I haven't been getting much feedback on the story so I'm not sure if anyone is enjoying it or if there are things to improve...
Jack leaned heavily against the gate, stifling a yawn. She knew this would be a long day and that little bit of coffee she had that morning would probably not be enough. She may have gone to sleep at ease but reality struck her hard this morning with Crutchie knowing her secret and the strike. Along with the knowledge that Brooklyn wouldn't be joining them, Jack needed some time to process everything before she saw the others.
"Mornin', Jack," greeted Race, coming up next to the leader, leaning his back against the gate.
"Mornin'," she replied, glancing towards him. "So, any luck?"
Race made a face. "Maybe we shoulds wait for the others."
Jack stopped herself from sighing. That didn't sound like any sort of good news... She hadn't really talked to the other newsies that morning considering her state. She just hoped they were more successful than she and the brothers had been in Brooklyn.
Davey and Les arrived several minutes later and, as Les ran up to the gate to greet Jack and Race, Davey took his time, even slowing down slightly. The conversation with his sister last night was still fresh in his mind and he actually took the time to look at Jack. She was leaning forward against the gate. Davey eyed his friend, trying to figure out if his sister had been right or not. He found it difficult to say considering the ill-fitting clothes Jack wore. He continued to study her until his eyes travelled a little quickly from her clothes to her backside.
The moment he realized what he did, his gaze snapped back up and he fought back the rising heat in his face. His sister may have been right about him not looking at girls very often but he couldn't believe he looked at Jack that way. He needed to focus on something else.
On the strike.
"Is anyone else comin'?" wondered Davey, as he approached the trio at the gate. He figured he could look into Jack being a girl or not later.
"I've got no clue," replied Jack, half-heartedly, not having noticed Davey's stares.
"Hey, well, you've seen Spot Colon, right?" tried Race, moving closer to the trio, a hopeful expression on his face. "What, what's he say?"
Jack slowly pushed herself to a standing position, trying to figure out how to break it to Race and the others that Brooklyn wasn't going to be joining them that day. She hadn't been the smoothest while talking to Crutchie last night so she needed to watch her words more carefully. She definitely didn't want to bring up how Spot had put Manhattan's honour in question. Not in front of Race. She had a feeling something could be brewing between Race and Spot and she didn't want to jeopardize that. "Yeah, sure, we saw him," she began slowly.
"Him and about 20 of his gang," added Davey and Jack jumped in surprise, glancing towards Davey as he stood inches from her. He had squeezed in between Jack and Les. She was shocked at how close he had gotten without her noticing. They eyed each other for a moment and Davey's thoughts went back to Jack possibly being a girl once more. When he had noticed how dirty Jack's face could be, especially by the end of a day of work, he never took the time to actually look at her face. As he did, he almost started to believe his sister's words.
Almost.
He also figured that Jack was younger than he had originally thought and that her features were just a result of not having matured yet.
Jack, meanwhile, was almost worried as to why Davey was staring at her. The thought of Crutchie knowing she was a girl came to mind and she began to wonder if Davey was beginning to figure that secret out as well…
"And them Brooklyn boys is big," said Les which quickly snapped Jack and Davey out of their staring.
Jack cleared her throat, thinking back on the conversation and where she needed to bring it. "And I gotta say, Spot was very impressed," continued Jack. She wasn't exactly lying. Spot had told her as much. "Wasn't he?" She turned towards Davey and he nodded.
"I'd say," agreed Davey. However, he had gone back to watching her a little too intensely for her liking and she focused her gaze back towards the gate. She had wanted to get his attention but she was worried about what had caused that change.
She hoped it wasn't about her secret or maybe even what she had said yesterday about his parents...
Jack resisted the urge to shake her head as she went back to focusing on the matter at hand.
"All right, so, they're with us?" asked Race, hope clear in his voice.
Jack paused, trying to find a way to formulate their situation. She really didn't want to blow it like she had with Crutchie.
Thankfully, Davey took over. "That all depends on how you look at it. If you look and see Brooklyn, then they're with us."
"But?" wondered Race, waiting expectantly.
Jack and Davey shared a look but, since he didn't seem to have a better way of saying it, Jack sighed before mumbling, "But, they wanted proof we weren't gonna fold at the first sign of trouble," muttered Jack.
"Are we?" asked Finch quickly, nervously.
Jack turned towards him, a frown on her face. "We are not! No!" she snapped. She couldn't have her newsies doubt the strike, not when they just started. She hated sometimes that she had a big mouth but, for moments like this, she could always use it for good. She needed to turn this around. "There's us," she began, looking around as more newsies arrived at the gate. She spotted Mush and said, "there's Harlem..."
"Well, not so fast, boss." Mush held up his hands, looking regretful. "Harlem wants to know what Brooklyn's gonna do."
Jack schooled her features at that news. She scanned the rest of the newsies, seeing Specs coming up. "How 'bout Queens?"
"Queens will be right here backing us up," replied Specs and hope flared inside of Jack.
"Are you serious?" She asked with a smile and even the others around them seemed to light up with hope.
"As soon as we get the nod from Brooklyn," added Specs and Jack didn't know if she was glad he kept a smile on his face to encourage the rest of them or if she should smack it off for giving them hope and taking it away with only two sentences.
"I got the same fish-eye in Midtown," revealed Race, his shoulders slumping.
Jack rubbed her forehead at the turn of events: how could every newsie in New York need Brooklyn's approval to join the strike? She sighed, knowing that they wanted those newsies in particular because of their size, as much in numbers as physically. However, she was somewhat insulted that they didn't trust Manhattan to see this strike through or help them…
"Say, Oscar, it looks like we got bum information about a strike happenin' here today," said Morris as he and his brother approached the gate, eyeing the newsies with deep frowns on their faces. As Oscar unlocked the gate, Morris continued, "Not that I'm complainin'. I know my skull-bustin' arm could use a day of rest."
By then Oscar had finished unlocking the gate and gave several good hits to the metal bars in hopes of scaring some of the newsies.
"Okay, are you done?" asked Jack, unimpressed. She knew the Delanceys and knew how they liked to intimidate her newsies – to intimidate anyone to be honest. She had learned a long time ago to not be fooled by it but they still got newsies worried.
Les in particular slowly entered Newsies' Square and asked softly, "Are we doin' the right thing?" Jack could hear the fear in his voice and it ate at her on the inside.
"Sure we are," said Davey quickly, going up to his brother to comfort him.
"Maybe we should put this off a few days," suggested Race as the other newsies entered the square, all of them looking scared.
For the first time, Jack began to question her decision. She stayed on the other side of the gate, watching her newsies as they remained grouped together, a herd of lost and scared children. Could she put them through this? Was Les' question valid?
She entered the square, going up to Specs, one of the few that still looked like they had some hope in this strike.
"Specs, go up top and keep an eye out for anyone else," she said, pointing to the balcony with that day's headline.
He smiled at her and nodded. She patted him on the arm, returning the smile.
She needed that.
"Jack, they're not..." She turned around to see Davey nearly plowing his way towards her. "Say something. Tell 'em if we back off now, they will never listen to us again!"
Jack and Davey stared at each other for a moment before she nodded towards him. The fact that he still had faith in the strike, faith in her was the motivation she needed. She hadn't been lying to Katherine, Davey was the brains and she had a big mouth. She had managed to rally the newsies the other day, she was going to do it again.
She needed to remind them of the hope they had that something would change, that they could make it change.
"Hey! Hey!" Jack called out, catching the newsies' attention. "We can't back down now, all right? No matter who does or doesn't show. You like it or not, now is when we take a stand."
"How's about we just don't show up for work?" suggested Finch, glancing towards the others. "That'll send a message."
"No!" cried Jack quickly. "They'll just replace us! They need to see us stand our ground!" Jack could see she was losing her newsies, that they were beginning to doubt the strike. She cursed silently, unsure of what to do… She thought it would be as easy to rally them as previously but she was wrong. She couldn't let them give up! However, she also knew that may not have the right words to do so. She ran up to Davey, grabbing his arm. "Davey, you tell 'em…"
The young man gave her a look, unsure. "I don't know what to say."
However, the pleading look from Jack had him second guessing himself and he took a deep breath. He nodded towards Jack before walking towards the newsies.
"Now is the time to seize the day," he began, catching the attention of the newsies. "Stare down the odds and seize the day. Minute, by minute, that's how you win it. We will find a way! But let us seize the day."
Jack stared at Davey, eyes wide and mouth slack-jawed. She wasn't the only one fully listening to Davey. By then, all newsies had turned towards him, listening to his every word.
Jack didn't think her crush on Davey could get any worse but she was just proven wrong. The way he was inspiring her newsies made her heart swell.
"Hey, Jack! Look what I made!"
Jack blinked, pulling her gaze away from Davey to Crutchie who arrived with several other newsies. He held up his crutch to which he had attached a rag, creating a makeshift banner with the word 'STRIKE' written on it. He looked so happy of what he had made and it seemed to motivate the others somewhat.
"Strike!" called out Crutchie, plastering on a large smile as he eyed Jack carefully.
She smiled back at him warmly, proud that Crutchie still had faith in the strike, had faith in her.
Crutchie meanwhile, was very glad his idea worked. The other night, when Jack had told him about the Brooklyn newsies and how they weren't joining them, Crutchie could see the disappointment in Jack's features. That had been a reason to let Jack share the pillows once more, an attempt to comfort her, to boost her morale. Even his banner was to help keep Jack's spirits up because he knew that the others looked to her for pretty much everything. If they saw her hesitation, they'll doubt the strike and everything they had done so far would have been for nothing,
"That's great!" remarked Race, taking a look at the banner. He gave Crutchie a smile before walking back towards the others and adding, "That's pitiful…"
"Don't be so quick to judge," reprimanded Les as he crossed his arms. "Maybe Pulitzer will see it out his window and feel sorry for us."
Jack watched as the morale dipped once more amongst her newsies and racked her brain for something – anything – that could help. "Specs!" she called out, hoping for some good news. "Any sign of reinforcement?"
Specs scanned all around him, trying to spot even a glimmer of some other newsie heading their way to help. However, he came up empty. He shook his head towards Jack and she took a deep breath. She needed…
Her gaze fell on Davey and she made a beeline towards him, grasping his arm. "Davey, come on."
He quickly nodded, glancing over the others. He made his way towards Crutchie, reaching for the banner. "Courage cannot erase our fear," he said, remembering his mother's words. They had helped him on many occasions and he hoped they would do the same for the newsies. "Courage is when we face our fear."
Crutchie smiled at him, patting him on the arm, finally beginning to understand why Jack had a crush on Davey. The older newsie may not have the street smarts like the rest of them but he had the same heart.
"Tell those with power, safe in their tower, we will not obey!" continued Davey as he pointed towards The World building.
Jack watched her newsies, seeing hope return to them once more and she couldn't help but smile. She moved up closer to Davey, nodding in agreement to what he said.
Davey smiled back, getting more comfortable with talking to the others, with getting them on board once more with the strike. Also, knowing that Jack trusted him and believed in him gave him the courage to keep talking. "Behold the brave battalion that stands side by side," he said, motioning to all the newsies. "Too few in number but too proud to hide."
Jack was also growing more confident and, even if her last attempts didn't work, she felt this time, it would work. "We'll say to the others who did not follow through, you're still our brothers and we will fight for you."
Crutchie walked up to them and Jack wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders, giving them a squeeze. He smiled up at her just as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the work day. They glanced towards the sound and Jack took a deep breath, knowing that this was the moment that would define their strike.
"We doin' this?" wondered Crutchie softly.
"Yeah," replied Jack, nodding to him and to herself.
Davey came up on Jack's other side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Once we've begun and we stand as one," he glanced towards the other newsies, nodding towards them as well, "someday becomes somehow."
"And a prayer becomes a vow," added Crutchie and the other newsies got closer to the trio.
"And the strike starts right damn now!" cried Jack to the cheers of her newsies.
I hope the readers enjoyed the chapter
