Sorry, this story is
going longer than I expected. I guess I have a lot to say! But
please, stick with it; I have a point, I promise. It's a really
good point too.
Signed,
--RedRogue
-
Chapter 16
Concerning item #5: The Key Around His Neck 10 (continued)
-
"They're gonna be playin' with MY hands, alright?" Spot shouted to the little know-it-all novice newsie named David. Irving Hall was packed, bursting at the seams with newsboys supporting their cause.
Spot went on that stage on rally night with a set mind. Keep on striking as they were. Don't change a good thing, when fortune smiles on you. The David kid, who obviously fancied himself a smart one, didn't know a thing at all about life out here on the streets.
"Cuz it ain't what they say." Spot boomed. "It's what we say. And nobody ain't gonna listen to us unless we make 'em!"
His Brooklyn boys
shouted first, and the rest of the crowd joined in. Spot felt so
natural talking to this crowd, speaking for many unheard voices. He
was a born leader, who wasn't easily silenced.
"Ya got no
brains!" Jack shouted through the noise. "Why we startin' to
fight each oddah? It's just what the big shot's wanna see! That
we're street rats! Street rats with no brains! No respect for
nottin', includin' ourselves! So, here's how it's gonna be.
If we don't act together, then we're nottin'. If we don't
stick together, then we're notttin'. And if we can't even trust
each other, then we're nottin'."
"Tell 'em Jack!" Kid Blink shouted from the balcony, but like any good speaker, Jack acted like he didn't hear.
"So, what's it gonna be?"
Mumbles came from the crowd, but they all quickly agreed on one thing.
"We're with you Jack." Racetrack said the loudest. Then the room fell surprisingly calm. Jack went close to Spot, not meeting his eye.
"So, what do you say, Spot?" Jack said. He wanted Spot's approval, like a child to a father. Spot's authority was obvious, and Jack, like the street-smart guy he was, knew to tread carefully.
Spot looked around at the crowd. How quickly they wanted to follow Jack. Obviously Spot wasn't the only natural leader in this room. It irritated him. He looked at Jack harshly.
"I say…" He said with a cold, mocking glare, tricking Jack into thinking he wasn't going to concede. "That what you say…"
Then the frozen glare melted away, and a smile surfaced.
"Is what I say…"
Cheers lifted the hall.
No one could ever know the bond between these two men, fighting a battle together willingly. One spit shake was a clue, getting the other newsboys to clap and cheer for their treaty, but only Jack and Spot could fully comprehend. It was Spot's turn to give up something for Jack, and he was giving up his authority, submitting to anything Jack had planned.
Things were how they
should be, for once.
Then the spotlight shined and the curtain
parted. Medda emerged, looking beautiful as ever, and singing a
familiar tune to lighten all spirits.
No more business to attend this night, they knew. Just time to have a good time. Spot got himself a drink and a seat and enjoyed himself.
"Hello newsies!" Medda said in her sweet Swedish way. "Vhat's new?"
So your old lady
don't love you no more
So you're afraid there's a wolf at
your door
So you've got street rats that scream in your ear…
You win some,
You lose some, my dear!
Oh… high times, hard times
Sometimes the living is sweet
And… sometimes there's nothing to eat
But… I always land on my feet…
Spot knew he should have realized something wasn't right, but he was having too much light-hearted fun to notice. Too wound up in the good things. It wasn't like him to be distracted. But when he watched Medda, and drank a few glasses until he started to feel it, his focus was parted. His thoughts even fell to Cat a few times, how he wished she was there enjoying herself too… or maybe slipping into one of Medda's stage dresses… His smile broke through at the imagery.
But he should have known it was coming, even Cat had known it…
Of all people, David was the one to see Snyder first.
"Spot," he said, leaning over. "You have to get out of here, it's the warden."
Spot didn't stick around to thank him, or respond at all. He was busy parting his way through the crowd, trying to warn his Brooklyn boys first. He wasn't going to bail. He'd risk jail for his boys, because they were loyal to him, and he was loyal to them. He had to at least warn them.
"Guys, it's the bulls!" Spot shouted when he got there, but the whistle was already starting to blow. "Cheese it, now!"
The Hall exploded in frenzy. Newsies raced in all directions, headed for their nearest exits. Spot started to leave with his boys, then stopped. Why was he running? For Cat? He signed up for this, and he wasn't about to just put his tail between his legs and go crying home. What was the worst they could do to him anyway? It's not like he could be put in jail for being at a rally.
"Go on without me!" Spot called to his gang. "Woods! Lead them out! I'm going back!"
But he looked over and Woodsy wasn't there. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Griff!" he called to the nearest trustworthy kid. "Get outta heah, I'm goin' back!"
"What?" Griffin said in confusion. "Spot!"
Spot sifted his way back through the crowd, heading towards Jack's boys. He went through another hall, where some boys were fighting a bunch of police. He grabbed at Skittery.
"Where's Jack?"
"What? Oh, I don't know…"
"Come 'ere, you!" a cop said, grabbing Spot's shirt. "You're coming with us."
"Like hell, I am," Spot said angrily.
"What did you sa--?"
But the policeman didn't finish his sentence, because he found a fist lodged in his face right then. It knocked his helmet clear off. Spot ran, as the policeman now chased him through the lobby. He arrived just in time to see Jack uppercutted under his chin, making him fly into a crowd of policemen, who immediately grabbed at him and held tight.
Spot's chest caved in at the sight. They had Jack. He was going to jail, and for a very long time too.
It was too late to do anything, so Spot went back to the hall, just in time to see around twenty-five of his Brooklyn boys being taken away in handcuffs, including Griffin. Another ten were being dragged out, having been knocked out by the police's nightsticks, no doubt.
Their world was falling. This was an ambush Spot hadn't been prepared for, and now his half-starving Brooklynites were paying the price for his mistake. It crushed him like nothing else did. Some leader he was…
The one moment of distraction was all the police needed, and they stormed Spot from behind, shoving his face to the nearby wall. Two wasn't enough to hold him, so another had to come. Spot's anger was making him even stronger than usual. They tried to slap some cuffs on him, but Spot was too slippery. He wiggled free from the policemen's grasp, and ran up the first flight of stairs he saw.
"Get him!" He heard them call. When Spot saw more policemen coming down the stairs, and realized that he was trapped, then he stopped running. He lost his will for it. Slowly, Spot turned and looked one more time at the other newsies down in the lobby. The crowd was a big mess, most of it still revolving around Jack. Mush, Snoddy, Pie-Eater, and Kid Blink were only a few of who he saw being escorted outside in cuffs. It was over.
The policeman threw Spot into the stair floor hard, grabbing his hands and slapping cuffs on him before he could slip away again. Spot didn't fight them. He lost his will for that too. He was done.
He wondered to himself as they led him down the stairs, why Cat's face came to his mind when it was so filled with gloom. It seemed the only thing he could think of was how mad she was going to be when she heard about this. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen. This was when worse came to worse. This is exactly what nobody wanted to happen.
But it just did.
-
Spot looked out the barred window of the jail carriage, not wanting to look at any of the other boys. He didn't want to see his own defeat reflected in all of their eyes. Jack was taken separately, for some reason, and wasn't among them.
Spot watched as the first of the dawn come up over the buildings of New York. It was so beautiful in the midst of the ugliness. Through the window he could see the quaint little building on the corner. A line of girls were just coming out the door, wearing matching little flat straw hats and black dresses. He noticed Cat was with them. He met her eyes for just a moment as the carriage passed. Spot tried to hide his face, but the damage had already been done. She had seen him in the jail wagon… He just knew it.
-
That same morning, they took the boys out of the carriage and straight to the courthouse. Spot's boys were among many at the courthouse gate waiting, along with Denton and that annoying kid named David.
"All rise, all rise," said the court bailiff. "Court is now in session. Judge E. A. Monahan presiding."
The judge impatiently sat in his chair, and went straight to business.
"Are any of you represented by council?" the judge asked.
Everyone looked around to see if anyone would raise their hand. Spot could bet money that half of them didn't even know what council was.
"No," the judge said decidedly. "Good, good, that will move things along considerably."
Spot frowned. He felt like he knew this man, saw him at a snooty party once, maybe. At any rate, Spot knew how he should speak to a judge, but he couldn't help his rebellious nature… And somehow, this whole situation seemed wrong.
"Hey, your honor, I object," Spot said boldly.
The judge seemed slightly annoyed.
"On what grounds?" he asked slowly and clearly, like he was talking to a toddler.
Spot then realized that he didn't have a leg to stand on. They had all incited a riot, and most had attacked officers. So Spot joked his way out.
"On the grounds o' Brooklyn, your honor."
The others snickered and finally broke out in laughter. Even Spot couldn't fight a smile at his own cleverness. This did not please the judge one bit.
"I fine each of you five dollars, or two weeks confinement in the House of Refuge."
That wiped the smiles off of all their faces fast.
"What?" They whispered amongst themselves. Spot whispered over his shoulder at Mush.
"He said five bucks?" He said, just to be sure he had heard right. The look on Mush's face made him realize it was true.
"This sucks." Spot finished, just as Racetrack spoke for them all.
"Whoa, whoa… Hey, we ain't got five bucks. We don't even got five cents! Your honor," --Race glanced at Spot-- "how 'bout I roll you for it, double or nottin'?"
Everyone laughed again. Spot could imagine they were really getting on the judges nerves now.
"Alright, move along, move along…" the judge said, motioning them away.
Then Denton was let through.
"Your honor!" he called. "I'll pay the fines. All of them."
Spot couldn't believe his ears. No jail? It lifted his spirits and attitude towards Denton considerably.
"Hey guys, you alright?" David said, as he was let through too. He immediately asked for Jack. He was ignored, since no one knew the answer.
"Look, we got to meet at the restaurant," Denton said. "Everybody. We have to talk."
Spot nodded his agreement, but didn't realize then that he had spoken too soon.
"Pay the clerk, move it along!" the judge boomed.
"Hey fellahs!" Jack said as they brought him in as a separate case.
"Hey, Cowboy!" Racetrack called. "Nice shinah!"
It made everyone laugh again. But then Spot's attention fell to the crowd outside the door. One girl had pushed her way to the front. In the midst of the rush and bustle, she was the only one who stood still. Their eyes met, and an entire conversation was exchanged between them. Cat's face expressed sorrow, and mourning, as if a person she knew just had passed away and she was still in the shock of it all. She was sad for him.
"Pat the clerk, move it along." The judge said again.
"Hey, Denton," he heard Jack say. "I guess we made all the papes this time. So, how's my picture look?"
"None of the papers covered the rally. Not even the Sun."
Spot heard this, and his face fell, and he stopped fighting the crowd to see Cat, and left with the others in shame. Denton had given in. He was no longer going to help them, and they all knew it.
"Case of Jack Kelly." The bailiff announced. "Inciting a riot. Assault. Resisting arrest."
That was the last Spot heard before he was let out.
-
Boring chapter, yes. Needed to be here. More when I feel you are ready. This story is already almost finished on my computer, so it isn't a question of when I write more. It all depends on you guys! So please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue
