Disclaimer: I don't own the original newsies characters, Disney does. But Nathan and Danny are mine. :D
Here's Chapter 2, as promised.
"Williamsburg Bridge worker dies from exhaustion!" Jack called in a loud voice while brandishing a paper in his left hand. "Get your papers here!"
The congested Wall Street was bursting with noise and people as the cowboy tried to sell all his a'hundred papers. He didn't usually sell here, but today, he was partnering up with Racetrack for a change and this was Race's spot. Ever since David's dad had got his job back, Jack had either been selling with a different partner or just selling on his own.
Today's headline proved to be very lucrative for the newsies of Manhattan, for their papers sold like hotcakes. Anything having to do with the development of Williamsburg Bridge was considered to be a good headline.
As Jack had a pause in his flow of customers, he decided to give his voice a rest. Finding a wooden bench, he sat down and began people-watching. It had become a habit of his, and whether that was good or bad, he didn't know.
Not many food or other good stands and vendors could be found on Wall Street. This was a place for businessmen, politicians, and rick folk to congregate. More than once had Jack received a condescending glance or glare.
Even now, he caught a pretty girl with curly brown hair and blue eyes looking at him in contempt. He gave her a cheeky grin, which she turned her nose up at, and then looked elsewhere.
Observing a man in a brown suit talking to a policeman on horseback, his thoughts flew to Denton. The way the man looked when he pointed to a trio of starving children reminded Jack of the passion Denton had had for helping the Manhattan newsies. He only occasionally saw the Sun reporter now, for Denton was busy covering news in Staten Island. But whenever he did visit Manhattan, Denton would always bring news from the Staten Island newsie leader to Jack and treat his newsies to lunch at Tibby's.
Jack smiled fondly in remembering this. His eyes scanning the area once more, he saw two beautiful girls chatting and giggling as they walked down the street. Their fine and colorful dresses suggested their wealth. Jack guessed that their fathers were either factory owners or had hit it big in the stock market. With envy, Jack was about to pull his gaze away from the girls, but something stopped him. Amused, he watched as a boy, probably not far from his own age, go up and start talking to the girls in the most casual manner. Too bad Jack was at too far a distance to hear what they were saying, for Jack would of loved to learn how the boy made the girls laugh so easily. Jack had to hand it to the guy: he had good looks, obviously good manners, and charm. Even if Jack could posses all three at once, he would of never been able to get those girls to even look at him due to his low status in society. But this guy was dressed to the nines with his fine clothes and hair that gleamed in the sunlight.
Jack's gaze lingered on the trio as the two girls eventually had to depart, leaving the boy alone. Jack saw him glance about the street, his friendly smile erased by boredom. When he caught Jack staring at him, his whole face lit up, as if he had had a brilliant idea. Jack quickly looked away, but the guy was already approaching him. 'Oh great. What does this guy want with me?' Jack thought miserably.
"Hey! You, newsboy!" he called. Jack looked at him again. 'Oh. He wants to buy a paper...' Jack thought, feeling stupid. He stood as the boy was before him.
"I'll take one of your papers, please."
Jack didn't say anything as he exchanged a paper for a penny. The boy gave a nod of thanks before he walked off humming a tune. Jack sighed and realized that it was time to get back to selling. Gathering his papers off the bench, Racetrack finally walked over.
"How's your sel-"
"Were you just talking to that bum?" Race interrupted, looking after the retreating rich kid.
"Yep. Actually, I hafta talk to a lot of bums with this job," Jack replied with a sorrowful smile; but Racetrack wasn't laughing. In fact, he looked rather disgusted.
"He's always hanging 'round here. You should see him. He flirts with every girl he see's, pretty or not," Racetrack said with a huff. Jack just laughed.
"Race, you never had a chance anyway," Jack teased, thumping him on the back with a rolled up paper.
"Why, I oughta-" Racetrack threatened, but Jack rudely cut him off by shouting, "EXTRY! EXTRY! WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE WORKER DIES FROM EXHAUSATION!"
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Later that evening, Racetrack decided to head to the track. Maybe he had a lucky streak, maybe not. Either way, he had to find out.
He kicked up the dust with his feet as he headed towards the stables. The race wasn't going to start for about another half an hour. He had a nice amount of time to get know the jockeys and the horses better before placing a bet.
Walking down the aisle, he stopped when he came to number 12's stall. The jockey was grooming him.
"Are you in the 7 o'clock race?" Racetrack asked the jockey. The thin man looked up and then nodded. Racetrack stared at the horse for awhile.
"How's she doing?"
The jockey looked up again, looking annoyed.
"Fine, I guess," he said shortly.
Racetrack frowned. He didn't sound too confident. He wandered to some other stalls, chatting with other jockeys.
He finally settled on number 17. Leaving the stables, he ran into Danny.
"Racetrack!" He cried with a big smile, tagging after him. Racetrack groaned.
"Sorry 'bout leavin' you the other day," Danny said, looking down.
Racetrack sort of laughed. "Don't worry 'bout it, kid," he replied. He made Danny wait outside while he went into the building to place a bet.
He was less than shocked to see Danny waiting for him. He walked passed the kid to the railing where he usually watched the race.
Kneeling in the dirt, Racetrack snagged a deck of cards from his pockets.
"Wanna play some rummy?" Racetrack asked with a dark smile. Danny looked at him hesitantly, then dug his hands into his pockets.
"Don't worry 'bout da money. We'll play for fun dis time," Racetrack said quickly. If the kid was going to bother him all the time, Racetrack could at least get something out of it.
"You know how to play?" Racetrack shuffled the cards.
Danny shrugged. "A little."
"Good. Multiple melds, no lay offs till you have you own meld down, ace is high. Hmm..we'll play just one deal. Got it?" Racetrack distributed the cards. Ten each. Danny looked slightly confused, but nodded anyway.
They played the game until Racetrack had no cards left in his hand. Danny stared down at the few cards in his own hand.
"How'd you go out so fast?" Danny asked, perplexed. Racetrack just smiled. A gunshot went off, scaring the boys out of their socks.
"Shoot, didn't know the race was starting," Racetrack muttered, gathering his cards and stuffing them into his pocket. He dashed over to the rail, Danny on his heels.
"Hey Race, I wanna play you again, sometime? K?" Danny said while watching the horses speed off.
"Sure, sure," Race said mindlessly, his mind already absorbed in the race.
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A few days later, Jack ended up selling with Racetrack again. He had already been hawking the headlines for more than half an hour when Jack saw a familiar figure. Tall, handsome, good-mannered; there he was again. Like a lion looking for his prey, his deep blue eyes scanned the street for somebody, anybody, to talk to. He had come to conclusion that since this guy was only seen prowling the streets after three o'clock, he must be a student. Another attribute was added to the already impressive list.
As Jack began to sell with Racetrack more often on Wall Street, he began to see more of this boy who had so many advantages in life. At first, Jack found it easy to laugh at the kid's pride and haughtiness, but as time wore on, Jack began to only sink lower and lower into a pit of self-pity and envy at the sight of him. Soon, he began to understand why Racetrack felt so much resentment towards this boy.
As Jack wandered over to his selling spot, an area on the opposite side of the street where Racetrack was, he spotted Sarah walking down the sidewalk. She had her usual basket at her hip, veggies brimming the top. She was looking ahead with a thoughtful expression. Jack smiled at the sight of her. He only sometimes saw her when he was working, but still, he wondered what business she had on Wall Street. Catching his look, Sarah waved with a cheerful smile and bounded over to him.
"Jack!" she cried, giving him a hug with her free arm. "I'm so glad to have caught you!"
"Hey, whatcha doin' on Wall Street?" Jack asked, releasing her. He casually looked up and down the street.
"Mama and I are cooking up a big dinner tonight," she replied, gesturing with her left hand. "Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans..." she trailed off, her eyes wide. Jack could almost see the drool. He laughed. Then, suddenly, Sarah looked Jack straight in the eye and her face grew serious. "You'd better be there!" she said, foreigning a threatening voice.
Jack psh-ed her. "I'm always there if there's food!"
Sarah gave him a flat look. "Oh really? What about the time I slaved all day in the kitchen and you never even showed up!" she cried, slapping his shoulder with the back of her hand.
Jack pretended to be hurt as he rubbed his shoulder. "You know that night I had..." he fumbled for words while Sarah rolled her eyes with a big grin.
"Something important?" she suggested. Jack's face lit up and he nodded vigorously. Sarah broke out laughing. "Fine, fine. Just be there tonight, okay?"
"Promise," he said.
Sarah pointed a stern finger at him. "7 o'clock!"
"Okay! Okay!" Jack cried, waving her off with a paper. Sarah snorted in a un-lady like manner and then strode off. Jack chuckled and shook his head after she had gone. He would never live down the night he had missed dinner with the Jacobs. It was true though, he had had something really important going on that night. Spot had called him to Brooklyn for a emergency meeting. Some newsies from Queens had been stealing Brooklyn selling territory and Spot was none too happy about it. Jack had been called in as an arbitrator. He had told this to Sarah and she understood, but she still claimed teasing rights.
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An hour or so later, Jack was nearly done selling. Looking at the sun, he hoped it to be almost noon. His stomach was growling and his voice was wearing thin. A nice cool glass of lemonade at Tibby's sounded like heaven at the moment. Although he rather liked selling on Wall Street with Racetrack, the walk to Tibby's was always longer.
Turning to face another side of the street, his heart jumped at the sight that greeted him. Sarah was talking to him. Jack wished he knew this guy's name so he could say it and then spit on the ground beneath his feet. He glared angrily at the boy who was flirting with Sarah. Sarah! His girl! Clutching his papers tensely, Jack strode towards the two. But something stopped him. Sarah was laughing and smiling along with this boy! 'Calm down, Jack. I'm sure she's just being friendly.' He told himself while taking in a couple of calming breaths. He waited for the boy to depart before approaching Sarah. She had begun to walk away too, but Jack quickly caught up with her and laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled when she saw Jack.
"Jack-"
"Do you know who you were talking to?" Jack interrupted.
Sarah nodded her head. "Yes, his name is Nathan and-" She stopped when Jack looked at her with a expression of shock, disbelief, and hurt.
"Sarah- Listen to me," Jack said solemnly, now holding her by the shoulders at arm's length. Sarah nodded her head slowly, looking a bit confused.
"Dat guy is bad news," he started.
Sarah shook her head. "No, Jack, he-"
Jack shook her by the shoulder gently. "I know who he is! I know what he does all day," he said with conviction. Sarah opened her mouth, but he rushed on. "Sarah, just trust me on this, okay?" His eyes pleaded with hers. She looked away. Curse Nathan and his charming ways.
"Jack..." she wailed in a small voice. He heard Racetrack calling him from across the street.
"We'll talk later, k? But right now, I gotta go to Tibby's," Jack said with a smile. She looked at him with a disappointed expression. "Awuh, come on, I'm sure he wasn't dat great," he said with a laugh.
"It wasn't that!" Sarah protested.
"I'll see you tonight, k?" he said, glancing at Race briefly.
She nodded. "Fine...but I hope you'll still come even if-" Sarah began to say, but Jack cut her off with a groan of impatience.
"Dun worry! I'll be there!" he averred. "Racetrack's waiting for me."
She sighed with defeat. "Fine. Bye..." Jack smiled gratefully and then took off towards Racetrack.
"Sheesh, Jack. I got better things to do dan watch you two lovebirds," Racetrack muttered, sticking a hand in his pocket while his other gripped his left-over papers. Jack followed him as he turned down an alley. Jack tossed him a dry look.
"I saw her talking with dat one bum dat's always hanging around," he said in his own defense. Racetrack shot him an amused glance.
"Ahhh. So the big boy strikes again," Racetrack said with a tsk-tsk sound. "I swear, Jack, no gal is safe from dat guy."
Jack smiled half-heartedly. They walked in silence for a while, weaving in and out of different alley ways and streets.
"Found out his name is Nathan," Jack stated, breaking their silence. Racetrack was about to reply, but then he shut his mouth as the they came upon a group of kids kneeling down on the brick pavement. As Jack came closer, he realized they were playing a classic game of craps. He smiled fondly, remembering the days when he played craps. He had stopped when most of his money had gone down the drain and when he realized he didn't have any talent in betting. One grubby handed kid was shaking the dice in his closed hand while several of the children were yelling at him for cheating. Racetrack stood towering over the group.
"What's da number?" he asked one little boy anxiously while digging deep into his pockets. Jack laughed. Race was hooked like a fish taken to bait.
"I'm gonna go to Tibby's! Have fun!" Jack called over the shouting to Racetrack. His friend nodded faintly before laying down his bet. Jack walked away, shaking his head. Racetrack would cheat those kids left and right until the point that Jack would have several new newsies show up at the distribution center tomorrow.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the review lilnewsie77!
Probably get my next chapter out tomorrow...Hey, its spring break. I have a lot of time on my hands. :D
Please review!