Disclaimer: i do not own any of the newsies (though i wish i did) and they are all owned by some big shot in disney who totally shouldnt have had the pleasure of working with all the christian bale and michael a. goorjian and should have givin me the pleasure instead lolz (it makes perfect sense in my head so shush)
Royal squinted through the darkness at the note pressed against her palm, matching the street name written down on the paper to the street sign on the corner. She shifted her small bundle on to the other shoulder as she realized that she still had 2 more blocks to walk. Dragging her feet on the cobblestone, she began to walk once more, nerves building up inside of her. At the top of the smudged directions sheet, was written Newsboys Lodging House.
Royal recalled her conversation earlier that day with Mrs. Muller when she had been given the information. She had asked Mrs. Muller as politely as possible why she had been assigned to stay at a newsboys lodging house instead of a newsgirls. Royal chuckled as she remembered Mrs. Muller's brisk voice responding,
"If you don't like it… another child can go leave in your place. Maybe he or she would be more appreciative of their newly obtained freedom."
Royal had not argued further. The older orphans had always told her when she was younger that when she was 18 she had to escape the 45th street orphanage and get away as far as she could. Royal was now 16 and was escaping to another boarding house only two miles away.
Royal collected herself as she approached the lodging house.
The building was old and the bricks were slowly crumbling at its base. A small wooden sign hung above the doorframe and light flowed out a large window to the left of the door. Laughter and chatting could be heard coming from the second floor.
Royal stepped on the stoop of the building, raking her fingers through her long brown hair in an effort to tame its waves. She could feel her stomach turning over as she opened the door to the building, a cascade of firelight falling upon her.
She stepped through the door way into a dimly lit room, warm and comfortable with a fire burning in the fireplace. Doors were on either side of her and a small clerks desk lay in front. As petite, gray haired man came out from the door on her right, having heard her enter. He stepped behind the desk, straightening out his vest and boa-tie.
"Why hello," he said warmly in a small voice, urging her to step forward from the door.
"Hi, uh you must be…"
Royal glanced down at the sweaty note, now crinkled in her hand.
"…Mr. Kloppman?" her voice shook though he didn't seem to notice.
"Yes… and you are?"
Feeling more welcomed she let out a small sigh of relief.
"I'm…" she paused momentarily; contemplating on whether to use royal or the name her parents had given her.
Mr. Kloppman waited for her to go on.
"I'm Ramona Canely but most people just call me royal."
Mr. Kloppman smiled pleasantly once more,
"Well royal how do you do?"
"Very well indeed sir…um…I was directed here by the 45th street orphanage…ah… I will understand if you only take boys…but um…I was wondering if I could lodge here?" she looked down at her brown leather shoes and then back up at Kloppman's eager face.
"No, no, no of course you can lodge here… I'm not saying any other girls have but I'm sure the boys will be quite excited if you do."
She smiled, relief rushing over her; a rejection from Mr. Kloppman would have meant going back to the orphanage to get a new lodging address, making it even harder to prove to Mrs. Muller that she was mature enough to be on her own.
"Oh thank you so much Mr. Kloppman." She said with as much sincerity as she could muster.
" Oh, there is no need for you to call me Mr. Kloppman. Kloppman will do just fine. And there is no need to thank me either, as long as I get my 10 cents every month you can stay here as long as you like."
"Don't worry Kloppman, you'll get it every month I swear."
Kloppman chuckled at her honesty.
"C'mon I'll introduce you to the boys."
He stepped out from behind the counter and led her through the door on the left to a tall, narrow staircase. He began to ascend the steps, taking his time as if there was in no rush at all.
Royal rationed with her self that the man was probably around 60 years old or so, not much older then Mrs. Muller though a great deal shorter. Kloppman was about as tall as royal shoulder, meaning he would have probably reached Mrs. Muller's elbow.
They reached the top of the stairs and the old man let out a short, little huff before steering towards a large door off to their right. He swung the door open grandly and stepped in side, motioning for royal to do the same.
She shuffled into the room and glanced around. About 20 beds were lined up in rows of 5 or 6 and a small desk was set against back wall under an average sized window. The room was littered with boys of all sizes, young and old, big and small. Royal looked about the room with awe set upon her face. It looked like a larger version of a bunkroom at the orphanage yet for some reason everything seemed to be more comforting. Smiles were set upon the boy's faces and even the older, more rebellious ones seemed to be happy and content.
"Attention boys! Attention!" Kloppman clapped his wrinkled hands together.
Suddenly all faces were turned towards royal and the old man. Royal blushed, as they looked her up and down judgmentally, their smiles fading though returning shortly after.
"This is royal, she's our new lodger."
Some of the boys waved in her direction though most just stared at her in both confusion and wonder.
"I know you boys have never had a girl lodging with you but try not to single her out."
Royal shook a nervous hand in an attempt to wave back at the boys.
"Hello…" she said faintly, glancing around the room once more at the enormous amount of new faces. New faces that had names which she must learn. New faces with personalities she must master. So many people to introduce her self to.
Although royal had been around masses of children her whole life, she was not the social type and would not say hi to someone if they did not say hi to her first. She had always reasoned with her self that people would talk to her if they wanted to and if they didn't… well at least she wouldn't be made a fool of trying to engage them in a conversation.
Realizing that Kloppman's announcement was over, the younger boys began to run around and talk once more though the other boy's attention remained at the front of the room.
"Ah…jack?" Kloppman said finally, focusing his attention on one boy and quieting his voice.
"Would you mind introducing her to the other newsies?"
The boy dug his hands and in his pockets and smiled agreeably
"Sure thing Kloppman."
The boy called jack had medium length light brown hair and a red bandana tied around his neck. Other then the bandana his clothes were very similar to those of the other newsies in the room. Kloppman left and jack turned towards royal.
"What did ya say ya name was?" his voice was rough and he had a thick New York accent.
"Ah…royal," she responded, shifting her bundle uneasily.
Noticing her burden he added, "Oh before I introduce ya; lets find you a bunk."
He whirled around the room, searching for an unoccupied bed.
"Ah… there," he said finding one in the corner, his eyes resting upon it.
Royal made her way around the boys clothing and pillows scattered about the room, finally reaching the corner. She dropped her bag on the bottom bunk, causing the mattress to surge up and down with the newly added weight. Jack watched her relieve the burden.
"So, you a newsie?"
"Oh…no…well not yet at least." Royal stumbled over her words. "Why?"
He shrugged, "I thought maybe a newsie had given you the name royal…but, I guess not."
He shrugged again and started walking in the direction of a large group of boys.
"Newsies aren't the only ones who nickname each other." She replied saucily though quickly corrected tone.
"I got royal from one of the kids at the orphanage. The older kids give you nicknames when you come in; it's their own form of rebellion I suppose."
Jack grinned toothily slowing down his pace so that they would be able to talk more before they reached the group.
"So…ah… why'd they name you royal."
Royal tugged at a strand of pearls around her neck, which had been hidden underneath her wool dress. She fingered the pearls gently before letting them hang freely about her neck once more.
"Well, when I first arrived at the orphanage all I had on me besides my clothes was a strand of pearls which I refused to take off or let anyone touch. See, usually Mrs. Muller takes away the kids possessions when they arrive to 'keep them safe' as she puts it but I wouldn't let her touch my pearls. I don't remember any of this but the older boys and girls have told me the story. So anyway…hence the name royal."
Jack nodded "that makes sense."
She tucked the pearls away once more as they approached the boys.
"Hey you guys, this here is royal. She was at the 45th street orphanage before so…um I'm sure you all will have a lot in common." He introduced her, placing his hands on her shoulders almost protectively.
A murmur of hellos set about the boys. There were about 5 of them in the group, most looking about her age though a couple looked a bit older.
Jack turned to the boy closest to him, an Italian boy with dark brown hair and eyes. He was standing up and the top of his head reached about royals nose.
"This is Racetrack," Jack turned her shoulders towards the boy so that she was facing him directly.
The boy called Racetrack picked up her hand from where it hung limply by her side and kissed it gingerly. She blushed though jack seemed to think nothing of it and moved on.
The next boy was more Royal's height and was tan with curly brown hair and brown eyes.
"This is Mush,"
Mush kissed her hand in the same manner as race had though this time royal fought off the color forming in her cheeks.
Jack went on to a blonde boy by Mush's shoulder who had a brown eye patch and a beautiful smile.
"This is kid blink," again her hand was layered with a lodging kiss.
"This is spot. Now, spots from Brooklyn so he don't stay in dis house. He's just visiting"
The boy named spot had light brown hair and blue & green eyes. He tipped his hat to royal, deciding that reaching over kid blink for her hand would be too much of a hassle.
The last boy had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. Half of his pink long johns were visible though the other half was hidden underneath his trousers. His suspenders were pulled taut against his chest.
"And this is Skittery," the boy smiled and took her hand, kissing it for a last time.
"Hey, ah…royal." Mush called to her.
She reeled around from her position in front of Skittery so that she could see his face.
"I would recommend gettin' up couple minutes before everyone else does. Da washroom gets pretty hectic in da mornin's." his voice was gentle and sweet. She nodded with the new information and made a mental note.
"Ya know what, I think I'm gonna go tell ole' Kloppy' to wake ya up bout five minutes earlier then da rest of us." jack said, taking his hands off her shoulders and slowly jogging over to the door.
The group watched him go and royal suddenly felt vulnerable and exposed.
"Have a seat," race said in a thick New York accent, breaking the silence.
He motioned to an empty spot next to Skittery on the bunk they were surrounding. Royal sat down promptly at his command and waited for the poorly structured bed frame to become stable once more.
"So, how old are ya?" Skittery asked, turning around to face her.
"16, I'll be 17 in a week though."
He nodded though blink looked at her, confusion setting about his face.
"Don't ya need ta be 18 ta leave an orphanage?"
"Yea, this year I guess they ran out of money to support all of us; they had to let me and ten of the older guys go. I was supposed to make like I was 18 while I was out though; if the state knew what the orphanage was doing… letting us under aged kids out and all… the government would probably close down the orphanage. I'm just hoping I turn 18 before the orphanage gets more funding and starts collecting us again."
"Filthy tight wads! Probably just doin' what the refuge was doing last year… puttin' more money in their pockets then their givin' ta the kids."
Spot muttered under his breath.
A murmur of agreement echoed about the group. Kloppman stepped into the room once more followed by jack who side stepped him, heading towards the back where royal and the others were.
"You boys should probably be getting to bed don't ya think." Kloppman said firmly though his small voice only nullified his tone.
Royal watched as the younger boys jumped into their appropriate beds as they had been told.
"G'night royal," race muttered, sauntering towards the left side of the room where his bed was,
"Nice ta meet ya."
Mush and blink followed race, mush taking the bunk three beds over from race and blink taking the upper bed of race's bunk.
Jack smiled jadedly, "g'night royal, see ya tomorrow mornin'. I told Kloppman ta wake ya up a bit earlier den the rests of us."
"Thanks jack."
She watched as jack took his place on the other side of the room, hanging up his bandana next to a brown cowboy hat.
Spot had taken the empty bunk above the one they had been lounging on and had already rolled out a spare blanket.
Royal strolled over to her bunk and rolled out the blanket that was neatly folded on the end of the bed. She placed a green pinstriped pillow at the head of her cot and sat down wearily. She untied her shoes, pushing them under the bed and sat up once more to untie the brown ribbon that pulled back her thick mass of hair.
She followed Skittery with her eyes as he made his way over to her, stopping at her bunk and hanging his newsboys cap on top of one of the bedposts.
"Well, I guess we're bunk mates den?" he said chuckling as he hauled himself on to the top bunk,
"I guess so."
Royal saw the springs beneath his cot quiver as he slid his pants off revealing the other half of his long johns and hung them over the far right bedpost. He leaned his head over the side of his bunk and smiled impishly at her.
"So, are you sellin' tomorrow?"
Royal unbuttoned her wool jacket and hung it over the end of her bed neatly, leaving her in her orphanage uniform; an unflattering gray dress and brown stockings.
"Well, I haven't decided whether I will be a newsie or a maid. I suppose tomorrow I'll sell, just to have some money in my pockets."
She reached behind her back and blindly unbuttoned the dress, revealing a thin white slip. She pealed off her stockings and placed both them and the uniform on the end of the bed with her coat.
"Personally, I think you should be a newsie, maids can turn real hoity toity on you."
She giggled at his vocabulary. "Oh can they?"
Skittery grinned broadly, "yeah, so… ah if you are sellin tomorrow, ya wanna be my sellin' partner?"
Royal sat down once more on her bed,
"Yeah sure but I'm warning ya, your gonna have the teach me the ropes."
"It would be me honor!" he responded defiantly, straightening up once more and leaning back on his own cot.
Royal watched as one of the newsies by the door went around blowing out the candles on each table. The room was suddenly dark and quiet, the only sounds coming from the crackling fire a floor below. Royal sighed tiredly and laid her head back on the thin pillow.
As she laid waiting for sleep to take her she thought back to the orphanage, the crumbling walls and the cramped rooms. The damp blankets and the molded pillows. The turned up noses of the Heads, ignoring the children's cries and their ever-constant hunger. The small buzzing in all of the older children's ears, telling them they must either escape now or revolt before their childhood dries up from lack of happiness. Thank god I got out of there.
