Thank you to my guest review! Sorry the lateness of this update, and the shortness- I just got a new, 8 week old kitty and I have spent most of my time trying to keep up with him. Okay, now where were we… Please R&R! –Fighterr
"Anyways, they all call me Prize now!" I finished to a proud Sal and Francesca. It was very early on Sunday morning. Sal was beaming.
"That's wonderful, honey, but what about the strike? I'm not sure I want you involved with the law," Francesca said, clasping her hands.
"I can't desert the boys," I said. "Bumlets and Race wouldn't even come back today, they wanted to stay and help. I just said I'd be back in a few hours. I missed you guys, so I had to come back."
"We understand," Sal said. "Why don't you go take a bath and then we'll eat and walk you halfway to Manhattan?"
"Sounds great!" I called, already halfway to the bathroom. I heard them chuckling as I closed the door, ran the water, and got undressed.
I was still in the bath when someone knocked on the door. From the conversation I listened to, it was Umberto. He was coming to ask if he could take me on a date. He was a sweet kid and very handsome- but a date amidst this strike was a bit insane. He walked up to the bathroom door.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Signorina," started Umberto. "But I just wanted you to let you know I stopped by. I know you are not feeling well, so I was thinking maybe I could take you out next Saturday morning. For breakfast, maybe?"
I panicked. How could I go out for breakfast with someone when the strike was going on? But then again, a few hours out of my morning wasn't too much of a commitment…
"Sure," I said, my voice quiet. "I'll meet you outside of Sal's bakery at 6 in the morning. Is that alright?"
"Sure thing, early bird," I could hear the smile in his voice.
"See you then," I murmured, and I heard him walk away. I hope I was making the right decision. If I left the lodging house at four, I could run to Little Italy, bathe, make myself presentable, go on the date, go back to Sal's and change, run back to the Lodging House, and then make it in time to sell the afternoon edition. It wasn't a bad plan. A little hectic but not a bad plan.
Two hours later I was walking back to the lodging house with clean hair and a full stomach. I walked into the lobby and saw the boys there, asking Kloppy how to spell things for their signs for the strike. Owl was sitting in the corner, so I walked over and promptly picked him up.
"Heya, Prize," He mumbled into my shoulder. I squeezed him and set him back down. He stayed near my leg.
"What's going on Owl?" I replied, looking at him with concern.
"I missed you," He whispered, tears filling his little eyes.
"I missed you too, kid," I replied, putting a hand on his head.
The rest of the afternoon passed without much upset, but there was a sense of unease in the air. It was like the whole city was waiting for us to make a move. And I think we were waiting too. It was very quiet in the lodging house when Jack came in and called a meeting.
"We gonna do this tomorrow, fellas." Jack looked at us like a commander. "Tomorrow, we start the demonstration. They gonna pull out all da stops, but we gotta soak da scabbers. Dis is up to us now."
The room cheered, but my stomach dropped.
"Tomorrow," I croaked.
I didn't sleep at all that night. And neither did Owl, curled up next to me.