A/N: (Whispering) Hey people! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was going to post yesterday, but my power went out. Stupid power... (grumbles about the power incoherently) So, I combined two chapters and posted them as one big chappie! YAY! Anyways, I want to thank all my reviewers!
Smiley94: Thank you for reviewing! The wait is over, Lucky will meet Mush today! Yep, it was getting my wisdom teeth out. Thanks, I am feeling better :)
LosahFace: Thanks for reviewing! Here is the update.
Me: Now, I know your all wondering why I'm whispering.
Blink: (in a normal voice) No, they're not
Me:(Whispering) Shh, they'll find us
Blink: (Whispering) Ohh, right. Sorry
Race: (Whispering) You should be.
Me: (Whispering) Stop fighting! Now, where was I?
Blink: (Whispering)Telling everyone why we are whispering
Me: (Whispering) Thanks Blink
Race: (Whispering) Suck up
Me: (Glares at Race.) (Whispering) Anyways, we are whispering because someone, Racetrack, let Jack, David, Spot and Mush out of the closet they were tied up in.
Race: (Whispering) Sorry! They gave my a cigar!
Me: (Whispering) A cigar. Thats your price? (shakes head) But, they are really mad, and they... (hears noises outside of room) what was that?!
Blink: (Whispering) I think its them. I'm scared.
Mush: Hey guys! I found 'em. They're in here.
Me: Crap. (hides behind Blink, who is hiding behind Race, who is cowering in fear)
Jack: (opens the door) Bibbi! Why did you lock us in that closet?
Me: (No longer whispering) Well, um, because I, uhh, I couldn't have six newsies in my room. My mom would get mad.
Spot: Oh. Alright then. (walks out)
Me: Is that ir? No one else is going to leave?
Mush, Jack, David, Race: Nope.
Blink: (hurt) Do you want me to leave?
Me: (hugs Blink) No, no, of course not!
Blink: Okay. Yay, I get to stay!
Me: (Doing that one arm hug thing that people do when they are hugging someone at the same time as talking to someone else. Arm around waist, we'll call it. Arm around Blink's waist) Alright. Sorry for keeping you for so long. Now, read the story!
--
After a quick breakfast, David and Les were getting ready to go sell papes. I pulled my hair back and hid it beneath my cap. When David and Les came down, they were surprised to see me ready to go sell too. David looked at Sarah, who said, "Go on you three, get outta here. You got papes to sell, don't you?" "Bye Mama!" Les called out over his shoulder. David closed the door behind himself and then turned to Les, saying "Shh! She's still asleep!" "Oops." Les muttered sheepishly. "So," David said after several minutes of silence, "Why do you wanna sell papes with us?" "Well, I'm lookin' for... for a...for an old... friend. Yep an old, old friend." I said. "Gee, that was convincing." David said sarcastically. "What's his name, I might know 'im" he continued, slightly intrigued that he might know my so-called friend. "Mush is his name. At least it was his name. He mighta changed it over the years." I said.
"No, we knows a Mush." Jack said as we all jumped. Since he slept at the lodging house none of us were expecting him to walk with us to the distribution office. Much less sneak up behind us and scare us like that. "Jack, don't scare us like that!" I exclaimed. "Well, I hadda find you." Jack said. "Me?" I asked. Jack nodded. "Why?" I asked. "Well," Jack said, "You have a problem." "What is it?" I asked, concerned that my guise wasn't holding or that I couldn't sell papes. "It just, well, umm, Lucky ain't exactly the best name for a newsie. See, guys might get the wrong idea..." Jack trailed off, but he didn't need to finish. My face was flaming as I pointedly avoided looking at Jack and David. I did notice that both of their faces were red as I asked a spot above Jack's head what he suggested I do. I made sure I asked before Les could ask what Jack had meant.
Suddenly David said "Two Bits." Jack and I gave up on not looking at anyone because what David had said was just too weird. "Two Bits?" I asked, thoroughly confused. "Two Bits." David confirmed. "It can be your new newsie name. 50 papes cost a quarter, or two bits. Jack and I will loan you two bits, so it's a way to remember how much you owe us. And it's a pretty cool name." I thought for a second, then said "Two Bits. I like it. Come on guys, lets go get our papes."
--
Jack, David, Les and I got in line to get our papes. "Hey there Cowboy!" one kid yelled out, "Whose the new kid?" The kid who yelled to Jack was young, short Italian kid. He had black hair and a boyish face. His lips were full, but his bottom lip was fuller than his top lip. He wore a cap and a vest over a clean white shirt. He was one of the most put together newsies I saw in the crowd around me. Before Jack could introduce me I stuck out my hand and said "The names Two Bits." The boy took my hand and shook it. I realized that he was eighteen at least, much older than the fifteen I had put him at anyway, as he said, "I'm Racetrack. You can call me Race." He called over some of his other friends and introduced them. "This is Specs," a boy with glasses and a bowler hat waved, "Crutchy," a kid with a crutch smiled, "Kid Blink," a kid with an eye patch shook my hand, " and this here's Mush."
As soon as Mush stepped forward I knew I had found my brother. I felt a rush of emotions at the sight of him. Betrayal, happiness, relief, worry and joy all assaulted me at the same time. I pushed these emotions aside as I shook his hand because there was no way I would tell him who I was. I couldn't tell him, not yet. What if he was like Pa? I stopped thinking, because it was too painful, and started looking.
He was taller than I remembered, but that I expected. His chestnut brown hair was as short and curly as it was five years ago. When I looked at his face I saw a small scar under his left ear that hadn't been there last time I saw him, or at least not to my knowledge. His chin was a rounded triangle, and his nose was normal. There was no sign of the break he had in it had when he left. His lips had filled out during the years we had been apart. His eyes were the same chocolate brown that I remembered, but they were much more guarded now, showing little emotion. The one emotion I saw in his eyes was shock as he met my eyes. I think he might have recognized my eyes and my handshake, but I couldn't be sure because at that moment he dropped my hand and said, "Pleased to meet youse." I replied "Same here."
Blink broke the awkward silence that was staring to form by saying, "So Jack, how dija find Two Bits? He don' seem to be exactly newsie material. No offense Two Bits." Blink added hastily. "Actually, I found 'im." David said as he stepped up next to me. "I saw 'im beat up both the Delancys with no help. He kinda saved Les's life to tell the truth." Les tried to scowl, but ended up smiling sheepishly as he remembered the fight. "After the fight Oscar and Morris were both out cold and Two Bits here only got a shiner." David said as he pointed to my bruised left eye that had already started to fade. Many of the boys applauded me as I walked to the front of the line with Jack, David and Les.
"A hundred papes for me and fifty papes for my friend Two Bits." Morris glared at me through the eye he could see out of as he handed me my papes. I waved to him and stifled a giggle as Jack and I walked to the exit of the distribution area. "You'll be sellin' with me today. Awlright?" Jack drawled. "Yep." I said. As we left the distribution area I looked over my shoulder, Mush was still staring at me, looking a little confused. I turned back to Jack and smiled. Together we walked towards Central Park to sell our papes.
--
While Jack and I were walking towards Central Park he said, "Foist things foist. I wanna see how well you sell with out my help. I'm jus' gonna watch." I pulled out a pape and read the headline. It said "Mayor Irked about Reoccurring Break Ins." I said, as loud as I could in the middle of a large crowd, "Mayor Furious After Important Secret Documents Stolen!" The people swarmed around me, buying over half of my papers. After running away before my customers found out that my headline was a fake, I opened the paper to see if there were any other good headlines. I found a little nugget of gold and called out "Brawl Turns Deadly! One Fatality, Countless on the Brink of Death! Extra, extra! Read all about it!" A few minutes later I walked over to Jack, jingling my pocket full of money. He laughed, saying, "You're a natural! Where dija get the second headline?" "In da obituaries. A brawler died. He hurt lots of people while he lived. I was just improvin' da truth, that's all." I said. Jack nodded, handed me some of his papes and said "Try and sell these by playin' sick." I grabbed the papes and fake limped off.
I saw a young couple strolling through the park. I limped up to them, fake coughed, and said, "Buy a pape so I can eat dinner?" The woman looked at me with pity in her eyes and bought two papes. The man looked at the woman, and then bought four. "Thank you. Now I may be able to eat." I fake coughed before limping away. I kept one eye on the couple as they walked away. As soon as they were out of sight I hurried over to Jack. "How many?" he asked. "Six. A guy bought four and his goilfriend bought two." I said, handing over the four remaining papes and the money they had given me. Jack congratulated me, and then we hurried off to finish selling Jack's papes.
--
Jack brought me to Tibby's for lunch. After we placed our orders Jack said "So. Can I talk to you about somethin'...?" "Shoot." I replied. "Well, its about Davey..." I gave him a funny look, then motioned for him to continue. "Well, I've never seen him look at a goil before, much less the way he looks at you." "Well gee," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice, "he has lots of goils to choose from, workin' with all guys." "True," Jack said, "but he seems taken with you. I was wondering how you felt about him?" "We are just friends, and nothing more!" I shot back at Jack, fuming. Jack didn't know the real reason I was mad though. I did like David. Actually, I liked him a lot more than I should, especially since I had only known the guy for a few nights. But no one needed to know that. Especially not Jack.
Still glaring, I said, "You might not want to talk about stuff like that. The guys might get the wrong ideas about David." "You only care about David. What about yourself?" Jack asked a little smugly. I mentally kicked myself before saying, "I'm not planing on falling in love anytime soon, so I'll be fine. And the guys should like me for who I am." I grinned at huge grin before saying, "Besides, I do like guys. Why lie about it?" Jack laughed, and the tension that neither of us had felt building was gone. We laughed and joked around for the rest of lunch, then we hurried back to the Lodging House.
--
"Hey Jack, hey Two Bits!" a boy called out. "Hey Blink!" I responded, "How dija do today?" "Not to good, I bought thoirty papes and only sold twenty of 'em." Blink said, "But never mind my bad luck. How dija do today?" "Well, I sold near sixty papes, um, fifty four I think." I said. Several boys gawked at me, and Blink gasped. "What, is that bad?" I asked, confused. "Bad?" Blink asked, incredulous. "Blink just told you that he bought thoirty papes and only sold twenty of 'em, and you think sellin' sixty papes is bad?" Mush said, looking at me like I was stupid. "Lemme fill you in kid. Most of us only sell thoirty papes a day. But you, you jus sold better den Cowboy did on his foist day. You are a pape sellin' genius!"
While Mush was talking to me, I saw Jack talking to David. Jack said something and David shook his head vigorously and turned bright red. "Know where your gonna stay tonight?" Race asked me suddenly, bringing me back to the conversation at hand. "I dunno." I mumbled, "I got no place to go." David and Jack had finished their conversation and had walked over to join the others. David had heard me, and looked like he was going to say something, but Crutchy beat him to it. "You can stay at the Lodging House. We'se got an extra bunk you can use! Wanna spend a couple a nights?" "I'd love to!" I responded. "Great!" Mush said, pulling me towards a small brick apartment building. I noticed David's crestfallen look as I waved to the boys, who were going to sell the afternoon edition.
As soon as Mush and I were inside the bunkroom, he stopped. He turned around and asked, "Do I know you?" I tried to keep my face blank as I thought. I didn't think I would have to make this decision so soon. I wanted to tell him I was his sister. I wanted him to hug me and tell me that everything would be all right. I wanted, but I was scared. I was scared he wouldn't remember me. I was scared he wouldn't want me here. I was scared he would send me back to Pa. I was scared he was like Pa. I finally decided and said, "No, I don't think you know me. Well, I know I don't know you. Maybe I look like someone you know?" "Knew." He corrected before sitting down on a bunk. "You look like someone I knew. I haven't seen her in five years. Oh, wait, I shudda know you weren't her, 'cause she's, well, a goil." He got a funny look in his eyes before saying, "I miss her. I sure hope she's awlright." He just stared into space for several long minutes before I asked, "Are you awlright?" He jumped slightly, then said, "Just thinkin'." I sat down on the bunk across from him and asked, "Do you wanna talk about it?" Mush thought for a second, then nodded. "Just don't tell any of the guys what I'm gonna tell you, got it?" he said. "Got it." I replied.
Mush took a deep breath and began his story. "Ten years ago I was the happiest little seven year old there was. I had a loving mother, a caring father and a twin sister who was my best friend, even though we were total opposites." Mush paused for a moment, remembering the happy times in his life. "We had some really great times." He said with a smile. His voice became sad as he said, "Then, nine years ago, my Ma got really, really sick. She fought for a year, but then she died." Mush looked up at me, his eyes full of sorrow. My heart went out to him. I remembered how hard it had been on him when Ma died. He continued, "After she died, life went down hill. My Pa fell deep into the bottle. He was a mean drunk, and would beat me and my sister when he came home. Several times, when he was drunk, he caught me and my sister. We were trying to run away. That was when he hit us with beer bottles." Mush paused, his glistening eyes hardened with momentary anger. He continued, "My sister never blamed my father, not even when he used the bottles. She felt like that was his way of dealing with the grief of losing his wife. I disagreed." The anger gone from Mush's eyes, he slumped down.
He continued, his voice thick with unshed tears, "I couldn't stay anymore. I had to leave. One night, I decided to run away. I thought I could get away without anyone noticing I was leaving." He paused, trying to regain his composure. "I was wrong." He whispered, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over. "My sister was awake when I left. I told her she couldn't come with me. I though she would be safer at home, because when my Pa was sober, he was a good guy. I thought he would get mad at me for leaving, I thought that he would've followed me. But he didn't. I left her there with a madman." He was crying harder now. "I left her. I don't even know where she is. I don't know if she is dead or alive. If she is dead, it's my fault. I shudda stayed." Mush totally broke down and he started sobbing. I crossed the small distance between the bunks and gave Mush a hug. I knew just what I had to do to comfort him.
"It's awlright Mush." I said quietly. "You did what you thought you had to do. I'm sure that your sister wouldn't blame you for acting in her best interest." I continued brightly, "Besides, maybe she did get away." Mush wiped his eyes, looked up at me and said, "Thanks Two Bits. You're a good friend." "Anytime." I said. Mush looked like he wanted to say something more, but we herd the noise of boys coming in from selling. Mush grabbed my hand and pulled me up the fire escape, up onto the roof. I looked around the roof. The view was fantastic! I made a mental note to come up here later, then asked Mush, "Why did we come up here?" Mush looked at me, then said, "I didn't want the guys to see me crying. They would never let me live it down." "Oh." I said.
"Is there anything else you wanna tell me?" I asked after several minutes of silence. "No, but thanks for listening. I don't know why I told you all of this. I mean, I've known the guys downstairs for five years, and I never told any of them about my sister. All they know is that I ran away from home." He paused and looked at me. "I know you for less than a day, and I tell you everything!" "You've never told anyone?" I exclaimed. "No wonder you told me everything! You had quite a bit built up there! Honestly, I'm surprised you managed to not tell anyone for five years!" Mush looked at me after he wiped his eyes and said, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you are her reborn." I laughed as we walked back into the bunkroom, but Mush would never know how close he had come to the truth on the roof that night.
A/N
David: Bibbi?
Me: Yes David?
David: You forgot something in your first author's note.
Me: What?
David: Your disclaimer.
Me: Oh. HEY RACE!
Race: What?
Me: You wanna do the disclaimer?
Race: Sure. Bibbi doesn't own Newsies. Don't sue her Disney. There, done.
Me: Thanks. HEY MUSH!
Mush: What?
Me: Wanna tell the lovely people what they should do?
Mush: (bored) Read and review.
Me: Thank you.
Jack: What about me and Blink?
Me: Well, Blink already got his hug for the chapter...
Blink: Yay!
Me: ... and the disclaimer is done. What do you wanna do?
Jack: I dunno.
Me: Hey, I got it! Jack, listen... (whispers to Jack)
Jack: Cool! Alright everyone, listen up! Race needs a goilfriend!
Race: I do?
Jack: Yes, now shut up. If you wanna be Race's goil, or if you wanna make her up, put your/her newsies name, real name (if she has one), and physical description in your review.
Me: Good job.
Blink: Can I have another hug?
Me: Later. I need to type more and find Spot... See all you guys later!