Another chapter!!
TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION: the main character is Cabby-the same girl Race danced with in the first chapter. Six years later, Cabby is in New York dancing with a vaudeville theater. She originally came to new york to find Race, but she couldn't.
And another thing: nobody's nose is crooked. Fluke (cabby's best friend) thought her nose was crooked (which it isn't), it had been broken a couple years earlier because…. Some reason or another which I really don't know.
Oh goodness, I forgot the disclaimer!!!
*looks around to see if anyone noticed*
The harsh truth is better when it is simply put: Newsies = not mine
Cabby = mine
Other characters = their owners
I always wanna cry when I write the disclaimer. For me it's like watching the last scene of Tuck Everlasting (which, by the way, also is NOT mine)
After the final curtain call, the five performers ran into the wings of the small stage, eager to escape the heavy air of the brightly lit stage.
"What time is it? Can't we go somewhere tonight?" Asked Cabby, eager to get out of the theater and spend the rest of the night on the town with her friends.
"It can't be that late, we should go somewhere, Raven. The theater gets so dull sometimes." Fluke said, agreeing with her friend.
Ershey's eyes widened in excitement, and she swung her arms in huge arcs to get the other girls' attention.
"I know where we should go!!! I know!! Pick me!! Pick meeee!!!!"
Raven thought for a minute whether or not to close the club early and take them to Manhattan. After all, it was just over the bridge, and she knew Spot would be happy to escort them. And she might just be able to have a bit of time to spend with Jack. Raven felt as if she hadn't seen him in forever, and there were a few female newsies over in Manhattan. Not that her typical girlfriend worries had any basis in reality… Jack loved her more than anything else in the known world.
"How 'bout we go to Manhattan? Spot can go with us." She said, giving in to the thought of being near Jack.
Ershey launched into a victory dance, excited about the prospect of seeing the object of her not-yet-proclaimed attraction, Mush. Shamrock ran upstairs to grab the coats, wondering what the Manhattan newsies look like- Shamrock was pretty much a flirt.
Cabby, on the other hand, frowned at the last part of Raven's statement.
"Spot Conlon? You're letting Spot walk us over there?"
Cabby wasn't exactly a fan of Spot.
When they first met, Cabby felt uneasy around him. which was perfectly understandable, taking into consideration his attitude and place among Brooklyn. Spot immediately picked up on that and gave her a hard time bout it. When he talked to her his conversation was laced with arrogance, and sarcasm. To this day, he knew she didn't like him and did all that he could possibly do to make her angry with him. Raven forbid her to say or do anything against him. This limit drove Cabby to frustration, but it wasn't without a grain of reason: he was one of Raven's best friends, the authorized owner of the theater, and the owner of the streets of Brooklyn- the only place she had as a home. So she avoided him as much as humanly possible.
"Can't we just go by ourselves? I mean, what could happen?"
Even Cabby could hear how incorrect her argument was. They wouldn't be fine if they attempted to go to Manhattan at night. They were five girls: all of them wearing dark makeup and the revealing clothes that they wore for the stage. She knew that they needed Spot. She would just have to bite the bullet and bear him going with them.
Raven gave her a look and Cabby gave up. Raven always had the final word in the matter. Raven walked off to drag the club patrons outside so she could lock up.
Cabby turned to Fluke, who was collecting the props and extra costume pieces from the side of the stage that were leftover from the show.
"I don't see why we have to bring Spot with us… there are other guys that would walk over with us. Your boyfriend was out in the audience… couldn't he have gone with us? Blink is nice enough to do that for us." Cabby looked hopeful as she presented this idea to Fluke.
Fluke laughed at her friend's unwillingness to be anywhere near Spot. Sure, Spot bothered Cabby an awful lot, but he wasn't a bad guy. Quite the contrary. It was because of him that they all had a roof over their heads. He occasionally took them out to dinner when he won a poker game. Even though he was pretty arrogant at times and a notorious womanizer, Spot was a pretty great guy.
"Sorry Cabby, Blink already went back to Manhattan. Although if he knew we were going there too, I'm sure he would have waited for us."
"NOOOOO!!!!!" yelled cabby, sinking to the floor in mock despair.
Shamrock appeared with the coats in hand, and Ershey excitedly dragged them to the doors, where Raven and Spot waited.
Spot smiled to see them. He looked directly at Cabby and smiled cockily. She looked at him, wary of what he would say next
"Aww Cabby… I hear you aren't too happy with me accompanying you girls to Brooklyn. If you prefer, I could just let you guys walk alone."
Raven elbowed Spot angrily. Obviously Raven had mentioned how Cabby felt about him walking with them and told him of it. She probably told him so he would stop causing trouble between them.
Cabby forced a sweet smile and shook her head slightly.
"No, not at all. I'm rather looking forward to the walk with you."
She shrugged her coat on and walked out of the club and into the cold snow, her heels digging into the freshly fallen snow. This winter night was a calm one. The streets were nearly empty, most people had gone to the warmth of their homes or ducked into a warm bar or restaurant. The girls pulled their long coats over themselves. They were poorly dressed to handle the cold; they wore extremely shortened skirts and tight, thin, strapless shirts. The thick knee-length coats were their only barrier between themselves and the cold that came this mid-December. And as much as Cabby hated to admit it, Spot had been very generous to supply the girls with those coats.
As the small group passed over the bridge, Raven looked over the edge of the railing, into the sloshing dark waters of the river. Cabby felt a little queasy, thinking of the long fall to the water below. She involuntarily shuddered, wishing Raven would come away from the railing.
To ignore her feeling of uneasiness about the bridge, Cabby watched her feet as they shuffled through the snow. Something about how the snow fell so lightly from the sky evoked memories from her past
She remembered being taken in by a wealthy family to work as a servant in their large home. It took her awhile to pick up the language they spoke, Italian. She remembered how stupid she felt at first, not being able to understand the orders she was given. But that changed and she soon learned the language fluently. Although Shamrock also spoke Italian, Cabby never let on to the fact she also knew it.
She could recall the lavish holiday parties that they threw this time of year, the smell of the wine and the sound of the music. She used to sit by the banister that looked over the large hall they danced in, taking in the spectacular event with all the simple enthusiasm of a little girl that was never able to experience it first-hand.
But most of all, she remembered the night she lost it all.
***
It was a few days after the New Year, and Claire was having trouble falling asleep. Something wasn't right, she could feel it. The house creaked on its foundation and ambiguous shadows danced on the walls of her tiny room. Cold seeped in from the small iron-barred window above her bed, a window that was the size of a book.
Finally having enough of just sitting there, frightened, she quietly got up and left the room, slipping quietly through the halls. She went through the kitchen door, leading to the outside gardens in the back of the mansion.
Claire walked, admiring the way the tiny snowflakes fell, pretending she was visiting heaven, seeing the mother she never really knew, a mother that had died and left her at an orphanage when she was a baby.
She didn't realize how far she had walked, for now she was hopelessly lost in some unknown wooded area. A little tired, she sat down at the base of a tree to wait for the light of morning, so she didn't get lost even further in the darkness. Somewhere in that time she waited, Claire fell asleep.
The smell of acrid flames woke her up. Confused for a second as to where she was, she looked up in the sky and saw glowing smoke. With a sickening realization, she ran towards the direction of the fire, realizing it was her home.
By the time she made it back, the house was beyond any sort of saving. No one was standing outside the house. She was alone. Alone with a burning building. The only home she ever had.
Unable to handle the reality of what happened, she ran back into the woods. Falling to the base of the tree to cry herself to sleep in the softly falling snow. She had nothing left. Even the gold pocket watch that her mother left her with.
The next day, she went into town. Upon asking at the police station, she learned of what exactly had happened. The cause for the fire wasn't known, but everyone in the house had died in the fire. Except the boy. He had escaped before the flames reached his room by climbing down from his balcony. Early this morning he was seen taking a train to New York City.
Claire felt a kind of sadness. Had she expected him to take her too? No, certainly not. He had never paid attention to her. Until that Christmas Eve party. The next day, she took a train to New York City. She had to find him
***
"CABBY!! CABBY!! Are you in there??" A hand waving in front of her face brought Cabby back to reality. Fluke laughed as Cabby tried to figure out where they were. A sign said it all:
NEWSBOYS LODGING HOUSE.
They walked inside the run down building. Some of the guys and girls were in the 'lobby' of the lodging house. Raven immediately ran up the stairs, to the bunkroom where Jack was. Spot walked around, talking with some of the newsies.
Blink poked his head out of the door at the top of the stairs and saw Fluke by the front entrance. He grinned and waved, as he raced down the stairs. He lost his footing and fell, tumbling down the stairs at an alarming rate. He landed in a heap at the bottom, to the laughter of everyone in the room. Blink raised himself to his feet, looking sheepish at his stumble.
"That was a really smooth one!" yelled one of the guys that had to dive out of the way of the falling Blink.
Ershey grabbed Cabby's arm and said in a hushed voice,
"That's him! You know- HIM!"
Cabby looked at what Ershey was talking about.
"You mean Mush?" said Blink, walking over to Fluke. "You know… he's single. HEY MUSH! YOU GOTTA GET OVER HERE!!! Blink suddenly yelled that last part so loud that everyone in the immediate area flew in the air.
Mush turned around and came over to see what his friend wanted, smiling shyly at the girls. Shamrock pushed a scared-looking Ershey forward. Ershey smiled weakly and attempted to introduce herself.
"i-i-i- uh.. i'm…umm"
"what I think she means to say is.." Shamrock piped up from behind the stuttering girl, "….is that she was wondering if you would like to take a walk with her. So you can get to know each other better."
"it's because she likes you." Blink outwardly stated this and Ershey's dark almond-shaped eyes widened with embarrassment.
Mush blinked rapidly for a moment.
"Really???" he said, trying to keep a cheesy grin from engulfing his features. He looked at Ershey and blushed, saying quietly, "so… do you wanna take a walk with me?"
"okay that's settled" yelled shamrock, throwing the couple out of the door before Ershey even accepted his offer.
Fluke and Blink then left the lodging house, heading in a different direction.
Being completely unfamiliar with the Manhattan newsies, Shamrock and Cabby stood by the door, not talking with the others in the room.
Cabby noticed one of the guys in the room staring in their direction. She nudged Shamrock and whispered,
"I think blondie over there is checking you out. You should go talk to him"
"are you gonna be fine by yourself?"
"Yeah… I'll find something to do" Cabby said, watching Shamrock walk over to flirt.
With everyone else paired off, Cabby was now by herself, standing awkwardly under the appraising glances of the people in the room. Like most newsies, they mostly kept to themselves- cautious of newcomers.
Looking around for something to do, she itched to try out what Raven had been teaching her for the past few weeks. Just as she had promised when the two had first met, Raven had taught her the fine art of pick pocketing. With that aim in mind, she scanned the room for her target. A glint of gold caught her eyes and her sharp mind quickly formed a plan to snatch the gold pocket watch from its owner, a short, dark-haired Italian newsie.
He was coming down the stairs as Cabby approached him. She smiled at him and he inclined his head in a small bow…then continued on his way. As he passed her, she was too shocked to grab anything from his pocket. He just walked past her. Like it was nothing, he didn't even look twice at her!
Though she wasn't arrogant or egotistical, Cabby knew she was very beautiful. And at the moment, she knew she was very snubbed. Never, in the past three years had she had trouble attracting any guy she wanted. Beside herself with puzzlement, she followed the Italian boy down the stairs. She decided to try again. She again smiled, this time introducing herself and turning up any sort of charm she possessed.
"I'm Cabby. And I couldn't help but notice you as you walked down the stairs." She was still fazed by how he had walked past her, and her urgency to find out why he had failed to acknowledge her was apparent
"well…" said the guy in a heavily accented voice, "I'm Racetrack. And I'm also not interested." He said this in a very even voice, with all the characteristics of a polite refusal.
Daunted by his unambiguous rejection, Cabby stared in amazement at Racetrack, tilting her head as if inquiring after an explanation.
"let me get this straight- YOU are turning ME down? It's….it's…impossible."
Racetrack smiled and slightly chuckled at how flustered Cabby was.
"Actually, doll-face, it's quite possible. It's even happening as we speak. For, you see, I'm not interested in girls like you. Even I have got my pride. And if I bought my attention from women, then what kind of person would I be? So… it was very nice meeting you, Cabby, but I'll be on my way."
Her feelings of shock gave way to a wave of fury and humiliation.
"Wha-what do you think I am exactly??" She growled at him.
"I honestly don't care." Racetrack responded coolly, resting his hand on the banister of the rickety wooden stairs.
"well, whatever it is you are thinking, you are very much mistaken. I don't have to take this from you. I never asked you to judge me, you silly little boy!"
Racetrack laughed a harsh mocking laugh as he lit a cigar.
"a 'silly little boy'? whoa… I'm ever so insulted."
Close to frustrated tears, Cabby brushed past him deftly slipping her hand into his pocket and unchaining the watch. Raven had taught her well. He didn't realize it was gone. As soon as she was fully past him, she slipped the watch into the inside pocket of her coat. She walked outside, sitting down near the entrance and allowing the night air to cool her cheeks.
'A silly little man?'
Cabby could have kicked herself. Racetrack was right, that was one of the lamest comebacks she had ever spoken.
A female voice spoke from behind her.
"May I join you?"
Cabby spun around to see a female newsie behind her. She was of a normal height, looked to be her age and had dark brown hair with vibrant red natural streaks darting through it.
Cabby nodded silently and the girl cleared the snow off the seat before she sat down.
"Racetrack isn't usually so much of a jerk… he's just is kind of judgmental of the kinds of jobs some people have to do so they can survive."
Her chocolate brown eyes were laced with compassion. Later on, Cabby would come to know that it was a rare moment, the sarcastic girl hardly ever felt sorry for a complete stranger.
"Oh, but- I'm not a prostitute!" Cabby blurted out, not wanting to be mistaken for the second time in ten minutes.
The girl looked slightly embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry! I didn't realize…"
"It's alright. Really. I've been mistaken before. I just never experienced the reaction Racetrack had." Cabby laughed, although thinking of Racetrack brought back her humiliation.
"I'm Camaderie" said the other, grinning. "And again- I'm really sorry."
Sorry I took so long to update!!
In case you're wondering, I'm slowly trying to add in the characters that responded to the casting call, so if your character hasn't appeared yet, they will.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed… its much appreciated.
To everyone that reads and doesn't review….
Thank you for reading anyway…..
*sniff*
…..I'm sure there is a very good reason that you don't click the little review button and quickly write something……
*double sniff*
……and I know that if you knew how much heartbreak you cause me that you would review out of the kindness of your heart…….
*starts leaking tears*
…..and if you knew how long I slaved over a keyboard and procrastinated on my homework…..
*now sobbing and in desperate need of tissues*
REVIEW!!!! OH, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! I WOULD OWE YOU HALF A NEWSIE!!!!
Love,
*~CABBY~*