---Chapter Two: Thy Kingdom Come ---
"Risa, get your ass out of bed!" Clara shouted at her best friend, beating her with a pillow. "We have to go work, idiot."
"Stop it you wench," Risa said groggily, sitting up in bed and looking at the bright room around her. There were a few other girls sleeping in the women's room, but not many. It was tough being a girl in a place like Brooklyn, most girls sold in Manhattan. Risa and Clara were in charge of the girls, so, like every morning, they had to wake them up, and then they had to wake up the boys, a task that always proved to be much more difficult. Although Risa was usually considered the more responsible one, and she was the one who went to bed at a reasonable hour, she never woke up before Clara. There was an order. Clara woke Risa, the two got dressed, they went to the boys bunk, they would scream and throw pillows and use jugs of water as needed, and then they would wake the young boys in a gentler way, shaking them lightly and telling them to 'get dressed cause we get to go sell papes now', and these boys would be so excited that they would jump out of bed, happy to get to 'play with the big kids'. That was always Risa's favorite part of the day, until the older boys would wake up and start jostling the younger ones, forcing them to get out of their way and bring them breakfast and such. Risa hated that attitude, the 'I'm older therefore superior' attitude.
The half-asleep girl pulled herself out of bed, and walked to her hook, pulling on a pair of baggy black trousers, a loose white shirt unbuttoned with a black wife beater below it, and bright red suspenders. She pulled her curly red hair back into a messy ponytail, shoved a pencil behind the string she had tied it with, and pulled a black cabby hat on. She looked into the mirror, happy with her appearance, and pulled her necklace out from behind her shirt. She kissed the silver key hanging from the white string which she always kept close to her heart. Then she tucked it between the folds of her white shirts and walked away from the mirror.
She walked out into the hall where Clara was leaning against the wall outside the girl's room, the stub of a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth. "About time…" she muttered, stomping out the cigarette beneath her boots. The two walked down the hall and into the boys room, where they woke the older ones up loudly and carelessly, then tiptoed into the young boys room and woke them up quietly, letting them enjoy the peace that would only last a few minutes. Then the girls wandered down the stairs and onto the street, kicking pebbles ahead of them and talking animatedly. They walked to the distribution office only to find that the gates were still closed, so they sat down on the ground by the gate, waiting for the others to arrive.
Risa glanced over at her best friend, who looked as beautiful as ever. Her blond hair was long and straight, blowing around her in the wind. She wore men's clothes, but her big blue eyes, long eyelashes, and rosy cheeks ruined all of her chances of looking like a man. Not that Risa could do any better. Her eyes were equally big, but brown, and her eyelashes were just as long, and darker. She didn't have rosy cheeks, but she had cute freckles situated across the bridge of her nose.
A tall red head walked past the girls and waved. "Hi Medda!" the girls chorused. Medda smiled and continued walking, then slowed down and returned.
"I've been meaning to talk to you two…" Medda began, and the girl's faces erupted into smiles. They had been expecting her to talk to them for a while. Medda ran Irving Hall in Manhattan, she was the lead singer and dancer, and she handled the books in the place. The girl's friend, Paris, sang and danced there as one of the many backup singers for Medda, and she had mentioned to Medda that Clara and Risa were both fifteen, about the age most girls start. Almost every female newsy dreams of being a dancer at Medda's.
"Do you two have any previous dancing or singing experience?" Medda asked, sitting down on the dirt with Risa and Clara. That's what everyone loved about Medda, that she never acted as though she was any better than anyone else, she would sit on dirt in her finest clothes if she thought it'd make you feel comfortable.
"Well…" Risa started. Clara and her had been expecting this question, and had been planning for quite some time. "We can both carry a tune pretty well, and our mothers taught us to dance from the time we could walk until we were six…" Risa didn't have to say 'when we left home', everyone knew their story.
"Good, good…" Medda said, pondering something. "You two are both growing into very beautiful young women, and I could sure use some more dancers at Irving Hall…"
Risa and Clara said, in unison, "We'd love to!" before Medda even had a chance to officially ask them.
"Great… come to my show tonight and meet with me afterwards, then we can work out details." Medda winked at the girls and walked away.
"It's about time!" Clara said when Medda was gone. "I thought she was never going to ask!"
"I know, and I sure can use some extra cash. Paris says they pay great." Risa couldn't stop smiling, she felt like a dream of hers had just come true.
The two sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the few minutes of silence they ever had. It's hard living with so many boys, and they knew that the men would soon be arriving. Sure enough, a gang of them sauntered over. It was Spot, Ashes, Wiz, Sulk, and Uncles. Spot and Ashes came and sat down next to the girls, Spot handing Risa a cigarette and Ashes handing her a light. Wiz and Uncles stood away from them, soon joined by more men, and Sulk went into a corner, smoking his cigarette and watching everyone laughing and having a good time, sulking as ever. Ashes turned to Clara and the two began to talk quietly.
"Those two have been flirting like this for weeks," Risa whispered to Spot. "When are they going to just get together!"
"Sometimes the heart needs time." Spot said in an even tone, ignoring the weird look Risa gave him.
"Since when are you a master of the heart?"
"I just meant-" but whatever Spot had meant was not clear, because at that moment a gang of the young boys ran up, immediately jumping all over Risa and Clara. Spits and Spooks, the inseparable five year olds, both landed on Risa's lap, and Gorge, the pudgy four year old, waddled over to Clara and hopped in her lap, making her wince than start to laugh.
"Hey boys!" Risa said cheerfully to the two, who began to play tug aware with her arms. "Now, now, there's enough of me for everybody!"
"Even me?" Spot whispered into her ear before standing up and walking towards the small group of men containing Wiz and Uncles. She watched him leave, confused. Sometimes, that Spot Conlon just made no sense. Risa stood up and began to walk towards where Clara and Gorge had wandered, but was distracted by the sight of Harsh walking over to the small group of newsies, his gold cane swinging wildly from his belt loop.
"Where's everyone else?" he asked lightly, his powerfully quiet voice making Spits and Spooks jump. Risa picked up Spits and grasped Spooks' hand, bringing them over to the pack.
"Not here yet, Harsh." Spot spoke up. "They'll be coming soon."
"They better… I have an announcement to make." Harsh said. He spoke quietly, but everyone's attention was automatically drawn to him. He was tall and lanky, the kind of guy you feel like will snap in half at any second. He had a deep scar across his neck, where someone had tried to strangle him with a rope and not succeeded. The scar was gruesome, but all eyes seemed to automatically be drawn to it. His hair was wild, always sticking up at strange places, but he had the most beautiful green eyes. One glance into them and you could be lost instantly. When he was mad, though, they turned almost blacker than night, terrifying. Despite his name and demeanor, he was actually a kind man, the kind who would play with you at night, and yet be wide awake each morning.
"Conlon," he said suddenly, beckoning Spot forward. "I need to talk to you about something."
Spot looked at Risa with his eyebrow raised, chuckling inwardly at the sight of Spits pulling the pencil out of her hair and handing it to Spooks silently, who handed it to Gorge, who handed it to Clara, who tucked it into her pocket, all without Risa noticing. She was too busy watching Spot worriedly, afraid of what Harsh was going to say to him, wanting to listen but knowing that neither boy would like that. Instead, she turned to the little boys and continued playing, asking them about their mysterious grins.
Slowly, all the newsies showed up and made small talk, watching Spot and Harsh talk, both of which had intently furrowed brows. No one could tell if they were having an argument or not, but they all knew it was something important, and not to interrupt. Finally, Harsh and Spot approached the group of newsies, Spot flashing a grin at Risa. She let out a breath of air, everything was okay, nothing to worry about. Risa couldn't deny it, she didn't get so worked up about anyone else who simply had a conversation with an old friend.
"I have an announcement to make, which I will do directly after Clara returns the pencil to Risa." Harsh said, his eyes sparkling with silent amusement. Clara blushed and Risa reached at her hair, confused, laughing when Clara handing her the small brown pencil. "As I was saying… As you all know, I'm getting to be rather old, and instead of growing to an old man here, I've decided to pass on the leadership. Please welcome the new leader of Brooklyn, Spot Conlon!"
Everyone clapped and cheered, shocked. No one had expecting that so soon. They figured that Spot would at least be seventeen by the time he got to be leader. But fifteen? That was unanticipated…
Risa went up to congratulate Spot, and he, much to her shock and dismay, picked her up and swung her around, giddy with the news. Everyone laughed except Clara, who was just wishing he'd tell her that he loved her already. As he put Risa down, he whispered into her ear "Meet me on the roof tonight at midnight." She gave him a weird look as she moved through the crowd, over to Clara.
"That was strange…" she whispered to her best friend, watching the new leader of their borough shake hands with all his friends and coworkers.
"What?" Clara asked, but before Risa could tell her what happened, Gorge had grabbed the petite blonde's hand and pulled her off to a bench a little ways away.
Ashes came over towards Risa. "What was strange?" he asked. Risa knew he hadn't been eavesdropping, Ashes just happened to have extremely good ears.
"Spot told me to meet him on the roof at midnight." Risa answered, still watching Spot laughing and joking with Uncles.
"Oh…" Ashes said slowly, and Risa could tell he knew something. She jerked herself away from staring at Spot and looked at Ashes.
"What was that thoughtful 'oh…' for?" She quizzed.
"Just… I think I might know what he wants to talk about."
"And that would be…"
"Now how would that be fun?" Ashes grinned. "I'll make you anticipate it a bit." He chuckled and wandered away towards his best friend.
Risa frowned, but was yanked out of her thoughts by a soft yank on her arm. She looked over to see Spits and Spooks. "We wanna play," they whined in unison, putting on their best 'cute' faces.
"Fine, fine," Risa laughed, then picked them up and carried them over to the gate. The two started climbing and jumping all over the fence as though it was the best toy in the world.
"I never had a good play place." Spot said as he walked over. "I used to play in my dad's butcher's shop. My best friend at five was an old man who worked with my father who they called 'Smelly Knickers'. I never got the name until I was way older."
Risa laughed. "The streets were like an entire playground for me and Clara. We would just run and jump down the streets, laughing and playing. I remember one summer when we became friend with a fruit vendor. Everyone called her Madeline, but she once told us that her real name was Esperanza and she was actually from Mexico. Everyone just sort of assumed she was French, but she wasn't. Not at all."
"I guess all kids have weird friends growing up," Spot said thoughtfully, looking out at the two boys in front of him.
"Do you think we'll be theirs?" Risa said, reading his mind.
Spot smiled. "Of course. They'll stand proud and say 'We knew Spot and Risa Conlon before they were famous."
"Spot and Risa Conlon?" Risa said, shocked. "You assume we'll be married?"
"Why of course!" Spot declared. "I have to make a decent woman out of you."
Risa smacked his arm and laughed. As the two sat there chatting and laughing innocently, they had no idea how right they were. There would be a day when those two young men would stand and say that they knew those two, and they would be proud, but it was for reasons that Spot and Risa had yet to predict. Reason's that surprised even the most clever of us.
I suppose life is like that. It's like a big forest, full of twists and turns. One minute you're walking down one path thinking 'wow, isn't this nice, it's sunny!' and the next second it's so dark you can barely see your hand in front of your face.
Dark fates sure do have a way of sneaking up on us.
---
A/N: Ah,
not the biggest fan of this chapter, and also, it took me a really long
time to get it up. I've had it done for like 2 months, but the
holidays, this stupid play I'm in, and my brother being on the computer
nonstop kept me from updating. Review and all that, enjoy.
I suppose it's shout out time...
Midnight Flare- everytime you speak I am reminded of Kevin alarmingly... it's actually becoming scary now. See, you wanted me to update soon. Obviously that didn't go well. I'm glad you are not a fan of anime, although I shall have to murder your sister. Sorry, but she's gotta go!
Lucky- I'm very sorry that you had a large paper due. I have an indepentdent book novel due in two days, I have yet to read the book. Feeling Sorry for Celia, if you feel like doing it for me! Actually, I have a big assignment due tomorrow that I have yet to do, and I really don't think I'm going to. Shit, I need a current event to. Man, I am so unprepared.
Love97- I love you. Honestly, you're amazing. Thank you for all the very nice things you said. About you and your best friend drifting... I have moved from best friend to best friend for the past 3 years, and my best friend for the majority of this year (2004, not the actual year) is so amazing, I'm glad I had to go through all those duds to find her. I hope I can do some sort of writing in college, I want to sell a book so I can get money to move to New Zealand... that would be bliss. You're sweet too, and honestly, I would marry your story if women and objects could be married.
Dreamer- Sweet, well, now that we're friends, I gotta tell you, that skirt makes you look fat. Haha, I kid, I kid! I can't see you, and I'm sure whatever you are wearing makes you look thin as a button. Maybe you need to gain a little weight, actually.
Katherine- Aww, thanks! You're awesome. Sorry for taking so long to update. Next time it'll go faster, I promise.
Blue- Thanks so much, I love the people who actually give me criticism. I'm trying to work on cutting up my paragraphs, it's a major weakness I have. But I'll try and work on it harder, I really will. I don't like that the first chapter is just background info, but it's out of the way so that's good. As you said, now I can "dive in".
Say No More- You know I love you, I've emailed you and you've helped me sooo much! Thank you thank you thank you!
Unknown Dreams- Thanks a bunch. I updated late, so sorry, but keep on sending those faces!
bitemytoesmrmoe- You're brilliant. I wish I could think of awesome names like that.
Dippy Conlon- You made my day. I was having an uber-shitty day when I recieved it, and it really cheered me up. Guys suck, don't they? Thanks to you, I have remembered to chance all numbers to words. I tend to forget that quite often. I'm a bit slow at times!
THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! KEEP ON REVIEWING, YOU ALL ROCK! Augh, I had a really bad day today, after a LONG play practice in which I did nothing because I'm not in it until the second paragraph when they introduce the LOVELY Princess Imogene. And it took 2 hours to do ONE PARAGRAPH! They're not even done yet, so I don't have to go tomorrow. That's good, but I won't get to write. Finals are next week, augh. I hate finals, I really do.
I have to now go get my hair cut.
HEY! If anyone is a teenage parent, knows one and can help me with some questions, or lives in an apartment and can tell me things about the bills and stuff, PLEASE EMAIL ME! Stupid health project, I need to figure out the costs of things and I thought I should ask on here, just in case. Please Email me,
THANKS AGAIN!