The rain continued on into morning. Newsies groaned as they walked into the freezing cold city. Coats were buttoned all the way trying to cover as much as possible from the cold. No one bounced around playing; the energetic newsies were calm and collected.
Their normal breakfast, provided by the nuns, was nonexistent. Trudging through mud and puddles the boys headed to the circulation center. Each of them only buying enough to make rent, have supper and buy more tomorrow.
After ten minutes of waiting Skittery stepped forward. He slapped down enough for twenty papers. Tumbler mimicked Skittery then followed the older newsies to their normal selling spot.
Tumbler sold out early, as usual, and waited for Skittery to sell his last four papers. Skittery sighed and lifted his head to the dark grey sky.
"Tumbler…I'se need ta tell ya something." Skittery said. He shook with cold as he waited for a reply.
"Okay, say it."
"I lied to ya. I lied 'bout your parents. I'd like to tell ya the truth now." Tumbler looked at Skittery with soft eyes waiting.
"I'm listening."
Skittery took a deep breath trying to prepare himself for Tumbler's reaction.
"Well I don't know the whole story but I'm gonna tell it to the best of me ability." Tumbler nodded to show he understood.
"I met up with your family a while back ten maybe eleven years ago. They was real nice to everyone. Always had me over for dinner, when I was around. Ya brudder was always around to help me sell papes. He's the one that taught me everything I know. He was the one that found me near dead on the streets. I was about seven or eight no older than you. I think he was ten or eleven. Anyways he found me one day and bought me first 100 papers.
Tommy was a good kid. He always thought of others before himself. I remember one time he helped Race when he got into a gamblin' debt…" his voice trailed off as he thought back on all the times Tommy'd been their for him.
"Skitt…?" Tumbler asked watching as his friend painfully recalled his memories.
"It's alright. I'll make it through. Anyways like I said Tommy was so kind as was your parents. Hey did ya know that ya had three sistah's and another brudder?! Let's see there was Lisa, Megan, Kim and Andrew. Well everyday Lisa, Andrew and Tommy would go off to work while Megan and Kim would stay home with your mother. Your father worked at a factory I think making cigars or something like that.
Ya parents treated me as a third son. Sometimes, if I missed curfew or didn't have the money for rent they'd let me stay with them. I had supper there a lot, it was like a real family.
I remember the day we found out about you. I was about eight and Tommy came running out side yelling 'I'm getting a new sibling!' Oh he was so proud of ya. The day you came was even more eventful. He yelled to me from the window 'Patrick, they named him Patrick.' He was on cloud nine that day. All he talked about that day was you and what ya looked like.
Nothin' brought Tom down that day he even went out gamblin' with us later that night. Tom was on top of the world. Well it was 'bout half way through the night and we'd lost about as much as we won. I wanted to leave with what I had but Tom was on a winning streak and stayed longer for a couple more games. On the way home I got this bad felling in the pit of me stomach but I just ignored it.
The next couple of days I didn't see Tommy. I didn't think much of it I just thought he'd won big and was taking a well deserved break. After about two weeks I got worried and headed over to his house to see if he'd died or something. I'd just started climbing the fire escape when I hear a yelling voice coming from your apartment.
Well I hurried up to the window and saw your dad yellin' till he was blue in the face. I looked passed him and found little Kim and Megan peering around the corner watching. Following their gaze my eyes landed on Tommy. To my surprise your dad was yelling at Tommy who was cowering in the corner begging him to stop. His nose was bleeding and his eye was deep black-ish blue. With his shirt sleeves rolled up I viewed cuts and bruises on his arms. Tears were streaming down his cheeks pleading with his father to stop, they only exacerbated him.
'Stop that cryin' boy! Be a man!' he kept yelling at him finally after what seemed like hours he left going back to work. Tentively I tapped the window and Megan let me in.
I wanted to get help. The police, a doctor somebody but Tom wouldn't hear of it. He said his dad would kill him if he did that. He made me promise I wouldn't tell a sole of what I had seen. Reluctantly I swore I wouldn't tell, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. What Tom didn't know was that his dad was killing him even though he didn't tell anyone."