As Angel, Bailey, and I made our way down the darkened staircase the noise of the gathered newsies became ten times louder than it had been upstairs. We avoided the crowd lined up to enter the doors to be seated and went around back through a dim hallway then to the back of the stage. Medda was there waiting with her dancers chatting with them.
"Jus tell us vhen you're ready to go," She said cheerfully, "And ve'll pull the curtains for you."
I nodded to her, "I just want to take a look out before we start." I wanted to know what it was going to look like before I just got one big shock when the curtain opened.
I wound my way through ropes used to operate the heavy red curtains at the side of the stage, Angel and Bailey following, which were currently closed to the crowd outside them. I opened the curtain slightly and peered out at the enormous, noisy crowd. My eyes widened when the enormity of the whole event hit me. There were rows and rows of newsies, sitting and standing up, yelling and talking with one another. Some I recognized and many I had never seen in my life, but all dressed in their finest even though often that didn't mean much more than a clean shirt. My heart began to pound and I was frightened by the mere thought of stepping out in front of them let alone talking in front of them all.
"Oh my god…Whudd am I gonna say? Why are we doin dis again? Why are dere so many people hea?" On the verge of a panic attack I was completely freaking out, I guess I had a little bit of stage fright. "I don kno why dis was really necessary, Shadow jus will come afta me anyways an dis will jus be a waste of time, oh ive wasted everyone's time! Yers an Meddas an all de guys an everyone we sent all ova New Yawk. De Crypts won care, oh whudds de use! I cant go out deyre!"
Bailey grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "BREATH!" she half yelled at me. "Don ye even let me hea youse talkin like dat again alright! Dis isn't a waste a time, we did it jus because dere is always a chance it'll help de situation wid Shadow and de Crypts but really if id doesn't we'll think a sumthin else. Don even think about id all, an go out deyre an say whudd ya need te say, as if ye were talkin to us or de guys. Focus on Race an ferget about de crowd, ye'll do great! Ids supposed te be a fun night, so jus go out deyre and have some fun! Rememba me and Ang are out deyre whidd ya too, you won do all de talking."
I took a deep breath and let it whoosh out. "Ok, ok, ok, Im ok." I said trying to convince myself of that. "Dis rally's a good thing, showin de newsies of New Yawk a good time, a little vacation an mebe showin de Crypts dat wea still a force te be reckoned wid! I'm jus gonna keep telling myself dat…and everythin will be fine, it'll be great!"
"Dats mora like it," Angel agreed, "Lets show em all dat we can do dis and whuddever else we put oua minds te! We'a not jus girls an wea not jus newsies!"
"Haha an just think, no one will care if we don have a clue whudd were sayin when we look so damn hot!" Bailey exclaimed, laughing. "Cmon lets do dis."
After saying that, she grabbed our wrists pulling me and Angel towards the center of the stage. The three of us were a little more pumped up and calmed down and still laughing, which was always a good sign. Bailey called to Medda, "Wea ready!" and as Medda nodded at us the curtains pulled apart exposing us to the massive crowd of newsies awaiting us.
As the hordes got sight of us there was a definite difference in the noise and an increase in volume if that was possible. The chattering of voices turned in to cheers, whistles, and cat calls as we walked to the center of the stage all three of us grinning. Me, standing flanked by Bailey and Angel on each side, felt like king, or queen I suppose, of the world. I laughed and looked into the crowd scanning for Race and the other guys wanting to see their reactions; we defiantly had changed a little from earlier in the day. My eyes were drawn to his in a second and I couldn't hold back my laughter at the dumbstruck expression on his face. I blew him a kiss and a wink as I motioned for him to come up to the stage. Race got up and grabbed Jack and Spot's sleeves, they had been sitting next to him and they also had the same sort of expressions on their faces, their eyes on Bailey and Angel. Getting up fast Jack almost knocked over their table but luckily it was caught by Blink who was behind it and laughing at all three of the guy's lack of coordination as Spot tripped on a step coming up to the stage.
"Dis is great! Did ya see deyre faces?" Angel was giggling hard.
"Dey could hardly keep deir tounges from fallin out of dere mouths!" Bailey said with a big grin.
They reached us in the middle of the stage and to the further delight of the crowd all three of them grabbed us and kissed us passionately hard.
Calls from the crowd, mainly from the Manhattan or Brooklyn newsies rang out "Dats our Spot!", "WHOOO Cowboy!", "How come Race gets de goil over me?" The last comment I could defiantly tell came from Blink, he was always complaining about goils.
"Jesus! Are ye tryin te kill me?" Race said into my ear as I laughed.
I batted my eyes innocently at him, "Would I ever try te kill ye? Dis aint tryin, but imagine if I did try," and I winked at him, "Ye wouldn't kno whudd hit ya."
"Dats already how id it so I guess I betta not do anythin te piss ye off, ye'd really do me in den." Race kissed me again, "Ye're beautiful."
"Thanks, id betta be worth it, we spent all afternoon up dere."
"Dea me, its defiantly worth it." He said looking me up and down.
Bailey tapped me on the shoulder, "Hmm I think we have a rally to attend perhaps?" she was joking but I noticed the crowd had quieted a little and were focused on us.
"Haha…right!" I said blushing a bit.
We stood now, the six of us, as the close knit group of friends we had become and it just felt right. I looked at them all and realized they had become my family and they always would be. They gave me the courage I had always been lacking before I knew them, the courage to truly be myself.
Jack the leader that he was so used to being stepped forward and quieted the crowd. "Did ye get a load of oua goils?" he yelled and the crowd cheered again.
Bailey rolled her eyes at him and exchanged looks with me and Angel even though she did look pleased. Jack went on after a roughish grin and wink at Bailey.
"Tenite we've brought ye all hea from all ova New Yawk te celebrate bein Newsies!" Hmm, not a bad start I thought to myself secretly thankful that the guys had come up on stage with us so they could do most of the talking. "A lot of ye might be a little unsura why ye're really hea so we'll explain it to ye. Dis hea is oua friend Doodles," he put his hand out towards me and I stared defiantly out into the crowd waiting for the story to be told. "She came te us when she got inte some trouble wid de Crypts, none of it bein her fault of course, we all know de bad rep of de Crypts, don we boys?" he looked towards Spot and Race and they both sent nods of agreement in his direction, while there were shouts of anger and concurrence from the crowd. Spot stepped up and took over.
"She came te us fer help because she hasn't got anyone else an we, bein de good souls dat we are, have got her back. One Crypt in particular has seemed te take de lead in de chase fer Doodles, he has already caused her too much pain and agony, goes by de name of Shadow. We as de leadas of de Brooklyn an Manhattan newsies thought id be best te take things inte oua own hands, de newsies hands. We need te stop de Crypts while wea ahead, befora dey get any big ideas dat dey can take us all out. Dis has gone to far, deyve stepped ova de line an messed wid one'a ouas!" the crowd was cheering for Spot, they were shouting out their agreement and support for the idea.
"Deyve gone too far!" bellowed one Newsie in the section from Queens.
"Dey cant keep violatin us hard woikin fella's fer no good reason!" shouted another from Harlem.
"An hard woikin goils!" Trixy hollered shooting a grin at me, Bailey and Angel.
Race now took over, stepping up next to Jack and Spot, "So we decided te organize dis hea rally, fer all yer enjoyment an mebe strike a little fear inte Shadow an de Crypts black hearts. We are a force te be reckoned wid!" he paused and let the crowd indulge in tumultuous applause and cheers. "Besides," he called out, "No one messes wid my goil an gets away wid it!"
Everyone laughed and looking at Race I found my voice again. "Thank ye everyone who's come, whether it was fer de fun, fer de unity of de newsies, or fer all a us," I gestured at the six of us on stage and then out at the crowd of newsies that I had come to know and be friends with, "it really does make all de difference."
"Damn it betta, I put on a dress fer dis!" Bailey swore as she stepped up next to me. That got everyone in the crowd hooting and hollering at us again and I laughed.
Angel now stepped up to the plate, "So now fer yer entertainment tenite we've got the most beautiful, melodious, angel you have even seen grace de stage…Medda, the Svedish Meadowlark!" there were more cheers from the crowd.
"An mebe later on, if he gets enough drinks in him, Race on his harmonica!" I shouted laughing as he pinched me in the side, "Enjoy the show!"
Medda stepped out onto the stage and the music began. As all six of us walked off the stage I felt the enormous applause reverberate around the hall and it felt pretty damn good.