25 July, 2007
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Newsies or claim to own them.
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From Beginning to End
V
Race asked him to tell their story, beginning to end. Lead has an empty notepad and a sharp pencil, and that's all he needs.
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Ray, Racetrack, and Gimmick spent the rest of the afternoon selling their remaining papers. Despite the fact that Gimmick was selling with them, Ray found himself having the time of his life. Selling papers wasn't exactly a breeze, but it didn't take much time before he had already sold ten of his papers. More than once, he saw Racetrack watching him talk to and convince customers to buy. Ray could tell that Racetrack was impressed with him. Ray occasionally watched Gimmick out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious that it was not her first time selling papers. In the time that it took Ray to sell five papers, she had already sold nearly twenty. Ray became frustrated by watching Gimmick, so he instead focused on selling. By late afternoon, the three of them had sold all one hundred of their papers.
"So are ya plannin' on bumming around with me and Ray for awhile, Gimmick?" asked Racetrack as he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them. The grey December sky had begun to fill with black clouds that promised snow later on.
Gimmick shook her head. "No. I think I'll go find that Jack Kelly. I didn't get a chance to talk to him at Tibby's, and I still need to ask him bout staying in the lodging house tonight. Do you know where I could find him, Racetrack?"
Racetrack thought for a moment before saying, "I think he said something about going over to Harlem today. He might be there. If he is, he'll probably be with Bailey." He rolled his eyes as he spoke.
Gimmick seemed slightly surprised at Race's words but quickly composed herself and laughed. "So Cowboy has a crush on Miss Bailey Jordan? She could do a lot better than him. I think I'll head on over to Harlem, maybe break up their little meeting," she announced, smiling to herself at the thought of walking in on any possible cuddling between Jack and Bailey.
Racetrack looked over at Ray during Gimmick's ramblings. Ray had a look of annoyance on his face, and Racetrack didn't blame him. As fond as he was of Gimmick, she did get on his nerves more than occasionally. Ray caught Racetrack's eye and Race discreetly motioned to Gimmick and rolled his eyes. Race was glad to see Ray smile. He could see that Ray wasn't fond of Gimmick, and it ailed him that two of his closest friends couldn't get along. I'll have a talk with him tonight when we get back to da lodging house. He needs to know dat Gimmick isn't as bad as Jack and da others make her out to be, he thought.
"Wish me luck, Racetrack. Hopefully, you'll see me tonight at the lodging house," said Gimmick. With a flick of her wrist, she waved goodbye and walked off in the direction of Harlem.
Racetrack watched her as she disappeared into the crowds of Manhattan. Sighing, Race turned to Ray and smiled weakly. "Well... she sure is something, isn't she?"
Ray rolled his eyes. "She sure is," he said sarcastically.
Racetrack laughed and shook his head. "It's getting' chilly. Let's go get warm."
Ray agreed completely. He had never been outside for so long in the cold without some kind of jacket on. His fingers felt numb and he was desperate for a warm fire to sit by.
Racetrack had an idea of where he and Ray would go. He began to lead Ray in the direction of their destination. Ray vaguely wondered where they were going but really didn't care, as long as it was warm where Racetrack was taking him.
In a matter of minutes, the two boys found themselves standing in front of a large brick building. A plaque beside the doorway declared the building the headquarters of The Sun newspaper.
Ray looked at Racetrack quizzically. "What are we doing here?"
Racetrack smiled and opened the heavy door. "Don't worry. Just follow me." He walked inside of the building with Ray in tow and closed the door behind him. A secretary, seated at a small desk, peered suspiciously at the boys as they entered the building.
Ignoring the untrustworthy look on her face, Racetrack smiled and tipped his hat at her. "Good afternoon, ma'am. Me and my friend here are wantin' ta see Bryan Denton. Would ya mind tellin' him dat Racetrack's here? Thanks." Without waiting for a response, Racetrack turned away from the woman and smiled at Ray. The secretary grumbled under her breath about "the gall of children these days" and stood up from her desk to inform the reporter of his visitors.
As soon as she had left, Ray asked Racetrack, "Who is Bryan Denton? And how do you know him well enough to come and see him?"
Racetrack smiled and leaned on the secretary's desk. "Denton's a reporter for The Sun newspaper. He helped us newsies out a lot last summer with da strike and he lets us visit him whenever we feel like it. Of course, the secretary's are never too happy ta have us street rats foulin' up da place, but they can't do anything about it." He chuckled to himself at the flustered secretary who despised him so much.
Ray was somewhat surprised that the newsies trusted an adult so much. He had always thought of them as independent and defiant, unwilling to listen to anyone but themselves. Bryan Denton... I wonder what he's like... Ray thought.
The secretary then came back into the room and resumed her place at her desk. Stiffly, she said to the boys, "Mr. Denton's in a meeting. He will be out shortly, so I suggest that you go up to his office and wait for him there."
"Thank ya, my dear lady. We'll escort ourselves ta his office, no need ta get up," Racetrack said to the woman, smiling innocently. The secretary merely shook her head and went back to her work. Racetrack chuckled to himself. He always got a kick out of annoying secretaries. It never got old.
Winking at the woman one last time, Racetrack led Ray over to a stairway leading up to the second floor of the building. The two boys went up the stairs and Ray followed Racetrack down a hallway of offices until they stopped at the last door. A rectangular plaque read simply, "Bryan Denton".
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A/N: Jeezem, it sure has been awhile since my last update! Sorry about the long wait, I'm extremely lazy. I've been working on this chapter for a long time, and I'm aware that not much happens in it. Originally, this chapter was much longer, (about ten pages longer!) but I just decided that I would cut it off before they went into Denton's office. I know that this chapter is kinda short now, but the next update will be really soon since I already have about half of it written.
Thanks to the reviewers of the last few chapters. Your reviews have helped me immensely!
Also, thanks to xLittlexItalyx for letting me use her character Bailey. Don't worry, Bailey will be making an actual appearance soon.
Okay, that's about it. Please review, it will help me more than you can imagine. I'm open to constructive criticism and any suggestions or comments that you have. Thanks in advance!