The next morning I woke to Race who was waking me up by poking me. I
squirmed, I was very ticklish, and attempted to slap his hand away even
though I was still half dead. He realized I was ticklish and stopped poking
me and just began to tickle me.
"Stoppit ye ass!" I said laughing hysterically.
"Wake up sunshine." he said in a singsong voice.
"You," I paused for air, "Are a cruel poisen."
He finally stopped tickling me, thank god, and reminded me that we were gonna sell together that day.
"Ok, I said, "Get out so I can dressed."
He left and I pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt and remembering, I also grabbed my much loved plaid, newsie hat. I walked out into the hall and wondering where Race had gone followed the noises of boy's voices down to a doorway. I looked in and saw most of the newsies getting ready for sellin. Race was by the mirror shaving. I watched him until he was done then he turned and saw me.
"Question" I said, "Why do ye gotta shave? Didn't have anythin in de foist place"
He threw shaving cream at me. I laughed "let's go."
We left the lodging house before most of the other newsies and walked to the distribution center, a few blocks away. Before we entered the gates Race stopped me.
"Jus so ye know Oscar and Morris are de ones handin out de papes so jus let me do th talkin."
That was fine by me so I nodded and we went to get our papes.
"Hundred papes." Race said immediatly as we got to the head of the line.
"Well, well." the Delancy brother Morris said as he saw us, "If it ain't little miss oiphan."
"My whudd a beautifoil coluer dat eye of yers is t'day.', Race said
sweetly about Morris's black
and purple eye, his eyes hard.
"Move along, move along." the man sellin the papers said urging us to
go.
We left with Oscar and Morris sneering after us.
We had sold our hundred papes by lunch time and headed to Tibby's which was crowded with newsies.
"Racetrack, hows it goin?"
"Hey Race."
Greetings for Race came from all sides and I could feel eyes watching me too.
"Doodles this is Boots, Skittery, you know Mush, Blink, Crutchy, and Bumlets." Race introduced us.
"Hi.", I said smiling at them all.
"Racetrack yer pretty slick." Blink commented with a smile.
I confused, looked at Race questioningly who said a little quickly "Hungry?"
We finished eating and now had the whole afternoon to waste away before we were going to meet Jack, Spot, Bailey, and Angel to decide what to do about the situation of Shadow.
"Do ye want te go te de tracks?" Race asked me as we walked outta Tibby's. Me curious about Race and the tracks agreed.
He had gotten a tip on a horse named Blitz and though it was close, he pulled though to the finish line. "Good te have satisfied costamers if ye know what I mean" he commented with a wink. This put Race in a good mood and we had a good time for the rest of the day. This also helped me to put what had happened last night at the back of my mind. We headed back to the lodging house late and both a little sunburned.
"So..." Race said, "What're we gonna do 'bout ye and Shadow?"
I had been hoping to avoid this subject and I looked away.
"Can we talk about dis tomorrow or later or sometin?" I said almost pleadingly. "I had such a good time t'day an I don't wanna ruin it at least fer t'night. I don wante be scared." I felt ashamed.
"Alright.", Race replied and immediately changed the subject. "How did ye like de races?"
"Thanks.", I smiled, "and I loved them."
By this time we were getting close to the lodging house and had just passed the distribution center when Race held out an arm and stopped me.
"Shh.", he motioned at me and I followed him into an alley next to us where we hid behind some trash bins.
"Whudd is it?" I asked but then I heard voices.
"How de hell could we have lost em?" an angry voice said.
"Dunno but I bet it was yer fault." a second sarcastic voice replied.
"Ye dumbasses th' reason we lost em was cuza all yer yappin'. Can't you two shutcher pie holes once in a while?!" the third voice came from another older man.
"Shuddup!" a fourth voice said in a whisper joining the first three who had been busy arguing. "If dey is hidin around hea den dey can hea youse blabber mouths. Remember I'm de leada right now cause it's my goil we're followin hea. De only reason I'm gonna let youse have yer fun is cause I'm nice. Remember dat."
I was frozen to the spot and couldn't have moved if I had wanted to. That voice I recognized only too well and though it seemed like a million years behind me it had only been a few days since I last heard it. Shadow was so close to me I could practically smell him and believe me that wasn't a good thing. Though I was frozen I suddenly felt the anger bubble up like molten lava inside me and tryed to get up. But Race pressed close to me, grabbed me and held me down. I didn't fight because as soon as he had done so I had thought of how stupid that really would have been. Me and Race up against four older men? Two from the Crypts as I had recognized the third speaker as the bastard excuse for a human I had exchanged punches with last night. The other two I had identified as Oscar and Morris Delancy. Plus who knows if there were others searching for us?
The four continued walking down the street now keeping their voices down, though not enough because I could still hear the angry murmer of them. Finally the voices faded away all together and me and Race sat in silence together for a few minutes just to make sure they were really gone. I spoke first.
"So much fer not talkin about it." I gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah..." Race said with a sigh. "Well we knew dey'd find ye sooner or later. I guess we just hoped fer lata." He returned my weak smile with one of his own.
"I'm sorry I tried to get up and everythin. I'm really a mess."
"Don't worry about it. Its gotta be hard and it was only a few days ago when everythin got messed up.", Race said comforting me. "I think you'll get betta. Most people do and I'd say yer just as strong as all of them."
"Thanks." I said in a small voice. "Well at least I can look on de bright side. If Shadow hadn't murdered me mudder three days ago I wouldn't know you or Bailey, or Jack, or Angel, or Spot, or any o de odda newsies."
"Whudd ye be sad te go now afta ye knows us?" Race asked.
"Yeah, I woulda been sad." I told him. "And now yer gonna hafta stick wid me fer a while."
"We don't mind ye knows dat right?"
"Yeah I think I do now." I replied.
Race got up and held out his hands and grabbed mine, pulling me up. Then we walked hand in hand together back to the lodging house.
"Stoppit ye ass!" I said laughing hysterically.
"Wake up sunshine." he said in a singsong voice.
"You," I paused for air, "Are a cruel poisen."
He finally stopped tickling me, thank god, and reminded me that we were gonna sell together that day.
"Ok, I said, "Get out so I can dressed."
He left and I pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt and remembering, I also grabbed my much loved plaid, newsie hat. I walked out into the hall and wondering where Race had gone followed the noises of boy's voices down to a doorway. I looked in and saw most of the newsies getting ready for sellin. Race was by the mirror shaving. I watched him until he was done then he turned and saw me.
"Question" I said, "Why do ye gotta shave? Didn't have anythin in de foist place"
He threw shaving cream at me. I laughed "let's go."
We left the lodging house before most of the other newsies and walked to the distribution center, a few blocks away. Before we entered the gates Race stopped me.
"Jus so ye know Oscar and Morris are de ones handin out de papes so jus let me do th talkin."
That was fine by me so I nodded and we went to get our papes.
"Hundred papes." Race said immediatly as we got to the head of the line.
"Well, well." the Delancy brother Morris said as he saw us, "If it ain't little miss oiphan."
"My whudd a beautifoil coluer dat eye of yers is t'day.', Race said
sweetly about Morris's black
and purple eye, his eyes hard.
"Move along, move along." the man sellin the papers said urging us to
go.
We left with Oscar and Morris sneering after us.
We had sold our hundred papes by lunch time and headed to Tibby's which was crowded with newsies.
"Racetrack, hows it goin?"
"Hey Race."
Greetings for Race came from all sides and I could feel eyes watching me too.
"Doodles this is Boots, Skittery, you know Mush, Blink, Crutchy, and Bumlets." Race introduced us.
"Hi.", I said smiling at them all.
"Racetrack yer pretty slick." Blink commented with a smile.
I confused, looked at Race questioningly who said a little quickly "Hungry?"
We finished eating and now had the whole afternoon to waste away before we were going to meet Jack, Spot, Bailey, and Angel to decide what to do about the situation of Shadow.
"Do ye want te go te de tracks?" Race asked me as we walked outta Tibby's. Me curious about Race and the tracks agreed.
He had gotten a tip on a horse named Blitz and though it was close, he pulled though to the finish line. "Good te have satisfied costamers if ye know what I mean" he commented with a wink. This put Race in a good mood and we had a good time for the rest of the day. This also helped me to put what had happened last night at the back of my mind. We headed back to the lodging house late and both a little sunburned.
"So..." Race said, "What're we gonna do 'bout ye and Shadow?"
I had been hoping to avoid this subject and I looked away.
"Can we talk about dis tomorrow or later or sometin?" I said almost pleadingly. "I had such a good time t'day an I don't wanna ruin it at least fer t'night. I don wante be scared." I felt ashamed.
"Alright.", Race replied and immediately changed the subject. "How did ye like de races?"
"Thanks.", I smiled, "and I loved them."
By this time we were getting close to the lodging house and had just passed the distribution center when Race held out an arm and stopped me.
"Shh.", he motioned at me and I followed him into an alley next to us where we hid behind some trash bins.
"Whudd is it?" I asked but then I heard voices.
"How de hell could we have lost em?" an angry voice said.
"Dunno but I bet it was yer fault." a second sarcastic voice replied.
"Ye dumbasses th' reason we lost em was cuza all yer yappin'. Can't you two shutcher pie holes once in a while?!" the third voice came from another older man.
"Shuddup!" a fourth voice said in a whisper joining the first three who had been busy arguing. "If dey is hidin around hea den dey can hea youse blabber mouths. Remember I'm de leada right now cause it's my goil we're followin hea. De only reason I'm gonna let youse have yer fun is cause I'm nice. Remember dat."
I was frozen to the spot and couldn't have moved if I had wanted to. That voice I recognized only too well and though it seemed like a million years behind me it had only been a few days since I last heard it. Shadow was so close to me I could practically smell him and believe me that wasn't a good thing. Though I was frozen I suddenly felt the anger bubble up like molten lava inside me and tryed to get up. But Race pressed close to me, grabbed me and held me down. I didn't fight because as soon as he had done so I had thought of how stupid that really would have been. Me and Race up against four older men? Two from the Crypts as I had recognized the third speaker as the bastard excuse for a human I had exchanged punches with last night. The other two I had identified as Oscar and Morris Delancy. Plus who knows if there were others searching for us?
The four continued walking down the street now keeping their voices down, though not enough because I could still hear the angry murmer of them. Finally the voices faded away all together and me and Race sat in silence together for a few minutes just to make sure they were really gone. I spoke first.
"So much fer not talkin about it." I gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah..." Race said with a sigh. "Well we knew dey'd find ye sooner or later. I guess we just hoped fer lata." He returned my weak smile with one of his own.
"I'm sorry I tried to get up and everythin. I'm really a mess."
"Don't worry about it. Its gotta be hard and it was only a few days ago when everythin got messed up.", Race said comforting me. "I think you'll get betta. Most people do and I'd say yer just as strong as all of them."
"Thanks." I said in a small voice. "Well at least I can look on de bright side. If Shadow hadn't murdered me mudder three days ago I wouldn't know you or Bailey, or Jack, or Angel, or Spot, or any o de odda newsies."
"Whudd ye be sad te go now afta ye knows us?" Race asked.
"Yeah, I woulda been sad." I told him. "And now yer gonna hafta stick wid me fer a while."
"We don't mind ye knows dat right?"
"Yeah I think I do now." I replied.
Race got up and held out his hands and grabbed mine, pulling me up. Then we walked hand in hand together back to the lodging house.