Chapter 3. (Told by Spot)

I don't feel as if I know you

You take up all my time.

The days are long and the nights will

 throw you away.

Coz the sun don't shine.

                               -"Hello" by Oasis

               I decided to take the girl to Tibby's to celebrate her first day. Actually I had other reasons; I needed to talk to Jack about my problems with the Bronx. Plus, I knew that she'd like those guys better than the bums near me. In fact, I do too, but I can't be Brooklyn if I lived in Manhattan.

               "Where are we going?" she asked.

               "Tibby's, its in Manhattan, so we have a long way to walk," I answered. "You'll get to meet all my friends from there. Don't worry if you forget their names at first, there are a lot and they understand."

               "Spot, what if they ask my name? They can't just know me as 'girl'."

               "We need to think of a nickname," I said.

               "How do we do that?" she asked.

               "Usually it's based on something you do good, or how you look. Since we don't know what your good at, we'll base it on looks."

               "Ok," she said. I looked over at her. She was kind of tall with dirty blond hair, which was tied back with a red bandanna. She wasn't gorgeous, but she wasn't plain either. She was rather average except one thing: her posture. She had the poise of a dancer. She reminded me of Stage, the once English heiress, now runaway as a singer at Medda's. She told me once she was related to the queen herself. Real royalty folk.

               "You know what? I have no ideas." I stated after a few moments of scrutiny. "We'll just explain what happened to ya when we get there. One of Jacky's boys will be able to think of something."

               "I hope so," I heard her softly whisper. The two of us continued walking, and thirty minutes later we were outside of Tibby's. I walked in and said hello to Jack, and his girlfriend Stress who was sitting next to him. The girl seemed to have trouble looking away from Stress' cat like eyes. I tried not to smile at her shyness.

               "Heya Spot, who's the girl?" He had to ask that! Usually he asks my reason for gracing him with my presence. I didn't know what to say, so I looked at her, hoping she'd speak up. She did.

               "We don't know," she said looking at the floor. "Spot found me the other night, and I've got…what do you call it?"

               "Amnesia?" Davey put in.

               "Yeah amnesia," she said looking up. She still had an air of control even though she was visibly upset.

               "What's amnesia?" Snipeshooter asked.             

               "It means she doesn't have a memory," Kid Blink answered, smiling at her, his blue eye sparkling.

               "Why don't we just call her Memory then?" Les said, innocently.

               "Well, Memory, we're here for you. Even if you don't know who you are," Mush, who is usually tongue-tied around girls, spoke up. Even though he has trouble talking to them, they flock to him, thinking he's the innocent type.

               Memory was introduced to every newsie. They all came over to where we were now seated in a back booth, since she was kind of afraid. Many of the new newsies are scared at first, there are so many of us, and you don't know if you're accepted yet. So, even though with this group you're family right away, I wasn't surprised that she was intimidated.

               After dinner, we went back to the Duane Street Lodging House, to meet Davey's sister, Sarah. Jack and Sarah had been a couple, but that had only lasted a couple days. It had been too weird for Davey, having his sister and best friend dating, so they split up. They are still good friends though. Sarah even gets along with Stress. After the usual greetings, I checked to make sure Memory would be ok, and went up to the roof to meet Jack.

               "So, Spot, what's the deal with Memory? You know, she looks kind of familiar," Jack said after I had found him.

               "I thought so too. I wonder who she is. I found her on the Brooklyn Bridge two nights ago. She's an okay newsie. She finished her twenty papes before I finished my hundred. Plus, unlike you, I didn't keep her with me or give her help."

               "Really? Twenty in two hours? Not bad for a first day."

               "Of course, I said it."

               "Well, I know you and you wouldn't come here just to show me some girl. What's the matter?"
               "There's gunna be a territory war. The Bronx is trying to move into Brooklyn. As dumb as they are, Miller knows better than to invade my territory. He's just asking for his, um, behind, to be beaten in.  (I'm trying to cut down on cuss words.  Why?  I dunno, the author told me too.  Kay.) I wanted to ask for your help if there's any trouble, not that there will be."

               "Spot, of course I'll help. In the eight years we've been newsies, have I ever not helped?" Jack answered.

               "Is it really eight years? It feels like the fire was only yesterday."

               "I know. I still dream about Amanda. She was only eight. She had her whole life ahead of her," Jack was talking about his sister.

SO's

Ashley: I'm glad you like it. Its so great that you had a friend who would help you like that. Keep your true friends close.

Waterfall: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad that you like it.