A woman in a bright pink dress and curly red hair came rushing down the stairs, waving her violet feathery fan violently at us. But as soon as she saw Jack, she stopped dead.
"You wouldn't kick me out without a kiss goodbye, would'ja Medda?"
The woman seemed to know Jack.
"Oh Kelly. Where ya been, kid? Oh, I miss seeing you up in the balcony."
Jack took her hand and kissed it.
"Hangin' on yer every woid. So Medda, this is David and Les. And these twin goils are Haylie and Hallie. And dis is da greatest star of da vaudeville stage today, Miss Medda Larkson, Da Swedish Meadowlark."
Jack introduced us to her, but Hallie seemed to know her.
"Oh yeah, I know her. Hi, Miss Medda! Remember me?" Hallie said, with the usual bow.
"Oh yes, you're one of those girls I found walking on the street with the strange clothes." Ms. Medda smiled at her, and she nodded shyly. Then, she turned to look at me.
"And this is your twin sister?"
"Oh, yes. Sorry, we forgot to say thank you for helping us that day." Hallie said.
"Oh that's okay." Ms. Medda smiled again. Then she bowed at us and said, "Velcome, ladies and gentleman.", with a Swedish accent.
"Well, Medda also own da joint." Jack said. Ms. Medda saw Les looking at her.
"Well, what have we here? Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing there ever was. Oh, yes you are." She waved her violet fan playfully at Les' face. Suddenly, he coughed. I thought that he was allergic to it, but figured out he was just faking it and held out a newspaper.
"Buy me last pape, lady?"
Medda was quite impressed with Les. Jack asked her if we could stay here for a while, knowing that Snyder could still be roaming outside looking for him. Ms. Medda told the candy guy to give us whatever we liked. Les rushed in and grabbed all the candy he could get his hands on. If Gail were here, she would've done the same. She has a sweet tooth and we've been telling her to lessen her eating of candies or she might get diabetes. I can hear her saying this in my head: "SUGAR RUSH!!!! Yeehaw!" I think it's already an addiction. Hallie and I took a piece of licorice whips and watched Ms. Medda go on stage. Men were cheering her on and kept whistling at her. Speaking of whistles, I've gotten better now. Hallie doesn't know about it and if she finds out, she lecture me about it on how inappropriate for a girl it is to be whistling.
My lovey dovey baby
I boo-hoo-hoo for you
I used to be your tootsie-wootsie
Then you said 'toodle-deedoo'
I miss the hanky-panky
Each nighty-night 'til three
Come back my lovey-dovey baby
And coochie-coo with me
It was already nighttime when we left Irving Hall. Ms. Medda was awesome. Hallie thinks the same. Jack lit up a cigarette and placed on his mouth. I don't like cigarettes very much...
"So, you liked dat?" Jack asked us.
"Oh, I loved that. I loved it. It was great. She is beautiful." David said. Then, he asked, "How do you know her?"
"She was a friend of me fadder's." Jack said.
"How about you, Hallie?" David turned around and asked my sister.
"Oh, we were walking around town, searching for Haylie when she saw us on the street. We were drenched in rain and we haven't got a place to stay, so she offered us to stay in Irving Hall for a while. But I was extremely worried about Haylie so we left first thing in the morning. Then, that's when we met Boots and told us about her."
"Oh." David said. He took a look on his watch.
"It's getting late. My parents are going to be worried. What about yours?" he said, turning at Jack, who was sitting in a chair for those who would want to get their shoes shined.
"Nah, they're out west lookin' fer a place ta live. Like this." He pulled out a brochure from Santa Fe. I remember him telling me this. Well, it seems that it true that his parents are living out west. And when his parents find the right ranch, they're going to send for him and he can be a real cowboy. Like Frank...he also wanted to be one.
I thought you told yourself that you would stop thinking about him for a while...
A small voice in my head spoke to me. Why, do you think I'm not trying?
Not hard enough, Haylie.
Please stop now. I've had too many-
BOOM!
We heard loud crashes up ahead. We ran to the site were it happened. We see a riot breaking out. Jack looks like he was enjoying the whole thing while me and Hallie weren't. It's horrible...all these fighting...A group of men are beating up another man. Around the corner down the street same time, a trolley car in flames. Surrounded by a mob of shouting men. In the flickering light, we see signs reading "Trolley Workers on Strike."
"Scabs! Soak da scabs!"
I was getting uncomfortable with the whole thing. I reached for Hallie's hand and held it. But, when I looked beside her, I saw that it's not her hand I was holding. It was Jack's! Hallie's on my left side. I let go at once. He looked like he didn't mind, but...it's quite embarrassing.
"All dis scaring you?" he asked. I nodded timidly.
"Jack! Why don't we go to my place and divvy up? You can meet my folks." David said, he too looking uncomfortable. Jack wasn't listening.
"It's the trolley strike, guys. Dese couple of dumb-asses mustn't have joined or somethin'."
"Jack, let's all get out of here!" David shouted.
"Good idea, David!" Hallie said.
"Jack, come on, let's go!" I said.
"So, maybe we'll get a good headline tomorrow, guys!" Jack said. We noticed that Les has been very quietly lately. It seems that he fell asleep in the bench behind us. Jack chuckled at the sight of him sleeping.
"Look at dis, he slept da whole way t'ru it." He picked up Les and we left Baker Street We walked through the streets of Jewtown, where David and Les lived. Quite a different worldJack's carrying Les in his arms. David, Hallie and Me beside him, still shaken from the whole thing. It begins to rain, so we walked faster.
Dey crack a few heads. What's da big deal?" Jack said.
People lose jobs, everyone suffers." David replied. Hallie nodded in agreement.
Not the rich." Jack said with a vagrant expression on his face. I agree with him...It seems pretty unfair.
"Next building. Want me to take him?" David said, offering to take Les.
Nah ... I got'm." He paused for a second to look up at the apartment. " What floor are ya on?"
Fifth."
