I looked up at Kerry while he held his unloaded slingshot out, aimed across
the river at Manhattan. After overhearing a conversation on the docks
earlier, I gained the information that Kerry and Buttons often competed for
the best shot in Brooklyn apart from Spot Conlon, yet Kerry never
practiced, except when he was upset or bored, while Buttons would spend
literal hours after selling hitting empty booze bottles off of the ledges
of the docks just to keep his title.
"I heard you're pretty good at that," I said, almost a monotone, Honestly, we didn't have much to talk about.
"Yeah," He let go and tucked the slingshot back into his back pocket. "We all learn jus' in case we gotta go fight, like during the strike, when we saved Manhattan's lazy bums," He grinned and winked at me, I could tell he was only joking about the Manhattan boys being 'lazy bums', "But they're a good ambush weapon, it was Warrick's idea, a couple of years afore I came, trained all 'is boys and every time they got a new kid they'd hand him a slingshot and tell him to work on his aim." He laughed, "Buttons is always trying to prove that he's better than me..." He paused and grinned, "We all know he's not though."
I smiled; Kerry's smile had struck again, making me want to smile again. He walked over and slowly slid one of his hands around my waist, and lacing his and my fingers with the other. It reminded me of the night of his younger sister's birthday, when he'd pulled me close to him and we'd danced, I laughed at the memory, "You and your... impeccable aim," I winked and he blushed.
He softly pushed my hair off my shoulder, his blue eyes softly staring down at me.
"What did Buttons tell you about last night?" I asked him seriously. I was surprised when he didn't pull away from our embrace, but only hesitated for a second.
"He-he told me you were sleepin' with Spot, and I told him I didn't believe 'im, but he kept sayin' that he saw ya come out of his room, and that you were blushin' pretty badly, and I didn't want to believe it, but when I asked you..." He trailed off for a moment, then continued, "But it wasn't true, so it doesn't matter." He smiled and lightly kissed my nose, then softly whispered in my ear, "And I love you, so it doesn't matter," then he leaned over and kissed me, letting my mouth get lost in his.
Kerry told me he had to leave soon, and he did. I didn't watch where he went though, I just stood, looking out at the river, wondering what Patrick was doing just then, and running my finger gently under my necklace. After about ten minutes of mindless daydreaming, I walked crisply into the clubhouse, where there was a poker game going on in the lower room between Buttons and three other Brooklyn Boys. Buttons was winning. I shook my head and started up the stairs, but paused when I heard a familiar accent speaking to someone in the upper room of Spot Conlon's clubhouse.
"Do you love him?" I heard Kerry say, not sure who he was speaking to, I inched closer. I felt a little bad for eavesdropping, but it WAS my room.
"You know how it is Kerry, when you know that every morning Anabeth wakes up to those flowers you spend almost all your food money on, grins, and breathes them in for hours until you get home? And how the thought her smiling alone makes it worthwhile to go without that extra slice of bread?" I recognized the voice of his younger sister, and smiled, even though the thought that Kerry was giving up food to give me flowers worried me, "Well that's how it is with me and Jack. When I'm with Jack, I just forget about everything but me and him, and how happy I am to be alive, and with him. I'm gonna miss you, Kerry, I'm gonna miss you somethin' awful. But I'm in love with Jack, and I'm gonna marry 'im when I get to Santa Fe."
"Oh," I heard Kerry say, I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was probably staring at his boots as if they had something fascinating on them, like rubies, "I'll miss ya, Ruthy. Lots." He said quietly, "But I hope you two are happy. And Bonnie, you'll write me, right? I mean, I'll write you back. And maybe I'll get a real job, and I can ask Shorts to marry me... and maybe we'll go out and visit you in Santa Fe."
I smiled. Wait. Did he just say he was going to ask me to marry him? I shook the thought off and continued eavesdropping.
"That'd be nice, Kerry," I heard Fishface say, I leaned forward so that I could sort-of see them, Fishface had embraced her brother in a hug, "I'll miss you all so much. You, and Spot," (I grimaced at this part, I knew she wasn't COMPLETELY clueless as to Spot's feelings for her, yet she still cared about him as a brother. Fishface, I decided right then, was extremely tolerable.), "And Anabeth." When she said this, I was a little bit surprised, of course, Fishface liked positively EVERYONE, but I didn't expect her to MISS everyone, "And Mush, and Kid Blink, and Cru-" After she started to name every newsie in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I tuned her out and headed back down the stairs, perhaps I could find someone worth talking to.
The room had filled completely with Brooklyn newsies, including their (to quote Buttons) "oh-so-fearless leader", Spot Conlon and his God-awful cane. He glanced up at me, and smiled ever-so lightly, as if to acknowledge my presence, but nothing else. He seemed a bit distant, and if anything else, upset over something.
I walked over to him, wondering what was wrong. He looked up at me, something in his eyes told me that he didn't want to talk, but I asked anyways, "What's wrong? You seem. upset."
He shrugged, "Ain't we perceptive?" He said sarcastically.
"It's about Fishface, isn't it?" I pushed, not really knowing why I was pushing in the first place.
"She's leavin'," He said it so glumly that I realized how hurt Spot must have been by her leaving, and suddenly wanted to rip her hair out. A fleeting impulse, that's all. 'Love ain't a choice, Anabeth.'
"I heard..." I wondered to myself if she'd told him about Jack proposing, but didn't ask.
"I guess she told you all about it then? How the Cowboy's almost got it all set up and everythin'?" Spot's hand was twitching again, and once again, on a fleeting impulse, I softly set my own tiny hand on top of his.
He didn't move his hand, and I hoped he would take it as merely a comforting gesture.
"Well, I wish I knew somethin' to say to make ya feel better," I shrugged and looked away, inwardly debating whether or not to take my hand off of his. Searching for something that might take his mind away from Fishface, I had a bit of an idea. "Feel like a walk?"
Spot looked back up at me disbelievingly, "What?"
"I feel like takin' a walk," I grasped his hand in mine and attempted to pull him up from his sitting position. "Come on."
Spot didn't fight back from being dragged along on my walk after that. I wasn't quite sure if he actually wanted to go on a walk or he just wasn't up to resisting. Either way, it wasn't long until we were completely out of sight from his docks.
"So why'd you want to go on a walk?" He asked me, hanging his cane on his belt loop.
I shrugged, "Just felt like it... after all that mess with Kerry, it's nice to get out."
"Oh... yeah." I was sure by the tone of his voice that Kerry was NOT the subject that Spot wanted to be on, "He's alright then? After last night?" I wondered for a moment what Spot was talking about, but then I remembered. Kerry had been drunk last night. "MacKilligan doesn't usually get that drunk... maybe a little bit, but not so drunk that he'd pass out. I hate it when they do that. Buttons turned up out cold on the docks this mornin' too."
I nodded, "I know."
"How'd you know?" He asked, seeming a bit more alert than before.
"I uh... saw him go out last night. He was talking to me." I said, not feeling much like lying to him.
"Why didn't you tell me he was out there?" Spot demanded.
"I dunno, didn't seem important."
"What? It's important when MacKilligan gets drunk all over himself, but when one of me other boys does it, it doesn't matter?" He looked angry, and I looked at my feet.
"I was angry with him... He was gonna tell Kerry lies about me." I said lamely.
"Did he?"
"Yeah. He did." I said plainly, feeling like a total fool.
Spot looked concerned for a moment before he smirked, "What sort of lies, Doll-Face?" he said mockingly.
I glanced back down at my feet, "He told Kerry I was sleepin' with you... 'cause he saw me come out of your room last night."
Spot shut his mouth, and the look about him changed from amusement to a sort of pity. I hated it. "Kerry... He told him that? What'd Kerry do?"
"I told him I loved him, that I wouldn't do that to him. And he believed me." I gave him a half-smile.
"That's good..."
Suddenly we heard a loud boom and looked up to the sky, knowing the thunder was signaling that rain would be flooding down soon.
"Maybe we should go back," Spot began, and no sooner did he speak but droplets of rain started to maul us.
"No way," I said firmly to him. All around, people were clearing the street to get away from the showers that were growing thicker every second.
"What are ya, insane?" Now he had to shout to be heard over the pounding of rain on the street and the sidewalks and the rooftops, even though I was only standing a foot or two away.
Grinning, I turned to run away into the street, which was completely empty. Reaching the middle, I twirled around a few times and then stood there smiling. I loved to stand in the rain, and it was especially enjoyable now. It was relieving to not fear that my behavior would elicit a shrill cry of "Anabeth Meyers!" from one of the sisters at the convent. Standing there, feeling my hair and clothes soaking through to my skin, I felt a sense of freedom.
Looking around, I couldn't see Spot anywhere through the thick rain, and I tried to call out to him. Everything was a dull gray color, barely visible. I called out his name again, but there wasn't any response and a frown came across my face as I thought to myself, 'Now where did he go?'
As I started to shout his name a bit louder, I felt someone grab me from behind and lift me a few inches off the ground. Screaming, I was spun around twice and then dropped back to my feet. I whirled around and saw him standing there with that smirk of his.
"So can we go back NOW?" he asked impatiently.
"Of course not," I started to back away. "That stunt bought you five more minutes," I added with a smirk of my own.
Spot followed me as I moved away. "Aw, come on. We'll get sick if we stay out here much longer." He was right, we were both completely drenched, but I was having too much fun. I grinned again, and all it got out of him was, "You're a crazy kid."
"Maybe, but you wouldn't like me any other way." I stopped, letting him catch up with me. As I looked up at him, my smile faded, remembering when we had been walking back from Manhattan that night so many weeks ago, the last time he'd kissed me. I didn't want to be stuck in another situation like that with him again, it seemed like we'd just accepted each other as a friend. Maybe it would just be easier if I left him out of my life. But glancing up into his smoldering green eyes, I didn't want it to be easier. He needed to stop confusing me like that, I enjoyed it too much. "Well... I guess we should go."
I watched Spot as he sauntered into the fog, and then ran up behind him, smiling just a bit. It was a few minutes before we reached the docks, and we were both soaked head to foot. He told me that he was going to go into his room and change his shirt. I shook my head and entered the clubhouse.
"Shortstack!" I heard his worried voice coming from the back of the room, "Bonnie---are you alright? You're soaked..." Kerry rushed over.
"I'm fine," I laughed, shaking some of my wet hair in his face. He laughed.
"You're soaked!"
"Well, it IS raining," I smiled as his hands slowly made their way around my waist. I had to admit, I was cold, and his wrapping himself around me was warming me up. He lightly pushed some of my hair out of my face like he usually did, and planted a kiss on my forehead.
"You could catch your death in that rain, Anabeth," He warned me, not pulling away in the least.
"I know," I smiled, "I just couldn't help myself. I love the rain."
Kerry grinned from ear to ear and said, "I love you."
I kissed him softly and replied, "I love you, too."
"I heard you're pretty good at that," I said, almost a monotone, Honestly, we didn't have much to talk about.
"Yeah," He let go and tucked the slingshot back into his back pocket. "We all learn jus' in case we gotta go fight, like during the strike, when we saved Manhattan's lazy bums," He grinned and winked at me, I could tell he was only joking about the Manhattan boys being 'lazy bums', "But they're a good ambush weapon, it was Warrick's idea, a couple of years afore I came, trained all 'is boys and every time they got a new kid they'd hand him a slingshot and tell him to work on his aim." He laughed, "Buttons is always trying to prove that he's better than me..." He paused and grinned, "We all know he's not though."
I smiled; Kerry's smile had struck again, making me want to smile again. He walked over and slowly slid one of his hands around my waist, and lacing his and my fingers with the other. It reminded me of the night of his younger sister's birthday, when he'd pulled me close to him and we'd danced, I laughed at the memory, "You and your... impeccable aim," I winked and he blushed.
He softly pushed my hair off my shoulder, his blue eyes softly staring down at me.
"What did Buttons tell you about last night?" I asked him seriously. I was surprised when he didn't pull away from our embrace, but only hesitated for a second.
"He-he told me you were sleepin' with Spot, and I told him I didn't believe 'im, but he kept sayin' that he saw ya come out of his room, and that you were blushin' pretty badly, and I didn't want to believe it, but when I asked you..." He trailed off for a moment, then continued, "But it wasn't true, so it doesn't matter." He smiled and lightly kissed my nose, then softly whispered in my ear, "And I love you, so it doesn't matter," then he leaned over and kissed me, letting my mouth get lost in his.
Kerry told me he had to leave soon, and he did. I didn't watch where he went though, I just stood, looking out at the river, wondering what Patrick was doing just then, and running my finger gently under my necklace. After about ten minutes of mindless daydreaming, I walked crisply into the clubhouse, where there was a poker game going on in the lower room between Buttons and three other Brooklyn Boys. Buttons was winning. I shook my head and started up the stairs, but paused when I heard a familiar accent speaking to someone in the upper room of Spot Conlon's clubhouse.
"Do you love him?" I heard Kerry say, not sure who he was speaking to, I inched closer. I felt a little bad for eavesdropping, but it WAS my room.
"You know how it is Kerry, when you know that every morning Anabeth wakes up to those flowers you spend almost all your food money on, grins, and breathes them in for hours until you get home? And how the thought her smiling alone makes it worthwhile to go without that extra slice of bread?" I recognized the voice of his younger sister, and smiled, even though the thought that Kerry was giving up food to give me flowers worried me, "Well that's how it is with me and Jack. When I'm with Jack, I just forget about everything but me and him, and how happy I am to be alive, and with him. I'm gonna miss you, Kerry, I'm gonna miss you somethin' awful. But I'm in love with Jack, and I'm gonna marry 'im when I get to Santa Fe."
"Oh," I heard Kerry say, I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was probably staring at his boots as if they had something fascinating on them, like rubies, "I'll miss ya, Ruthy. Lots." He said quietly, "But I hope you two are happy. And Bonnie, you'll write me, right? I mean, I'll write you back. And maybe I'll get a real job, and I can ask Shorts to marry me... and maybe we'll go out and visit you in Santa Fe."
I smiled. Wait. Did he just say he was going to ask me to marry him? I shook the thought off and continued eavesdropping.
"That'd be nice, Kerry," I heard Fishface say, I leaned forward so that I could sort-of see them, Fishface had embraced her brother in a hug, "I'll miss you all so much. You, and Spot," (I grimaced at this part, I knew she wasn't COMPLETELY clueless as to Spot's feelings for her, yet she still cared about him as a brother. Fishface, I decided right then, was extremely tolerable.), "And Anabeth." When she said this, I was a little bit surprised, of course, Fishface liked positively EVERYONE, but I didn't expect her to MISS everyone, "And Mush, and Kid Blink, and Cru-" After she started to name every newsie in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I tuned her out and headed back down the stairs, perhaps I could find someone worth talking to.
The room had filled completely with Brooklyn newsies, including their (to quote Buttons) "oh-so-fearless leader", Spot Conlon and his God-awful cane. He glanced up at me, and smiled ever-so lightly, as if to acknowledge my presence, but nothing else. He seemed a bit distant, and if anything else, upset over something.
I walked over to him, wondering what was wrong. He looked up at me, something in his eyes told me that he didn't want to talk, but I asked anyways, "What's wrong? You seem. upset."
He shrugged, "Ain't we perceptive?" He said sarcastically.
"It's about Fishface, isn't it?" I pushed, not really knowing why I was pushing in the first place.
"She's leavin'," He said it so glumly that I realized how hurt Spot must have been by her leaving, and suddenly wanted to rip her hair out. A fleeting impulse, that's all. 'Love ain't a choice, Anabeth.'
"I heard..." I wondered to myself if she'd told him about Jack proposing, but didn't ask.
"I guess she told you all about it then? How the Cowboy's almost got it all set up and everythin'?" Spot's hand was twitching again, and once again, on a fleeting impulse, I softly set my own tiny hand on top of his.
He didn't move his hand, and I hoped he would take it as merely a comforting gesture.
"Well, I wish I knew somethin' to say to make ya feel better," I shrugged and looked away, inwardly debating whether or not to take my hand off of his. Searching for something that might take his mind away from Fishface, I had a bit of an idea. "Feel like a walk?"
Spot looked back up at me disbelievingly, "What?"
"I feel like takin' a walk," I grasped his hand in mine and attempted to pull him up from his sitting position. "Come on."
Spot didn't fight back from being dragged along on my walk after that. I wasn't quite sure if he actually wanted to go on a walk or he just wasn't up to resisting. Either way, it wasn't long until we were completely out of sight from his docks.
"So why'd you want to go on a walk?" He asked me, hanging his cane on his belt loop.
I shrugged, "Just felt like it... after all that mess with Kerry, it's nice to get out."
"Oh... yeah." I was sure by the tone of his voice that Kerry was NOT the subject that Spot wanted to be on, "He's alright then? After last night?" I wondered for a moment what Spot was talking about, but then I remembered. Kerry had been drunk last night. "MacKilligan doesn't usually get that drunk... maybe a little bit, but not so drunk that he'd pass out. I hate it when they do that. Buttons turned up out cold on the docks this mornin' too."
I nodded, "I know."
"How'd you know?" He asked, seeming a bit more alert than before.
"I uh... saw him go out last night. He was talking to me." I said, not feeling much like lying to him.
"Why didn't you tell me he was out there?" Spot demanded.
"I dunno, didn't seem important."
"What? It's important when MacKilligan gets drunk all over himself, but when one of me other boys does it, it doesn't matter?" He looked angry, and I looked at my feet.
"I was angry with him... He was gonna tell Kerry lies about me." I said lamely.
"Did he?"
"Yeah. He did." I said plainly, feeling like a total fool.
Spot looked concerned for a moment before he smirked, "What sort of lies, Doll-Face?" he said mockingly.
I glanced back down at my feet, "He told Kerry I was sleepin' with you... 'cause he saw me come out of your room last night."
Spot shut his mouth, and the look about him changed from amusement to a sort of pity. I hated it. "Kerry... He told him that? What'd Kerry do?"
"I told him I loved him, that I wouldn't do that to him. And he believed me." I gave him a half-smile.
"That's good..."
Suddenly we heard a loud boom and looked up to the sky, knowing the thunder was signaling that rain would be flooding down soon.
"Maybe we should go back," Spot began, and no sooner did he speak but droplets of rain started to maul us.
"No way," I said firmly to him. All around, people were clearing the street to get away from the showers that were growing thicker every second.
"What are ya, insane?" Now he had to shout to be heard over the pounding of rain on the street and the sidewalks and the rooftops, even though I was only standing a foot or two away.
Grinning, I turned to run away into the street, which was completely empty. Reaching the middle, I twirled around a few times and then stood there smiling. I loved to stand in the rain, and it was especially enjoyable now. It was relieving to not fear that my behavior would elicit a shrill cry of "Anabeth Meyers!" from one of the sisters at the convent. Standing there, feeling my hair and clothes soaking through to my skin, I felt a sense of freedom.
Looking around, I couldn't see Spot anywhere through the thick rain, and I tried to call out to him. Everything was a dull gray color, barely visible. I called out his name again, but there wasn't any response and a frown came across my face as I thought to myself, 'Now where did he go?'
As I started to shout his name a bit louder, I felt someone grab me from behind and lift me a few inches off the ground. Screaming, I was spun around twice and then dropped back to my feet. I whirled around and saw him standing there with that smirk of his.
"So can we go back NOW?" he asked impatiently.
"Of course not," I started to back away. "That stunt bought you five more minutes," I added with a smirk of my own.
Spot followed me as I moved away. "Aw, come on. We'll get sick if we stay out here much longer." He was right, we were both completely drenched, but I was having too much fun. I grinned again, and all it got out of him was, "You're a crazy kid."
"Maybe, but you wouldn't like me any other way." I stopped, letting him catch up with me. As I looked up at him, my smile faded, remembering when we had been walking back from Manhattan that night so many weeks ago, the last time he'd kissed me. I didn't want to be stuck in another situation like that with him again, it seemed like we'd just accepted each other as a friend. Maybe it would just be easier if I left him out of my life. But glancing up into his smoldering green eyes, I didn't want it to be easier. He needed to stop confusing me like that, I enjoyed it too much. "Well... I guess we should go."
I watched Spot as he sauntered into the fog, and then ran up behind him, smiling just a bit. It was a few minutes before we reached the docks, and we were both soaked head to foot. He told me that he was going to go into his room and change his shirt. I shook my head and entered the clubhouse.
"Shortstack!" I heard his worried voice coming from the back of the room, "Bonnie---are you alright? You're soaked..." Kerry rushed over.
"I'm fine," I laughed, shaking some of my wet hair in his face. He laughed.
"You're soaked!"
"Well, it IS raining," I smiled as his hands slowly made their way around my waist. I had to admit, I was cold, and his wrapping himself around me was warming me up. He lightly pushed some of my hair out of my face like he usually did, and planted a kiss on my forehead.
"You could catch your death in that rain, Anabeth," He warned me, not pulling away in the least.
"I know," I smiled, "I just couldn't help myself. I love the rain."
Kerry grinned from ear to ear and said, "I love you."
I kissed him softly and replied, "I love you, too."