What Will Become of The Girl?
Ch. 1
I was born on July 25th 1884. My parents were so happy. My brother, who was only 1 ½ at the time, could have cared less about the arrival of his new baby sister. I hardly remember growing up, all I know is that Jack and I shared a room until I was 8, that's when our mother died of the flu and we were left in the care of our drunken father. About 3 months after mother died, father lost his job and couldn't afford to feed all three of us. I would go to bed with and empty belly every night on the moth eaten sofa, while Jack would eat like a king and go to bed full.
"Can't she have some of my dinner?" Jack would ask him almost once a week.
"No, you're a growing boy and need your strength," He would reply with a laugh. I would usually sigh and get back to staring at my tablespoon meal. I always ate slowly to savor the taste of the food.
One day, father didn't come home from work. Jack and I started to worry. We looked out the window at the raging storm outside.
"Don't worry, he'll be back soon," Jack told me as he put an arm around my shoulder.
"Really?" I asked.
"Really, really." I laughed. I went over to out moth eaten sofa and started to color on a piece of old newspaper.
"Jack, what's it like to be a newsie?" I asked him,
"I'm not a newsie, Marie. Ya know dat." He told me as he came and sat down next to me.
"I know but I see ya talk to them all da time. What are day like?"
"Like ya and me." I soon fell asleep on the sofa and didn't wake up until the bulls came the next morning.
I rubbed my eyes while Jack stood at the front door talking to the bull.
"Your father was placed under arrest last night at 23 hours last night. He told us that ya are to be left in the care of Lilly. Is she ya neighbor?" The bull asked him.
"Yeah, but what about Marie?" He asked the man.
"He didn't mention anybody else. Just a Francis Jack Kelly Sullivan."
"But what about me sista?"
"Yeah, what about me?" I asked the man.
"I'm sorry, he didn't mention a goil, but ya could probably stay wit Lilly to."
"Thank ya officer," Jack said before closing the door. Jack hated to be called by his birth name. That's why everyone calls him Jack. I sighed and walked into my room and started to pack my things. I packed everything I owned into to 2 carpetbags and grabbed my bunny that my mother made for me when I was little. I started to cry when Jack walked in with his 2 carpetbags.
"Ready ta go?" He asked. I nodded my head and walked out the door with Jack. I wiped away the tears before Jack knocked on the door of our neighbor, Lilly. Father didn't like Lilly that much because she was like our mother and she was nice to me. After mother died, father stopped liking me and focused on Jack.
"Hello kids," Lilly said as we walked in, "I just finished making breakfast. Do ya kids like pancakes?" I smiled.
"Ya gonna have ta share a room, is dat ok?" She asked.
"No, it's fine." I said looking at Jack, who was also smiling. Jack was my protector against the evils of New York and I would fell safe knowing that he would be there for me in the middle of the night.
When I walked into the room, I fell on to the bed that Lilly made for me.
"Jack, this is wonderful! I'll finally be able to eat!" I said as Jack started putting his clothes away.
"I know. No more askin' ta helps ya. No more smell of alcohol in our clothes." Jack went on and on as I started put away my clothes. I placed my bunny on the bed and walked into the kitchen with Jack.
"Do ya get everythin' put away?" Lilly asked.
"Yes," Jack said as he stuffed his face with pancakes. I was still putting syrup on mine. It felt good to taste real food for once. Lilly talked about how her husband, Jake, would be home at 7 tonight and usually leaves at 6 in the morning.
"What do ya do all day?" I asked.
"I stay at home and mend peoples clothes to make a some extra money." Lilly said. I smiled and drank a glass of water. For the first time since mother's death, I was happy.
After breakfast, Jack and I went outside to buy a newspaper with the money Lilly gave us. We each got 3 pennies.
I went up to one of the Newsies with the most papes.
"Can I have a pape please?" I asked.
"Sure kid. That'll be 2 pennies." He replied.
"I bought a pape yesterday and it was only a penny and me brudder bought a pape for a penny from dat guy over dare."
"Your smart kid. Ever think of becoming a newsie?"
"Every day of my life,"
"Come on Marie, we'se gotta go." Jack said as he read the pape. The newsie handed me my pape as I gave him the penny and we left for Central Park. Jack and I found the most shaded tree in Central Park and read our papes. Mother taught me how to read so I didn't need Jacks help. I read several articles until something else caught my attention.
I looked up and saw 3 boys about Jack's age playing baseball. I slowly got up and walked over to the boys. One had short dark hair and looked Italian, the other had curly brown hair and wore shorts, and the last one was rather short and looked tough.
"Can I play?" I asked.
"No." The boy who looked like the leader said.
"Why not?"
"Because you're a goil."
"So."
"Goils can't play baseball."
"Me brudder plays baseball wit me all da time."
"She's really good, just give her a try," Jack said as he came over. He looked at Jack and then back at me.
"Ya can play. Just don't get in our way." The leader said. I squealed with delight, as I got ready to bat. As the ball came hurtling at me, I swung the bat as hard as I could. Everyone stopped and watched the ball fly into a puddle left over from last nights rain. I ran over to maple tree, which was first base, and stayed there until Jack hit the ball. I ran over to the rock that looked like a puppy and sat on it. I laughed as Jack ran into the tree on purpose. All the boys thought Jack was really cool. I thought so to.
I got bored with playing baseball so I went back to my pape. I was getting to the good part on the article about the arrest on my father, when I herd Jack and the other boys talking.
"Ya should be a newsie." One of them told Jack.
"I don't know, I've only got me sista and I ain't leavin' her." Jack told them.
"Come on. Ya could send her some of da money ya make."
"It
wouldn't be da same. I wanna see her grow up."
"Just think
about it."
"Ok,"
I stopped listen as Jack walked back over. He sat down next to me and read his pape. I felt a bittersweet emotion about Jack's decision. I wanted for Jack to be a newsie, it's been our dream for years, and I was happy because he wouldn't leave me. I looked over at Jack and smiled.
"What are ya smiling about?" Jack asked me.
"Nothin'" I said before resuming reading my pape. I smiled and looked over at the boys. They still were playing baseball, the curly haired one looked my way and smiled. I blushed and looked back down at my pape.
When Jack and I got back from the park, Lilly was making dinner, vegetable soup, and Jake, her husband, was on the couch and reading the evening news. He looked up when we walked in.
"Ya must be Marie and Jack. I'm Jake," He said as he held out a hand for us to shake. I shook his hand and went into the kitchen to help Lilly with the soup. When I entered the kitchen, Lilly turned around and smiled.
"How was the park?" She asked,
"It was fun, Jack and I read our papes and played baseball wit some other boys," I told her.
"That's nice. Would ya hand me dat carrot?" I went over to grab the carrot when I herd a knock at the door. Jake got up and went to answer it. I looked over and saw it was the boys from the park.
"Ya forgot ya hat," The Italian boy said handing it to Jack who was behind Jake.
"Thank ya." Jack said as he took the hat. I went into the front room and saw the curly haired boy behind the Italian boy. He smiled and I ran back into the kitchen where I handed Lilly the carrot.
"Would ya like to stay for dinner? It'll be ready in about 10 minutes." Lilly said as she went over to the door.
"Yes," They all said in unison. Lilly laughed and went back into the kitchen. Lilly cut up the carrot and put it into the pot on the stove.
"Will ya set da table?" Lilly asked me. I nodded my head and took the plates from her and walked into the front room where the table was. Jack and the other boys were laughing and talking about living in New York.
"We never learned ya name," One of the boys said and I turned around.
"It's Marie," I said as I went back to setting the table. I could hear the boys snicker as I went back to work. When I was done, I walked back into the kitchen to wait for the soup to finish cooking. About 5 minutes later the soup was done. I helped Lilly serve before we sat down to eat.
"What are ya names?" Lilly asked.
"I'm Anthony and dis here is Spot, and over dare is Nick." The Italian boy said.
"It's very nice to meet ya, please eat."
I looked over at Nick and smiled. He knew my name and I knew his. I started to eat my soup; it was better than my mothers, when I saw that Nick was looking at me. I finished my soup as fast as I could and went to Jack's and mine room. I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep.
I will never forget that day. It was the best day of my life. Jack and I had a good life there. Every other day, Jack and I would go to the park and play baseball with Spot, Anthony and Nick. I would almost always play, but sometimes, they wouldn't let me play. That's when I read from the pape.
Life was great until a month after I turned 10. When Jack and I came home one night, Lilly and Jake were very happy.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Kid's, we're gonna have a baby." Lilly told us. My mouth was open in shock. I didn't wanna leave. There were only 2 bedrooms so we would have to share with the baby. I went to the bedroom and packed my stuff and went to find Jack. I found him on the fire escape.
"Jack, Lilly is gonna have a baby," I told him
"So," He said.
"There gonna put it in our room." Jacks eyes got really big.
"Are they gonna kick us out?" He asked.
"I don't think so, but I think we should leave." I said. So that night, Jack and I packed up our stuff and left our home.
"Where are we gonna go?" I asked.
"I'll leave ya in Brooklyn wit Spot, he'll look after ya until I come back." Jack told me. I nodded my head as we walked to Brooklyn. I stood close to him to keep warm in the cool August night. I was starting to get tired when we reached a building labeled: Brooklyn Newsboys Lodging House. Jack knocked on the door and an old man answered.
"What do ya want?" The old man asked.
"I need to see Spot Conlon," Jack told him. The old man stuck his head inside and called for Spot.
When Spot came outside Jack told him what happened and Spot looked at me and smiled.
"Come wit me Marie, I'll take care of ya." Spot told me. I smiled and followed him into the Lodging House and turned around and saw Jack walking away, putting on his cowboy hat that Jake gave him. He didn't even look back to wave good-bye. I felt a tear roll down my dirt covered cheek as I turned back to Spot, who had my bags in his hands and was walking up the stairs. I left my bunny at Jake and Lilly's place to give to the baby.
When I walked in the bunkroom, everyone was asking Spot if I was some kind of joke. I would test my worthiness the next day but for now, all I needed was a good night sleep.