The Manhattan papers were sold by the dozens that day as all the Newsies from the surrounding towns went to work alongside the regulars. When I had briefly seen Trixy during the morning rush she along with other newsies she was with decided to sell to have some money for the night to come. I assumed that most of the other newsies had decided the same thing and it was a good idea, it was going to be a memorable night.
I finished selling with Race as quick as we could considering all the competition of the other newsies. We split up after that, him going to meet Jack, Spot, and the Newsies in for the Rally at Tibby's for lunch. I went off the meet Bailey and Angel at Medda's to see that everything was in good order for the Rally.
I entered Medda's at the side door, stepping into shade and quiet from the crowded and noisy street outside. I could hear faint voices coming from upstairs so I headed up. There was a hallway that I had only been in once before, the day we had come back from Christina's actually. The room we had talked in that day was the first door to my left and it was dark. A few doorways down however, I saw a light and so I walked to the door way, peeking my head inside.
"Hey Doodles!" came Angel's voice, though I couldn't see her.
From the looks of it the room was used as a storage or dressing room because when I walked inside I saw a vast array of costumes, some I had seem worn on the stage before and many more of every design and color imaginable on racks along with accessories and shoes. I spotted Bailey scrutinizing some dresses on a rack and Angel popped out from behind another.
"Hey guys what're ye doin?" I asked them.
"Hey Doodles," Bailey said turning to look at me. "Me an Ang came up wid an idea te wow all de guys tonight." She said this all with a sly smile.
"Oh?" I said curiously raising my eyebrows at her. "What might that be?" though I was kind of getting an idea already.
"Welllll…we thought id might really surprise em, in a good way," Angel winked at me as she said it, "if we all showed up in fancy dresses tonight." Her eyes sparkled as she giggled at the idea of their faces when they saw us.
"Haha…us in dresses," I laughed, "Good one, an were are we gonna get dese dresses from?" I asked sarcastically.
"DUH! Look around dummy!" Angel exclaimed at me.
Bailey and I burst out laughing at how gullible she was. I shook my head then thought about what Race, Spot, and Jack would do when they saw us later that night.
"Guys," I said, "Lets get beautiful."
This afternoon was one of my most favorite I could ever remember. This was what I had always wanted, real girl friends who understood me and loved me for who I am. Just talking and goofing around was the best thing ever. I sighed and watched as Bailey and Angel were fighting over what make-up they were going to use, could it get any better than this? Then I smiled to myself and thought about Race, things with us were so good, better then I ever could have imagined. The only thing that would improve anything was if the rally would help and not be a mess if the Crypts showed up. I was worried that…no I didn't want to think about anything else bad happening to the people I had come to care about so much. I rubbed at my stomach as though by doing that I could undo the huge knot of apprehension that was stuck there. I guess there was nothing to be done except go ahead with the plans and have fun while we at it.
"Doodles did ye pick out whudd yer wearin?" came Angel's voice, impatient with excitement.
"Yea, ids over dere," I replied, shook from my thoughts.
"Well ye might wanna start gettin ready," Bailey said with an annoyed tone to her voice, "dese stockings are a lot harder te put on den I thought!"
Angel and I laughed at her as she wrestled with the stockings and I picked up my own to begin getting ready for the quickly approaching evening.
It was the first time in a long time that I really felt like a girl. After an afternoon of primping, cleaning, and pampering we looked pretty damn good if I did say so myself. For myself I picked out a jade green dress, one of my favorite colors because it set off my eyes, Angel picked a light blue that fit her perfectly, and Bailey a fiery red which was sure to make Jack's eyes fall out of his head. Medda had joined in the fun with us and had her hairdressers do our hair to go with the dresses. Smoothing my dress I walked to the window looking out at the setting sun and the busy street below. It was crowed with newsies undoubtedly eager for the rally. I could hear faint noises of the gathering crowd entering downstairs, and making there way into Irving Hall. The anticipation of it all, being dressed up, and just the excitement of it all was making me jittery.
"Look im shakin an we're not even on stage yet," I showed Bailey and Angel my hand which was trembling.
Bailey patted my back, "don' worry Doodles, ids gonna go great. All we really need from dis rally is a bit'a unity between all de newsies, bring up old ties jus like durin de strike. Wid de best entertainment in all a New Yawk on oua side, how could we go wrong?" Medda had just entered the room as Bailey said that and she turned her head and smiled at Bailey.
"Oh such a complitment," she said jokingly to Bialey, "You three are a sight," she smiled, "I can't imagine vhat de boys will do when dey see you like this," she winked as she walked towards the mirror putting the finishing touches on herself. She was beautiful as always in the deep purple gown her curly red hair, piled up on her head.
"I bet id's gonna be about de same as when dey see ye like dat, "Angel exclaimed gesturing at Medda, "De Swedish Meadowlark at her finest!" Bailey and I nodded in agreement.
"Jack always did have a soft spot fer ye Medda, "Bailey said grudgingly, "but yer de only one I let slide." I laughed; I had no doubt in my mind Bailey kept her man in check.
"I'm honored, "Medda said to Bailey with a wink. Deeming herself perfect she turned away from the mirror and towards us, "the crowd is gathering qvickly downstairs, is there anything you need taken care of before ve begin the show?"
"Well make sura everyone has drinks an everything dey need…" I trailed off racking my brains for any forgotten details, "other den dat we're pretty much set I suppose! Well Jack, Race, Spot, and de three of us will be comin to introduce ye of course and explain a little bit why were holdin de rally. But we'll of course be comin from back stage te surprise de guys an dey'll be in de crowd already." I rubbed my hands together with the anticipation of it all, "dis is gonna be soo good!"
"De we have de security set?" Bailey asked Medda. We had found some men that worked for Medda to stand at the entrances just to make sure that everything was secure during the rally, we didn't want any trouble from the bulls...or the Crypts.
"Yes theyre already at their posts." Medda replied, "I guess its all set then! I'm going to go downstairs and make sura everything is going smoothly. Ill tell de boys dat you'll be coming from de back when you're ready. Good luck!" she swooped in and gave us all a hug. "Dis is a big night for you," she said to me, I hope it gets you vhat you vant."
"Thanks fer everythin Medda, "I said, "Id really means a lot te me."
"Don't even think about it! Just focus on putting on a good show, that's what I think about when I have pre-show jitters," she smiled at us, "see you downstairs in a bit." She turned and walked back out the door.
The three of us were quiet and we looked at each other not really knowing what to say. I grabbed both of their hands and squeezed them. "Ye guys are de best ye know dat?" I grinned at them, "thank ye so much…I hope dat it will make Shadow get id dat I'm not alone like I was before, an its not even worth de time or effort: goin after me. Im kinda worried dat in de planning of de rally we had lost track a whudd oua goal is, of gettin Shadow te go away…" I trailed off.
"Well think of id on de bright side, even if id doesn't, we'll still have a night te remember!" Angel said cheerfully. "Don worry Doodles, wea always hea fer ye even when ye think ye don desoive it."
"Which ye do," Bailey chimed in. "Ye kno dat if one a us was in yer situation den ye'd do de same fer us, helpin anyway ye could. Dats jus how id is when yer friend needs ye."
Getting misty eyed as I tended to do quite frequently lately, I hugged them both. "Are ye ready?"
"Leds jus go an have some fun tenite, ok?" Bailey added.
"Yea and blow de guys away completely at the sight of us," Angel said and we all laughed, lightening the mood, for which I was glad.
Hand in hand we walked out the door and down the stairs all nervous anticipation for appearing dressed to the nines in front of the whole of New York's newsies. It would be a night to remember.