Disclaimer: Still don't own Newsies or any of the characters.
Flashbacks in italics.
Crutchie was scared. He had watched so many of his friends come back from the Refuge and it was never good. They all came back scared of touch, shaky, and waking up every night, screaming. He knew that with his bum leg it would be even worse for him because everyone would pick on him. That's why Jack had fought so hard for so long to make sure he'd never end up. But he'd cried out for Jack and made eye contact with him, and Jack had run. He had left Crutchie behind. And maybe that proved just how bad the Refuge was. Jack wasn't scared of anything.
Jack had always protected Crutchie. Before he was even a newsie, Jack was still willing to lay down his life for Crutchie.
Crutchie shivered and let out a choked sob. His leg throbbed in the cool winter air. It always hurt the most in the cold, but this was the first year he was alone, on the street, in the middle of winter.
He had watched his mom drink herself to death and he knew his father wasn't far behind. And he was getting angry. His father was beating him and no one was there to help. So, at age six, Crutchie had taken the bruises and the pain and left. He had ended up on the streets of New York with less than two dollars to his name. Now, he was down to his last cents. He had gone without food the last few days, but now his stomach was growling in pain.
Crutchie stumbled through the dark streets, using a flimsy stick to limp forward. Warm buildings lined the brick street and Crutchie longed to be out of the freezing air if even for just a minute. He considered sneaking in and sleeping underneath the stairs. But if he was found, they would probably try to send him to the Refuge. So he kept walking and eventually stopped in a large store. At this time of night, the store was almost empty. Even the clerk appeared to be falling asleep.
Crutchie moved slowly to the back and kept glancing around. He felt like everyone was looking at him, but no one was even near him. Crutchie took the small satchel off his back and filled it up with bread and fruit. He hated to steal, but the pain in his stomach brought tears to his eyes. He hobbled towards the door, but not before the clerk looked up and noticed the full bag.
He stood up with an evil glint in his eyes and stared at the bag. "You'se planning on paying for that, boy?"
Crutchie shook his head and tried to run, but he only made it a block before his leg forced him to stop. He collapsed on the ground and a police officer walked up behind him.
"I don't know if you've heard, but stealing is illegal," the officer said, laughing, and pulled Crutchie off the ground. The man laughed as Crutchie uselessly struggled. Then the man jerked forward and dropped him to the ground, jarring his leg. The officer rubbed the back of his head as he looked around, glaring.
Then Crutchie saw a rock fly through the air and hit the officer. "Stay here," the bull growled at Crutchie. The man disappeared, taking Crutchie's satchel with him. As soon as the man was out of sight, a boy raced out of a nearby alley and pulled Crutchie off the ground. The boy started to run, but once realizing Crutchie wasn't following, he came back and picked him up. Although the boy appeared to only be about 2 or 3 years older, he had no trouble carrying Crutchie. Once they were three blocks away, the boy stopped and gently set Crutchie down.
"Hey, kid. You okay?" the boy asked, softly. Crutchie nodded and shivered.
"Thanks," he whispered. The other boy just smiled and shook his head.
"No problem. You'se got a name?"
"People calls me Crutchie. Because I'se a crip and they'se don't bother to know my real name." He mumbled the last part, but the boy still heard him and laughed.
"Well, Crutchie, why was that cop after you?"
"I stole some food from a nearby store, but I'se not strong enough to run. I haven't eaten in two days. I'se so hungry."
The boy nodded as if he understood. "I know a place you can come. I can't promise you'se get food everyday or a warm place to sleep, but they'se good people. You'll have someone to look after you. They—" Then he paused and stared down the street. Crutchie followed his eyes and saw two bulls staring at them.
"Kelly," one of them said, "I should've known you had something to do with this. Just give up the boy and we'll let you go."
But the kid shook his head and pointed to Crutchie. "This kid? He has nothing to do with this. I made him do it."
The officers smiled at that as if they knew he would say that. The closest one reached forward and backhanded the boy. He fell to the ground and his hands were quickly cuffed. "Run," the boy whispered to Crutchie.
"It's back to the Refuge with you, Kelly," the police said as they wrenched him off the ground and away from Crutchie.
Even when they had just met, Jack was willing to take the fall for Crutchie. So why was he now turning his back on him? "Please don't leave me here, Jack," he whispered with tears burning his eyes. Crutchie cried himself to sleep.
The next morning, Crutchie awoke to guards banging on the door. "Wake up!" the guard yelled. "You've got things to do!"
"What?" Crutchie asked himself as he attempted to get off the bunk. Most of the boys said you didn't do anything in the Refuge. Just sat in silence waiting for something to happen. He pushed himself off and landed awkwardly on the floor. Most of the boys ignored him as they filed through the doorway, but a small boy helped him off the floor.
"You okay?" the kid asked.
Crutchie shook his head and pointed to his crooked leg. "They took my crutch. I can't really walk without it."
The boy put Crutchie's arm over his shoulder and helped him limp to the door. "What's happening?" Crutchie asked.
"Sometimes, not often, but sometimes" the kid started, "they like to make us clean. I think it's just to get us out of here and get us moving a little." They reached where all the other boys were and the kid set Crutchie down and gave him some supplies.
"Thanks…" Crutchie paused realizing he didn't know the boys name.
"Fox," the boy supplied. "And you are?"
"Crutchie."
"Welcome to the Refuge, Crutchie," Fox said and disappeared. Crutchie cleaned a bathroom, and he had never, in all of his years on the streets, seen something so disgusting. Grime was encrusted on the walls of the shower and the spouts were so covered in filth that water only barely trickled out. After several hours when Crutchie was sure his nose had stopped working, the rest of the boys started to leave and Fox came back for him. The two slowly made their way back to the room and Fox helped Crutchie up onto the bunk and then joined him.
"So how did you end up here?" Fox asked.
"I'se a newsie for The World. Pulitzer recently raised his prices and we went on strike. But he wasn't very happy about that. The bulls attacked us and got me. Everyone else got away, I think. But…"
"But they left you behind," Fox said, finishing Crutchie's thought. Crutchie nodded.
"I'se sure they had a reason. If they helped, we alls would've been caught. They'll get me out." Fox nodded with fake reassurance, but it didn't matter. Crutchie had convinced himself that Jack would come back for him and hadn't left him behind. He smiled to himself. Then a large commotion caused him to look up as a small crowd gathered in the middle of the room.
"What's happening now?" Crutchie asked, confused.
"He's here!" a kid in the crowd shouted.
A/N: So I'm throwing the whole scheduled updating plan out the window. I'll update when I'm ready.
The next few chapters are about the Refuge so I'll try to post those quickly.
