"Hey Jack, here's the money I owe you." I handed him some of my
profit.
"Thanks. So are you going to stick around for a while? Try being a newsie in Manhattan?" We slowly started walking.
"Yea, if no one minds. I think it would be safe enough to sell papers for a while at least, until I can find something else. It also gives me a place to stay, so I think I'll stick around here for a while."
"Good. Kloppmen won't mind. But you need to know, it's hard work. On some days it'll be freezing and you still have to sell, on other days it'll be pouring and you should still find a way to sell, and then there are the days where you'll feel like crap but you still have to sell. I just want to make sure you understand how hard this is, but I think you'll do alright."
"Thanks. I think this is something I can really do, although I don't think I'll ever be able to sell a hundred papers, I may just get good enough to sell maybe thirty a day." We continued walking in silence. I was trying to figure out a good way to ask him about defending myself.
"Jack, I have a favor to ask of you, even though you've helped me out so much already. I was wondering if you could teach me a few fighting moves so I could learn to defend myself."
"You wanna learn how to fight? What brought this on?"
"The Delancy's. They won't leave me alone."
"They generally don't leave most girls alone, ya know? How about we wait a few weeks. If they keep bugging you and you think that you may need fighting lessons, I'll get you some help, is that alright with you?"
"Sure, that's just fine." I was a little irritated, but he couldn't tell. He didn't know me long enough to know that though, so he just nodded and kept walking on. I had to wait a few weeks, that wasn't good enough for me. Anything could happen in a few weeks, especially with my incredible luck right now. Something was going to happen, it had to. Frustrated, I followed Jack back to the lodging house. Later that night I was sitting on my bunk when the boys called Blink and Mush came up to me.
"Hey Chelsea, we've been thinking. You need a newsie name now that your gonna stick around for a while. Since you don't speak very much around everyone, Mush and I decided to call you Whisper. Is that ok with you?" I sat up. Whisper, hmmm. That sounded nice.
"Yeah, I kinda like. Thanks for the name guys." I lied back down and the walked away. It had been a long day and I decided that I was going to need my sleep if I was gonna wake up early tomorrow and do it all over again.
A few days went by and each one was the same as the one before it. I would wake up ridiculously early, get hassled at the distribution center by Oscar and Morris, work my ass off to sell twenty papers, eat something at Tibby's, take a walk, get back to the lodging house exhausted and eventually fall asleep. Being a newsie was the hardest work I'd ever done in my life. Although not all of it was bad, I started to really hate the beginning part of my day. Oscar and Morris had me shaking in my boots. They knew it, I knew it, and everyone else knew it. One day I caught them picking on another newsgirl, so I knew it wasn't just me, but I still dreaded getting my papers in the morning. This morning was no different than any other morning. Oscar and Morris found it funny to hassle me while I was getting my papers. Once again, Oscar had my wrist.
"C'mon, we'll show you a real good time sweetface." I tried yanking my wrist away, and it really wasn't working. Racetrack walked up behind me.
"Just let her go Oscar, this is getting old." Oscar let go, winked like usual and went about his business. I was really starting to hate him. I sold all of my papers that day and then went looking for Jack. I didn't want to wait anymore, I needed to know how to fight and I needed to know soon. I found him at Tibby's.
"Jack, I can't wait anymore, please teach me how to fight now, please please please?" Jack just looked at me and sighed.
"Just give it a few more days Whisper, I don't think you need to know how to fight. I think you just need to keep ignoring them." I was so frustrated, I walked away from Jack and right out of the restaurant. I was so angry with him. Couldn't he see that they wouldn't leave me alone? Why wouldn't he help me, why wouldn't he teach me to fight, or at least defend myself? It felt like the end of the world, which I knew at the time, was me being a teenager. I decided to go for a run, I didn't care where I ran, I just wanted to run. I started around Central Park and just took any turn I felt like. Pretty soon I found myself at the Brooklyn Bridge. I had never been across it before. I was only starting to get to know Manhattan, I didn't need to get lost in another borough so I turned around and started running back to the lodging house. Half way there, I ran out of breath so I stopped running and just started walking. Thinking back on it now I realized that I saw them before they saw me, but I was so wrapped up in my head that it didn't click and once they spotted me there was no escaping them. Oscar and Morris made their way over to me and cornered me against a wall.
"Uh, hi guys." They just smirked before Oscar punched me in the stomach. Morris then proceeded to punch me in the eye. They were just roughing me up a little bit, but it still hurt like hell. When they were finished, they just walked away. I wasn't hurt to bad, it felt more like they were making a statement. I stood up and got dizzy so I knelt back down and ended up throwing up. I stood up again and wobbled to the lodging house. The only thing I was thinking was that Jack better be teaching me some self- defense moves now.
"Thanks. So are you going to stick around for a while? Try being a newsie in Manhattan?" We slowly started walking.
"Yea, if no one minds. I think it would be safe enough to sell papers for a while at least, until I can find something else. It also gives me a place to stay, so I think I'll stick around here for a while."
"Good. Kloppmen won't mind. But you need to know, it's hard work. On some days it'll be freezing and you still have to sell, on other days it'll be pouring and you should still find a way to sell, and then there are the days where you'll feel like crap but you still have to sell. I just want to make sure you understand how hard this is, but I think you'll do alright."
"Thanks. I think this is something I can really do, although I don't think I'll ever be able to sell a hundred papers, I may just get good enough to sell maybe thirty a day." We continued walking in silence. I was trying to figure out a good way to ask him about defending myself.
"Jack, I have a favor to ask of you, even though you've helped me out so much already. I was wondering if you could teach me a few fighting moves so I could learn to defend myself."
"You wanna learn how to fight? What brought this on?"
"The Delancy's. They won't leave me alone."
"They generally don't leave most girls alone, ya know? How about we wait a few weeks. If they keep bugging you and you think that you may need fighting lessons, I'll get you some help, is that alright with you?"
"Sure, that's just fine." I was a little irritated, but he couldn't tell. He didn't know me long enough to know that though, so he just nodded and kept walking on. I had to wait a few weeks, that wasn't good enough for me. Anything could happen in a few weeks, especially with my incredible luck right now. Something was going to happen, it had to. Frustrated, I followed Jack back to the lodging house. Later that night I was sitting on my bunk when the boys called Blink and Mush came up to me.
"Hey Chelsea, we've been thinking. You need a newsie name now that your gonna stick around for a while. Since you don't speak very much around everyone, Mush and I decided to call you Whisper. Is that ok with you?" I sat up. Whisper, hmmm. That sounded nice.
"Yeah, I kinda like. Thanks for the name guys." I lied back down and the walked away. It had been a long day and I decided that I was going to need my sleep if I was gonna wake up early tomorrow and do it all over again.
A few days went by and each one was the same as the one before it. I would wake up ridiculously early, get hassled at the distribution center by Oscar and Morris, work my ass off to sell twenty papers, eat something at Tibby's, take a walk, get back to the lodging house exhausted and eventually fall asleep. Being a newsie was the hardest work I'd ever done in my life. Although not all of it was bad, I started to really hate the beginning part of my day. Oscar and Morris had me shaking in my boots. They knew it, I knew it, and everyone else knew it. One day I caught them picking on another newsgirl, so I knew it wasn't just me, but I still dreaded getting my papers in the morning. This morning was no different than any other morning. Oscar and Morris found it funny to hassle me while I was getting my papers. Once again, Oscar had my wrist.
"C'mon, we'll show you a real good time sweetface." I tried yanking my wrist away, and it really wasn't working. Racetrack walked up behind me.
"Just let her go Oscar, this is getting old." Oscar let go, winked like usual and went about his business. I was really starting to hate him. I sold all of my papers that day and then went looking for Jack. I didn't want to wait anymore, I needed to know how to fight and I needed to know soon. I found him at Tibby's.
"Jack, I can't wait anymore, please teach me how to fight now, please please please?" Jack just looked at me and sighed.
"Just give it a few more days Whisper, I don't think you need to know how to fight. I think you just need to keep ignoring them." I was so frustrated, I walked away from Jack and right out of the restaurant. I was so angry with him. Couldn't he see that they wouldn't leave me alone? Why wouldn't he help me, why wouldn't he teach me to fight, or at least defend myself? It felt like the end of the world, which I knew at the time, was me being a teenager. I decided to go for a run, I didn't care where I ran, I just wanted to run. I started around Central Park and just took any turn I felt like. Pretty soon I found myself at the Brooklyn Bridge. I had never been across it before. I was only starting to get to know Manhattan, I didn't need to get lost in another borough so I turned around and started running back to the lodging house. Half way there, I ran out of breath so I stopped running and just started walking. Thinking back on it now I realized that I saw them before they saw me, but I was so wrapped up in my head that it didn't click and once they spotted me there was no escaping them. Oscar and Morris made their way over to me and cornered me against a wall.
"Uh, hi guys." They just smirked before Oscar punched me in the stomach. Morris then proceeded to punch me in the eye. They were just roughing me up a little bit, but it still hurt like hell. When they were finished, they just walked away. I wasn't hurt to bad, it felt more like they were making a statement. I stood up and got dizzy so I knelt back down and ended up throwing up. I stood up again and wobbled to the lodging house. The only thing I was thinking was that Jack better be teaching me some self- defense moves now.