Mush wiped the back of his hand on his sweaty forehead as he looked around. It was already mid-morning and he was tired as hell. The fight last night had caused the boys to act slower and sluggish than they usually were. Most of them didn't even get the sleep and peace that they deeply desired and rarely achieved. Their physical state didn't help much either, although it helped them when they sold their papers. Skittery sported a shiner on his right eye that seemingly looked as if it got worse by the hour. Jack could still feel the pain on his shoulders on which he was brutally struck by a Lurker. Mush had a slight cut on his lower lip, giving him a minor lisp as he talked. Blink grimaced as he swallowed the aching pain of his leg muscles because of the excess running they had done last night. Anthony, however, had a bruise developing on his left arm, where he had skidded down on the ground to kick one of the Lurkers. They had all seen better days, but they kept on selling, still aware of any sudden attacks that the Lurkers might provide.
Boxer had told them to keep a look out for everyone, especially Chase and Strider, in fear that Spike might strike again. Skittery even insisted that Strider will sell with him today, because of what had happened yesterday night. Although Boxer remained calm and composed that morning when he addressed the boys, they could still feel the tension that ran throughout him. Everybody knew Boxer because of his fighting skills and quick thinking. His elevated height and strength gave him the authority of being the leader of the Manhattan newsies. But unlike Spike, he looked out for every one of them, acting as a big brother, and making sure they were alright. His strong punches and hits gave people the first impression of a menacing bully, but the newsies just saw this as a way of protecting themselves. Boxer was more than that.
"Almost done there, Italy?" asked Mush as he walked up towards Anthony, who was still holding half of what he bought at the Distribution Center that morning.
Anthony scoffed and answered, "Yeah, right. Nobody wants to seem to buy papers today… the headlines aren't helping either."
"Here, give me half of what you got…" said Mush as Anthony handed him a stack of newspapers. "You gotta learn that with being a newsie, you gotta learn how to improve the headlines. Just 'cause there's a lousy headline doesn't mean you can't sell papes."
Anthony looked at Mush as if he had gone mad. How was he supposed to "improve" the headlines? He knew he was creative enough, but sometimes the headlines just don't work out. "So how am I supposed to improve this headline? Workers demolish chimneys?" said Anthony as he glanced down at the paper he was holding in his hand.
Mush smirked. "Easy! Here… just watch…" Mush walked off a good distance away from Anthony as he held up the paper in his hand and waved it around for everyone to see. "Street gangs blow up chimneys!!! Thousands of people die from wreckage!!!" shouted Mush at the top of his voice.
Suddenly, an incoming mass of people hurried towards him, wanting to see the story that he had just read. The weight on his arm slowly decreased as people constantly kept on giving him a penny for the paper he was selling. After what seemed like minutes, Mush grinned and sauntered over to where Anthony was standing, his hands free of newspapers, replaced by money that he had just earned. "THAT'S how you sell papes."
Anthony gaped as he thought of what headline he could improve. He knew he just needed a bit of practice before he could start shouting headlines out of the top of his head just like Mush. "Geez…"
"How about we move to a new place where they haven't seen us before?" asked Mush as he led Anthony away from the crowded sidewalk they were standing. "Sapphy hasn't been here for a while so I guess we could go over to her selling spot. People are probably wanting their pape already…" said Mush while they walked.
Minutes later, they arrived at a different street, filled with smaller but still crowded buildings and the bustling of people. Anthony had lived in New York all his life, but this scene was unfamiliar to him. It seemed that they had reached the lowest of the low. The buildings seemed as if they were about to crumble, the paint on the walls already peeled off, broken and smashed windows sat carefully at the edge of the rooms, and several clotheslines were put up, on which newly-cleaned clothes were hung only to get dirtied again by the incoming dust and smoke of the factories nearby.
"She sells here?" uttered Anthony as he looked around.
Mush nodded as he patted Anthony on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it… people here may seem unfriendly, but they're just scared of people taking their belongings away from them. Besides, no one's asking you to be friends with them… although Sapphy made a few. But remember, all you gotta do is sell papes… and there's always somebody around who wants to read a wacky story in the paper."
"Yeah…" said Anthony uncertainly. "Sell papes…"
"Don't forget! Headlines don't papes, newsies sell papes!" shouted Mush as he sat down on the sidewalk, waving towards two people that he couldn't see and leaving Anthony to fend for himself.
Anthony looked around uncertainly and finally decided to do what he came to do. He looked down on the stack of papers he was holding in his hand and scanned the paper as he looked for a headline that might catch the people's attention. Minutes later, Anthony had already five headlines in mind. He sighed as he surveyed the streets, ready to sell his papers. He glanced back at Mush who was busily chatting with Skittery and Strider. He raised his hand in the air, clutching the paper and shouted with all his might.
"President gets mugged from vacation!!! Officials baffled, leaving the president penniless!"
Anthony saw two elderly women dressed both wearing an apron placed above their stained and soiled blouse and skirt. They slowly made their way towards Anthony, who was already convinced that nobody was going to buy his papers.
"Boy… give me one of those…" croaked one of the women as she handed him a penny. "I swear, the people who are ruling this country these days…" muttered the woman as she took the paper and walked away, leaving her friend standing in front of Anthony. She glanced at Anthony, the ends of her white hair touching the rims of her eyes. "Gimme one too, boy… I know how it is to have a life worth nothing."
Reluctantly, Anthony handed her the paper and thought of what had just happened. He had just sold newspapers! Although one of the women had bought the paper from him out of pity, Anthony was still impressed with himself and what he could do. Awe and confidence filled him as he grabbed another one of his papers and cleared his voice to shout out the headline.
"Dead corpse found in the bottom of the river!!! Jewelry and money found nearby!!!"
Anthony smiled to himself as he saw a group of middle-aged men come towards him, their cigars hanging from their mouth, with their suits wrinkled and dirty. Anthony eagerly gave them their papers as they crowded around him, offering him their money. Minutes later, Anthony found that he had nearly sold almost all of his papers. All he needed was ten more people to buy his papers. He looked about and saw Mush, Strider, and Skittery smiling up at him and giving him a thumbs-up for his hard-earned work.
"Come on, Italy! Finish it off! We're hungry!" said Skittery as he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at Anthony.
Anthony smiled and nodded back at them as he inhaled a breath of air and started out with another headline.
"Chicago attacked by—" Anthony's voice rang through the air, but it was suddenly cut off by another voice also shouting not very far. He heard the sound of the voice, clear and calm, but also rich and sensual. Eventually, Anthony realized it was a female's voice. Anthony looked about him and saw one block away from him was a slim and petite girl with straight shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair that glistened as the sunlight fell upon their heads.
"Boy painted yellow!!! Mother found her son as bright as the sun!!!" shouted the girl as she walked about, waving the papers in her hands. Unexpectedly, Anthony saw a great mass of people that had been walking towards him veer towards the girl, who was smiling sweetly and innocently to those who would buy a paper from her. She, then, turned towards Anthony and gave him a sly smile as if to say "Yeah, right."
Anthony clenched his teeth as he searched the paper for another headline. He moved a bit nearer to where the girl was standing, but just enough to keep the distance from each other. "Bar owner builds house out of glass bottles!!!"
Suddenly, a wave of people who were heading towards the other girl walked towards Anthony, curious to see about the glass of bottles that the bar owner had built. Anthony smirked and offered them their papers as he looked at the girl, who glared back at him with piercing blue eyes and started scanning the paper almost immediately. She slowly moved a bit towards him, making sure that the people around still knew she was there.
"Lawyer gives up job to pursue the entertaining business!!!" shouted the girl as she flipped her hair beyond her shoulders, as if to give off the finishing touch. Three young gentlemen walked up to her, offering her a penny for the papers she was holding. Anthony sighed as he looked back down at the paper. She wasn't going to back down. His stomach grumbled and reminded him that he needed money to buy food that day. He was still trying to get used to the small amounts of food that the newsies received everyday.
"Cat saves drowning lamb!" shouted the girl as she walked nearer towards Anthony.
"50,000 cigars found in can of beans!!!" shouted Anthony in reply.
"Englishwoman buried in her mattress!!!"
"Man walks backwards and falls in lake!!!"
Seconds later, they found each other at a stunned silence as they both flipped the pages of the last newspaper that they were holding, eager to see who would make a better headline. Suddenly, one caught Anthony's eye. He grinned and knew he was going to win and beat this girl who had unknowingly shown up where he was selling his papers. He looked across the street, finding her standing right across him, her hand on the paper as she raised her arm up.
"TIGER AND ALLIGATOR FOUND IN MANHATTAN APARTMENT!!!" shouted the two at the same time. Anthony looked across to see that the girl had said the same headline as he had. A ripple of laughter could be heard around the street as he turned to see Mush, Strider, and Skittery laughing their hearts out at the performance that the two had given. Hesitantly, a young man walked up to Anthony and bought his last paper. With a sigh, Anthony walked over to the three, Mush clutching his stomach, Strider covering her mouth in an attempt to stop laughing and Skittery still wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Tiger and alligator…" said Mush as he inhaled another breath of air and started laughing. "How could I have missed THAT?"
Suddenly, Anthony saw the girl briskly walk towards him. Her hair flew past her shoulders and her fair skin glowed, turning a darker shade from being outside in the sun too much. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped in front of Anthony, her hands placed on her hips.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?! You have no right taking this selling spot from me!" shouted the girl as she pointed at Anthony and glared at him.
Mush, Strider, and Skittery held back their smiles and laughter to see what was going on.
Anthony scoffed as he looked at the girl before him. He had to admit; he thought she was pretty, with her blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair. But as for now, she was in his way. "YOUR selling spot?" asked Anthony. "I don't think so…" He knew this wasn't his selling spot but somebody else's, Sapphy, but he still held his ground. At least he would fight for the girl's selling spot.
She gave a strained growl and looked back up at Anthony. "I've been here forever! Ask the people around you…" She looked behind Anthony, to where Mush, Strider, and Skittery were sitting on the sidewalk. "Ask them!" she said as she pointed at the three, who were suddenly shielding themselves from the girl's presence. Mush pulled down his hat while Skittery and Strider pretended to have a conversation. She looked at them pleadingly and turned to Anthony.
"Look…" she sighed as she tried her best to keep herself calm, but she shook her head and glowered at Anthony once again, looking into his deep brown eyes. She brought her right arm up and curled it into a fist, ready to punch him, but as she took a step forward to do so, Anthony quickly caught her hand mid-air and shook his head. He could see that the girl was slim and petite, but he could already feel the strength in her punch gather up even though he only grabbed her hand in mid-air.
"Don't—" started Anthony, still holding her hand, but his sentence was cut off when he could see that she was ready to take another swing. Only this time, with her other hand. Right before she was about to make an impact on Anthony he dodged and bent down to keep from getting hit once again. He had already been in a fight and he didn't want to be in another one again. Anthony suddenly saw that the girl had lost her balance when she moved forward, causing her to fall forward, but Anthony, cleverly enough, caught her right before they both hit the ground.
Anthony felt the full blow of the pavement, as he was first to hit the ground. It didn't help much either, that the girl was right on top of him, her eyes wide in shock.
"Leggo of me!" mumbled the girl. Sheepishly, Anthony realized that he was still holding her and let go. She groaned as she pushed herself up and dusted her dress with her hands. Anthony, however, was still on the ground and put his hand in front of his eyes to block out the sunlight. He suddenly saw three other figures stand before him, which he recognized as Mush, Strider, and Skittery. He slowly sat up, still trying to regain his strength and reluctantly stood up, facing the group.
Once again, Anthony saw the three smirking and grinning as he looked at them. With a sigh, Mush walked up to Anthony and put his arm around his shoulder. "Glad to see that you've met Sapphy."
***
i just had to lighten the mood since i did the last chapter was so serious. it took me forever to figure out what to say for the headlines, since the link for the newspapers online (the one that stretchy gave out) wasn't working. *jumps* thanks to sagey for helping me!
Shout-outs
Sapphy: aw, sorry 'bout the gypsies thing! i luv gypsies and all, but i needed to add more shtuff in it. lol! i just realized that i misspelled your name TWICE without even noticing it! hahah, i dunno if that was me or microsoft word correcting my mistakes again. :P slider? don't you mean strider? *confusion* i don't have a character named slider! but that'd be a good newsie name tho... *nod*
Thistle: Yeah... i couldn't think of anything else for his name cuz if i picked another name, it would be SO difficult to keep up with two, three names for Race. that'd just be too confusing for me! lol! spot doesn't exactly like him... but you'll see! *wink*
Spazjoslyn: *jumps* where have you been?! lol! but don't worry, you can breathe now... since i have time on my hands and we have a break from school.
*isn't it funny that i'm listening to newsies songs while i'm doing this? look at me! i'm the king of new york! ANYWAYS... back to SOs*
Emu: wow, thanks for the AWESOME fb! i didn't think you were still keeping up with my story!
Strider: lmao, *nod* you SHOULDN'T say that! hahah, jk!
*goes off and eyes what a girl wants dvd*