Thanks to theater104 for giving me a review already! :D
The newsies all lined up outside the window to receive their papers. Jack got there first with Brenna next in line behind him.
"Oh, Mr. Weasel!" Jack called through the wood that was boarded up, signaling the place was closed. Jack shot Brenna a cheeky grin. They all knew Weasel hated it when Jack called him that. There was no response so Jack rang the bell next to the window.
"Alright, alright! Hold your horses!" they heard on the other side. The board lifted up revealing a man who needed to work out some more, wash his hair more often, and shave…badly. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'!"
"So, didja miss me, Weasel? Didja? Didja miss me?" Jack asked.
"I told ya a million times. The name's Weisel. Mr. Weisel to you. How many?"
Jack scanned a newspaper. "Don't rush me, I'm perusin' da merchandise, Mr. Weasel." He punctuated Weasel's name just to annoy the man. It worked. "Da usual," he said, slamming down a coin onto the counter.
"100 papes for the wise guy. Next!"
Brenna went up to the window. "Heya, Weasel!" she said happily. Jack had convinced her early on to call him by the same nickname. She refused to at first, but the more time she spent with the boys, the more they rubbed off on her. "Tough decision today. What do ya think?"
Weasel eyed her angrily, not in the mood for her games.
She put her hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll take, uh, 60 papes."
"60 papes for Trickster!"
Brenna collected her papers and sat down next to Jack as they read through what they were selling. Racetrack and Crutchy got their papers after she did then Racetrack took a seat next to Brenna.
"Look at this," he remarked. "'Baby Born With Two Heads'. Must be from Brooklyn."
Brenna laughed at his comment, seeing as most of them made fun of Brooklyn every chance they got, until she heard some commotion from the window.
"Hey, you got your lousy papes, now beat it!" Weasel said loudly.
Brenna looked up and saw that he was talking to the boy Jack had bumped into earlier when he was running from the Delancey brothers. "I paid for twenty. I only got nineteen," the boy stated.
"Are you accusing me of lyin', kid?!" Brenna frowned as Weasel raised his voice angrily at the poor newbie. It wasn't lying, it was miscounting. A difference Weasel apparently did not know.
"No. I just want my paper," the boy answered timidly.
"He said beat it!" Morris ordered.
Jack stood up and counted the papers in the stack. "No, it's nineteen, Weasel," he said in an effort to help the boy. "It's nineteen, but don't worry about it. It's an honest mistake. I mean, Morris here can't count to twenty with his shoes on." If there hadn't been bars separating the two boys, Jack just might've gotten soaked. "Hey Race, will ya spot me two bits?"
Racetrack threw Jack a coin, who then handed it to Weasel. "Anudder 50 for my friend."
"I don't want another 50," the boy tried to interject.
"Sure ya do. Every newsie wants more papes."
"I don't."
Jack took the extra 50 papers and slammed them into the boy's chest, ignoring his protests.
"I don't want your papes," he continued as they left the window. "I don't take charity from anyone. I don't know you. I don't care to. Here are your papes." He held out the extra papers, but Jack made no move to take them from him, so the boy ended up just adding them to his stack.
"Cowboy. They called him Cowboy!" an adorable little boy said.
"Yeah, I'm called dat and a lot of other things, including Jack Kelly, which is what me mudder called me. What do they call you, kid?"
"Les, and this is my brother David. He's older."
"Oh, no kiddin'." Jack handed his stack of papers to Mush to hold for him. "So how old are you, Les?"
"Me? Near ten."
"Near ten. Well, dat's no good. If anyone asks, you should say you're seven."
Brenna put her hand to her mouth. "Actually, Jack, I think he could pass for six."
"Yeah, I think you're right, Tricks. Ya see, younger sells more papes and if we're gonna be partners, we wanna be da best—"
"Hey, wait, wait," David said. "Who said anything about being partners?"
Brenna hadn't known this guy for very long, but she knew he had a long way to go on the path to becoming a true newsie. So far, he had only proven to be rather annoying and a stickler for the rules. She had a feeling spending enough time with all of them would change that. It certainly changed her. Maybe someday, she would actually let him in on her secret that all the other boys knew. But for now, she was going to keep on the façade for him that she was a boy too.
"Well, you owe me two bits right?" Jack said. David shrugged his shoulders. "So, I'll consider dat an investment, we sell together, we split 70-30, plus you get da benefit of observing me, no charge!"
David laughed at him for suggesting such a ridiculous proposal and Jack mocked his laugh. Brenna smiled. He always mocked people when they gave him not-so-good answers and it was always funny to watch.
"You're gettin' da chance of a lifetime here, Davey!" Crutchy said. "Ya learn from Jack, ya learn from da best."
"Aw, don't go sayin' stuff like dat, Crutchy!" Brenna said. "He'll go gettin' a big head! Oh wait. Dat already happened."
"Very funny, Tricks," Jack said.
Brenna shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I try my best."
"Well, if he's the best, then how come he needs me?" David asked.
"Listen, I don't need you, pal, but I ain't got a cute little brudder like Les here to front for me. With this kid's puss and my God-given talent, we could move a thousand papes a week. So what do ya say, Les? Ya wanna sell papes with me?"
"Yeah!" the little boy answered eagerly. Brenna laughed. He really was precious. They didn't have many younger newsies. Most newsies were roughly thirteen or older. Therefore, she didn't get to work with any younger kids, which was too bad because she loved kids. Perhaps she could finally make up for lost time with Les.
"So we got a deal?" Jack held his hand out for Les to shake, but David grabbed it and stopped him.
"Wait. It's got to be at least 50-50."
"60-40, or I forget da whole thing."
"Trust me, David, take him up on dat offer. Jack don't offer lessons often, so consider yourself lucky," Brenna told him.
"What do ya say?" Jack asked.
David held out his hand, silently saying he would take the deal. Jack spit on his hand and reached for David's, but the boy pulled his hand away before it touched Jack's.
"Whats'a matta?" Jack asked, almost offended.
"That's disgusting!"
All of the newsies laughed. This kid had a long way to go.
The rest of the kids got their papers and they all headed out onto the street to begin their work.
"Da name of da game is volume, Dave," Jack said as they all walked out of the Distribution Center gates. "Ya only took twenty papes. Why?"
"Bad headline," David answered.
"Dat's da first thing ya gotta learn. Headlines don't sell papes."
"Newsies sell papes," Brenna finished. It had sort of become their motto. Jack said the first part, and Brenna always finished with the second part.
"Ya know, we're what holds this town together," Jack continued. "Without newsies, nobody knows nothin'."
A pretty girl walked past the group of boys, and most of them took their hats off and made discreet little comments about her beauty. Brenna rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but feel a little jealous. There were times when she would wish that she could dress pretty like other girls and get guys' attention, but then she reminded herself that she had all of these guys as her best friends and felt better. Plus, she would rather wear pants and a shirt than a long dress. At least when she wore pants, she felt safer…unlike years ago.
As soon as the girl hurried past all of them awkwardly, the rest of the newsies began hawking out different headlines in order to grab the interest of others and sell their papers.
"Hey, Tricks!" Jack called. "Why don't ya help me teach da noob about sellin' papes?"
"You got it!"
Brenna, Jack, David, and Les started making their way to where large gatherings were in order to sell all of their papers.
Before long, they ended up at a place in the square where wrestling matches went on.
"Extra! Extra! Trolley strike drags on!" David screamed to the crowd of bustling people.
"Extra! Extra! Ellis Island in flames!" Jack screamed behind him.
"Wait, where's that story?" David asked.
"Thank you sir," Jack said to a man who bought one of his papers. "Page 9," he told David. "Thousands flee in panic!"
"Dogfight on da Brooklyn Bridge!" Brenna called. "Two bodies scratched up badly! Who comes out on top?"
David looked at her. "Where's that one?"
She smiled at him. "Page 10."
David opened his paper and looked at the two stories. "'Trash Fire Next To Immigration Building Terrifies Seagulls'? 'Two Dogs Scuffle on the Bridge'?"
Jack and Brenna kept barking out their blown-up headlines as David watched in shock.
The two of them sold a lot more of their papers, while David sold none of his. Les came running up to the group.
"Hey, you start in da back like I told ya?" Jack asked him. The little boy nodded. "Okay, show me again."
Les coughed a little, admittedly unconvincingly. "Buy me last pape, mista?" he rasped out.
Brenna laughed. "It's good, Les. But if ya really wanna sell it, cough more from da throat." She demonstrated a really good cough for him. "Hurts da throat a bit more, but it gets ya twice as many customers."
"It's heartbreakin', kid. Go get 'em."
"My father taught us not to lie," David said admonishingly to the both of them.
"Well, mine told me not to starve, so we both got an education."
"You're both just making up things! All these headlines!"
"We don't do nothin' da guys who write it don't do. Anyway, it's not lyin', it's just improvin' da truth a little."
"I mean, who honestly wants to read about da dumb trolley strike anymore?" Brenna said. "It's boring and old news. If we don't sell other headlines, we're doomed to not sell all our papes. Da more papes we sell, da more food we can get. Dat's just how it works."
Les bounded up to them again with a shiny coin in his hand. "The guy gave me a quarter!" he said excitedly. "Quick, give me some more last papers!"
"Wait, wait." David pulled his brother close to him and sniffed him. "You smell like beer."
"Well, that's how I made the quarter. The guy bet me I wouldn't drink some."
Brenna rolled her eyes. Sometimes, guys were so stupid. It was cruel to make a young boy drink beer. Drinking beer in general wasn't very pleasant to begin with, no matter the age. None of the guys in New York knew how to keep their drinking in moderation and they were way too many drunken men roaming the streets. Way, way too many. She knew that better than anyone.
Jack laughed. "Hey, no drinkin' on da job. It's bad for business. And what if somebody called da cop on you?"
"Is he a friend of yours?" David asked, pointing to some man.
Brenna looked out at who he was pointing at. Her stomach flopped at the sight of the old man. "Oh, shoot, Jack! It's Snyder!"
"Beat it! It's da Bulls!"
Jack grabbed Brenna's hand while David grabbed Les and they all took off. Jack led them through an alleyway, the streets, and then into a nearby building. The four of them started bounding up the stairs.
"Sleeper!" Jack called. They hopped over the drunken man asleep on the steps and made it up to the roof. Jack released Brenna's hand and jumped off the roof!
"Jack!" she called.
He peeked his head up and they realized he was just on a ledge beneath them. Brenna ran over and took Jack's awaiting hand and jumped down while the boys followed suit. They managed to hide just as Snyder popped out of the door…and was greeted with an empty roof.
"Sullivan!" he screamed. "Wait 'til I get you back to the Refuge!"
The four of them quietly scooted over and kept running until they stopped right in front of Irving Hall.
"I'm not running any further," David panted as they stopped.
Jack pushed past him and went inside the building. The rest of the group followed him in and shut the door behind them.
"I want some answers!" David demanded.
"Shh!" Jack shushed.
"Who was he and why was he chasing you? And what is this Refuge?"
"Da Refuge is a jail for kids. Dat guy chasing me was Snyder, da warden."
"You were in jail?" Les asked, almost fascinated by it. It was clear he really admired Jack as a person. It was cute actually.
"Yeah," Jack answered.
"Why?"
"Well, I was starvin', so I stole some food."
"Food?" David scoffed.
"Yeah, food," Jack answered sternly, not appreciating David's sarcastic tone.
"He called you Sullivan."
"Well, my name's Kelly. Jack Kelly. Ya think I'm lyin'?"
"Well, you have a way of improving the truth."
Brenna had to hand it to him that that was a good comeback. The truth was she didn't know if Jack was his real name or not, but she had a feeling it wasn't. He never told her, though, and she didn't ask. It wasn't her place to.
"Why was he chasing you?" David asked.
"'Cause I escaped."
"Oh boy! How?" Les asked excitedly. Definitely admired him. It was cute, but Brenna wanted to warn him not to follow in Jack's footsteps. His footsteps led down a dangerous road.
"Well, this big shot gave me a ride out in his carriage."
"I bet it was the mayor, right?" David said sarcastically.
"No, Teddy Roosevelt. You ever heard of him?"
The door at the top of the steps opened and out came a red-headed woman in a very bright pink dress.
"What's going on there?" she demanded angrily. "Out! Out! Out!"
Brenna smiled. The woman obviously did not know who they were at first glance. Understandably so. They all looked pretty haggard after the whole chase with Snyder.
"Aw, you wouldn't kick us out, wouldja Medda?" Brenna teased.
"Not without a kiss goodbye at least," Jack added.
"Oh, Kelly. Trickster." She gave the two of them a tight hug. "Where ya been, kids? Oh, I miss seein' ya both up in the balcony."
Jack kissed her hand. "Hangin' on your every word." The two of them smiled at each other. Brenna had been nervous to meet the woman at first, but over time, she sort of grew into a mother figure for both her and the boys. Unlike the public, she was one of the few who knew she was actually a girl. That also helped because she could talk with her about problems in the Lodging House to someone who understood her position. After all, the boys knew that there were going to be some things Brenna needed to talk about that she couldn't discuss with males.
"So Medda," Jack said leading her down the stairs.
"Yes."
"This is David and Les."
"Hello," she said politely.
"And this is da greatest star of da vaudeville stage today, Miss Medda Larkson, da Swedish Meadowlark."
Medda laughed. "Velcome, gentlemen," she said, putting on a thick Swedish accent for show.
"Medda also owns da joint," Jack explained.
"Oh, what do we have here?" she said, leaning down to Les's eye level. "Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing that ever was? Yes you are."
Brenna laughed as Medda tickled his face with her giant feather.
Les began coughing again, but it sounded much better this time since he did it from the throat like Brenna had told him to. She threw him a small wink behind Medda's back.
"Are you alright?" Medda asked.
"Buy me last pape, lady?" Les rasped again.
Medda smiled at him. "Oh, you are good! Oh yes, this kid is really good!"
Jack and Brenna laughed. "We taught him everything he knows!" Brenna said.
"Speaking as one professional to another, I'd say you have a great future!"
"So, is it alright if we stay here for a little while, Medda?" Jack asked. "Just until a little problem outside goes away."
"Sure," she answered warmly. "Stay as long as you like. Toby, just give my guests whatever they want."
A clown came over to Les while Jack pulled David over to the side of the stage to watch Medda's show.
"And now gents," an announcer called out. "The moment you've all been waiting for. The sensational songbird. The Swedish Meadowlark, Miss Medda Larkson!"
Medda went out onstage for a mainly male audience who cheered for the young woman. She winked at them and began to sing:
My lovey dovey baby
I boo-hoo-hoo for you
I used to be your tootsie-wootsie
Then you said 'toodlee-doo'
I miss the hanky-panky
Each nighty-night til three
Come back my lovey dovey baby
And cootchie-coo with me!
Brenna rolled her eyes at the way the boys looked at her and how David followed her every movement backstage. Men.