What Will Become of The Girl?
Ch. 2
I woke up to the sound of teenage boys getting dressed. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and grabbed some clean clothes from one of my carpetbags. I went into the bathroom and put on the clothes and I noticed that no eyes were on me. I smiled and pulled the green shirt over my head. I grabbed one of Jack's old pants and put them on and walked out of the bathroom. I walked over to Spot who was waiting for me.
"Today ya have to test ya worthiness." He told me. I nodded my head and followed Spot to the middle of the room, where everyone was waiting to hear what I had to do.
"Dis here is Marie, today we will decided her fate." Spot told the cheering crowd. I felt like I was in an arena where they were going to feed me to the lions.
"What do I have to do?" I asked him.
"Ya must do somethin' none of us has ever done. Walk on the catwalk of the Bridge."
I heard many of the boys clap and shout. I kept my head held high as everyone walked out to the Bridge.
"Walk until we tell ya to stop," He told me as I nodded my head and climbed on to the skinny catwalk. I took a deep breath and took my first step. I was so easy, just like walking. I smiled and keep walking along the catwalk. I was halfway across, I heard the boys below me shouting to get off. As I hopped off, I herd all of the boys telling me I was great. I felt like a million bucks and ran over to Spot.
"You made it!" He told me. I was so happy. I could stay with Spot, who quickly became my best friend, and the rest of the boys.
"But now dat ya here wit us," One boy told me, "Ya gotta have a nickname." My heart starting beating so fast, you would think I just ran 5 miles. I needed a nickname? Nobody told me that.
"Ok. What are ya goin' ta call me?" I asked.
"Catwalk." Spot said. Since he was the leader, anything he said goes. I held my head high at the thought of a new name and a new life. I just hope it wasn't as bad as the first one and even better than the second one. I walked with Spot to the distributing booth. I bought 20 papes with the money Jack left me. I felt like a million dollars as I sold my papes. I sold them to all types of people. I got at least 3 blacks and 5 riches. The rest were just ordinary people. I sold all of them within an hour and walked to the Lodging House. I walked to my bunk, which was right under Spot's, and opened one of my carpetbags. I pulled out my mothers old one and put half of my money in it. I shot up my head when somebody walked in. It turned out to be Spot.
"What are ya doin'?" He asked me.
"I'm saving up so when Jack comes back for me, I won't be a burden." I replied. Spot looked a little worried. I playfully hit him and walked out of the room. I turned around and saw him rubbing the spot I hit him. I laughed and walked out onto the street. I was starving so I walked around until I found a place called Martha's. It looked nice so I walked in. A lady with long black hair and soft blue eyes greeted me at the door.
"Can I please have a sandwich?" I asked.
"Sure kid." She said before walking to the back of the restaurant to tell the cook to make my sandwich. I sat at the tiny table twiddling my thumbs until the lady came back.
"Here ya go." She told me before walking to the next table, which was full of Brooklyn Newsies. I sat there, quietly eating my 3-cent sandwich, while all the other Newsies came hurtling in. I laughed as the boys tried to impress the girls that were in the diner. When I was done, I left a penny on the counter and walked out. I breathed in the wonderful Brooklyn air. It smelled like tobacco but I didn't care. This was my home now.
I started walking to the docks to see if I could find a good place to just relax. I started climbing the boxes and when I reached the top, I got a great view of the river. I turned around just as Spot came threw the boxes.
"Spot! Come over here!" I called. He slowly walked over.
"Look at dis view!" I told him. He nodded and sat on MY box.
"It's nice here." He said smirking.
"Your in my chair."
"So,"
"I was here first."
"No…I was here first."
"Dat's not da point." He laughed. He had known me for about 2 years of playing baseball in the park, but he had never seen me angry. I wasn't gonna get angry over a box/chair. I playfully hit him to see if he would get off. He didn't. Eventually I left to wonder around. I sat on a corner on a fairly busy street. The people who walked by were interesting. I saw fat people, small people, and starving people. I smiled when one person took pity on me and gave me 5 cents. I thanked them and put the money in my pants pocket. I got up about 15 minutes later to go find Spot. I ran around Brooklyn for about 5 minutes until I found the Lodging House and walked in. As I walked up the creaky old stairs, I herd laughs coming from the bunkroom. I paid no mind to that and kept walking. When I walked into the room, everything went quiet.
"What?" I asked as I put 2 of the 5 cents in my carpetbag.
"Nothin'" On of the boys said. If growing up with a boy taught me anything, is that if anyone is talking about you, leave and listen through the door, which is what I did. As soon as I left, I herd the laughter again.
"Why keep her? She barely has anything." A boy named Blood asked.
"She'll keep us in line." Spot said.
"Yeah right. All she cares about is getting out of dis hell hole." Everybody laughed. I felt my eyes start to water.
"She just misses her brudder."
"I don't care. Lets just put her on the streets and wait a couple of years till she matures." Everybody laughed again. I hated what I was hearing. Only Spot defended me. Well a best friend is supposed to defend you right? I felt hot tears roll down my dirt coved cheeks as I got up and left to the rooftop. I found an old blanket in the corner and used it for warmth that night. Before I got to sleep, I walked over to the fire escape and looked inside to see what they were doing or if they even noticed I was gone.
"She can't have gone far," Squints said. Squints needed glasses badly.
"She hardly knows her way around here." Little John said. Little John was really quite small for his age.
"Just leave her. She'll probably turn up tomorrow crying her head off." Blood said. I'll show them. I hardly ever cry, unless people are talking bad about me. I slowly climbed back up the fire escape and went to sleep.
"Jack?" I called. No answer. "Jack!" I called louder. Just then, Jack came out of an alleyway covered in blood. I screamed and he fell down. I tried to run over to him but Nick was holding me back. I struggled to get free of his strong grip but it was no use. I fell limp in his arms and he laid me down next to Jack.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Francis Jack Kelly Sullivan and Elizabeth Marie Kelly Sullivan."
I shot up from my nightmare sweaty and panting. I took a deep breath to remind myself it was just a nightmare. I wiped the sweat off my brow and went to the bunkroom to get some clean clothes.
"Look who decided to show up today," Blood said,
"Shove off Blood," I said before hitting him in the jaw. I smirked in satisfaction as I walked out the door. My stay with the boys from that point on was great, Blood no respected me or else he would go to work with a bloody nose. Everything was great until about 6 years later when the Newsboys of Manhattan wanted to go on strike.