New York Royalty

By: PrinceOfNewYork

Chapter Seven: Either Ya Lost, or Ya Ain't

Summary: In the world people are viewed in several different ways. Some are leaders, some are followers, some are somewhere in the middle, and some just get power through possessions. The concept of royalty can take on more than just one form.

Disclaimer: Most of these guys are mine, except for the few that ain't. And, if ya don't know which ones those are then you better go watch Newsies again.

A/N: Alright, this is my first shot at a Newsie fic, but I've been messin' with this character for over a year now, and it's about time she had her story put down (before I completely forget it all!) Thanks a bunch to all of ya who read this!

Once again, I borrowed the character of Collin "Red" Russiani from a fellow author of mine: AmbrLupin who has an account on this site under that name. So, if you're interested in this character go to her for info, and thanks to her for loaning him to me!

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The next morning she awoke colder than when she had fallen asleep, but heard several voices right above her. "Is she alive?" "Where'd she come from?" "Who is she?" She'd fallen asleep on the street, what did she expect?

She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at the curious boys faces. "Hey, she is alive!" "You okay?" "Who are you?" "Where ya from?" "Ya new ta dese parts?" All these questions, and each one of them had a thick accent.

"Will ya let her breathe?" one of them said, and the boys backed up a little as she stood slowly. There were a lot of them… a whole lot. Some of them were cute, some of them weren't. A lot of them seemed tall, and fairly strong, but there were a few short ones amongst the giants. They wore thin coats for it being so cold; she realized they must not be able to afford much else. She looked at them nervously; she was pretty intimidated by the sight in front of her.

"What are you all standin' around here for? Go getcha papes!" someone in the back said. The boys almost instantly walked away from her, and into a gate. She was in the alley by the distribution… and those were the Brooklyn newsboys, but she didn't realize that at the time.

The one who had told them all to go get their 'papes' stepped forward and looked her up and down once. He was tall… really tall compared to what she was, and had crimson red hair. "Who're you?" he asked.

"I'm… Mary… Mary Ann." She didn't dare say her last name to anyone.

"And… are you sleeping on the streets because ya ain't got a home, or because ya want to?"

"I… don't have a home," she said, which was, in short, a lie, and she was rather new to the art of lying, so it was strange to her. That and she wasn't very good at it.

"Sure kid," he said and started to walk away.

"Hey wait!" she called after him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Who are you?"

"Name's Collin Russiani, friends call me Red. I'm the leader of the Brooklyn newsies."

"You… I mean, I… I'm in Brooklyn?" Collin Russiani? THE Collin Russiani, the one her father had told her about? This was him? She was in almost sheer awe in his presence. A real live newsie right in front of her! She'd never experienced that before. They had always been like fairy tales to her, and here was one of the most famous ones talking to her!

"Yeah…" he said to her as if she were an alien. "You're in Brooklyn." He completely turned to face her then. "You lost or somethin'?"

"Well in a way," she said.

He rolled his eyes a bit. "Either ya lost or ya ain't."

"I am!" she said. "I'm lost."

"Well, where are you going?" he asked.

She had no answer. She wasn't lost, she was a run away. Her mind wasn't used to having to come up with excuses, and answers to fast questions like this. He sighed a little and walked up to her. "Look, you probably don't belong here. I don't know who you are, or where you're from, but you should probably go back there. If you tell me where there is, I can tell you how to get to there."

"Hey Red!" a boy called behind him. "You gonna sell today, or what?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there Spot," Red called over his shoulder. "Look, you want my help, you just ask, okay?" he said as he turned to walk away again.

Mary was left alone again. But she had met a newsie, so… it could be worse. But where did she go from here? "Excuse me, Mr. Red… Russiani … Collin, sir?" She didn't know what to call him.

He laughed a little. "Yeah?" he said turning again.

"Could you tell me where I'd be safe for a while?"

Red put the pieces together; she was a run away. "Well, just tell me where you started. Not from Brooklyn I'm guessing?" She shook her head no. "No, I didn't think so."

"I'm from Manhattan."

Of course, made perfect sense. She came across the bridge, and ended up there some how. "Try Queens. Look for Avalanche, I bet he'll take care of ya. Just tell him I sent cha." And with that he turned around again.

"Who's that?" the shorter boy, whom Red had called Spot asked.

"Some girl, nothin' to worry about," he said.

What a strange encounter. She had to remember never to fall asleep in Brooklyn again. But now she had to go to Queens? How did she get there? And who was Avalanche? Running away was harder than she had thought it was going to be. She grabbed her things quickly. She had to ask them how to get to Queens.

"Wait!" she called yet again as she ran after the two boys. Red and Spot stopped and turned back to her. "Hi," she said again.

Red smiled. "Spot, this is Mary…Ann. Mary this is Spot Conlon." Spot spit in his hand and offered it to her.

Mary looked at his hand for a second. Well, this was different… and a bit gross. She spit in her hand as well, not sure of what to do, but watched Spot's face carefully to see if he looked at her strangely, then she shook his hand. He smiled a little at her, so she must have done it right! Well, maybe running away wasn't so hard.

"I wanted to ask you how to get to Queens," she said to the two of them.

"Sure, I can tell ya that," Spot said. "Just go straight north. Take that street, and go straight, and once you hit 141st street you're in Queens."

She smiled at the two boys. "Thank you very much, good bye!" And with that she was off.

"She wasn't a newsie, was she?" Spot said.

"Nope."

"Where's she from?"

"Manhattan."

"Why's she goin' to Queens?"

"Run away."

"Tell her to find Avalanche?"

"Yep."

"She's gonna be a newsie, ain't she?"

"Probably… we better get sellin' before the boys take all the good places," he said as he slung his papers up on his shoulder, and he and the boy started walking through Brooklyn.

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And that's the chapter for today. I'm amazed I got it up with school and all. I just hope I get it up sooner come friday. Anyway, I'll take all the reveiws I can get! They always make me smile. . But, if you don't want to reveiw, that's okay. See you friday!