I found myself in a constant state of confusion since Kyndall had walked back into my life. One minute he's smiling at me and the next he loses his temper and smashes his hand through a crate. I could see him shaking when I spoke of Brick. I knew at that moment that something had happened between the two of them. I could only imagine from the look on his face and the anger that he showed when telling me not to talk about it, that he was hurt. And maybe more hurt than I had been. I went on ahead of him to give him a moment to pull himself together and as turned the corner I could hear him losing his lunch.
I looked back around the corner after a minute to make sure he was alright and going to follow. He nodded and we continued towards where Jack was selling.
The two of them moved around the corner to talk and I followed. I did my best to listen to the conversation, but I was too busy with my own thoughts. Kyndall mentioned something about Racetrack crossing borders and selling at Sheepshead, but other than that I didn't pay attention. I just stared at Spot, trying to decide what to do about the changes I saw in my friend.
He spent most of his time leaning against a building, but whenever Jack said something he didn't like he would walk to another location and glare. He seemed to know that Cowboy wasn't someone he could intimidate with his stare. But the emotionless tone in his voice wasn't that of the boy I had known. And the boy I remembered wouldn't have spoken more than a few words an hour.
Something had happened that changed him. He seemed to have hardened himself to the world, but at the same time it had opened him up. He had a fire inside him that I hadn't seen there before. He had learned how to make others listen to him, to want to follow him. I found myself just watching him intently; the slight angle that he turned his head, the way that he hooded his eyes and lowered his tone at the same moment.
I caught him glancing up at me from time to time and I would just smile and glance at Jack. After their matter was settled they came back over to where I was waiting and we decided to go and get some food at a cheap little deli that Jack had discovered.
I saw the hesitation on Spot's face as we approached Jacobi's Deli. It looked like a decent enough place, especially for what a Newsie could afford. Jack walked in but I stayed outside watching Spot stare at the sign. "Need me to spot ya a few bits for lunch?"
"Nah, nah. I'm just not sure I like the looks of the place." He responded.
As we went inside I couldn't quite understand what he meant. It was a very clean, new place with smiling workers.
We each got sandwich and sat down at table in the back corner of the restaurant to eat. Jack and I inhaled our food as we tossed jokes back and forth. Every once and awhile, Spot would throw in a comment. I could tell he was uncomfortable, and when I looked at the paper wrapped sandwich in front of him, it looked like he hadn't taken more than a bite or two and had picked the tomato off to eat.
A while later we walked outside. I knew most of the boys were planning on going to Medda's show later that night so I turned to Spot and asked him if he wanted to join us after the afternoon edition, but he wanted to head back to Brooklyn. He agreed to meet us there. We said our good-byes. I couldn't help but watch him as he started his trip back towards his borough.