Riffraff, street rat
I don't buy that
If only they'd look closer
Would they see a poor boy? No sirree.
They'd find out there's so much more to me
Aladdin(couldn't resist)
Newsie. You bore that title with a measure of pride for awhile, didn't you? Until they all started leaving you, am I not correct? No, don't walk away from me. You know I'm right. Your friends' lives, one by one, started going downhill.
"That's not true!
Oh, but isn't it? I have many examples. We'll start with Snitch and Skitts, shall we? They were so perfect together.
"Stop!"
Until Snitch betrayed him with Itey. Skitts was heartbroken. He slashed his wrists that very evening, didn't he?
"What are you trying to accomplish?!
Snitch was devastated by what his betrayal had cause. Didn't he, I believe, fall onto a carving knife?
Ah, silence. I must be right.
"So what?! They have the right to end their own lives!"
I never said they didn't. And what of Itey?
"What about Itey?!
Without Snitch, he fell into depression, right? And eventually, he took the high road and...well, you get the picture, don't you?
"I'LL kill myself if you don't shut the fuck UP!"
Temper, temper. That's what got Jackie-boi into trouble, after all. When he and Mush broke things off, they were amiable, no?
"I guess they were pretty civil, yeah."
Then Mush started dating Swifty. And Jack got jealous, even though he and Mush had been apart for more than 3 months. So he beat up on Swifty. Beat him to within an inch of his life.
"Yeah...he was a mess. Jackie-boi really did a number on him.
And Mush couldn't take the fighting over him, went on a drinking binge, and died of alcohol poisoning...Where are you going?
"Oh, what, you can talk to me, but you can't read my thoughts?
I'm your conscience. I'm not omnipotent. Where are we going?
"The Bridge."
But...why?
"You're not omnipotent. But you ain't stupid, either. Figure it out."
Another Newsie suicide? Is that what you really want?
"I've got nothin' to live for. No friends...nothin'."
So...you're just giving up?
"What are you, my mother? SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"
I'm your conscience. It's kinda my job.
"Great. Just great. I get the conscience with a work ethic. Oh, joy. You would've been better suited to Davey. Perfect Davey."
But even 'Perfect Davey' as you call him, had a few problems. His boyfriend dumped him for someone else, his parents died, and his little brother got sent to The Refuge. So he started doing drugs to dull the pains in his heart. But you didn't dwell on the rest. What happened?
"He...he died of an OD. Fuck, I miss him."
We're on the railing of the bridge now, aren't we? You can't lie to your conscience, so 'fess up.
"Yeah. So?"
Do you really wanna jump? Is this how your life's going to end?
"I wish there was another way."
The way you wished there was another way for Swifty? After Jack found him putting flowers on Mush's grave, he beat him again, didn't he?
"Yes."
And Swifty didn't want to go through hell again, did he? What happened, exactly?
"He found the pistol in Kloppmann's office and shot himself."
And Jack?
"The same. Kloppy said it was probably from guilt, stress, shock...a lot of things. He said he probably just couldn't take it anymore."
And you?
"I'm on the railing, OK? My life sucks! Why shouldn't I just jump?!"
I have no power to stop you. Like I said, I'm not omnipotent. I do, however, have the power to make you consider, 'What would happen if I...'. That, I can do.
"So...what'll happen if I jump?"
I'm not God. I'm not all-knowing. I'm just your conscience. The choices you make are entirely your own.
"Well, this is my choice!"
LAST OF NEWSIES DEAD
"Gabriel "Spot" Conlon, last of the dying newsie breed, jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge sometime between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Is this the end of an era? I guess we'll never know. Why Conlon jumped is a mystery. Only his conscience could tell us, and it drowned with him."-Brooklyn Sun-Times
Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down.
Fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down.
Evanescence-"Haunted"