"Will youse love da baby?"
"Course! It don't matter who da father is, she's still mine."
"She?"
The fifteen-year-old, dark-haired beauty looked at her older sister with complete sincerity in her eyes.
"Is'a she! I knows it is!"
Despite the way this all began, both girls knew they had found a way to bring a little light into their lives. They would love the child along with all the newsboys. After all, Lock was going to make sure her little sister stayed with her and the boys.
Poor Racetrack had been following the sisters the entire time silently, receiving no recognition that he was there. His thoughts had started wandering and he was curious to see how the guys would take it. Another girl, this one pregnant, being brought into the Newsboys Lodging House? The keyword in that sentence being newsboys. News. Boys. Most of the other cities may have had a girl or two but most of them soon left, leaving Manhattan with the only girl newsie. At least, that's how it was as far as they knew.
His thoughts soon drifted to the older of the two girls. He still had a feeling that her lover was bad news and he didn't want Lock getting hurt. None of the boys did. Sure she could take care of herself, they all knew that, but he still worried just the same.
Race shook his head to clear the thoughts that hung in his head like cobwebs hung in corners. Maybe it was just jealousy that fueled his thoughts; maybe the other boy wasn't so bad after all. Since he seemed to make Lock happy, it was worth a tr-
"An' thank you too, um…"
"Da name's Racetrack, miss. Or Race if youse wannna."
Instead of letting him kiss her hand, she grasped his and shook it firmly before letting it rest at her side. Race smiled 'Another Lock.'
Sisisi
The other guys had been surprised to see the newcomer, but they welcomed her with open arms. Snipeshooter even let her have his bed since it was on the bottom and she was pregnant. After a little while, it may get hard for her to climb to a top bunk.
Virginia seemed to fit in comfortably with all the boys and didn't seem bothered in the mornings at all. For the most part, she ignored the fact that she was a girl in the midst of twenty plus boys. All in all, everyone got along nicely.
She followed the crowd of boys to the distribution center and waited by her sister to get the papes. This was all new to her, but she didn't feel overwhelmed at all. In fact, she kinda enjoyed it. It was a nice change from darning socks and shirts that the other boys wore out and staying inside all day. The people she was last with definitely did not consider her an equal; to them she was a girl and girls did the sewing and were never seen.
"Now one of da first tings we need'a do is get youse a name."
Virginia was confused. She already had a pretty good name, so why did she need a new one?
"Why do I need a new name?"
"A newsie name!"
She turned her head at the new voice in the conversation. It was a younger, brown haired boy, who was followed by an older, dark brown, curly haired boy.
"I'm Les!"
She smiled brightly and stuck out her hand, "Nice ta meet'cha!"
He took it and pointed behind him at the older boy, "That's David, my brother."
Lock made a point of re-entering the conversation, "We call 'em da Walkin' Mouth."
"So what's my name?"
"Key!" Les piped up.
"Key?"
"Key."
"Why?"
"Uhh…"
David came to his brother's aid, "Maybe like Lock and Key?"
The two girls exchanged glances before Lock answered for her sister, "Sounds good ta me!"
Virginia, wanting to be included in choosing her name, nodded, "Sure!"
"Kay, Key, let's go sell some papes!"
Kekeke
After a tiring morning of selling papes, everyone decided to meet at Tibby's for lunch, as usual. The building was filled with the talking and laughter of the newskids and other working children of Manhattan.
"-an' 'e fell! Landed right in da mud, face foist! Youse should'a been der!
"Shaddup!"
A red-faced Blink was the center of attention for the day. After a rather boring morning, he ended up bumping into an elderly lady's purse and getting blamed for trying to steal. He had tried to convince her that it wasn't him, but she called the coppers on him anyway. He ended up running away while a laughing Mush stumbled after him. Mush didn't see much, he laughed so hard he cried, but he remembered when Kid Blink face planted into a huge mud puddle right across from The World building. He only laughed harder.
Now Blink sat in one of the chairs throwing his napkin at Mush's head to try and get him to shut up. Mush took one look at the mud-covered boy and just laughed even harder.
"Youse knows what? Dat's it."
Blink jumped on Mush, tackling him out of his chair and onto the ground. The two boys wrestled and tumbled around on the floor for a good five minutes before Jack decided to break it up.
"Come on, you two. We's at a restraunt . Try ta act civ'lized."
"Aww, Jack. Youse ruined all da fun."
Choruses of 'Aww' echoed Snoddy's words and Jack pointed toward the owner.
" 'e was makin' his way over. Youse don' wanna get kicked out do youse?"
Silence greeted his words but you could see understanding in their eyes.
"Yeah," Jack nodded when he saw realization dawn on their faces, "didn't tink so."
Soon after, Tibby's was once again filled with laughter and talking from the kids. Everyone swapped stories of that day and many days before. No one was excluded from conversation and everyone found something that they could say. It was a lively bunch and all the other customers soon found themselves laughing along with the newskids.
Everyone piled out of the building to find that it had rained a little while they were in there eating. The air smelled cleaner and the ground was damp and a little mushy in places. They were quite a sight, everyone walking back to the distribution center for the afternoon papes, and many pedestrians stopped to watch the bunch. A bunch of boys and two girls all goofing off and running down the street certainly caught their eye.
About a fourth of the newsies went back to the lodging house, claiming they were done for the day, while the rest parted ways. Even though they wouldn't be selling together, Jack, Itey, Snipeshooter, Racetrack, Skittery, Key, and Lock all ended up walking with each other for a while.
"Lucky."
"Wha's lucky?"
Lock pointed back to the direction they came from, "Da udder boys; dey done for da day. Dey don' need ta woik anymore; gots all da money dey need."
Itey nodded, he understood. If they didn't have to sell the afternoon pape, they must be rich!
The bunch passed the Horace Greenly statue and paused for a moments rest. Lock found herself people watching while Jack struck up a conversation. She watched as a mother berated her child for getting her new dress soiled. She saw an elderly man talking with his friends about the 'good ol' days'. She even spent her time watching a young couple walk by and the boy giving the girl a flower. Almost any people were interesting to watch. She decided to turn her attention to the conversation to see if anything interesting was being shared.
"Nah, Ise tinkin we'd end up fallin' off da top of da World buildin' an' land in da river."
Ok, never mind.
Lock turned to watch the couple again, boredom catching up to her, and she noticed that the boy looked like someone she knew. The two lovers shared a kiss and she leaned forward a bit, as if that would help her see, and tried to figure out where she had seen him before.
" 'ey Lock!" Skittery shouted, "Join in would ya!"
Key, who had quickly gotten used to her new name and everyone else's, agreed enthusiastically, "Yeah! Come on, Lock, please? I'll bet youse can come up with sometin'."
Lock had been looking back at the couple and only barely heard what the others were saying. She suddenly realized where she knew the boy from.
"One minute," she muttered absentmindedly to friends as she walked toward the couple on the street, "I be right back."
The guys and Key exchanged looks then turned to watch Lock. Itey and Skittery shared the same confused look but most everyone else was curious to see what she was going to do. When Key called out to Lock, the older girl just waved her hand back at them and continued on her path. Key shrugged and ran to catch up with her sister, as did Race, Jack, and Skittery. Itey and Snoddy just decided to wait for them at the statue.
" 'ey fellas," Race called out as they got closer, "ain't dat da boy she's courtin'?"
Noticing that to be true, the boys picked up their pace and headed straight for him.
Meanwhile, Lock had gotten but a few feet from Thomas. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she wasn't happy. He had said that when they turned eighteen and nineteen, he would propose and she had agreed. Now she wasn't sure if he had lied to her the whole time or not. She stood right beside the boy she had courted, wondering what to do. She quickly made up her mind when he and the other girl turned to face her.
"Lock! Uh, how are you?"
In response, she kneed him in the groin and elbowed him in the stomach. The girl stood by, shocked, then seemed to realize what happened.
"What are you doing?" She tried to pull Lock away from the fallen Thomas, "Stop!"
The boys arrived at this moment and some pulled her off of Lock while others grabbed Thomas by the scruff and pulled him up.
" He's been lyin' ta ya. Both youse an' our goil 'ere."
The girl glared at them and demanded he be set free, "He would never do that to me!"
Skittery looked down at the boy in his grasp, "Youse shore 'bout dat?"
The girl just stared at him for a minute before turning her gaze to Thomas. She stared at him for a few minutes while the newsies waited impatiently behind her. Looking at Lock then back at Thomas, she took a deep breath and hit him on the head with her parasol.
"Whoop!"
Jack shouted in triumph and the girl flounced away, leaving Thomas with the newsies. Lock shot a glare at Thomas and if looks could kill, he would be dead forty times over. She stormed off with her sister following right behind her and the boys decided to stay for a few minutes more.
"Dis should teach youse not ta mess wit' one of our goils."
Thomas knew he was dead meat as the guys started closing in.