A/N: Thanks again for the reviews...keep em comin'! Once again...much apologies for Race's badness...we drew straws and well, yeah there you have it.

Chapter 5

Skittery moaned from the other side of the cell, as Blink sat quietly with his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I feel like I just got beat in da head by a club," Skittery mumbled quietly.

"Ya did."

"Oh. Dat explains it." Skittery sat up slowly and leaned against the wall. "Where are we?" he asked.

"In jail, Skittery," Blink said, a trace of grumpiness in his usually chipper voice. Blink's answer seemed to alert Skittery into full consciousness.

"Why's I in jail?" He asked. "I mean, I know why yoah heah. But why am I heah?"

"You attacked a cop, Skitts."

"I did?" Skittery seemed to consider this new information for a moment and then grinned. "Did I win?"

"Obviously not. Yoah in jail."

Skittery's face fell. They sat in the cold stillness of the cell, neither one knowing quite what to say. Blink noticed a rhythmic drip of the leaky ceiling. The cell was dark and damp, and uncomfortable. It was empty except for a small cot off to one side, which neither boy was making use of. A small black hole near the ceiling made a sorry excuse for a window.

Voices on the opposite side of the door made both boys perk up. The door swung open letting a beam of bright light into the room. Both boys squinted against it.

"Well look who we have here," said a deep voice. A man stepped into the cell and knelt down next to Blink. "Remember me?" He took Blink's chin in his hand and raised the boys face until it was level with his own.

"Yeah, I remembah youse," Blink spat. "You framed me for murder."

The man sneered. "Haven't changed a bit, I see. Still trying to pin your crimes on others."

"It ain't like dat and you know it!"

The man stood up and turned his attention to Skittery, who glared back at him.

"It's not a good idea to get caught up with street rats like this one," he snarled. "This kid pushed his selling partner from a bridge."

Skittery glanced at Blink for a moment and then back up at the man. "I'll get caught up wit who I want ta get caught up wit."

The man raised an eyebrow. He turned from Skittery and back to Blink. "I vowed I'd catch you, and I have. I'll be sure you hang." He turned and left the room, closing the door loudly behind him.

"What was dat all about?" Skittery asked.

"Nothin'."

"Look, Blink, I apparently attacked a cop for ya. Da least ya could do is tell me what dat was all about."

"I don't want ta talk about it alright."

Skittery stood up and made his way to Blink's side. "Dat answer ain't good enough."

"Just leave me alone!" Blink said, louder than he meant to.

"Not until ya ansah me question!" Both boys were on their feet now.

"I nevah asked ya ta help me, alright!"

"Ya didn't need ta ask! Dat's what friends do. Dey help each uddah!"

"Well, I nevah asked ya ta be me friend!" Blink yelled as loud as he could. Skittery grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the wall.

Blink jumped to his feet and charged at Skittery, who stood with his fists raised. "Why won't ya tell me what happened?" Blink's fist crushed into his ribs and he staggered back a little before jabbing his own fist into Blink's already swollen face.

"'Cause it ain't yoah business!" Blink attacked again, this time striking Skittery in the jaw.

"Youse feelin' ashamed dat ya killed yoah friend?" Skittery received a kick to the stomach for that one.

"I didn't kill 'im. I tried to stop 'im!"

"Dat man said ya killed 'im."

"Dat man don't know what he's talkin' about!"

Skittery fell to the floor as Blink rushed at him with all the force he could muster. "He t'ought he saw me push Swingah off da bridge!" Blink was punching Skittery's stomach now one fist after another.

"Well didn't ya?"

That was the last question he was able to get out before Blink began to incoherently blurt out the entire story.

Blink remembered the event as though it had only happened yesterday.

Blink tightened his jacket as Swinger ran to catch up with him. "We'se crazy ta be out heah sellin' in dis weaddah."

"Come on, Blink. Wheah's yoah sense of advencha?" He put an arm around Blink.

"Must have left it at home wit me sanity." Swinger laughed.

They took the bridge that day. It was slick with fresh rainwater. They hurried over it, but halfway across, a scream from below caused Swinger to stop dead in his tracks, and peer over the edge.

Blink didn't stop fast enough, lost his footing, and fell into Swinger. The old railing which Swinger had been leaning over crumbled beneath the weight of the two boys, and Swinger plummeted over the edge with the broken bits of woods.

Blink was just fast enough to grab hold of one of Swinger's hands and strained to pull the other boy back up. But Swinger had worn his gloves that day, something he hardly ever did, and his hand began to slip out of the warm material.

"And I couldn't hold on anymore! And he fell!" Blink's fists slowed. He seemed to suddenly realize what he was doing and climbed off of Skittery, whose lip was bleeding.

Skittery sat up slowly, clutching his stomach. "Now, was dat so hard?"

"'Cause I did kill him, Skittery. It's 'cause a me dat he's dead. 'Cause I was hurryin' and I didn't see 'im."

"It sounds like yoah takin' credit foah somet'in' dat you had no control ovah."

"But if I hadn't a let go, he wouldn't be dead."

"Well if he hadn't a worn his mitten, his hand wouldn'ta slipped outta it."

Blink lunged at Skittery again. "Don't you dare blame dis on him! It wasn't his fault!"

"And it wasn't yoah fault neithah."

Blink suddenly threw his arms around Skittery and began sobbing uncontrollably into the taller boy's chest. "I'm sorry dat I beat ya up," Blink's muffled voice said, shaking.

"Dat's okay. I probably desoived it." Skittery patted Blink's head in what he thought was a comforting manner.

Mush wasn't in high spirits when he bought his papers and hit the streets the next morning. It had been tense getting ready this morning as most of the boys were odds with each other. An eerie silence had filled the bunk room and the wash room that morning, and except for the few boys that didn't sleep in the lodging house, the distribution center was silent as well.

"Can I sell wit ya, t'day, Mush?"

Mush turned to see an even more sullen Snoddy, drawing near. Mush nodded his consent, and Snoddy fell into step beside him.

Unconsciously the two boys found themselves passing the jail house. Snoddy's face grew dark when he noticed it, and he halted. Mush watched him pick up a large stone from the ground, and aim for the window. Just as he was about to let it go, Mush grabbed his arm.

"Wait," Mush said. Snoddy looked at him, waiting for an excuse for the interruption. "Come wit me."

Snoddy followed Mush closer to a building beside the jail house. It was an old, abandoned general store, with windows so dusty, the boys couldn't see inside. The walls were wooden, and the porch creaked as they stepped onto it.

Mush tried the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. He was about to give up when Snoddy pushed past him and threw all of his weight into the door. The lock snapped off, the pieces fell to the floor, and a large cloud of dust billowed out of the small opening.

"Aftah you," said Snoddy, pushing the door wide open to allow Mush through.

A thick layer of dust covered the remaining shelves in the large room. Their shoes left marks on the floor as they explored.

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking noise beneath them. Both boys looked at their feet just as the floor beneath Mush gave way. Snoddy watched as Mush disappeared through the floor, screaming. Another billow of dust came up through the floor, and Snoddy coughed as he knelt over the opening. "Hey, Mushie! Mushie, ya alright down deah?"

A few coughs came as a reply, and then Mush's scratchy voice. "I t'ink I may have found a way to bust our boys out. Come down heah!"

Snoddy shot Mush a look that clearly read, "are you crazy?" and had Mush seen it, he would have gotten the message clearly. Snoddy stood up and brushed off his knees. He looked around the empty dirty room and found what he was looking for in the wall behind him.

He turned the knob on the cellar door, and thankfully, it opened right up. Sure enough, there was a set of stairs leading down into the cellar.

As he descended, he noticed the broken pile of wood that had fallen with Mush, and then he noticed Mush scraping away furiously at the dirt wall in front of him, with a piece of the broken wood. Realization dawned on Snoddy as he watched his friend. The dirt wall faced the jail house.

Snoddy grinned.

"We can dig a hole from heah, right in ta da cell, Snoddy! And den dey can escape!"

"Mushie, you'se a genius." Snoddy watched his friend scrape at the wall for a while longer. "Are ya sure it'll lead ta da cell?"

Mush paused. "I dunno."

"Maybe we should get some a da uddas ta help."

Mush nodded. "I t'ink yoah right." Mush dropped his board.

"We can get shovels. It'll go lots fastah dat way."

The two boys excitedly ascended the stairs and hurried back out of the building into the fresh air. They abandoned any hopes of selling papers that day, but instead made their way back to lodging. They had a plan. And they needed all the help they could get.