I awoke to a bucket of water being poured on my face. You think that these
boys would find another way to wake someone up.
"What the hell..o Spot." I said, now fully awake.
"I'se been tryin' ta get ya up for da past ten minutes! Now get up!" With that he pushed me off my bunk and walked into the washroom, "We'se leaving in five minutes."
I laughed. "Looks like the old Spot's back," I mumbled as I got ready.
We walked to Manhattan in complete silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. As soon as we got to Manhattan, I regretted going there with Spot. I mean, I didn't know what I was going to say to Race, actually I wasn't even sure if I wanted to face him. And it wasn't that I wasn't looking forward to seeing all the other guys again, it was the fact that I'd was almost one hundred percent positive they would ask questions about where I've been and why I left, and certainly didn't want to have to explain everything.
We walked to Tibby's to see if anyone was there yet. I guess it really wasn't my lucky day because the only person in there was Race.
"Great." I said aloud.
"I'se gotta go find Jack. I'll meet ya at the lodging house latah tonight," Spot said with a reassuring pat on the back.
"What!? No, no, no. Spot you can't leave me! Please stay with me!" I pleaded.
"Stop bein' a baby and get in der!" With that Spot opened the door and practically threw me into Tibbys.
I tried to leave but Spot stood outside the door mouthing that he would soak me if I didn't go talk to Race. I couldn't help but laugh. Spot was back to his old unemotional ways. I know he wouldn't have soaked me, but deep down I kind of wanted to see Race again.
"What cho laughing at?" I quickly turned to see Race. Not looking very happy, might I add.
"Hey Race."
"Hey Race? You'se leave wid out tellin' no one where you were goin'. We'se been lookin' fer ya all week, worried sick, and you den you waltz in heah and all you'se gotta say is 'Hey Race'?
That boy sounded like he could be my mother, and I had to try so hard to keep a straight face. "Well, yea."
Race's straight face turned into a huge grin. He was never good at hiding his emotions, definitely no Conlon. "Dat woiks fer me." Race gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek. "So where ya been goil?"
"Brooklyn."
"What?!" Good old Race. "Why's you laughing Crystal?"
After I stopped laughing and ordered my lunch I turned back to Race, "It's Chrys now."
Race looked at me, One eyebrow raised. "So whad cha do in Brooklyn?"
"Was a newsie, of course."
"And Spot was okay wid dis? He's not fond of goil newsies." I explained to Race all about how me and Spot met, and fought, and all. Leaving out the part on the docks yesterday, of course. I was extremely relieved to find our conversation going smoothly, without any awkward silences or anything.
After a while, the other newsies came in, all happy to see me back in Manhattan. Unlike with Race, when they asked where I'd been, I simply answered, "Around." Race was smiling the whole time, like he knew something the others didn't. He did; he knew where I was the past week, and the others didn't, and I think he felt pretty damn special.
"Hey Chrys. Wanna go to Sheepshead wid me?"
"Shoa Race. Hey guys! Me and Race are goin' ta da tracks. See ya latah!"
Race and I spent the rest of the day at the tracks. I must admit, I am the most unlucky person when it comes to gambling. Well, Race might be a tad bit unluckier, so you can only imagine how much money we lost. I was having so much fun I didn't even think of what would happen if Race and I lost all our money. Well, I guess we would find out because we didn't have any money at all. On the way back to the lodging house, it suddenly occurred to Race that we were broke.
"Uh. Chrys?"
"Hmm?"
"We ain't got no money."
"Ain't dat the truth." I said laughing.
"Well yea, dat too. But what I mean is dat we ain't got no money at all. We got no money for dinner, no money for da lodgin' house. No money, period"
"Ohh.. Shit. Well, umm.. hold on. Lemme think of sumthin."
A whole five seconds later, "You'se done thinkin' yet?"
"Actually, yea. I gots two ideas. We can beg for money, or we can entertain for money."
We decided on the entertainment instead of begging. Race pulled out his harmonica and played while I sang and danced around on the street corner. We may have horrible luck at the tracks, but we had even worse luck on that corner. We made enough for one small dinner and well, that's all we had enough for. We figured we could climb up the fire escape to the lodging house, so we didn't have to worry about that. With our extremely little amount of money we were able to buy a dinner, which we shared, from a street vendor and made our way back to the lodging house.
"What the hell..o Spot." I said, now fully awake.
"I'se been tryin' ta get ya up for da past ten minutes! Now get up!" With that he pushed me off my bunk and walked into the washroom, "We'se leaving in five minutes."
I laughed. "Looks like the old Spot's back," I mumbled as I got ready.
We walked to Manhattan in complete silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. As soon as we got to Manhattan, I regretted going there with Spot. I mean, I didn't know what I was going to say to Race, actually I wasn't even sure if I wanted to face him. And it wasn't that I wasn't looking forward to seeing all the other guys again, it was the fact that I'd was almost one hundred percent positive they would ask questions about where I've been and why I left, and certainly didn't want to have to explain everything.
We walked to Tibby's to see if anyone was there yet. I guess it really wasn't my lucky day because the only person in there was Race.
"Great." I said aloud.
"I'se gotta go find Jack. I'll meet ya at the lodging house latah tonight," Spot said with a reassuring pat on the back.
"What!? No, no, no. Spot you can't leave me! Please stay with me!" I pleaded.
"Stop bein' a baby and get in der!" With that Spot opened the door and practically threw me into Tibbys.
I tried to leave but Spot stood outside the door mouthing that he would soak me if I didn't go talk to Race. I couldn't help but laugh. Spot was back to his old unemotional ways. I know he wouldn't have soaked me, but deep down I kind of wanted to see Race again.
"What cho laughing at?" I quickly turned to see Race. Not looking very happy, might I add.
"Hey Race."
"Hey Race? You'se leave wid out tellin' no one where you were goin'. We'se been lookin' fer ya all week, worried sick, and you den you waltz in heah and all you'se gotta say is 'Hey Race'?
That boy sounded like he could be my mother, and I had to try so hard to keep a straight face. "Well, yea."
Race's straight face turned into a huge grin. He was never good at hiding his emotions, definitely no Conlon. "Dat woiks fer me." Race gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek. "So where ya been goil?"
"Brooklyn."
"What?!" Good old Race. "Why's you laughing Crystal?"
After I stopped laughing and ordered my lunch I turned back to Race, "It's Chrys now."
Race looked at me, One eyebrow raised. "So whad cha do in Brooklyn?"
"Was a newsie, of course."
"And Spot was okay wid dis? He's not fond of goil newsies." I explained to Race all about how me and Spot met, and fought, and all. Leaving out the part on the docks yesterday, of course. I was extremely relieved to find our conversation going smoothly, without any awkward silences or anything.
After a while, the other newsies came in, all happy to see me back in Manhattan. Unlike with Race, when they asked where I'd been, I simply answered, "Around." Race was smiling the whole time, like he knew something the others didn't. He did; he knew where I was the past week, and the others didn't, and I think he felt pretty damn special.
"Hey Chrys. Wanna go to Sheepshead wid me?"
"Shoa Race. Hey guys! Me and Race are goin' ta da tracks. See ya latah!"
Race and I spent the rest of the day at the tracks. I must admit, I am the most unlucky person when it comes to gambling. Well, Race might be a tad bit unluckier, so you can only imagine how much money we lost. I was having so much fun I didn't even think of what would happen if Race and I lost all our money. Well, I guess we would find out because we didn't have any money at all. On the way back to the lodging house, it suddenly occurred to Race that we were broke.
"Uh. Chrys?"
"Hmm?"
"We ain't got no money."
"Ain't dat the truth." I said laughing.
"Well yea, dat too. But what I mean is dat we ain't got no money at all. We got no money for dinner, no money for da lodgin' house. No money, period"
"Ohh.. Shit. Well, umm.. hold on. Lemme think of sumthin."
A whole five seconds later, "You'se done thinkin' yet?"
"Actually, yea. I gots two ideas. We can beg for money, or we can entertain for money."
We decided on the entertainment instead of begging. Race pulled out his harmonica and played while I sang and danced around on the street corner. We may have horrible luck at the tracks, but we had even worse luck on that corner. We made enough for one small dinner and well, that's all we had enough for. We figured we could climb up the fire escape to the lodging house, so we didn't have to worry about that. With our extremely little amount of money we were able to buy a dinner, which we shared, from a street vendor and made our way back to the lodging house.