Chapter Two.


I don't own Newsies. I do own Alice, Dr. Eckhart, and any ISOs that appear.


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After I submitted my urine test and she had checked through my bags (I don't even want to go into how embarrassing that was), I was allowed back into the main room where my parents were seated. They looked like they hadn't moved since I left them.

But as soon as the heavy metal door slammed shut behind me, my mother's head turned my direction so fast I was afraid she had gotten whiplash. She was examining me from her chair, trying to find something different about me. Something that proved I wasn't an addict after half an hour with a doctor.

Alice, the head nurse, came out from her chair behind the front desk and said, "I'm afraid this is where you must leave, Mr. and Mrs. Hoehn. Brad needs his own space and time to deal with his problems. Visiting hours are, of course, every Sunday from two to four, so you can see him then."

My own time and space to deal with my problems? I had to chuckle. The only problems I had were people like her and my parents trying to butt into my life with their petty little worries. I almost brightened up; I would only see my family for two hours a week for as long as I was here. Maybe this place wouldn't be the worst experience.

My parents had risen and nodded graciously at Alice. My mother wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a gentle squeeze. "You'll be alright Brad, you'll see. We all love you and have faith that you can overcome your problems," she whispered in my ear. If one more person said something about my "problems", I was going to scream.

My dad awkwardly patted my shoulder and nodded at me. "Good luck, son," he said.

"Thanks, dad," I replied, thank god he missed the sarcasm.

As soon as the door closed behind my parents, Alice told me to grab my bags and follow her upstairs. "I'll show you your room and hopefully you'll still be on time for dinner. You can meet your roommate and fellow patients then," she informed me as we went through a locked door and down a brightly lit hallway.

There were rooms on both sides, all with the doors closed and two names taped on them. I caught a couple as I went by: Spot, Racetrack, Specs, David.

She stopped in front of a door on the left side. There was only one name taped on it: Mush. I got scared, what kind of name is Mush? Am I going to be rooming with some pansy?

Alice opened the door and stepped aside so I could walk in. It was a small room, one window on the back wall with two beds, one on each wall. Each bed had a nightstand and lamp. There was one dresser next to the door. One side had pictures on the wall by the bed, so I through my bag onto the other bed.

I was turning to sit down, but Alice spoke up, "Not now Brad, it's almost dinner time. You have to meet the people you're going to be spending the next three weeks with!"

Kill me now. This is ridiculous. I'll meet them first thing tomorrow, I promise, just let me sleep! But no, Alice prodded me along to the end of the hallway. It opened up into a large room. The left side of the room had long plastic tables and chairs set up with a kitchen behind it. The other side had a small TV and more comfortable looking chairs and tables, with board games and activities set up. There was a big bulletin board between the two.

I saw through the big open window to the kitchen. There were five 20-something guys, about my age, working. The one stirring a large pot of I'm presuming soup, was short, with dark brown hair. He had a cane through his belt loop like a sword. A short, black guy was cutting up lettuce and putting it into bowls. Next to him, was a taller, brown haired boy with a pink button-up shirt on, who was pulling out slices of bread and buttering them. On the other side of the kitchen was an Italian looking man, who despite his tall height, looked about seven. Lastly, there was a tall, tan, brown haired guy who was getting out plates and silverware, but was having a difficult time. Every couple of minutes he would wipe his nose with his hand and have to go and wash his hands.

Alice went over to a bell on the wall and rang it three times. I heard a quiet din from behind a door in the living room area. Soon, the door burst open and a steady stream of guys came into the room. Without a second glance in my direction, they took their seats at the plastic tables. The orderly fashion it was done in made it look like they had either assigned seats, or just always sat in the same places.

I noticed a spot open next to a guy with curly brown hair and blue eyes and a really tan guy who also had curly brown hair but brown eyes. With one last reassuring nod from Alice, I went over and sat down.

"Hey there, one eye, you must be the new guy!" was the first thing I heard when I sat down. It came from the guy sitting across the table from me. He didn't look to be one throwing insults, considering he was wearing a god damn cowboy hat.

"Don't mind him," the brown haired, brown-eyed guy next to me advised.

I nodded. "Okay, thanks," I muttered.

"I'm Mush, by the way," he said, holding out his hand. This was my roommate? He didn't look Mushy in any way, if I was a girl I would have gladly spent the night with him. But since I'm a guy, I will be far away from him after dark.

"I'm Kid Blink," I told him, as the rest of the room listened. "I think I'm your roommate," I added.

Mush nodded thoughtfully, "You're probably right, since Oscar left, I'm the only one without a roommate. Hopefully you're a better one that that old bastard." Everyone seemed to mutter or nod in agreement.

"What are you in for?" the cowboy guy asked.

"Drugs," I replied. "You?"

He nodded, "I'm an alkie."

Mush added, "Me too."

The blue eyed guy next to me (David was his name) said that he was a compulsive gambler.

Quickly, everyone in the room had told me their name and what they were in Grassy Knolls for. I had a hard time keeping up with their names.

The group in the kitchen was all drug addicts, so I would be in their group for afternoon discussions. The short one with the cane was named Spot. Snoddy was the one with the bad runny nose. Itey was the Italian. The pink shirted guy was Skittery and the Boots was the black one.

Besides Jack (the cowboy) and Mush, the other guys in AA (Alcohols Anonymous) were Crutchy, a skinny little kid with one bum leg, Specs, who obviously had glasses, Snitch, a dark haired boy with a bad case of buck teeth, and Bumlets, the only Latin looking one of the bunch.

Joining David as gamblers were Racetrack, a small Italian boy with a mouth that never closed, Snipeshooter, a small guy with a little kid's face, Dutchy, a blonde haired, blue eyed guy, and Swifty, again, the only Asian one in the group.

As dinner was served and conversation started flowing, I just sat back and listened. All of the "patients" had different personalities and habits, but they were all like a family. I was the weird adopted second cousin who, sooner or later, would have to be accepted.