Days passed like hours and hours like minutes when Blink and Evie were together. Every day it seemed like there was a brief flash of time between their opening of, "Care to buy a pape, miss?" and their closing of, "Save me a paper tomorrow." There were flashes of light and sound and motion at high speed around them, like riding in a carriage drawn by horses in a hurry.
There were days, however, when time stood still for the unlikely couple. Days like this one, which they'd spent sitting on a dock in Brooklyn, dangling their feet over the edge. They shared a bread roll, discussing their respective lives, and their differences and similarities.
They both, for example, were tied down by money. Blink, with his complete lack of it, could barely keep himself alive sometimes. Some nights he'd have to spend sleeping, hidden behind trash cans, in a freezing alleyway, bumming a few cents from his friends to sell enough newspapers to hopefully get a roof over his head the next night. Evie, on the other hand, had more money than any sane person would know what to do with, and her father and grandfather reminded her of that on a daily basis. Money was everything in today's world, they told her, and anyone with less than she was completely unacceptable as a suitor.
Family, though, was one of those issues on which they were polar opposites. Blink would have given anything for a decent family, would sell his soul to the devil to have a mother who loved him. Evie thought her relations to be among the most despicable beings on the planet, and would have killed for the freedom of Blink's life.
"How did you end up an orphan?"
Blink looked at her, then turned his face up to the sky and sighed. "Jesus, Evie, that's like askin' where babies come from. Do I really gotta explain the facts'a life to ya?"
"No, Blink... I mean, I know how," she rolled her eyes. "But how did it happen?" She laid her hand on his, a gesture that made him want to curl up in her arms and also run away, all at the same time.
"Well, I was gonna have a li'l sister once. My ma, she was just 'bout ready to pop, and we was all so excited. I was ten, I think." He took a deep breath. "Anyhow, I come home from school one day and she's breathin' all heavy and cryin' an' stuff. My pop weren't home from the factory yet, so she sent me to go get 'im, tell 'im it was time, y'know?"
Evie smiled a little and interlaced her fingers with his, over the top of his hand. Blink's shoulders sank a little.
"My pop and I stopped and got the doctor on our way back from the factory. We get to the house, an' it's all quiet." He paused a moment, his breath shaky and uneven. Closing his eye for a moment, he collected himself. "Doc said my sister was... um... stillborn. Said Ma had a annurysm, or whatever." The word was aneurysm, but Evie wasn't about to correct him. He blinked back tears and shook his head. "Weren't nobody with 'er. Died all alone."
"I'm sorry, Blink." She squeezed his hand, laying her head on his shoulder. "What... nevermind."
"What about my pop?" He seemed to read her mind. "See, Evie, I ain't exactly a orphan orphan. My pop kinda lost it after my ma went. We, uh... butted heads a lot. So I just took off one day."
"You just left? Don't you think he's worried about you?"
"Never came lookin' for me, and I never looked back." Blink shrugged. "Some parents ain't all about their kids, I guess."
They sat in silence a few minutes, each pondering the river with more intensity than it deserved.
Finally, as the sun began to fade from the late-August sky, Blink said what had needed to be said for weeks. It required no words as he leaned in and kissed her.
It was still twilight as the pair journeyed back to Manhattan. A few blocks from the lodging house, they ran into Racetrack, who seemed abnormally delighted to see them. Racetrack was accompanied by none other than Spot Conlon, self-proclaimed King of Brooklyn and quite possibly the toughest newsie in the world. They chatted a while, until Race finally laid his proposal down on the table.
"Evie, I'd like to challenge you to a poker re-match. See, I's goin' easy on ya the first time we played." Spot and Blink both laughed heartily. Racetrack Higgins went easy on no one, lady or not.
"You're on, Racetrack. One game, and we'll see who's going easy on who."
One game had turned into seven. Blink, Mush, Spot, Skittery, and Jack had all long since folded, but Racetrack and Evie sat glaring at one another over their hands. The spectators watched in silent anticipation, knowing the outcome of this game had to be good. Beads of sweat trickled down the infamous gambler's forehead, and the elegant Evie bit her lip in determination. Minutes passed slowly, agonizingly, until the unstoppable Anthony "Racetrack" Higgins said the two words no one ever thought they'd hear out of his mouth.
"I..." he sighed, hanging his head in shame and tossing his cards carelessly onto the table, "...fold."
"Oh, sweet baby Jesus!" Spot cried, leaping out of his chair and toasting his comrades. "It's a miracle!"
Blink grinned, and before Evie could even lay her hand down, he had tilted her back and planted a big, wet, passionate kiss on her mouth, accompanied by the whoops and cheers of all the boys in the room.
Even Racetrack, in his defeat, was grinning. "You better snatch that girl up before I do, Blink. She's worth it if she can beat me."
As their lips parted and their eyes met, the deafening noise in the room was little more than a buzz in Blink's ears. And at that moment, he realized he was in love.
A/N: I'm sorry the last chapter was so short! This one's a bit longer, and has a little more oomph to it. :) Hope you like it. It is a bit mushy.
I'd really like some feedback on Blink's story. There will be more added to it later, but I'm anxious to know what everyone thinks.
In the next couple of chapters, you can expect to see part of the reason this is rated M. :) Enjoy! -Layne
P.S. Mucho thanks, REVIEWER who shall remain nameless so it's not a shoutout but you know who you are! You get your very own drunken Racetrack, to be seen soon:) Aren't you thrilled?