Today was the day. The day they went to Pulitzer and changed The World. Race had spent the past few hours passing out papes to any kid he could find. He had passed his remaining papes off to Romeo and now, here he was, standing in front of the large wooden doors of The World next to Davey and Spot.
"We doin' this?" he asked, looking up at the building that he had stood outside of some many times but now seemed daunting.
"We're doing this," Davey confirmed and Spot pushed open the doors. The trio marched in, side by side. They stopped outside a room and Race could hear what seemed like constant ringing of phones.
"Sorry, Mr. Pulitzer is simply not available."
"Sorry, Mr. Pulitzer can't come to the phone right now."
"Well, I'm sorry! I am—"
"Silence those phones!" A gruff voice shouted. There was one last ring and then silence.
"The entire city is shut down. No one is working anywhere and they're all blaming you!"
"They're all calling: the mayor, the publishers, the manufacturers and such language."
Then a man saw them waiting in the lobby and raced to warn Pulitzer. So Race followed him in, skipping in and acting way happier than he actually was. He slammed the pape down on Pulitzer's desk, and the look of pure contempt that Joe gave him made his smile widen.
"These kids put out a pretty good paper. Very convincing," one of his advisors said after reading their article, and Race had never seen Spot's face look so smug.
"And it's thanks to your daughter, Pulitzer," Race said. A muffled singing filled the room then and Race pointed out to the balcony. The three children headed to the balcony while Pulitzer ushered everyone else in the office back out into the lobby. He joined them and his eyes widened in the fear. Surrounding his building were newsies from all neighborhoods of New York, including Spot Conlon's gang from Brooklyn. And the crowd continued to grow as kids from all walks of life joined, each carrying strike banners.
"It appears we've got you surrounded," Spot said, taking off his hat and waving to the boys below him. They waved back and Pulitzer groaned.
"The city's shut down," Davey said, pointing at the kids.
"You can't get a shoe shine or ride an elevator. You can't cross the Brooklyn Bridge. You can't even get out a' your own office.
"Kids are the most powerful force in The World."
The group reentered his office and Pulitzer sat at his desk with his head in his hands. "Fine," he said, looking up, "I can roll the prices back by half and get the others to do the same. I'm sure you understand I need—"
"You need to save face. I get it. You'se got a reputation," Race finished for him.
Joe nodded. "I'm glad you understand. So do we have a deal?"
"But I'se got constituents with legitimate gripes," Race interrupted.
"You take prices back by half and you buy back any papes we can't sell!" Davey shouted, offering his own ultimatum.
"And you get Crutchie and Jack out a' the Refuge," Spot added.
Pulitzer smiled a little at that and three looked at each other, confused. "One of those might be a problem. You see, Mr. Kelly was arrested for his previous escape. That has nothing to do with me or the strike."
"But—"
"But nothing," Pulitzer said. "Warden Snyder arrested him because he has not finished his sentence yet. I can't do anything about that."
"But Crutchie was arrested purely because he went against you," Race said, "so you get him out." Joe nodded, and Race spit into his hand and held it out to the older man.
"That's disgusting."
"That's just the price of doing business." Pulitzer sighed, rolled his eyes, and reluctantly spit into his hand. The two shook and all the feelings that had been bottled up inside Race for the past few weeks burst out. He wanted to scream and cry and dance and punch someone all at the same time. He would've collapsed on the ground if it wasn't for Spot keeping him up. Tears burned his eyes and for a moment he let himself forget all his stress. He let himself forget that Jack and Crutchie were still in the Refuge and that Jack wouldn't make it out right now.
Pulitzer exited his office and Race began to follow him, but Davey stopped him.
"What are you doing? Weren't you the one that said we needed to get Jack out?" he hissed.
"Pulitzer agreed to our terms easily. If we pushed any harder, we might've lost everythin'. None of the kids can afford to be out a' work for too much longer."
"Unfortunately," Spot said from over Race's shoulder, "Joe's got a point. Jack does have a sentence that has nothing to do with the strike. While it ain't fair, it ain't something that Pulitzer has control over. Right now, we'se gotta take what we can get. Now, c'mon, let's give everyone the good news." He walked away without an answer, and Davey and Race quickly followed him.
When they got outside, Pulitzer was standing on top of the distribution center. Spot pushed Race towards the stairs and Davey gave him a comforting smile. He climbed up and tried to stand tall next to Pulitzer. Joe gave him an annoyed look that said what are you waiting for? Race took a deep breath.
"Newsies of New York City," pause for dramatic effect, "we won!" Cheering erupted in the square and was echoed by every single kid throughout the city. Race was sure that no matter where you were in the city, everyone would hear that joyous cry. This is for you, Jack.
Pulitzer pushed past him then, and retreated back to his office. Race joined the newsies and hugged Spot. "We did it!" he shouted. "We did it!"
"That's right, kid, but we'se got one more thing to do."
Race stepped back and composed himself. "Let's go get Crutchie." He tried to walk away, but Spot stopped him and pointed at the distribution center.
"You'se got papes to sell," he said. "I'll start sellin' again tomorrow. I'll go get Crutchie. You lead your boys." Race didn't have any time to argue before the hoard of newsies pushed him towards the papes. He smiled up at Wiesel and was the first to slam down his coin. It was official. They had won.
But it wasn't over yet. They still had to get Jack out of the Refuge.
A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who has left reviews.
