The next day I woke disoriented in the small bottom bunk and the
realization of what had happened hit me as it did every morning since my
mother's death. I could hear boys' voices and remembered last night feeling
a little better. I got dressed, realizing I had no cloths so I pulled on
the pants and shirt I had worn the previous day, and when I was ready, I
opened the door. I walked down the hallway and was almost immediately
confronted by one of the boys that had been with Mush the previous night.
He was tall, skinny, and handsome and wore a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
"Hi", he said to me, "I'm Specs."
I said back to him, I'm Doodles if ye didn't already hear."
"I did but its nice te meetcha anyways. Mush didn't have de manners ta introduce us las night." He laughed and I smiled at him then saw Bailey walking up to us.
"Good mornin, Doodles come meet some more a' th' guys before they goes ta woik."
"See ya later Doodles", Specs said .
"Bye", I said back and he turned and walked down the hallway, "Ok", I said happy to see her, "Where do dey all woik?"
"Well deyre newsies of course", she told me.
"Oh, I used ta sell papes sometimes back in Harlem." She looked suprised. "Really? Goil newsies aren't dat common." "Oh?", You and yer sista do it dough right?", I said.
"Yea.", she replied.
"I jus did it te help eoin money for me mudder an me." I replied.
"Yer Mudder?" she asked, Where's she?"
I hadn't even realized I had mentioned my mother. I hadn't told anyone what had happened but then again there hadn't been anyone to tell. I decided to let it out.
"Can ye keep a secret?" I asked quietly.
"Sure", she replied, "but ya don have ta tell me if ye don' want te."
"Thanks." I said "but I gotta get it out sometime."
Even though my heart was pounding and I began to sweat even just at the memory, I told her.
After, I knew I was about to cry and I desperatly tried to hold them in but i was losing. I need some time alone.
"I'll meet da newsies later ok?"
"Ok.", she said to me looking at me sadly as I hurried down the stairs blindly.
I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and as I half ran outside I tripped and fell straight into a boy accidentally ripping his shirt open. I caught my balance and mortification began to take place of the sadness. He looked bewildered and I couldn't blame him. How often did he get almost run over by a crying girl? Not to mention the girl ripping his shirt wide open.
"Hey you ok?" he said worriedly, after seeing my tears.
"Well I'd say yea but then I'd be lyin", I half sobbed, half laughed when I said this. "Ummm, I'm sorry for ripping yer shirt and runnin inte ye."
He chuckled, "Its ok, it's just a shirt an I can get it fixed. By the way me name's Race...er Racetrack. You must be Doodles. Jack told me ye got here las night."
"Yeah." I said. I had stopped crying, though my face was still burning from the embarrassment...of well...you know..., but I was surprised I had managed not to break down into tears totally.
My vision cleared some and I finally got a clear view of his face. He was a few inches taller than me and had brown eyes and hair. He spoke with a rough New York accented voice. He wasn't really good looking but there was something about him that made my heart beat a little faster, including his exposed chest, which was, to say the least, not bad. I was only human, or at least, female. He wore a newsboy hat and usual newsie cloths. Though he had two different plaids on, which was I thought was odd but even so, it worked for him. I tried dismissing as not the normal type I fall for but Race, Racetrack was different from everyone else.
"Do ye want te go somewhere to calm down?" he asked me. "Ok," I said "and thanks".
"No problem, Its not everyday a beautifol goil falls in yer arms is it?" he said with a chuckle.
I laughed with him and thought about it. Me beautiful? Bailey was beautiful with her blond hair and green-yellow eyes. I had straight dark brown hair tinted with auburn, like my mother's hair had been, with hazel green eyes. Sure I had interesting looks but I wasn't so sure about beautiful.
"Uh I gotta go change first." he said.
"Ok.", I said. Then just having a thought I said. "Me mudd-," I broke off as tears clouded my vision once again. Then forcing them back I finished. "Uh...I was taught how ta sew so I can fix yer shirt if ye want."
"Thanks...Id was an accident afta all...wasn't it?" he winked at me rougishly and we walked into the lodging house.
We walked up the stairs in silence and we stopped outside a room occupied by messy bunks. There he took his ripped shirt off and handed it to me.
"I'll be right back." I said and walked down the hallway to my room.
We arrived at the little restaurant I had eaten at the night before, before I had gone to the lodging house. It was called Tibbys'.
"Me an the rest of the newsies always eat hea", Racetrack told me. "So who've ye met so far?" he asked me.
"I've met Bailey, Jack, Mush, Kid Blink, and Specs. Well and you o course. Bailey was gonna introduce me ta some of em this mornin but then ah..." I broke off.
"You fell into me arms?" Race said with a smile.
"Yea." I said.
"Do ye want to talk about it?" he asked me.
"Wel-". I was cut off suddenly.
"Heya Race, hi Doodles" Jack sat down next to Racetrack and I smiled at him.
"Hey Jacky-boy how ye doin?" Race asked him.
"Good." he replied.
"Hi Jack", I said to him.
"Me, Dave an' Les just got done sellin our papes." Jack said.
I looked up and saw that Jack was with two other boys one about sixteen or seventeen and the other around ten.
"This is David", Jack told me pointing to the older one who had curly hair and a square jaw,"and this is Les." he said indicating the scrawny yet cute younger boy. "David, Les, dis is Doodles. She's stayin at de lodgin house."
"Hi.", all of us said to each other. We ate lunch together and really didn't talk about much...what I basically got was that Dave and Jack were not on the best terms because I found out that Jack used to date Davids sister Sarah...before he met Bailey. Davy, being protective of her or something, still wasn't all that happy with Jack. I gathered this vital information from Race who told me quickly when the others had gone to pay. When they were done Jack, Dave, and Les left to go to somewhere they called Medda's Race said we'd catch up with them later.
"What's Medda's?" I asked him once they had gone.
"Medda's a friend of th' newsies", he told me, "She owns a theater and us newsies like te go te watch de shows."
Later as we were walking to Medda's I asked him how he got named Racetrack. I took the forethought to determine Race wasn't his real name.
"Well I love ta go th' tracks an' watch de races." he told me.
"You gamble?" I asked incredulously.
"Well I guess ye could say that." he replied with a smile playing around his mouth. "Everyone has love fer somethin", he said, "mine's fer the tracks."
He was right I thought to myself.
We arrived at Medda's and entered. We were in an entrance hall near some steps and could hear music playing. Walking towards us was a tall handsome boy with sharp ice blue eyes, slingshot stuck conveniently in his belt and a girl who bore a resemblance to Bailey. She had the same eyes but light brown hair, and also like Bailey she was beautiful.
I almost automatically assumed this would be the infamous Spot Conlon leada of Brooklyn and Bailey's sister, Angel.
"Hi I'm Spot Conlon, an dis is me goil Angel."
My assumption was right.
"Also Bai's sista" she said looking at Spot, "Jack told us you'd be hea soon." Angel said to me smiling.
"Hi I'm Doodles, its nice ta meetcha." I replied, returning her smile.
"Heya Race.", Spot said to Racetrack. "Been showin' Doodles around?"
"Kinda", he said smiling a little, "We just ran inte each other (literally I thought) and den met Jack, Dave, an Les. Hows Brooklyn lately? You still in for poka t'night?"
"Brooklyn's great an ye know I whuddn't miss a poka game", Spot replied, with a wink at Angel, giving Race a slap on the shoulder which Race returned.
"So Doodles, whudd brings ye te Manhattan?" Angel asked me.
"Uh..." I was still unsure on how to answer this question. I had realized that I could trust them and the rest of the newsies but I didn't want to just have everyone trying to help me and talk to me about it, it was still painful to think about. It had only been two days ago...
"I was lookin' fer woik." I decided this was a safe answer.
"Whudd kinda woik?" Angel asked.
"Well I usta sell papes so I thought I might be able te be a newsie."
Angel looked interested "I'm a newsie now too, so ye met up with de right people."
"Yea, Bailey told me. "Can I sell with ye tomorrow?"
"Sur-", Angel began to speak but Race cut in.
"Ye can sell wid me, cause Angel's gonna sell whid Spot tommorow."
"I am?" Angel said giving Race a searching look concealed by a mischievous smile.
"Dats fine by me." Spot said giving Angel a kiss and Race an amused look. I raised my eyebrows at Race but didn't say anything else about it. I had only just met the guy.
"As long as I can come to the card game t'night." I said.
"Why d'ya wanna go te th' poker game?" Race asked me, "There can be some dangerous people there."
"I don't care", I replied, "If it gets that bad I know how ta hold me own in a fight."
"Besides Race" Angel cut in, "I useta go wid Spot."
"Ok, ok" Race gave in, "but why do ye want go to th' card game so much?"
"I guess I wanna see ya doin whudd yer best at." I said this with a winning, innocent smile on my face. I actually didn't know why I wanted to go...to be with Race longer? When my head popped that unexpected thought in my head my face got hot. Wait I thought to myself I've known him for...? 5 hours? Geez I'm such a flirt I though mentally hitting myself in the head in exasperation.
"Alright.", Race said.
"Why don't we go watch Medda?" Spot suggested, "It is kinda the reason we came here.", he said this just a little bit sarcastically.
"Fine!" I said in a false huff because I still had a smile on my face.
As we were about to go into the stage area Angel grabbed my arm and held me back a second.
"Race is acting really strange." she said with questioning look on her face.
"Hey i dunno, I just met the guy."
"Well anyways he is just actin' different. He seems to really like you."
"Well," I said turning slightly red and I could feel my ears getting hot, "As I said I just met him aldough he is pretty cute in an odd sorta way doncha think?"
Angel laughed in this knowing way and I smiled embarrassedly as we walked to sit down next to Race and Spot.
He was tall, skinny, and handsome and wore a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
"Hi", he said to me, "I'm Specs."
I said back to him, I'm Doodles if ye didn't already hear."
"I did but its nice te meetcha anyways. Mush didn't have de manners ta introduce us las night." He laughed and I smiled at him then saw Bailey walking up to us.
"Good mornin, Doodles come meet some more a' th' guys before they goes ta woik."
"See ya later Doodles", Specs said .
"Bye", I said back and he turned and walked down the hallway, "Ok", I said happy to see her, "Where do dey all woik?"
"Well deyre newsies of course", she told me.
"Oh, I used ta sell papes sometimes back in Harlem." She looked suprised. "Really? Goil newsies aren't dat common." "Oh?", You and yer sista do it dough right?", I said.
"Yea.", she replied.
"I jus did it te help eoin money for me mudder an me." I replied.
"Yer Mudder?" she asked, Where's she?"
I hadn't even realized I had mentioned my mother. I hadn't told anyone what had happened but then again there hadn't been anyone to tell. I decided to let it out.
"Can ye keep a secret?" I asked quietly.
"Sure", she replied, "but ya don have ta tell me if ye don' want te."
"Thanks." I said "but I gotta get it out sometime."
Even though my heart was pounding and I began to sweat even just at the memory, I told her.
After, I knew I was about to cry and I desperatly tried to hold them in but i was losing. I need some time alone.
"I'll meet da newsies later ok?"
"Ok.", she said to me looking at me sadly as I hurried down the stairs blindly.
I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and as I half ran outside I tripped and fell straight into a boy accidentally ripping his shirt open. I caught my balance and mortification began to take place of the sadness. He looked bewildered and I couldn't blame him. How often did he get almost run over by a crying girl? Not to mention the girl ripping his shirt wide open.
"Hey you ok?" he said worriedly, after seeing my tears.
"Well I'd say yea but then I'd be lyin", I half sobbed, half laughed when I said this. "Ummm, I'm sorry for ripping yer shirt and runnin inte ye."
He chuckled, "Its ok, it's just a shirt an I can get it fixed. By the way me name's Race...er Racetrack. You must be Doodles. Jack told me ye got here las night."
"Yeah." I said. I had stopped crying, though my face was still burning from the embarrassment...of well...you know..., but I was surprised I had managed not to break down into tears totally.
My vision cleared some and I finally got a clear view of his face. He was a few inches taller than me and had brown eyes and hair. He spoke with a rough New York accented voice. He wasn't really good looking but there was something about him that made my heart beat a little faster, including his exposed chest, which was, to say the least, not bad. I was only human, or at least, female. He wore a newsboy hat and usual newsie cloths. Though he had two different plaids on, which was I thought was odd but even so, it worked for him. I tried dismissing as not the normal type I fall for but Race, Racetrack was different from everyone else.
"Do ye want te go somewhere to calm down?" he asked me. "Ok," I said "and thanks".
"No problem, Its not everyday a beautifol goil falls in yer arms is it?" he said with a chuckle.
I laughed with him and thought about it. Me beautiful? Bailey was beautiful with her blond hair and green-yellow eyes. I had straight dark brown hair tinted with auburn, like my mother's hair had been, with hazel green eyes. Sure I had interesting looks but I wasn't so sure about beautiful.
"Uh I gotta go change first." he said.
"Ok.", I said. Then just having a thought I said. "Me mudd-," I broke off as tears clouded my vision once again. Then forcing them back I finished. "Uh...I was taught how ta sew so I can fix yer shirt if ye want."
"Thanks...Id was an accident afta all...wasn't it?" he winked at me rougishly and we walked into the lodging house.
We walked up the stairs in silence and we stopped outside a room occupied by messy bunks. There he took his ripped shirt off and handed it to me.
"I'll be right back." I said and walked down the hallway to my room.
We arrived at the little restaurant I had eaten at the night before, before I had gone to the lodging house. It was called Tibbys'.
"Me an the rest of the newsies always eat hea", Racetrack told me. "So who've ye met so far?" he asked me.
"I've met Bailey, Jack, Mush, Kid Blink, and Specs. Well and you o course. Bailey was gonna introduce me ta some of em this mornin but then ah..." I broke off.
"You fell into me arms?" Race said with a smile.
"Yea." I said.
"Do ye want to talk about it?" he asked me.
"Wel-". I was cut off suddenly.
"Heya Race, hi Doodles" Jack sat down next to Racetrack and I smiled at him.
"Hey Jacky-boy how ye doin?" Race asked him.
"Good." he replied.
"Hi Jack", I said to him.
"Me, Dave an' Les just got done sellin our papes." Jack said.
I looked up and saw that Jack was with two other boys one about sixteen or seventeen and the other around ten.
"This is David", Jack told me pointing to the older one who had curly hair and a square jaw,"and this is Les." he said indicating the scrawny yet cute younger boy. "David, Les, dis is Doodles. She's stayin at de lodgin house."
"Hi.", all of us said to each other. We ate lunch together and really didn't talk about much...what I basically got was that Dave and Jack were not on the best terms because I found out that Jack used to date Davids sister Sarah...before he met Bailey. Davy, being protective of her or something, still wasn't all that happy with Jack. I gathered this vital information from Race who told me quickly when the others had gone to pay. When they were done Jack, Dave, and Les left to go to somewhere they called Medda's Race said we'd catch up with them later.
"What's Medda's?" I asked him once they had gone.
"Medda's a friend of th' newsies", he told me, "She owns a theater and us newsies like te go te watch de shows."
Later as we were walking to Medda's I asked him how he got named Racetrack. I took the forethought to determine Race wasn't his real name.
"Well I love ta go th' tracks an' watch de races." he told me.
"You gamble?" I asked incredulously.
"Well I guess ye could say that." he replied with a smile playing around his mouth. "Everyone has love fer somethin", he said, "mine's fer the tracks."
He was right I thought to myself.
We arrived at Medda's and entered. We were in an entrance hall near some steps and could hear music playing. Walking towards us was a tall handsome boy with sharp ice blue eyes, slingshot stuck conveniently in his belt and a girl who bore a resemblance to Bailey. She had the same eyes but light brown hair, and also like Bailey she was beautiful.
I almost automatically assumed this would be the infamous Spot Conlon leada of Brooklyn and Bailey's sister, Angel.
"Hi I'm Spot Conlon, an dis is me goil Angel."
My assumption was right.
"Also Bai's sista" she said looking at Spot, "Jack told us you'd be hea soon." Angel said to me smiling.
"Hi I'm Doodles, its nice ta meetcha." I replied, returning her smile.
"Heya Race.", Spot said to Racetrack. "Been showin' Doodles around?"
"Kinda", he said smiling a little, "We just ran inte each other (literally I thought) and den met Jack, Dave, an Les. Hows Brooklyn lately? You still in for poka t'night?"
"Brooklyn's great an ye know I whuddn't miss a poka game", Spot replied, with a wink at Angel, giving Race a slap on the shoulder which Race returned.
"So Doodles, whudd brings ye te Manhattan?" Angel asked me.
"Uh..." I was still unsure on how to answer this question. I had realized that I could trust them and the rest of the newsies but I didn't want to just have everyone trying to help me and talk to me about it, it was still painful to think about. It had only been two days ago...
"I was lookin' fer woik." I decided this was a safe answer.
"Whudd kinda woik?" Angel asked.
"Well I usta sell papes so I thought I might be able te be a newsie."
Angel looked interested "I'm a newsie now too, so ye met up with de right people."
"Yea, Bailey told me. "Can I sell with ye tomorrow?"
"Sur-", Angel began to speak but Race cut in.
"Ye can sell wid me, cause Angel's gonna sell whid Spot tommorow."
"I am?" Angel said giving Race a searching look concealed by a mischievous smile.
"Dats fine by me." Spot said giving Angel a kiss and Race an amused look. I raised my eyebrows at Race but didn't say anything else about it. I had only just met the guy.
"As long as I can come to the card game t'night." I said.
"Why d'ya wanna go te th' poker game?" Race asked me, "There can be some dangerous people there."
"I don't care", I replied, "If it gets that bad I know how ta hold me own in a fight."
"Besides Race" Angel cut in, "I useta go wid Spot."
"Ok, ok" Race gave in, "but why do ye want go to th' card game so much?"
"I guess I wanna see ya doin whudd yer best at." I said this with a winning, innocent smile on my face. I actually didn't know why I wanted to go...to be with Race longer? When my head popped that unexpected thought in my head my face got hot. Wait I thought to myself I've known him for...? 5 hours? Geez I'm such a flirt I though mentally hitting myself in the head in exasperation.
"Alright.", Race said.
"Why don't we go watch Medda?" Spot suggested, "It is kinda the reason we came here.", he said this just a little bit sarcastically.
"Fine!" I said in a false huff because I still had a smile on my face.
As we were about to go into the stage area Angel grabbed my arm and held me back a second.
"Race is acting really strange." she said with questioning look on her face.
"Hey i dunno, I just met the guy."
"Well anyways he is just actin' different. He seems to really like you."
"Well," I said turning slightly red and I could feel my ears getting hot, "As I said I just met him aldough he is pretty cute in an odd sorta way doncha think?"
Angel laughed in this knowing way and I smiled embarrassedly as we walked to sit down next to Race and Spot.