Yay! An awesomely large chapter...but we can't even claim half the chracters as our own. Sadness, not owning Newsies.
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Splash! The rock hit the surface of the pond and sunk below. Daydream watched with concern as Racetrack bent down and snatched up another stone. He glared at it before hurling it at the water. He had been like this ever since Crutchy had been picked up by the Delancys earlier that day. Daydream had tried to console Ellen after it had happened but the girl had shrugged her away and ran off down the street. Day was worried that Ellen would get herself in some kind of trouble but she didn't have time to go after her friend. Racetrack had grabbed her arm and pulled her away. He didn't say a single word during the whole walk to Central Park but Daydream could almost feel the anger radiating off him. He had dragged her into the center of the park, next to one of the ponds, and then started heaving rocks at the water. Once and a while, Racetrack would curse but he usually just glowered at the water and the stones in his hands. Sometimes the rock he threw would skip but mostly they just sunk, lost forever in the muck of the pond bottom.
Daydream leaned back against a tree and ran her bare toes across the ground. She had slipped out of her shoes earlier, enjoying the feeling of the dirt and grass on her skin. Racetrack flung another rock across the pond, this time skipping it. It bounced four times before diving under the water. Daydream thought that maybe he had cooled down enough for civil conversation.
"Racetrack?" she called tentatively. He didn't turn around. "Race, c'mon, Jack said he'll get Crutchy back and, from what I can tell, Jack usually keeps his word." Racetrack paused; his arm, which had been pulled back for another throw, dropped to his side. She got up and went over to him, her skirt wrapping around her legs as she walked.
"What're you so mad about?" asked Daydream carefully when she had reached his side. She tried to catch his gaze but he was doing a good job of ignoring her. Finally, he glanced at her and she saw the repressed fury in his eyes.
"Dey love to pick on helpless people, y'know?" Racetrack glared back out at the pond. "Crutchy couldn't do a damn thing to stop 'em and dey still soaked 'im! Yeah, sure, maybe he could've got a coupl'a good whacks in wit' dat crutch a' his, but he's Crutchy!" He gave a short, sardonic laugh. "Crutchy wouldn't hurt a bee even afta it stung him on the ass." Daydream frowned uneasily.
"This ain't really about Crutchy, is it, Race?" she said softly. Racetrack's eyes stayed trained on the water. He took a slow, deep breath and began to talk.
"I had a lil' brudda once. Short, scrawny lil' brudda who followed me aroun' all the time like he was some kinda puppy." Racetrack smiled a little. "He'd follow me everywhere; to the market, to the Battery , even right heah to dis park. Hell, dat kid wouldn't neva leave me alone." The smile left Race's face and his tone changed from nostalgic to melancholy. "But he was weak, one of t'ose real sickly types dat always have somethin' wrong wit' 'em. But he didn't care; he was just happy to be alive. Always smilin', always tryin' to make ya feel betta."
"Sorta like Crutchy?" Daydream cut in. Racetrack nodded.
"Yeah, sorta like Crutchy, but he won't no brownnoser." Racetrack took in another deep breath. "I tried to look out for 'im, y'know, but I couldn't watch 'im all the time. I really tried." He looked so depressed that Daydream felt like hugging him, telling him it was alright even before he finished. She restrained herself, knowing he needed to get this out. A dark, chilled feeling was creeping up her spine and she knew that she wasn't going to like the end of this story.
"I left 'im here," Racetrack motioned to the area around them, "while I went to sell my papes one day. I was only about eleven and I had just started bein' a newsie. I wanted to look good roun' my new friends and I couldn't do that with 'im dere." Racetrack laughed cynically again. "I didn't know then dat crips sold all the papes. I was a real stupid kid." A mix of anguish and self-loathing settled into his features. "I guess while I was gone, a couple'a thugs came up and thought he would be easy, just another crippled sap to get money off of." Racetrack clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles shone white through his olive skin. "Dey beat 'im bad, so bad dat he died, bloody an' scared an' hoit. He was just too weak to take all dat pain, or at least dat's what the doc said." His face contorted into a miserable grimace. "I should've been dere to stop 'em. I was supposed to protect 'im and I practically killed 'im!" He yanked back his arm and heaved the stone at the pond. It hit the water and Racetrack sat down on the bank, his face shoved into his arms.
Daydream blinked the tears from her eyes as she sat down next to him. She took her ever-present denim bag off her and searched through it, finally coming up with a blue and white handkerchief. She handed it to him wordlessly. He mumbled his thanks and just sat there, holding it. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them for a while. Racetrack suddenly smirked the tiniest bit down at the handkerchief.
"Hey, Day?" he said slowly, turning it over in his hands.
"What?" she replied haltingly. She was still trying to get over the story he had just told her. He dangled the handkerchief in front of her face.
"This is mine."
"Wha-oh, yeah." She smiled sheepishly and rubbed at her teary eyes. "It was hanging out of your back pocket and it looked like it was gonna fall out…well, I was going to give it back." Racetrack snickered, this time without any vestiges of sarcasm.
"Day, goil, sometimes I don't know what to think about youse," he said, climbing to his feet.
"Hopefully something good," she replied. He held out a hand to help her up and she accepted it, her own smile blossoming slowly across her face.
After the bag was retrieved and Daydream had put her shoes back on, they started walking out of the park.
"I'm sorry about your brother, Race," Daydream said in an uncharacteristically subdued voice. She tucked her hand into his and squeezed it reassuringly. "But you couldn't have known that anything was gonna happen to him that day." She pinned him down with her eyes. "You can't blame yourself forever." Racetrack grinned back sadly.
"Wanna bet?"
"Race!" Daydream whined. "I'm being serious for once."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he muttered. He cocked his head at her. "Y'know, I've only told maybe two people about dat." Daydream glanced away.
"I could understand why," she mumbled. They started walking again, the conversation turning to the less serious subject of gambling. They were almost to the square when a boy grabbed Daydream's arm, halting the pair of them on the sidewalk. She stared up at him for a moment before recognizing his face. Beside her, Racetrack was scrutinizing the boy, wondering if things got rough what would be the best way to take him down. The Italian stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared menacingly up at the tall kid.
"Daydream," the boy growled in the most Neanderthal way. "You stole Knocker's money and he wants it back." Daydream straightened her shoulders.
"What do ya mean, stole it? I didn't steal anything from him." She glanced at Racetrack and smirked. "I won it fair." The boy leered at her, arms crossed over his chest.
"You just betta be on watch, Daydream, or you're gonna get it." He thrust a finger into her face and she leaned back, startled. "You think you own this town but you don't. You're gonna get it, goil. Knocker's gonna get you. You betta stay out of Saw territory, if ya wanna live to see your next birthday." He glared menacingly one more time for effect then stormed down the street. Racetrack raised an eyebrow in an unspoken question.
"That was Nosebleed," Daydream told him with a hint of amusement in her voice. "He's from the Two-man Saw Gang; they all have the stupidest nicknames." She counted off some examples on her fingers. "Nosebleed, Pin Cushion, Fence, Hinge; their leader's name is Doorknocker but everyone just calls him Knocker." She grinned. "You know, I think that Mush was a part of that gang before he was a newsie."
Racetrack nodded thoughtfully. "Dat makes sense. None of us eva knew where he got dat name, anyways." He looked sideways at the girl beside him. "Day, how 'xactly do youse know dat gang?" She shrugged.
"I used to live down near the Battery a couple years back and they were always hanging around," she replied and started walking again. "They used to be the Killer Marbles before they switched their name to the Two-Man Saw Gang. Not that anybody cares."
It was dusk and Newsies Square was teeming with newsies, as it usually was during the strike, but now anger replaced the enthusiasm and energy that defined the group. Jack and David were kneeling by the Horace Greenely statue, probably discussing some kind of plan to get Crutchy out of the Refuge. Christin was perched on the statue in between Horace's feet, her boots dangling above Jack's head. She smiled and waved when she saw Daydream and Racetrack. Daydream grinned and went over to her.
"Where'd ya go?" Jack asked as Race came closer.
"No where, Cowboy," Racetrack replied. Jack's face warped into an expression of confusion then he shrugged. Wherever Race had been, it wasn't his business. So instead of pressing the issue, he invited the shorter newsie to join the conversation. Meanwhile, Daydream, who had hopped up beside Christin, was being filled in about what was going on. No one knew exactly where Ellen had gone but it was the best guess that she had followed Crutchy to the Refuge. Their conversation was interrupted when Jack abruptly stood up, exclaiming "So, it's a plan then!" Unfortunately, the top of his head slammed into Christin's boots, making her legs fly up. The top of his body became entangled in her skirts. Christin started screaming and slapping at his head.
"Get out! Get out of there, you, you, you, bumblehead!"
"I'm trying, I'M TRYING!" came Jack's muffled reply. Everyone could see his failing attempts to escape the imprisoning yards of cloth. David stared at the scene, trying to contain his laughter.
"Things not goin' fast enough for ya, Jack?" asked Racetrack, giving Daydream a hand off the statue as she tried to get away from Christin's attack. Erin rushed over and helped Jack extricate himself from Christin's skirts.
"Look, you two, calm down," she scolded, trying to shove Jack's head down. "Panicking never solved anything." Finally free, Jack backed away, still swatting at the air. All of the newsies were laughing and Christin was thoroughly embarrassed. She covered her cheeks and rushed away, situating her violated skirts at the same time. After getting his wits about him, Jack followed her, yelling for her to slow down. Daydream shook her head. What an odd bit of humor in a dreary day. But back to her reality. She was about to ask David about the rescue plan when an arm reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down from the statue. She half fell onto to someone who clasped her in a huge bear hug.
"Daydream!" a voice exuded somewhere over her head. It was quite the opposite of the earlier event. She was spun around then caught again. Someone was babbling a mile a minute but she too dizzy to focus on any one person. "I can't believe it's you! I mean, I t'ought it was you, but I didn't really know, but whaddaya know, it really is you!" Whoever it was grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. A smile burst onto her face as she recognized an old friend.
"SNITCH!" she squealed and launched herself at the boy. She squeezed him then pulled away to see yet another very familiar person. "ITEY!" She threw herself on the quiet Italian who embraced her tightly before letting go. They all grinned stupidly at each other before letting out a rapid volley of questions.
"What're ya doin' heah!"
"Where were ya!"
"How are you?"
"What've you been doin'!"
"Why didn't you guys tell me you were newsies!"
Racetrack, who had been watching the exchange with growing annoyance, butted in.
"She's wit' me." Both Snitch and Itey turned to look at the shorter boy then looked back at Daydream.
"You're wit' Race? Dat's a laugh," Snitch said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. He grinned down at her and ruffled her hair. "You ain't ever wit' anyone!" Daydream's cheeks turned bright red and she gave Race an apologetic look.
"Oh, hush," she scolded, thumping Snitch in the arm. "You haven't answered any of my questions yet!"
"I saw you yesterday morning," Itey said, "but I didn't have enough time to talk to you. And I didn't really know if it was you or not." He gave a lop-sided smile and fiddled with his suspender straps. Daydream tried not to roll her eyes. After all these years, he still plays with his suspenders!
"But then I saw ya right now and grabbed ya and well, youse know the rest," Snitch said, grinning. "So what've you been doin', Day? Haven't seen ya in foreva!"
"Oh, I've been at this and that," she answered vaguely. "Pocket-diving, when I get too bored." She winked at the smirks that suddenly appeared on their faces.
"Just couldn't stop, could you?" Itey asked, shaking his head in amusement. Daydream grinned.
"Not even if I wanted to," she replied. Racetrack stepped closer to the little group, staring directly at Daydream. She felt small under that gaze.
"How do youse know each otha?" he asked, ripping his gaze from her to look at the other newsies. Snitch shrugged while Itey digressed into nervously chewing on his suspenders.
"We knew each other when we were little," Daydream supplied. Racetrack glared, obviously unsatisfied, then stalked off. She looked back at Snitch and Itey. "Um, I think I need to go." She hugged them both again before following Race.
"Racetrack, wait up!" she called, catching up to him and grabbing his shoulder. "What's wrong?" He whirled around and wrenched away from her. She jumped back, startled by his sudden anger.
"Why are youse so secretive?" he demanded. "Why don't you eva give me a straight answer?"
"I-I um," she mumbled, biting her lip anxiously. He flung an arm back at the square.
"And how come you knows so many people? Who are you?" His brown eyes bore into her, making her cringe.
"I-," she said softly, looking at him pleadingly. "Race, please…"
"Everyone else seems to know ya," he snapped scathingly, "how come I don't?"
"It's not like that!" she shot back. "You just don't get it!" They glared at each other for a while.
"I'se gotta go," Racetrack said and walked away.
Daydream watched him go and murmured under her breath, "Don't hate me." Furious with him and herself, she stomped off down the street. She saw Erin and David walking past, having a conversation but she did not stop to talk to them. She did not want her bad mood rubbing off on innocent bystanders. Instead, she swerved off that street and headed down another one. She had no idea where she was going but it did not matter. She just wanted to blow off some steam anyway. After a few hours of walking, she ended up in a vacated back alley. Exhausted from the day before, the fight, and the walk, she hid herself behind a couple of crates and put her head to her knees.
Why did he want to know? Why did he care? Daydream leaned back and thunked her head against the wall. Why did people always want to get involved, anyway? They were safer not knowing. Daydream sighed and let her head rest on her shoulder. Maybe she would understand better after a cat nap…