Mid-February, 1900.
It might as well be December again. There's still snow, and I'm just as hungry as I was last December.
I walk down the streets, hoping to find food. I cough once, and continue walking. I keep coughing. I lean against a wall to hold myself up. I try to breathe. I fell like all the air around me has turned into ice.
"Hey!" a voice says behind me. "Ya okay?" I try to shake my head, but I fall on the ground. He bends down next to me. I finally gasp in air. "My name is Racetrack Higgins. I'se gonna help ya." I nod, and cough twice. He takes off his coat and places it around my shoulders. Racetrack helps me up. My knees wobble. I black out.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Naw, she looks like a street kid ta me," someone says. I blink my eyes open. I see a bunch of newsies.
"Hey," a guy in a cowboy hat says. "What's ya name?"
"Becky," I mumble. My vision is blurry. I fell like the room is spinning.
"Becky, I'm Cowboy. Ya've met Race. That's Mush, Blink, and Skittery." He points to three newsies. I struggle to see them. I cough again. "Are ya sick?" I nod. I had to be.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
I spend the next four weeks in bed, sick. Then I spend two weeks regaining all my lost strength. It those two weeks, I realize a lot. Cowboy was actually my childhood friend, Francis Sullivan. We had lost contact after I found out I was pregnant. Andrew, he was at the lodging house where I was. I almost cried when I realized it was him.
"Jack, I need to talk to you," I say to him one day after he comes home from work.
"Sure." He pulls me aside.
"I have a confession."
"Becks, what's wrong?" I was crying.
"When I left, I was five months pregnant. I had a little boy who I named Andrew after my grandpa. Kloppman was a friend of my grandpa's, so I left Andrew with him. My baby's two years old now."
"Little Andrew's ya kid?" I nod, looking at the floor. "Does his dad know."
"No."
"Ya can't tell 'im."
"I haf to."
"Becky, we ain't on good terms wit 'im."
"But he's my baby's dad." I search Jack's eyes for understanding. "Besides, I still love him."
"Becky…" He reaches up to touch my cheek. I turn away. "Ya just can't tell Oscar." My head spins. I have to tell him. I need air.
"I'm gonna go for a walk." I leave, feeling like I'm in a trance. Even though it is April, the air is warm. I think it's weird, since it was cooler during the day today than it is now at night. I think there's a storm coming. I begin wandering the streets. A man in a hat walks in the opposite direction as me. When he comes close, he looks up at me.
"Becky?" Oscar Delancey studies my face.
"Oscar." I smile. I am overcome with a feeling of warmth inside.
"Hey." He pulls me into a kiss. The kiss is long, his tongue revisits my mouth for the first time in what seems like a lifetime. "Baby," he whispers to me. "I've missed you." He runs his hand down my side. It reminds me of how I got pregnant. But I wanted to be with him more. I feel him mouth kiss my neck. He wraps his arms around my waist.
"I need to tell you something."
"Yeah, baby?" he whispers down my neck. It sends shivers down my spine.
"I left cause I found out I was gonna have a baby."
"Why didn't ya come ta me fah help?" He pulls away from me, looking hurt.
"I was scared."
"Of what?" His eyes give me a reassuring look. Like he's saying as long as I'm honest, he doesn't care what I say.
"Your brother. Your uncle." I manage to say. "We weren't even supposed to be together."
"Where's the baby now?"
"He's two." I take a deep breath, "He lives with the newsies."
"What?"
"The owner's a friend of my grandpa."
"It's that small kid, ain't it?"
"Andrew." I say. "That's his name." Oscar pulls me close to him again. I realize he's not mad, just concerned. "I'm sorry."
"It's not ya fault." He goes back to kissing my neck. He knows how much I like it. For the first time in a long time, I feel loved. He stops. "Ya wanna come spend the night?" I nod. I want to be loved again. he takes my hand and leads me to his family's apartment.
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end chapter 1…or 2, if the prologue counts…
