Disclaimer: I don't claim any ownership to the original characters from the movie Newsies.
It was early in the evening when Racetrack quit a game of poker with the boys and decided to head to the track. He would hate to miss that race when so much at stake.
"Where ya going, Race?" Boots asked when he stood up from the circle of newsies.
Mush rolled his eyes. "That's a stupid question," he muttered.
"I got a bet with Danny at the track," Racetrack explained, putting on his hat.
"How much?" Specs asked. Race looked at him with a smirk.
"5 whoppers," he replied. Mush whistled.
"You shouldn't take advantage of the kid," Skittery said with a frown.
"Psh, Danny made the bet hisself. I'll buy ya all a soda if I win," Racetrack said with a wink. This earned hoots and 'good-luck's from the boys as he walked out the door.
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The sun was just beginning to set as Racetrack entered the track. He shielded his eyes with his hand as he looked around for Danny.
Guessing he was in the stable, Racetrack looked in there. Sure enough, Danny was leaning against a stall door, staring at a horse. Racetrack crept up behind him.
"That one looks like a safe bet," Racetrack said, making Danny jump. Danny turned with a pouty frown.
"Don't scare me like that," he muttered and then turned back to the horse.
"Are ya betting on that one?" Racetrack prodded.
"I'm not tellin' you," Danny said with a huff. Racetrack rolled his eyes. He wandered across the hall to another stall. He already knew who he was betting on, but it didn't hurt to look around. Number 12 was practically dancing in his stall. Race smiled with satisfaction. This was his day. He could already feel the cash in his pocket.
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The boys were leaning on the rail as the horses ran their way around the track. Danny was yelling and screaming for number 3 while Race was quietly watching number 12 with big eyes. They had told each other the number of the horse they were betting on and they spit shook to seal the deal. They had also agreed that if neither of the two horses came in first, then the money would go to boy whose horse came before the other boy's horse. Danny was looking nervous when Race glanced over at him. The race was already half over. The small crowd that had gathered in the stadium were on their feet, cheering for different horses. Race was feeling pretty confident as number 12 slowly made it's way to the front. Danny's horse was not far behind, though. Racetrack started chewing on his nails. He really didn't have five dollars to spare. As Danny's horse passed number 12, Racetrack was regretting the bet.
"GO!" Danny shouted as the two horses were almost neck and neck. Racetrack swallowed as the finish line drew closer.
Sucking in a breath of shock, Race watched as number 12 seemed to get a second wind and passed Danny's horse and the other front three. He held his breath.
"YES!" Racetrack let out a yelp as number 12 crossed the line before any other horse. Danny's horse came in 4th place. Race jumped off the rail and started hugging Danny.
"He won! 12 won!" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air. Danny was glaring at him. Race stopped his cheering as he noticed Danny's dark look. A smirk crept across Racetrack's face.
"Hand it over!" Race said, holding out his hand. Danny only stared at his hand, not moving. Racetrack frowned.
"Come on, we had a deal. Gimme five bucks," Race said impatiently, wiggling his fingers.
"NO!" Danny shouted unexpectedly, his fists curling up in balls.
Race's face instantly changed as he took a step towards the kid.
"Kid, gimme the money," Race said in a low tone, giving a threatening look. Danny looked scared for a second before putting back on an angered front.
"Ya know what? Fine," Danny said while digging in his pockets. He pulled out the bills.
When Racetrack reached out to grab them, Danny jerked the money back and said, "I can't believe you agreed to the bet, Race! Knowing you'd win! That's unfair to little kid like me!" Danny said, now looking hurt. Racetrack looked at him with a 'you're-crazy' kind of look. How the heck could this kid be so sensitive and moody?
"Foist of all, yer no little kid. Second of all, you made the bet!" Race said, leaning down to be face to face with Danny.
Danny shook his head and took a step back. Racetrack straightened.
"I thought you were my friend," Danny said with a frown. Racetrack let an annoyed sigh.
"Ya, I still am, but you made a promise," Racetrack said plainly, finally snatching the money out his hand. Danny crossed his arms, looking more angry than Race had ever seen the kid.
"I'll make ya regret this, Racetrack Higgins!" Danny yelled in his face. Race laughed and stuck a cigar in his mouth.
"Sure kid, looking forward to it!" he said with a mocking smile. Walking away from a steaming Danny, Racetrack stared down at the money in his hand with joy. He folded it in half and stuffed it in his pocket. As he began to think what he would do with the money, he quickly forgot about Danny.
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The moon was his only source of light as his weary feet padded onward. The noises he heard weren't comforting ones and the shadows he saw made him tremble.
He wasn't used to traveling this late at night. Usually he was curled up in a stack of hay at this time of night, enjoying the peaceful sound of horses snoring. And he would be, but tonight, he was on a mission.
"Why didn't I go in the morning?" Danny muttered to himself, taking a break to lean against a break wall. He had been weaving his way in and out of alleys all night long, all in hopes of finding the a certain lodging house.
Looking around, the alley the seemed to stretch forever into darkness, Danny decided he would have to get some sleep if he wanted to be presentable the next day. Make that in a couple hours.
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Of course, Danny didn't wake up to streaming rays of light or the wonderful sound of birds. Hah, you can't get that lucky in an alley. And definitely not an alley in Brooklyn.
No, instead, when Danny opened his eyes, he was greeted by the site of at least five boys looking down on him. Well, that woke him up all right. He sat straight up, scooting himself up against the brick wall.
"What ya doing in our alley?" a boy asked with a mussed brown hair and an angry expression. The other four boys asked similar questions, taking steps closer to Danny.
"I-I was just sleeping," Danny stuttered, wrapping his arms around his knees. He didn't looked at the boys that closely, but he knew that they were around his age and they couldn't beat him up that bad.
"Well get out and go sleep in someone else's alley," the same boy said, pointing at the end of the alley that probably just led to another alley where another group of boys would beat Danny up. He stood.
"I was just-" Danny stopped as he stood up. A smile spread across his face. "Do know Spot Conlon?" he then asked, watching the boy's reactions. They suddenly didn't look so tough.
"Ya, everyone knows Spot," one boy said with a frown. 'Score!' Danny thought.
"Where can I find him?" Danny prodded. None of the boys looked like they wanted to talk. The boy, who seemed to be the leader of their little group, stepped up.
"It betta be someting important," he said in a grave voice before proceeding to give Danny instructions.
"Thank you!" Danny cried with relief, speeding out of the alley as fast he could. As he weaved his way through more alleys, he finally reached the a main street. Then, following the instructions the boy had given him, he made his way to a lodging house similar to the Racetrack stayed at, except this one was more run down. He stood there for a minute, just staring at the building. If this Spot Conlon was as tough as others made him sound, Danny wondered if he should make this risk all for revenge, if that was really what he was after.
He laid a firm hand on the door knob and slowly opened the door. As he stepped into a small lobby like room, Danny only saw a desk with papers scattered everywhere. He could hear loud laughing and banging coming from the door across the room. He wondered if he should go knock or wait for someone to come out. Drumming his fingers on his thigh, he waited for a few minutes.
No one showed. Why was Danny so afraid of a boy he'd never met?
Having a sudden burst of courage, Danny approached the door quickly and knocked boldly.
It was only a second before a tall boy, looking quite winded from laughing, opened the door wide. He stopped laughing.
"What do you want?" the boy asked harshly. Danny swallowed his fear.
"I'm here to see Spot. Spot Conlon."
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It looked like it was going to be another humid summer day when Jack stepped out of the lodging house that morning. He sighed miserably.
A couple of the newsies ran ahead of him while Jack walked slowly to World Distribution Center. The sun beat down without mercy, even at such an early hour.
Jack could already tell that this was going to be a bad day. As he walked through the big gates, he quickly walked to the front of the line as was custom. Thinking he'd make it out of the area without seeing David, Jack quickly bought his 100 papers, not even pausing to look at the paper's contents. Just when he had thought he was out of the danger zone, Jack bumped into David and Les while walking out of the gates.
"Hey David," Jack tried say pleasantly with a smile.
"Oh, hey, Jack," David returned with a sickeningly sweet smile. He then spat on the ground in an angry manner.
Jack frowned. "Come, Davey, this is between Sarah and me, not us."
"We have to protect our sister!" Les suddenly spoke up, his little voice speaking volumes. Jack looked hurt.
David nodded firmly in agreement before placing his hands on his little brother's shoulders, steering him toward the end of the line.
"I wouldn't ever hurt her!" Jack called after them, offended that Sarah's brothers would think that he would be capable of abusing their sister.
"You already have," Jack heard David mutter in a low tone. Jack didn't say anything. David ignored him from that point onward. It had been like this for days and Jack was sick of it.
Racetrack then came up to him with a happy expression on his face.
"Hey Jackey-boy. Guess who just made five bucks?" Racetrack said, flaunting the bills in front of his face. Racetrack pulled his hand back as Jack reached for the cash.
"You made that much all in one bet?" Jack asked, his eyes wide. Racetrack nodded with pride. Jack made a tsk-tsk sound.
"I wouldn't be braggin' 'bout it. Might disappear one day," Jack said teasingly. Racetrack rolled his eyes.
"You still gonna work today then?" Jack then asked.
Racetrack shrugged. "I guess. But I ain't sellin' wid you again."
Jack gave an offended look.
"What? Your mopey mood makes me mopey," Racetrack said with a laugh. Jack glared at him, making a lunge for his friend, but Race quickly ran to get in line for his papers.
Jack shook his head with a snort and looked around. It looked like he would be selling alone today.
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"So, should I say 'Cat claws lady to death'?"
"Dat's poifect, kid!" Spot gave him a slap on the back. Danny gave a tiny grin. He wasn't proud of himself of twisting the headline. It was just another lie he would have to tell.
Danny looked back down at the paper. Spot rose from the box. "So's, you sell those 10 papes and we'll see how you do, k?"
"Spot, where ya gonna go?" Danny asked when Spot started to walk away.
He turned around. "I'se gotta sell my own papes."
Danny's shoulders sagged.
"I can't be with you all da time. In Brooklyn, yer on your own," Spot then said before turning around.
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It seemed like a whole hour had passed before Danny had finished selling. He set off to find Spot. Being a newsie wasn't too bad, but he really liked his stable job and couldn't wait to get back to it. He could even leave tomorrow if possible. Humming an old tune, Danny made his way back to lodging house. He was happy to find Spot there. A lot of the other boys were there also, having sold all their papers. Danny wondered if they ate lunch at any certain place everyday, like the Manhattan newsies. He doubted it. The atmosphere was different here. The boys were tougher. They still hadn't accepted him as a newsie yet. Spot was definitely on a different level than Jack. Spot earned his respect by pushing it on his newsies, even the ones bigger and older than himself. It seemed like everyone feared the great Spot; even Danny did. Jack, on the other hand, earned his respect by proving he was a good leader and was out to protect his boys. After staying here for a couple of days, Danny was already liking Jack better. Spot had been nice though. He had showed Danny the bare basics of selling a paper.
As Danny sat on a bunk, he listened and watched the Brooklyn newsies as they joked and talked. Spot had gotten involved with a game of poker. Danny wandered over to the circle of newsies, eager to watch a real game of poker. Racetrack had taught him to play the game...
He frowned, pushing the thought of Race out of his head.
"You gonna visit Jack soon, Spot?" someone asked.
Danny, hearing the mention of Jack, jerked up his head. Spot shrugged.
"Jack'll visit me sometime dis month," he replied with a dull tone.
"Dunno about that," a boy muttered, casually glancing at his cards. Danny looked at the boy.
"Now, why ya say that, Shift?" Spot asked, glancing at the boy curiously. Shift looked up briefly.
"He didn't come last month," he stated. Spot thought about this for a moment.
"Yer right. He didn't." Spot grunted with a frown.
"Dey ain't the most reliable boys in New York," another boy said.
"Nah. Jack was probably just busy."
"Busy? Too busy to make a visit to Spot?"
"Shoah. He's gots better tings to do."
Spot didn't look too happy as the boys continued to converse about the leader of Manhattan.
Danny saw his chance.
"I dun think that Jack feels the need to see ya, Spot," Danny said in a small voice, causing the other boys to stop their talking and turn him.
Spot raised an eyebrow in question.
"Whadda ya mean, kid?" Shift asked. Danny shrugged innocently.
"Yeah and since when did you know Jack?" another boy asked. Danny's face turned red.
Spot looked really curious now.
"Well, I was with the Manhattan newsies for awhile," Danny said, looking down. Lie number one. Spot jumped up in rage.
"Jack didn't send you here to spy, did he?" Spot questioned harshly, pulling Danny up by his collar. He shook his head fervently.
Spot put him back on his feet with a look of relief.
"Why did ya leave Manhattan then?" Spot then asked, his tone still cold. Danny looked around at the boys.
"Well...I just wanted to see what they were all talking about," Danny finally spat out.
"And what's dat?" Spot replied, crossing his arms.
"They talked about you a lot," Danny said quietly. His face brightened. "Oh! I almost forgot to ask. Why do you wear pink suspenders, Spot?" Danny said suddenly, pointing.
Spot looked down at his suspenders and then looked up. Some of boys let a long and deep 'Ohhhh', as if Danny had asked a bad question. Spot looked furious. The leader took a step toward Danny.
"What have dey been tellin' you?" Spot asked in a low tone. Danny backed up in fright.
"Nothin', nothin'! They were just teasing around about your suspenders," Danny said, then added, "and other things..."
"You tell me what dey said or I'll soak ya good," Spot threatened, reaching out to grab Danny's collar again. Danny scooted back.
"Okay, okay! You win!" Danny held up his hands. "I heard Racetrack say a couple of things. I remember him saying..." Danny paused for a moment, trying to think back. Spot looked impatient. "Race said, 'Spot ain't never gonna get my respect as long as he keeps wearing those suspenders!' Stuff like that." Danny shrugged as if it were nothing. He saw Spot's face burn up; in anger or embarrassment, he didn't know. None of the boys laughed as Danny expected them too. In fact the room was deathly silent. It was as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for their leader to explode.
"Is that all he said, Danny?" Spot asked in an amazingly calm voice. It made the newsies even more nervous. Danny wracked his brain, trying to recall any past conversations about Spot.
"One time I asked him, 'Whose Spot?'. Race just said, 'Nothing but a newsie wid pink suspenders'," Danny replied slowly. The boys murmured in low tones. Spot had heard enough.
Danny watched Spot as he exited the room with speed. Danny started to go after the leader, but one boy jumped up and stood in his way. The boy gave him a glare and Danny backed down.
He wandered over to his bunk, hiding a large, satisfied grin on his face.
Excuse the cheesiness and poor written content of this chapter. It's not my favorite.
Thanks for the reviews! I'm always looking forward to them. :D