Spot's Milkshake
Chapter Two: Tour de Brooklyn
Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies! But I do own the plot and Brandie, Randy, Troy, Harold, and Johnny! Basically anyone who wasn't in the Newsies Moive!
"There's still time left in da day. I'll show ya round Brooklyn the real way." Spot didn't move. I really wanted to see Brooklyn, and Spot seemed to know it well.
"S'ok." I responded lightly.
"Good. You ain't the dumb broad I tought ya would be." He told me, laughing merrily. This put my spirits down instantly. He thought I was dumb? I reluctantly followed him as he pointed out who people were and where things were. The thing that was different from Troy's tour was that people actually knew who Spot was. He stopped in front of the Newsboys Lodging House.
"I've seen this already." I indicated towards the boarding house.
"I bet ya 'ave. Eva seen wha's inside?" He asked nonchalantly , opening the door. He walked inside and waited for me to follow him. Eagerly, I clambered in next to him. A couple boys lingered in the doorway, they also knew Spot. He lead me up the staircase, continually greeting everyone that walked past us. He walked into a deserted room. Bunk beds lined the walls. Clothes were strewn across many of the beds, and a trace of smoke could be detected if I tried hard enough to uncover it.
"I spect this is where ya live?" I asked him.
"Yea. Wit da other guys. Dis isn't wheah we hang out dough. Dat's downstairs." He lead me down the stairs and into a room that had cards and unlit cigars. There was a few boys playing a game of poker in the back corner. They looked up from their cards and gave me an odd look.
"Dis is the clubhouse" Spot explained. "We's does everting here." He walked over and joined the poker game. He acted as if I wasn't even there anymore. I didn't just want to leave, but I didn't know what to say. I watched them play and bet their day's earnings for a few minutes before I decided that I had better leave.
I retraced my steps out of the Lodging House.
*** "Hiya Mrs. Tabernak." I said, stepping into the musty smelling cigar store.
"Hello dear. How was your first day at your job?" The older woman asked me.
"It was alrigh'. I just get ta do da same ol' ting tomorrow." I told her. Mr. and Mrs. Tabernak owned the local cigar store. They had allowed me to stay in the guest room above the store. They were an elderly couple with no children. I wouldn't consider them my 'adoptive' parents. They just took me in last week.
"How much do they pay you anyways?" Mr. Tabernak asked as he stepped out of the storage room.
"Uh, I dunno. Money." I told him, as I slipped off my worn out shoes.
"Hopefully enough to get a new pair of shoes." Debbie Tabernak added.
"I ain't gonna make dat much." I informed her. She seemed shocked.
"How much do they pay you?" Robert Tabernak asked once more.
"I says I dunno. Even if it was 'nough ta buy meself more shoes, I wouldn't." The conversation ended there. I had won, they stopped pressing me with questions. "I'm gonna go ta bed now." I told them, as I walked away.
My bedroom wasn't the warmest, but I'm sure it was better than sleeping on the streets. I slept in a four poster bed that had 2 blankets. The spring mattress was hard on my back, but I learned to deal with it. The smoke from the store occasionally made its way up to my room. I could easily hear everything that was being said downstairs. This had always been the highlight of my day when I didn't work. I would listen to what the customers wanted and how the Tabernaks responded. They were a nice couple that I respected a lot.
I was especially tired tonight. I fell asleep within minutes.
*** "Hey sleepyhead, better get up unless you wanna be late again." Mr. Tabernak woke me up the next morning.
I warily climbed out of bed and made my way downstairs to eat a piece of cold toast. I shoved the frozen piece of bread into my mouth and took off for Randy's.
My light brown hair fell across my face as I sprinted to the circulation office. I made it only a few minutes earlier than the day before. Luckily Randy was bringing the newspapers to the front that he didn't see me.
"Help em' will ya Brandie!" He shouted when I stepped through the door. "Firs' ring that damn bell up there. Them boys won't come unless they ear' it ring." He attempted to motion to the circulation bell, but accidentally let go and dropped all the papes he was holding. "Then pick these up will ya." He told me as he went to grab more papers, leaving the ones he dropped on the floor.
I casually made my way to the bell. I reached up only slightly and shook it with all of my might. It rung so loudly I was glad when I saw the first newsboy walked up. I instantly stopped ringing it. The ringing noise resided in my ears as I went to pick up Randy's mess of newspapers. Before I could even reach down to pick up the papers, Randy barked out orders.
"C'mon Brandie move fasta!" His word tortured me as I picked up the armful of papers. I pounded them on his desk as a few newsies approached.
"30 papes." A boy told me. His eyes mocked me. I hated him already.
Out of spite, I only gave him 20 papes. The dimwit didn't even check to make sure he got what he payed for. I smiled smugly to myself.
"C'mon Brandie, don't just stand dere. Gettem dere papes." Randy instructed. My smile had faded, but my mood was stil cheerful. I happily walked over to where the papers were coming off the press.
"60 papes." I heard Randy call out. I didn't rush to get them. There were other boys that would. Instead, I hauled stacks of newspapers to Johnny, who in turn would let Troy and another boy named Sniff, take them to Randy.
For twenty minutes, Randy mumbled random numbers. I brought more and more papers to him, thinking about the growing hole on the sole of my shoe.
"Smalls, where was ya yestaday?" I heard Randy ask a small Puerto Rican girl.
"Sick as a damn dog. 50 papes." She slid her money under the window to Randy. Sniff took her papers to her, drooling as he did. I rolled my eyes. Did he really think he had a chance with her? He must've seen me, because he hung his head.
Frankly I didn't care if he saw me or not. It wasn't my problem if I had hurt his feelings. I didn't worry about it. What I worried about was Troy. He hadn't spoken to me since yesterday afternoon at the pub.
The rest of the morning dragged on. I had spoken to Sniff briefly. He seemed like a nice kid. I could tell that Troy was jealous because he gave me the cruelest look. I laughed it off, pretending to laugh at some dumb joke Johnny told me. Finally, the morning was over.
"Well I gotta go sell dem papes." Sniff told me, smashing his greasy hair with a worn out hat.
"What?" I said all too quickly. "Wells, I need da extry money. So I sells the papes to da newsies in da morning, then I sells da papes to da citizens of Brooklyn." He explained. He tipped his hat to me, bought 20 papes and left.
"Clean em up you 3." Randy yelled in my direction.
I avoided Troy's eyes, which began increasingly hard. I could feel him watching me. I tried to pay attention to my hands, but I couldn't. If I didn't talk to Troy now, he would probably stalk me the rest of the day and then beat me to dust. I put the last of the papers that the newsies hadn't bought, and walked over to Troy.
"So's, the milkshake was good?" I asked him. He didn't move a muscle. I knew he was contemplating his answer.
"Sure. So where did ya go? Spot Conlon followed ya out. Confused all o' his men, and me. I tought he was gonna soak ya." He seemed more relaxed now that we were talking.
"Oh. Well I didn't talk ta no one. Who's Spot Conlon?" I asked, lying right to his face.
"He's da leader of all da Brooklyn newsies. Tough as nails dat boy is." He still looked disgusted at the sound of Spot's name, but I couldn't figure out why. I decided to ask more questions. I wanted to know as much about Spot as I could, and Troy seemed to know.
"Is he a good leader?"
"I suppose. I don't consider meself a Brooklyn newsie, an' I don't know im'. He didn't seem to care. This might not be the best time to interrogate him about Spot.
"Ave' a nice day then." I said, walking quietly past Randy.
I breathed a huge breath of fresh air when I opened the doors. It was nice to hear all of the newsboys yelling out false headlines. I had read some of the paper and knew what the true stories were about.
They were hawking out headline's for a story about how a clockmakers clocks had the wrong gears and has stopped working. The clocks weren't even fully assembled. The newsies screamed out things like, "Time stops, thousands left without time!" Others hawked out more titles. One caught my attention.
"Time stops everywhere in New York. Thousands terrified.!" I laughed to myself as a group of lawyers rushed over to the boy. They quickly turned to that story, but their eager faces were swallowed with disgust as they read what really happened. Most of them turned to the boy and demanded their money back, but he was already gone.
I thought about what Sniff had told me about his two jobs. I needed the extra money. Instead of going to the docks, where I was planning to go, I turned around and headed for 'Tabernak Cigars.' Maybe the Tabernaks would allow me to work at their shop in the afternoons.
***
Mr. Tabernak had just finished serving an elderly man when I arrived.
"Back early?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yea. I needs some extry cash. So's I was wonderin' if I could woik heah in da afternoon." I looked at him, my heart beat with anticipation.
"Work here? How much you talkin about?" He asked me suddenly.
"Whateva you're willing ta give." I didn't want to demand money, but I needed it.
"Hmm. How's about 50 cents an hour for 2 hours?" I agreed.
"Alrigh'. Cept, I wanna woik in the storage room. Ya know, bring ya da cigars. Or maybe clean up round da place. I offered.
"If that's what you want. But could you work the counter today? We was gonna close the shop up cause we are going somewhere. But since you wanna work." He paused, waiting for my answer.
"Ahh, sure." I reluctantly agreed. I had no idea what I would do. I'd never had a job like this before.
"Thanks again. We should be back in two houes or so. Money's in the register. Can you give change?" His eyes questioned m"I can count." I hoped this would be good enougfor him. He looked at my strangly. Mrs. Tabernak's bustling about made us both look at her.
"Sorry, lost my earring." She explained. "Better get going." She pushed her husband out the door and waved to me. I doubted that she even realized I was running her store.
~A/N~ Yeah, I know. Her wages are really small, but that just shows how much kids were paid back then. -It was obviously hard for the kids, boys and girls alike. -They worked for whatever they could. -I also tried to show how much Brandie is unappreciated at Randy's! Not much else to say really! Reviews are welcomed..I love reviews! Hope you all liked it!
Chapter Two: Tour de Brooklyn
Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies! But I do own the plot and Brandie, Randy, Troy, Harold, and Johnny! Basically anyone who wasn't in the Newsies Moive!
"There's still time left in da day. I'll show ya round Brooklyn the real way." Spot didn't move. I really wanted to see Brooklyn, and Spot seemed to know it well.
"S'ok." I responded lightly.
"Good. You ain't the dumb broad I tought ya would be." He told me, laughing merrily. This put my spirits down instantly. He thought I was dumb? I reluctantly followed him as he pointed out who people were and where things were. The thing that was different from Troy's tour was that people actually knew who Spot was. He stopped in front of the Newsboys Lodging House.
"I've seen this already." I indicated towards the boarding house.
"I bet ya 'ave. Eva seen wha's inside?" He asked nonchalantly , opening the door. He walked inside and waited for me to follow him. Eagerly, I clambered in next to him. A couple boys lingered in the doorway, they also knew Spot. He lead me up the staircase, continually greeting everyone that walked past us. He walked into a deserted room. Bunk beds lined the walls. Clothes were strewn across many of the beds, and a trace of smoke could be detected if I tried hard enough to uncover it.
"I spect this is where ya live?" I asked him.
"Yea. Wit da other guys. Dis isn't wheah we hang out dough. Dat's downstairs." He lead me down the stairs and into a room that had cards and unlit cigars. There was a few boys playing a game of poker in the back corner. They looked up from their cards and gave me an odd look.
"Dis is the clubhouse" Spot explained. "We's does everting here." He walked over and joined the poker game. He acted as if I wasn't even there anymore. I didn't just want to leave, but I didn't know what to say. I watched them play and bet their day's earnings for a few minutes before I decided that I had better leave.
I retraced my steps out of the Lodging House.
*** "Hiya Mrs. Tabernak." I said, stepping into the musty smelling cigar store.
"Hello dear. How was your first day at your job?" The older woman asked me.
"It was alrigh'. I just get ta do da same ol' ting tomorrow." I told her. Mr. and Mrs. Tabernak owned the local cigar store. They had allowed me to stay in the guest room above the store. They were an elderly couple with no children. I wouldn't consider them my 'adoptive' parents. They just took me in last week.
"How much do they pay you anyways?" Mr. Tabernak asked as he stepped out of the storage room.
"Uh, I dunno. Money." I told him, as I slipped off my worn out shoes.
"Hopefully enough to get a new pair of shoes." Debbie Tabernak added.
"I ain't gonna make dat much." I informed her. She seemed shocked.
"How much do they pay you?" Robert Tabernak asked once more.
"I says I dunno. Even if it was 'nough ta buy meself more shoes, I wouldn't." The conversation ended there. I had won, they stopped pressing me with questions. "I'm gonna go ta bed now." I told them, as I walked away.
My bedroom wasn't the warmest, but I'm sure it was better than sleeping on the streets. I slept in a four poster bed that had 2 blankets. The spring mattress was hard on my back, but I learned to deal with it. The smoke from the store occasionally made its way up to my room. I could easily hear everything that was being said downstairs. This had always been the highlight of my day when I didn't work. I would listen to what the customers wanted and how the Tabernaks responded. They were a nice couple that I respected a lot.
I was especially tired tonight. I fell asleep within minutes.
*** "Hey sleepyhead, better get up unless you wanna be late again." Mr. Tabernak woke me up the next morning.
I warily climbed out of bed and made my way downstairs to eat a piece of cold toast. I shoved the frozen piece of bread into my mouth and took off for Randy's.
My light brown hair fell across my face as I sprinted to the circulation office. I made it only a few minutes earlier than the day before. Luckily Randy was bringing the newspapers to the front that he didn't see me.
"Help em' will ya Brandie!" He shouted when I stepped through the door. "Firs' ring that damn bell up there. Them boys won't come unless they ear' it ring." He attempted to motion to the circulation bell, but accidentally let go and dropped all the papes he was holding. "Then pick these up will ya." He told me as he went to grab more papers, leaving the ones he dropped on the floor.
I casually made my way to the bell. I reached up only slightly and shook it with all of my might. It rung so loudly I was glad when I saw the first newsboy walked up. I instantly stopped ringing it. The ringing noise resided in my ears as I went to pick up Randy's mess of newspapers. Before I could even reach down to pick up the papers, Randy barked out orders.
"C'mon Brandie move fasta!" His word tortured me as I picked up the armful of papers. I pounded them on his desk as a few newsies approached.
"30 papes." A boy told me. His eyes mocked me. I hated him already.
Out of spite, I only gave him 20 papes. The dimwit didn't even check to make sure he got what he payed for. I smiled smugly to myself.
"C'mon Brandie, don't just stand dere. Gettem dere papes." Randy instructed. My smile had faded, but my mood was stil cheerful. I happily walked over to where the papers were coming off the press.
"60 papes." I heard Randy call out. I didn't rush to get them. There were other boys that would. Instead, I hauled stacks of newspapers to Johnny, who in turn would let Troy and another boy named Sniff, take them to Randy.
For twenty minutes, Randy mumbled random numbers. I brought more and more papers to him, thinking about the growing hole on the sole of my shoe.
"Smalls, where was ya yestaday?" I heard Randy ask a small Puerto Rican girl.
"Sick as a damn dog. 50 papes." She slid her money under the window to Randy. Sniff took her papers to her, drooling as he did. I rolled my eyes. Did he really think he had a chance with her? He must've seen me, because he hung his head.
Frankly I didn't care if he saw me or not. It wasn't my problem if I had hurt his feelings. I didn't worry about it. What I worried about was Troy. He hadn't spoken to me since yesterday afternoon at the pub.
The rest of the morning dragged on. I had spoken to Sniff briefly. He seemed like a nice kid. I could tell that Troy was jealous because he gave me the cruelest look. I laughed it off, pretending to laugh at some dumb joke Johnny told me. Finally, the morning was over.
"Well I gotta go sell dem papes." Sniff told me, smashing his greasy hair with a worn out hat.
"What?" I said all too quickly. "Wells, I need da extry money. So I sells the papes to da newsies in da morning, then I sells da papes to da citizens of Brooklyn." He explained. He tipped his hat to me, bought 20 papes and left.
"Clean em up you 3." Randy yelled in my direction.
I avoided Troy's eyes, which began increasingly hard. I could feel him watching me. I tried to pay attention to my hands, but I couldn't. If I didn't talk to Troy now, he would probably stalk me the rest of the day and then beat me to dust. I put the last of the papers that the newsies hadn't bought, and walked over to Troy.
"So's, the milkshake was good?" I asked him. He didn't move a muscle. I knew he was contemplating his answer.
"Sure. So where did ya go? Spot Conlon followed ya out. Confused all o' his men, and me. I tought he was gonna soak ya." He seemed more relaxed now that we were talking.
"Oh. Well I didn't talk ta no one. Who's Spot Conlon?" I asked, lying right to his face.
"He's da leader of all da Brooklyn newsies. Tough as nails dat boy is." He still looked disgusted at the sound of Spot's name, but I couldn't figure out why. I decided to ask more questions. I wanted to know as much about Spot as I could, and Troy seemed to know.
"Is he a good leader?"
"I suppose. I don't consider meself a Brooklyn newsie, an' I don't know im'. He didn't seem to care. This might not be the best time to interrogate him about Spot.
"Ave' a nice day then." I said, walking quietly past Randy.
I breathed a huge breath of fresh air when I opened the doors. It was nice to hear all of the newsboys yelling out false headlines. I had read some of the paper and knew what the true stories were about.
They were hawking out headline's for a story about how a clockmakers clocks had the wrong gears and has stopped working. The clocks weren't even fully assembled. The newsies screamed out things like, "Time stops, thousands left without time!" Others hawked out more titles. One caught my attention.
"Time stops everywhere in New York. Thousands terrified.!" I laughed to myself as a group of lawyers rushed over to the boy. They quickly turned to that story, but their eager faces were swallowed with disgust as they read what really happened. Most of them turned to the boy and demanded their money back, but he was already gone.
I thought about what Sniff had told me about his two jobs. I needed the extra money. Instead of going to the docks, where I was planning to go, I turned around and headed for 'Tabernak Cigars.' Maybe the Tabernaks would allow me to work at their shop in the afternoons.
***
Mr. Tabernak had just finished serving an elderly man when I arrived.
"Back early?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yea. I needs some extry cash. So's I was wonderin' if I could woik heah in da afternoon." I looked at him, my heart beat with anticipation.
"Work here? How much you talkin about?" He asked me suddenly.
"Whateva you're willing ta give." I didn't want to demand money, but I needed it.
"Hmm. How's about 50 cents an hour for 2 hours?" I agreed.
"Alrigh'. Cept, I wanna woik in the storage room. Ya know, bring ya da cigars. Or maybe clean up round da place. I offered.
"If that's what you want. But could you work the counter today? We was gonna close the shop up cause we are going somewhere. But since you wanna work." He paused, waiting for my answer.
"Ahh, sure." I reluctantly agreed. I had no idea what I would do. I'd never had a job like this before.
"Thanks again. We should be back in two houes or so. Money's in the register. Can you give change?" His eyes questioned m"I can count." I hoped this would be good enougfor him. He looked at my strangly. Mrs. Tabernak's bustling about made us both look at her.
"Sorry, lost my earring." She explained. "Better get going." She pushed her husband out the door and waved to me. I doubted that she even realized I was running her store.
~A/N~ Yeah, I know. Her wages are really small, but that just shows how much kids were paid back then. -It was obviously hard for the kids, boys and girls alike. -They worked for whatever they could. -I also tried to show how much Brandie is unappreciated at Randy's! Not much else to say really! Reviews are welcomed..I love reviews! Hope you all liked it!