Chapter Two: Two Blurs of Color and Noise
"So dis is Tibby's…"
"Obviously, your taste in living structures carries into your taste in dining structures," Ellie commented dryly as Jack led her into the restaurant.
They were greeted with loud shouts of "Hey, Cowboy!" and "Who's da broad?" Ellie wasn't exactly disappointed by the fact that very few catcalls were heard. It wasn't the kind of attention she needed from young men.
Jack introduced her to two of his friends. "Les, Davey, this is Mouth."
"And since when did I become Mouth?" Ellie asked, smacking him on the arm. Most people she did this to found it incredibly annoying, but he just grinned at her.
"Since Ise met you this mornin'. You ain't stopped taklin' since then." Jack sat down in the booth next to David, so Ellie sat next to Les. "And youse got a real sarcastic attitude, so youse a mouth."
"Fair enough." Ellie shrugged, turning to Les. "Hey, kid? What's up? I'm Ellie."
"I'm Les," the ten year old replied, shaking her outstretched hand. "Is it true you almost got caught by the bulls today?"
"Almost is the key word there, Les, almost. Luckily my friend Jackie-Boy here saved me from a fate worse than death, I'm sure. And he's still buying lunch for me. So, Les, what exactly do you like to do when you're not pushing papers…"
"What's with the girl?" David muttered, never taking his eyes off Ellie. "And why is she wearing boys clothes?"
"We's saved 'er from tha bulls taday, an' she needed a place ta stay, so she gonna be stayin' at tha lodgin' house foi a while…" By now boys began to gather around their table, and, hearing this piece of news, either looked extremely happy or severely annoyed.
"Have you ever made a pinwheel, Les?" Ellie was asking the boy. When he shook his head, she gasped in alarm. "David…" She clutched the young man's arm. "Your brother has never made a pinwheel? How could you deprive this poor child from such pure and unadulterated fun?" Jack laughed, but it turned into a cough when David glared at him.
"How did you know he was my brother?" David asked in shock.
"Telepathy." She grinned at David's exasperated look. "Okay, family resemblance."
"Really?' David asked eagerly.
"No. Jack told me." Ellie grinned. "Ha! You almost thought I had telepathy! Loser!"
"She's kind of annoying, isn't she?" David asked, his friend.
Jack just shrugged. "There's a reason she's tha Mouth. Besides, it's kinda refreshin', havin' someone wit an actual sense of humor, 'stead of peoples who just talk all tha time 'bout nothin'." He glared pointedly at David. "'Least she's funny 'bout it."
-x-x-
"Sos, Ellie, we gots ta find somethin' foi ya ta do foi money," Jack stated, leaning back from his meal. Everyone else was done, but Ellie was still picking at her sandwich.
"Well, I don't really want to be a newsie…" The brunette cringed slightly, even as every single boy in the restaurant asked the same question…
"What's wrong with being a newsie?"
"Calm down, you deranged psychopaths!" Everyone quieted down, mainly because of the fact that they didn't understand what she had just called them. It sounded like an insult, but you never know.
"Well, what do ya like ta do?" Jack asked, leaning forward. He was seated directly across from her, so, at this angle, she could look straight into his eyes. "There ain't much else, 'cept sellin' papes…"
"Well…" Ellie thought hard for a few seconds. "I really like to sing! And I'm good, too! I mean, this is New York…"
Jack's eyes widened. "I have got tha poifect job foi ya!" He grinned. "I know this woman, Medda, she owns this joint down tha street, and Ise sure she'd give ya a job!"
"Really?" Ellie asked excitedly. "That would be so great! Could you really do that, Jack? For me?"
"Could ya really do that, Jack? Foi me?" Racetrack muttered under his breath from the next booth over. Kid Blink and Specs tried to disguise their laughter, but Boots just glared at him.
"Jack's doing a really nice ting foi her!" Boots hissed, silencing the three other boys.
"Yeah, of couse! Let's go ovah ta Medda's right now!"
In what seemed like a blur of color and noise, the two older teenagers were out the door. No one seemed to realize what happened at first, but when they saw the money left for Jack and Ellie's tab, they began to understand.
"It was hard enough with one of him around!" David whined to Les. "But now we'll have to keep up with two of them!"
Les stared at his older brother and shook his head in pity, and a little bit of confusion, a divine testament to the fact that young people are often times smarter than their superiors…
Author's Note of the Chapter: Yes, I have an odd fetish with pinwheels and bouncy balls… DO NOT TAUNT ME! Kudos (I mean the food!) and snaps (à la Legally Blonde 2) for anyone who reviews!
