought of Katelin being mad at me.
~*~*End of flashback~*~*
I was lucky that day for Andrew hadn't burned the book. As it turned out, he had read a little of the beginning and seeing that it had belonged to Katelin's mother and knowing how much she meant to her, he put it aside until she came to call.
I snapped back to the present and realized that Katelin had finished yelling at me about how she didn't want to report the boys. I also realized that she was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh great. Just what I need is a girl pissed off at me and now lost in Manhattan." I noticed Kid Blink coming up to me.
"Where's Katelin?"
"I don't know. She was yelling at me at one point and then the next thing I knew, she was gone. This is not good because once she cools off, she will be too shy to talk to anyone for directions."
I started to walk away and Kid Blink ran up beside me.
"Before we start looking for her, I need to know a few things. First of all, why is she mad? Second, why would she be too scared?" I took a breath and relayed to the guy why she was mad at me and why she would be too scared. When I was finished, Kid Blink looked like he was ticked off.
"I'm ticked that you could think of reporting me, Jack and Racetrack to the bulls even though we weren't trying to hurt her. We were just worried about whether or not she was okay. You can go find her on you own."
Kid Blink walked off in a huff.
"Just what I need, another person mad at me." I began to walk in the opposite direction and tried to think of where Katelin would go.
~*~*Meanwhile with Kid Blink~*~*
I can't believe she could think of reporting us to the bulls when we were just making sure Katelin was okay. Not paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into someone.
"Oh sorry." The person mumbled and kept going. If I hadn't looked up, I would of passed the person who had stuck up for me.
"Katelin! Wait up." She looked up and realized whom it was that she had bumped into.
"Oh hello Kid Blink. I'm sorry for going off without telling you and Brina where I was. She just got me so ticked off about the idea of reporting you guys that I just got very mad."
Strands of her hair had fallen from her cap and with the sun coming down on it she looked very pretty. I then realized that she wasn't stuttering anymore.
"Uh. what happened to your stutter?"
"Oh it goes away when I get mad and rant. Brina has told me this happens and I'm happy it does since I only learned how to talk when I was 9." I gave a shocked and confused look and she laughed. She has a very charming laugh. She went into the story of how she lost her parents and such. She talked about these guys Andrew and Michael and with her mentioning them I started to feel down, but didn't show it.
"Don't worry. They're ju.just friends. After th. the jerk Francis Sullivan left, they he. helped me to talk."
WHOA! Wait just a minute. What name did she just say? Francis Sullivan? But that's Jack? He never told any of the guys that he was from Chicago. He would never be that mean to someone especially a girl? I guess Katelin had noticed that I had gone quiet because she tilted her head to one way with a questioning look on her face.
"Wh. what's wrong?" I didn't want to tell her about Jack yet until I was absolutely sure. I would ask him tonight during the poker game.
"Oh it's nothing. I just remembered that I'm supposed to show you around New York and we better get to it before it gets dark." We stood up from where we were sitting on the grass and I held out my arm. She took it with a slight blush on her face. She turned her head so I wouldn't notice but I have a way of noticing.
I showed her around New York and introduced her to Mush and Specs. They were going to Tibby's. They asked us to join them but Katelin piped up that she had to get home. I ended up walking her home and saw that she lived about a block from Medda's. We said good-bye, she walked in and I walked off to the Lodging House to have a little talk with Jack Kelly.
~*~*Later that night~*~*
Racetrack's POV
I sat at the table, my cigar in my mouth and a lousy hand before me. The guys around me were Mush, Specs, Jack and Skittery.
"Okay guys, what does everyone want?"
"One." Mush answered sliding his card to the middle.
"Two." Said Specs.
Both Skittery and I took two each and my hand improved a little. I looked to Jack and asked him what he wanted. He was just about to answer when Kid Blink came storming in the house. He ran straight to Jack and punched him in the face. It didn't knock him over or anything but Mush and I had to hold back Jack before he could hit Kid. Specs and Skittery tried to hold back a fuming Kid Blink.
"What is this all about?" Kloppman asked as he came around from behind the check in counter.
"I've got a question for you Francis." When anyone called Jack "Francis" since the strike, then he or she meant business. My girlfriend Fastdancer is the only one who can get away with calling him that just jokingly.
"Well I'll talk to you just as long as you don't hit me again." Kid nodded and we all sat down except for him because he was still a little angry. By now Fastdancer had shown up and was sitting next to me and Dodger showed up. She gave Kid Blink a hug and then sat down next to Specs. She and Kid Blink used to go out but then Dodger's cousins showed up and she had to leave for a while. This ended up causing them to break but kept them being friends. Anyways, Kid stood before Jack and asked him the questions.
"Jack, did you ever know a girl named Katelin Standish?" We all looked to Jack and saw a smirk come to his face.
"Yeah I knew her. I never told you guys but I came from Chicago before coming here."
"Did you ever tease her?" Jack nodded his head.
"I was 12 years old and she couldn't talk so of course I teased her. It was so easy to get to her. I teased her about that and the fact that her mom had died. She was very pathetic and I'd be surprised if she ever learned how to talk. I hope Andrew and Michael kept it up. Now, can we get back to the game?"
Jack turned back to the table and just as he did, Dodger stood up and slugged him. We all stared in awe because she rarely did this. She then stormed for the door. Fastdancer followed and so did Kid Blink. Before he left, he turned to Jack.
"That was stupid what you did. Oh and by the way, Katelin has learned how to talk. She's the one who gave you that bruise the other day. Brina's here too." And he walked out. I narrowed my eyes and threw my cards at him and then followed the others.
~*~*Outside~*~*
Kid Blink's POV
"Dodger, wait up. Why did you soak Jack? You haven't even met Katelin."
Dodger turned to me.
"I'se soaked 'im because she means a lot to youse. I'se could tell when youse asked your questions. I'se gonna go 'ome to Midtown. Do all of youse guys wanna come? I'm sure Whiz would let youse stay." Race, Fast and I nodded. We all walked off towards Midtown and as far as I could tell, we all had a grudge against Jack and that would last a while, especially Dodger's.
A/N: This is a call out to all of you who have reviewed my story so far. Thanks a lot. I'll review yours if you mine. Fastdancer you're in this one so if any ideas spark up, tell me. Until the next chapter, everyone gets a Newsie cutout!