Previously on How Could He Care So Much for Me?
:::::
I am not sure how long he sat there, me in his arms, stroking my body tenderly, keeping fear from my mind and calming me enough to have dreamless sleep. When I woke up three hours later, he was there, I was still in his arms. He had slept sitting up, the sun was just creeping above the low horizon clouds. The pink tipped clouds were fluffy and unhindered, moseying around the sky in an uncharted pattern that the wind determined.
I felt him stir, and I fell back into him, leaning into his soft but firm stomach. I closed my eyes and tried to level my breathing back out again. When I was certain he was still asleep, I reached my arms around his waist, and held onto him, nestling into his stomach. I realized that he had a certain smell, a hint of cigarettes and something else, something I couldn't define, something I didn't want to define, to put a standard on. It was a free of any boundaries, so I memorized it, and fell back asleep.
The second time I woke up, I was alone.
There were numerous noises about the room, I realized that the reason I was awake, was because Bird was poking me incessantly on the forehead. "Would you cease and desist that annoying poking?" I asked annoyed.
"Well now dat you'se is up, yea, I can! God Loid you take forevah ta wake up!" she gave me one final POKE and then vanished down below my eye level, I groggily sat up and looked around again, searching for someone. I met eyes with Sparks, he didn't have a shirt on. I noticed how completely toned he was, well-defined abs, and not huge arms, but strong.
He gave me a small warm smile, and the turned around to put a shirt on. I climbed off the top bunk and landed with a CLUNK on my feet on the floor below. I put my shoes back on, and sat next to Bird on her bed, she was reading again.
"Can I borrow some clothes? I mean, these are nice and all, but they are Spots, and I don't think he'll like me keeping them forever………" she looked up from her book and smiled, "Well yea, go look in the bag at the end right there," she pointed, "I'm not sure if I have any extra undershirts though." I laughed--undershirts. I never wore those anyway…
I rummaged through her bag at the end and found a soft cotton button-down dark blue shirt, and a pair of grey pants. I rubbed the fabric between my fingers, and finding it suitable, walked to the washroom and changed in a stall.
I noticed that the noise level had dropped considerably, down to complete silence actually. I came out, and began buttoning the blue shirt up when I bumped into someone.
"Oh, hey Spot..…" I trailed off slowly. He glanced down at the mostly buttoned shirt I was wearing, the un-tucked tails, and baggy gray pants I was wearing. He made a point of looking back at my eyes instead of my shirt, I turned around and began walking back into the stall, and finished buttoning my shirt. I bent over, grabbed his brown pants and checkered green shirt, and put them under my arm.
"Hey," was all he said in response. "Where is everyone?"
"Dey left ta go sell dere papes,"
"Listen Spot, about last night,"
"What about last night?"
"I just wanted to tell you….."
"Tell me what?" he took a step forward and turned his head sideways, there was a concerned look on his face as he came closer.
"Thank you," I said quickly, and pulling him into a tight hug at the same moment I quickly released him and looked back at him. At first he didn't react at all to the previous embrace, but then he reached around me and pulled me close to him, wrapping me up in his arms. He put his chin on top of my head and his thumbs were running in little circles on the small of my back. I wondered idly what someone would think if they came into the room while we were hugging in such a close fashion.
I soon knew-- as Bird walked in, putting the final changes to her hair into her hat.
Her lovely brown hair fell down as the hat dropped from her hands in shock. She could only see Spot's position, I suppose she must have thought he and I were—doing something.
"Should I come back latah?" she asked as she interrupted, laughing. Spot turned around, glaring her down, "No, nuthin's happenin in heah, I was jist bout ta leave anyway," he said heavily, giving me one last look and walking out. Bird eyed him up and down and then walked over to me suspiciously.
"Were you'se two doing anything dat I'se should not know about?" she asked inquisitively. I shook my head fervently, "No, I was just thanking him—" "Thankin' him fah what exactly?" she asked skeptically, but a small devilish smile appeared on her lips.
"Well I kind of need to talk to you about that, hmm….." I sighed, "Lets just go," I said finally. She laughed lightly and shrugged, grabbing me by the arm and escorting me out of the lodging house to the distribution center. She slowly taught me the process of being a newsie in Manhattan. I was familiar with the term newsie by then, but I was still unclear of what exactly one did if one was a newsie.
She showed me how to change the headlines to catch people's attention, eventually I was yelling for her and she was collecting the money. I had a louder yell, and more outrageous story titles. We made a good team to say the truth.
Around lunch, we were finished and decided to go to Tibby's to meet up with the guys. I was then educated on the whereabouts of the newsies on a daily basis.
When we arrived at Tibby's I was bombarded by the smell of beer. Tibby's was practically a bar, it just happened to serve solid foods as well as liquid. We walked in and I searched for the familiar figure, but I couldn't find Spot, or for that matter, Sparks.
I sat down next to Jack who was talking quietly with Colleen. She looked over across Jack when I sat down and glared at me.
Well, this was interesting, only the night before she had been treating me like I was actually a person.
Jack turned around and looking in the direction Colleen was, saw me sitting beside him. He turned fully away from Colleen and his conversation to talk to me. "How wus your foist day of sellin?" he asked me with a happy grin on his face. "Well, me and Bird worked together. I would yell the titles, and she would handle the money, I think I've got it down, well nearly." I shrugged, he gave me a one armed hug and the smile on his face widened.
Bird sat down next to me and we all began to talk, the conversation was trite, and average, just things like weather. "So Boid, how's ya brotha?" " Oh, Slingah? Yea 'e's fine! Say's dat da Bronx is getting rowdy dough, he told me ta tell you'se ta stay away from da Bronx fah a week a two, jist ta be safe," she said knodding her head slightly to Jack.
"I didn't know you had a brother?" I said softly to Bird. She looked around and shrugged, "Yea, me olda bruddah, Slingah…did you know he's da kid dat taught Spot ta use a sling shot? Haha, yea," she laughed at my astonished face. However, she didn't know the reason behind it, you see, I didn't know that Spot knew how to use a sling shot in the first place.
"Hey, nobody done taught me to use me sling shot, I'se just a natural is all!" said a slightly out of breath Spot, still with his customary smirk on his face. The sight of his face made me feel a little flustered as I sat in the booth next to Jack.
"Somethin' wrong Jade?" Bird asked curiously.
I shook my head a little to clear it of the less than chaste thoughts, "Oh, no, nothing at all, why would you think that?"
"Oh I dunno doll," she leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Maybe it's cause you turned bright red when you'se saw Spot? Or is it jus' my imagination gettin' tha bettah of me again?"
God damn Bird and her observations, and God damn my cheeks!