So here it is, another chapter, despite my depressing lack of reviews.
Cards - thanks for being my one reviewer this time around! It was much
appreciated! - Ursula
The days had shortened and the cold winds had risen by the time Katie decided she was ready to show her story to Brian Denton at the Sun. She and Medda had already started their preparations for the Christmas Eve charity show Pulitzer had commissioned for the newsies. The thought of her life sewing rents and tears in the lodging house colliding with her life singing bawdily to gawping drunkards at Irving Hall made her palms sweat. She knew she had to convince Brian to accept her story before the boys discovered that she had been deceiving them because the likelihood that they would forgive her was slim to none.
As she walked to the lodging house uncharacteristically early that morning in late November, it occurred to her how much she would miss spending time with some of those boys. She would miss those pleasant days spent sewing in the light of the bunkroom's window as various newsboys wandered in and out during their day's sales. Funny, the initial goal had been only to get her story published. She hadn't counted on getting personally attached to any of her subjects. She supposed Brian Denton had warned her before she'd even taken the assignment upon herself. He was a professional newsman, and even he wasn't immune to their charms. She hadn't counted on Racetrack's exaggerated gallantry or Kid Blink's jocular familiarity. She didn't think she'd grow to be fond of that scowling little newsie with his attempts at gruffness.
Thinking of the newsies she was fond of led her naturally to consider the ones she wasn't so fond of. Pages and pages of her writing tablet were covered with complaints about the arrogance of Jack Kelly and she positively hated how happily he lorded his knowledge of her secret over her. Every time she was near him she felt an undeniable urge to punch him in the nose. The desire was nearly a reflex, much like the need to retract one's hand from a flame. Occasionally, her thoughts were haunted by the satisfying crunching sound his nose would make as she broke it. It was almost like a tune she couldn't get out of her head.
And then there was Skittery. She didn't feel the need to break his nose, but she lost no love on him. His knowing her secret was less bearable than Jack knowing it since she couldn't seem to figure out the terms under which Skittery was keeping his mouth shut. As insufferable as she found Jack Kelly, he seemed to have some deep understanding of the importance of keeping one's business to oneself. Skittery obviously had no such compunctions and his intent was evidently to blackmail her into.something. She just wasn't sure what. His sexual advances were far too clumsy to be any threat to her; she'd lived her entire life in New York, most of it living and working practically on her own since Kevin couldn't be counted on for much protection, and that taught a girl something about self-defense. It certainly wasn't Skittery's physical presence that made her nervous; it was the fact that he was an unknown. He was one more variable in her already uncertain life.
Hastily, she tried to abandon these unhappy thoughts as the lodging house came into view. She had things to take care of that morning and she couldn't spend too much time lost in her private musings. She reached the lodging house and explained to Kloppman why she was early. "I don't want to just go barging up there and well." her sentence trailed off in a blush.
Kloppman smiled indulgently. "They should be ready to leave by now. If they're takin' their own sweet time in gettin' ready up there, it's their own fault if you catch one or two of 'em in their skivvies." Not relishing the thought of disturbing a roomful of newsboys in the midst of various states of undress but seeing there was no other way for it, Katie timidly climbed the stairs to the bunkroom and rapped loudly on the door. There was no answer. She could hear the muffled shouts and conversations of the boys just beyond the door, but they must not be able to hear her knocking. Remembering what Kloppman had said about it being their own fault if she caught them in their skivvies, she took a deep breath and entered the room.
To her intense relief, she wasn't immediately confronted with nudity. Most of the visible boys looked ready to hit the streets, just as Kloppman had said they would be. In each face she saw a different degree of wakefulness. Some boys stumbled along with eyes only half open heedless of the other boys they bumped into in their stupor. Other boys ran pell-mell through the rows of bunks, playfully swatting their yawning friends, already prepared for the day's mischief. Kid Blink certainly belonged in this latter category and Racetrack only narrowly avoided a kick in the pants when Blink noticed Katie's unexpected presence. Most boys registered mild surprise at seeing her, but soon took her early arrival as an opportunity to advise her on how to care for certain articles of clothing they'd left for her to mend. She nodded at Mush, who, upon giving her advice on how to patch his pants, specified, "Fix the big hole, not the little one. That's supposed to be there," while turning her attention to Kid Blink, the one she'd come to see.
"What brings you here so early this morning Niner?" Blink drawled, throwing one arm casually over her shoulder.
"Well I figured I can already sew a button on faster than any of you mutton-heads so I can probably best you at sellin' papes while I'm at it." Blink laughed heartily like she knew he would at her statement and her attempt at a street accent.
"No really, whaddaya want?"
"I have a favor to ask you."
"I thought you'd never ask." He cocked an eyebrow and grinned devilishly.
"Not that kind of favor." She rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm as he mimed disappointment. "If I leave the box by your bunk could you collect for me tonight? I have an appointment this afternoon and I can't wait about for everyone to get back.
"Yeah, sure." He looked confused.
"It's nothing serious and I'll be back later in the week for business as usual. There's just some stuff I need to take care of this afternoon." She squeezed his arm in thanks as he bounded off to the washroom to do something about his hair that was attempting to defy gravity and sticking up at all angles.
Skittery swaggered toward her and she resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. She wondered again what exactly he thought he was getting out of his supposed blackmail of her. He looked downward condescendingly as she settled into the rocking chair in the midst of the other boys' chaotic morning routine.
"So Niner, that's what they're callin' you now, huh," he sneered.
"I suppose." She shrugged, trying to ignore him.
"So that makes nine of what?" he asked, nonchalantly picking some hair from her shoulder and twirling it idly between his thumb and forefinger. She impatiently tossed her head back, jerking the hair away from him, perhaps causing herself more pain than necessary since her action didn't seem to ruffle him in the least.
"Nine lives maybe, like a cat?" he continued. "But no, what am I saying? Of course! I know what the nine is for." He bent down to hiss in her ear. "Nine guys left you haven't given it up to in this lodging house."
He chuckled to see her jaw clench as she abruptly dropped the shirt she had been retrieving back into the mending box, her determination to ignore him destroyed. She was about to throw back an angry retort when Blink ambled up to them, his hair newly plastered to his head and his cheeks rosy pink from scrubbing. He stuck his finger in a large tear in the back of Skittery's shirt.
"Whatsamadda Skitts? Tryin' to explain to Niner here how you can't sell enough papes in a month to pay her to fix this god-awful rip in your shirt?"
Mush chimed in from across the room. "What you gonna give her instead of a penny? She won't settle for an ugly mug like yours!" This was met by a chorus of laughter from the surrounding boys.
The smile faded from Skittery's face and then it was his jaw that was clenched. "I don't need her to fix my things," he mumbled, moving toward the door.
The newsies started to filter out of the bunkroom and down the stairs. Jack replied to Skittery in passing. "C'mon Skitts, who else is gonna fix 'em? No other girl would come within a mile 'a you, penny or no penny." He slapped Skittery playfully on the arm and grinned, but Skittery was obviously not enjoying the joke.
Even the usually mild-mannered Crutchy joined in the taunting on his way out of the room. "Heh heh, who could blame her what with a stench like that?" He held his nose in mock disgust as he hobbled down the stairs.
"No worries, I'll collect for you tonight, and I won't even take a cut," Blink reassured Katie once more before following his friends out the door. "Hey Skitts, don't worry about the shirt. It's the hair I would lose sleep over." He grimaced and his laughter could be heard echoing up the stairwell as he made his way out of the building.
That left Katie alone in the room with Skittery who was looking angrily at the door his friends had just walked through. His jaw was jutted forward almost defiantly and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Suddenly, his face just collapsed. His mouth opened soundlessly and he bent double, covering his face with his hands. He was completely silent, but there was no way Katie could mistake his violently shaking shoulders for anything other than sobs. She stared at him, shocked and uncomfortable. Had he forgotten she was there? He looked so miserable; she couldn't help herself from standing and taking a few steps toward him.
Evidently he had not forgotten her. He straightened up and glared at her through slitted eyes that still glistened with tears he had yet to shed. His face was damp and red from his crying. "Bet you can't wait to tell them all about this," he growled huskily.
She started to reach out to touch his shoulder comfortingly, but drew her hand back quickly, torn between his obvious distress and her own ambivalence towards him. "No, I -" She tried again, reaching for his shoulder and guiding him gently toward the rocking chair. "If you just sit I can fix that for you in a minute and you won't even have to take your shirt off." He followed her dumbly, and she was relieved he didn't immediately return to his senses and taunt her. He sank leadenly onto the floor in front of the rocking chair and she sat behind him with her needle and thread. She had only halfway repaired the rent in his shirt when his shoulders started shaking slightly once again. Her sense of pity overwhelming her dislike, she squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, it's okay." Not knowing what else to do, she started to hum a lullaby her mother used to use to put her to sleep when she was young. The miserable boy put his head in her lap and she gently smoothed his hair as if he were only a young boy of four or five. Katie did not know what to think. This vulnerable boy in front of her was nothing like the brash, heartless Skittery she had known. They sat together for quite some time. She even let him kiss her a little, not because she felt he forced her to, but because she felt he needed it.
The sun rose higher in the sky, and by midmorning Katie slowly extracted herself from Skittery's clumsy embrace. "I have to go," she explained. "Are you going to be alright?"
He looked disappointed, but nodded. "I -"
She stopped him with a gesture. "Don't worry, I won't tell any of the guys." She smiled at his look of relief. "Now you go try and make something of your day. I have an appointment to make." As she walked slowly down the lodging house steps, she smiled softly to herself. Whatever else should happen, she knew she would never have to worry about Skittery's threats again.
The days had shortened and the cold winds had risen by the time Katie decided she was ready to show her story to Brian Denton at the Sun. She and Medda had already started their preparations for the Christmas Eve charity show Pulitzer had commissioned for the newsies. The thought of her life sewing rents and tears in the lodging house colliding with her life singing bawdily to gawping drunkards at Irving Hall made her palms sweat. She knew she had to convince Brian to accept her story before the boys discovered that she had been deceiving them because the likelihood that they would forgive her was slim to none.
As she walked to the lodging house uncharacteristically early that morning in late November, it occurred to her how much she would miss spending time with some of those boys. She would miss those pleasant days spent sewing in the light of the bunkroom's window as various newsboys wandered in and out during their day's sales. Funny, the initial goal had been only to get her story published. She hadn't counted on getting personally attached to any of her subjects. She supposed Brian Denton had warned her before she'd even taken the assignment upon herself. He was a professional newsman, and even he wasn't immune to their charms. She hadn't counted on Racetrack's exaggerated gallantry or Kid Blink's jocular familiarity. She didn't think she'd grow to be fond of that scowling little newsie with his attempts at gruffness.
Thinking of the newsies she was fond of led her naturally to consider the ones she wasn't so fond of. Pages and pages of her writing tablet were covered with complaints about the arrogance of Jack Kelly and she positively hated how happily he lorded his knowledge of her secret over her. Every time she was near him she felt an undeniable urge to punch him in the nose. The desire was nearly a reflex, much like the need to retract one's hand from a flame. Occasionally, her thoughts were haunted by the satisfying crunching sound his nose would make as she broke it. It was almost like a tune she couldn't get out of her head.
And then there was Skittery. She didn't feel the need to break his nose, but she lost no love on him. His knowing her secret was less bearable than Jack knowing it since she couldn't seem to figure out the terms under which Skittery was keeping his mouth shut. As insufferable as she found Jack Kelly, he seemed to have some deep understanding of the importance of keeping one's business to oneself. Skittery obviously had no such compunctions and his intent was evidently to blackmail her into.something. She just wasn't sure what. His sexual advances were far too clumsy to be any threat to her; she'd lived her entire life in New York, most of it living and working practically on her own since Kevin couldn't be counted on for much protection, and that taught a girl something about self-defense. It certainly wasn't Skittery's physical presence that made her nervous; it was the fact that he was an unknown. He was one more variable in her already uncertain life.
Hastily, she tried to abandon these unhappy thoughts as the lodging house came into view. She had things to take care of that morning and she couldn't spend too much time lost in her private musings. She reached the lodging house and explained to Kloppman why she was early. "I don't want to just go barging up there and well." her sentence trailed off in a blush.
Kloppman smiled indulgently. "They should be ready to leave by now. If they're takin' their own sweet time in gettin' ready up there, it's their own fault if you catch one or two of 'em in their skivvies." Not relishing the thought of disturbing a roomful of newsboys in the midst of various states of undress but seeing there was no other way for it, Katie timidly climbed the stairs to the bunkroom and rapped loudly on the door. There was no answer. She could hear the muffled shouts and conversations of the boys just beyond the door, but they must not be able to hear her knocking. Remembering what Kloppman had said about it being their own fault if she caught them in their skivvies, she took a deep breath and entered the room.
To her intense relief, she wasn't immediately confronted with nudity. Most of the visible boys looked ready to hit the streets, just as Kloppman had said they would be. In each face she saw a different degree of wakefulness. Some boys stumbled along with eyes only half open heedless of the other boys they bumped into in their stupor. Other boys ran pell-mell through the rows of bunks, playfully swatting their yawning friends, already prepared for the day's mischief. Kid Blink certainly belonged in this latter category and Racetrack only narrowly avoided a kick in the pants when Blink noticed Katie's unexpected presence. Most boys registered mild surprise at seeing her, but soon took her early arrival as an opportunity to advise her on how to care for certain articles of clothing they'd left for her to mend. She nodded at Mush, who, upon giving her advice on how to patch his pants, specified, "Fix the big hole, not the little one. That's supposed to be there," while turning her attention to Kid Blink, the one she'd come to see.
"What brings you here so early this morning Niner?" Blink drawled, throwing one arm casually over her shoulder.
"Well I figured I can already sew a button on faster than any of you mutton-heads so I can probably best you at sellin' papes while I'm at it." Blink laughed heartily like she knew he would at her statement and her attempt at a street accent.
"No really, whaddaya want?"
"I have a favor to ask you."
"I thought you'd never ask." He cocked an eyebrow and grinned devilishly.
"Not that kind of favor." She rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm as he mimed disappointment. "If I leave the box by your bunk could you collect for me tonight? I have an appointment this afternoon and I can't wait about for everyone to get back.
"Yeah, sure." He looked confused.
"It's nothing serious and I'll be back later in the week for business as usual. There's just some stuff I need to take care of this afternoon." She squeezed his arm in thanks as he bounded off to the washroom to do something about his hair that was attempting to defy gravity and sticking up at all angles.
Skittery swaggered toward her and she resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. She wondered again what exactly he thought he was getting out of his supposed blackmail of her. He looked downward condescendingly as she settled into the rocking chair in the midst of the other boys' chaotic morning routine.
"So Niner, that's what they're callin' you now, huh," he sneered.
"I suppose." She shrugged, trying to ignore him.
"So that makes nine of what?" he asked, nonchalantly picking some hair from her shoulder and twirling it idly between his thumb and forefinger. She impatiently tossed her head back, jerking the hair away from him, perhaps causing herself more pain than necessary since her action didn't seem to ruffle him in the least.
"Nine lives maybe, like a cat?" he continued. "But no, what am I saying? Of course! I know what the nine is for." He bent down to hiss in her ear. "Nine guys left you haven't given it up to in this lodging house."
He chuckled to see her jaw clench as she abruptly dropped the shirt she had been retrieving back into the mending box, her determination to ignore him destroyed. She was about to throw back an angry retort when Blink ambled up to them, his hair newly plastered to his head and his cheeks rosy pink from scrubbing. He stuck his finger in a large tear in the back of Skittery's shirt.
"Whatsamadda Skitts? Tryin' to explain to Niner here how you can't sell enough papes in a month to pay her to fix this god-awful rip in your shirt?"
Mush chimed in from across the room. "What you gonna give her instead of a penny? She won't settle for an ugly mug like yours!" This was met by a chorus of laughter from the surrounding boys.
The smile faded from Skittery's face and then it was his jaw that was clenched. "I don't need her to fix my things," he mumbled, moving toward the door.
The newsies started to filter out of the bunkroom and down the stairs. Jack replied to Skittery in passing. "C'mon Skitts, who else is gonna fix 'em? No other girl would come within a mile 'a you, penny or no penny." He slapped Skittery playfully on the arm and grinned, but Skittery was obviously not enjoying the joke.
Even the usually mild-mannered Crutchy joined in the taunting on his way out of the room. "Heh heh, who could blame her what with a stench like that?" He held his nose in mock disgust as he hobbled down the stairs.
"No worries, I'll collect for you tonight, and I won't even take a cut," Blink reassured Katie once more before following his friends out the door. "Hey Skitts, don't worry about the shirt. It's the hair I would lose sleep over." He grimaced and his laughter could be heard echoing up the stairwell as he made his way out of the building.
That left Katie alone in the room with Skittery who was looking angrily at the door his friends had just walked through. His jaw was jutted forward almost defiantly and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Suddenly, his face just collapsed. His mouth opened soundlessly and he bent double, covering his face with his hands. He was completely silent, but there was no way Katie could mistake his violently shaking shoulders for anything other than sobs. She stared at him, shocked and uncomfortable. Had he forgotten she was there? He looked so miserable; she couldn't help herself from standing and taking a few steps toward him.
Evidently he had not forgotten her. He straightened up and glared at her through slitted eyes that still glistened with tears he had yet to shed. His face was damp and red from his crying. "Bet you can't wait to tell them all about this," he growled huskily.
She started to reach out to touch his shoulder comfortingly, but drew her hand back quickly, torn between his obvious distress and her own ambivalence towards him. "No, I -" She tried again, reaching for his shoulder and guiding him gently toward the rocking chair. "If you just sit I can fix that for you in a minute and you won't even have to take your shirt off." He followed her dumbly, and she was relieved he didn't immediately return to his senses and taunt her. He sank leadenly onto the floor in front of the rocking chair and she sat behind him with her needle and thread. She had only halfway repaired the rent in his shirt when his shoulders started shaking slightly once again. Her sense of pity overwhelming her dislike, she squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, it's okay." Not knowing what else to do, she started to hum a lullaby her mother used to use to put her to sleep when she was young. The miserable boy put his head in her lap and she gently smoothed his hair as if he were only a young boy of four or five. Katie did not know what to think. This vulnerable boy in front of her was nothing like the brash, heartless Skittery she had known. They sat together for quite some time. She even let him kiss her a little, not because she felt he forced her to, but because she felt he needed it.
The sun rose higher in the sky, and by midmorning Katie slowly extracted herself from Skittery's clumsy embrace. "I have to go," she explained. "Are you going to be alright?"
He looked disappointed, but nodded. "I -"
She stopped him with a gesture. "Don't worry, I won't tell any of the guys." She smiled at his look of relief. "Now you go try and make something of your day. I have an appointment to make." As she walked slowly down the lodging house steps, she smiled softly to herself. Whatever else should happen, she knew she would never have to worry about Skittery's threats again.