I knew that at some point this had to end. Everything has an end, and silly masquerades always were discovered. The double life had an unknown expiration date. The friendships I made would end. The money I made as a newsie would be gone. The love I felt for my brothers would be broken and replaced with regret. I would leave. But where would I go?

Unanswerable questions gave no true answers, and I felt uneasy in my time of turmoil. If there was anything I was able to save, it would be my relationship with Bumlets and my relationship with Owl. I couldn't imagine not seeing his little face glowing, or imagine a life without Bumlets strong, but sweet presence. But, I knew the chances of Bumlets and I ending up together in the end were nonexistent.

The next few days were filled with victory from the strike, and then, once Jack decided it was time to get all of the newsies in all of New York City riled up. The ralley was here. It was planned to be at a theatre owned by one of Jack's countless connections. It was supposed to be wild, with drink ready at hand, loud music, and the spirit of brotherhood like fog in the air. Needless to say, I was not excited to go. Umberto would be there. So, I did the best thing I could do besides skip the rally- I commanded Owl and the younger ones to stay at home. There were arguments at first, but once I did not budge, the youngest boys sat down to play with each other. I felt uneasy, my stomach was in knots. Bumlets noticed.

"Enzo," he said under his breath. "Are you alright? You look so sick."

"Fine," I said, forcing a smile. He didn't look convinced. "I'm just worried about the Reaper."

"I heard about that," Bumlets began. "You have to be careful, and avoid him like the devil. He has no mercy."

"Thanks for the encouragement," I said sarcastically. He shook his head at me, and we walked out of the house together. We were silent for a few minutes as we walked. "I have a really bad feeling about tonight."

"Me too," He murmured. My stomach knotted again.

It all started out somewhat innocent. Every newsie in New York City was there, and I made sure to stay far away from Umberto's section. There was a woman in a silky dress that made me blush with envy. I tried to act as manly as possible, while staying as close to Bumlets as possible.

The woman sang and we joined along, and I spied Jack flirting with a brunette, which made me laugh. Jack and Spot got up to speak to the group, and then there was a song, and then- chaos. Police flodded in, accompanied by a gang of old men we had already beaten once that week. It was horrible- there was screaming, people were getting hit with clubs, and we were all trying to run but we were too close together. It was horrid.

Bumlets are I were getting pulled apart and I tried desperately to hold on to his hand. I screamed as I saw him get punched in the face, and I was dragged away by someone I couldn't see. I felt hands on me, pulling me away as I tried to grab onto anything I could hold. I screamed and screamed, but more hands came and took me away from my brothers. I panicked, I kicked, I cried, I couldn't get free. It was like the entire time everything was in slow motion, and I couldn't move fast enough to get away.

I felt the summer air hit me as I was dragged out into an alley. I was whipped around fast to see everyone's favorite douchebag- the Reaper, with two older thug men. Before I could open my mouth, he punched me in the face. I felt my nose break. Nice.

I stared at the older men, noticing little tattoos and jewelry. I was desperate and became more so when Umberto whipped out a knife. I had only one option and I knew what I had to do. I threw off my hat, shook out my dirty hair.

"For someone whose so insistent that you have no part in the mafia, you have a lot of people fooled," I spit out in Italian, watching the shock spread on his face like a fire growing. His hand loosened, and his jaw slackened. I took the opportunity to run around him and out of the alley. I knew I wasn't going to make it far, but I impressed myself by making it farther than I expected. I was past the theater when everything went black. And that's the last thing I remember.

Bumlet's Perspective

I cursed under my breath while pacing the small cell. I had been thrown in to a small room with a couple of younger newsies, but I couldn't stop thinking about where Prize had gone. I had been continually yelling to other cells to see if he had been brought in but he hadn't yet. I hope he had gotten away, but I wasn't letting myself feel the hope. I felt a dread but I tried to fight it away. It felt like years until they pulled us out to go to court.

I don't even remember what everyone was saying, or who paid the fines. My eyes scanned the crowds trying to find a glimpse of Prize. But, he was nowhere to be seen. My heart ached. He was my best friend, and I couldn't imagine if something had gone wrong… I noted that the Reaper wasn't in jail with the rest of his newsies. The others started to notice about my uneasiness, but it wasn't till we were walking into the lodging house when I let myself begin to panic.

"Kloppman!" I shouted at the old man at the desk. Owl was sitting on the desk, crying. "Has Prize come home yet?"

His eyes said the answer before he opened his mouth, and before he finished his reply I was out the door running to find Reaper. When I got to their newsies lodging house I already knew the answer- Reaper hadn't come home yet either. I sprinted, dead sprinted, to Little Italy and banged on Sal and Francesca's door. They answered panicked, and I felt myself choking as I quickly spit out what I was worried about. Their eyes showed true fear, and they began to ask me more about Reaper, which they soon understood was Umberto.

"We have to find Enzo," Sal commanded, slamming his hands down on the table while Francesca burst into tears.

"If there's any question of whose helping him, I think I know where that lies." I said. Sal didn't seem to understand. "His older brother is connected. You didn't know?" They both paled.

"I know where to find them." Sal whispered.

Francesca disappeared and came back holding a gun. "Take this." Her words were barely a whisper.

Sal and I were out the door in minutes. I felt like I had been up and awake for years. The walk was silent. I felt like screaming.

We found ourselves in front of a shabby brick building closer to Chinatown than Little Italy. Sal motioned for me to follow him into an alley, where we found a window that was covered by a crate. We moved it as silently as possible. There wasn't any glass- just bars. We quickly and silently worked the bars into bending, and Sal slipped in through the bars while I promised to keep watch. It felt like an eternity. I heard grunting, yelling, and then Sal was shoving a body through the bars and I pulled them through. There was blood everywhere, and then Sal came up and pulled the body into a standing position while commanding me to take the other side.

I describe the person as a body because it was unrecognizable. There was blood everywhere, and the face was swollen. And the body had matted black hair that was too long for Enzo. But, I had never seen him with his hair down. The body remained unconscious. We quickly got the body into the apartment, Francesca sobbed, and then took the body into the bathroom to clean it up and treat the wounds. The body was still breathing. Barely.

I sat in the kitchen with Sal. He was silent. We had saved Enzo's life, but we had endangered both of ours. If the mafia knew of Sal's actions, we would all be dead before next week. My panic didn't end until Francesca moved the body into the bedroom, came out, and then said he had awoken.

I walked into the bedroom.