I apologize in advance for all the newsies accents
The lodging house is always loud. Weather it's one of the boys arguing with another, someone having a nightmare (which happens unfortunately often,) or just a group of adolescent boys ruff housing. Race was ALWAYS one of the loudest. Always screaming about someone stealing from him and being- well, a boy! So when he was suddenly extremely quiet one morning, all the boys took notice.
Race sat silently on his bed lacing up his worn out, two-sizes-too-small boots. Jack came and sat next to him.
"Whats da matta wit you?" Jack asked accusingly.
Race shrugged, still silent. Race tried to sit up to grab his cigar but Jack grabbed his arm and kept him down so he couldn't stand. Jack wouldn't let him stand until Race said something.
"'S jist a nightmare, Jack. Woke up in da middle of da night. Nothin' to get you'se panties in a twist ova." Race said, obviously annoyed by the situation.
Jack dropped his arm with a sorry look on his face. He knew well how bad Race's nightmares could be. Even though his arm had been released, Race did not move from his seated place on the bed. He stared at the floor.
"Do ya wanna talk 'bout it?" Jack asked quietly.
"Nah Jackie, I'm fine. Jist a lil' tired. I'll be a'right."
"Ya sure, Racer?" Jacks response was a nod. Both boys stood up and walked out the door and joined the rest of the newsies for their regular walk to the distribution center. Race faked a smile the whole way until he felt that didn't have to fake it anymore.
"Eh Romeo!" He called to his friend. "Wat da ya say 'bout headin' ova to Medda's after woik taday? Hoird dat she's got a real beauty perfomin' a few 'riginal songs!"
"Sure Race. S' long as ya ain't hollering at dat goil to much." The shorter boy replied. He was a mocha skinned, with brown hair and eyes.
Race scoffed and rolled his eyes at the comment "I ain't promisin' nothing, kid. If she's anytin' like da beauties we all know what's da come." Race had pretended to like the Bowery Beauties for a long time. He never actually found girls that appealing truthfully. He was gay. And he liked his best friend. Why is nothing ever simple?
"Hey how many a ya are goin' ta Medda's tonight?" Race yelled over the chaos. Almost all the boys raised their hands.
The bell signifing the headline was being raised went off. Stray Animal count up to 150. Now that was a crappy headline. Most of the boys groaned or yelled profanities at the board displaying the rotten headline.
The boys lined up to grab their papers. Oscar and Morris didn't give them any trouble until they reached the window. That was when all hell broke loose. The boys teased the brothers and Weasel like they always did.
Race walked up to the window. "Hey Weasel, ya tink ya could make dese two bums take a showa ev'ry once an' a while? Dey really stink in more ways dan one."
"Shut up an move along. How many papes?" Oscar asked snidely.
"The usual." Race said nonchalantly. He was used to the Delanceys.
The rest of the boys got their papes. All while teasing the workers of course. Exiting the center, they went to their respective selling spots. Race took the long trek over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Sheepshead Racetrack. The place he was appropriately named after.
He sold on the way. He passed Medda's theater to see the lovely woman outside.
"Hi Racetrack. How are you on this fine evening?" Said the woman who was the most of a mother most of the newsies had.
"I'm doing a'right Miss Medda. Nice to see ya." Race smiled a genuine smile. After his dream last night, he enjoyed seeing one of the only people who didn't think of him as a lousy street rat.
"You are coming tonight correct? I have a performance I think you'll want to see." She smiled a smile that would make anyone's heart smile as well.
"I was already planin' on comin' wit some a da boys but now, how could I eva refuse?" He smirked. "See ya lata Miss."
"See you tonight, Racetrack!"
He walked the rest of the way to his selling spot and watched the races after selling all his papers. He was about to head out of Sheepshead when a boy plopped next to him on the bench he was sitting on.
"Watcha win Racer?" The boy asked.
Race turned his head to be met with his best friend. Spot Colon. Before Jack was leader of the Manhatten Newsies, Race had pretty much lived in Brooklyn. The old leader didn't like him too much and Race was often kicked out for a few days at a time being the stubborn bastard he is.
Spot- in Races eyes- was perfect. Perfect hair that he wanted to run his hands through. Perfect eyes he wanted to gaze into without feeling guilty of worried about getting caught. Perfect lips that he wanted to kiss. Perfect- let's not go there. Spot probably wasn't even attracted to Race the same way Race was attracted to Spot.
"Pretty good. Not da best. Only won once." Race said. "Me an' da boys are gonna be at Meddas tonight. Wanna join us. Dere is supposed to be dis beauty see tonight. Betta dan da Bowery Beauties..."
"No one betta dan da Beauties." Spot said matter of factly. "Sory but I can't be dere. I got some business to take care of."
"A'right. You'se gonna regret it later." Race said even more matter of factly.
"Yeah, yeah. Go back to Hatten!" Spot said, shoving Race playfully. An act that was supposed to be fun, but made Races heart flutter.
After saying their goodbyes Race set back to his home in Manhattan. He got home right before all the other boys were about to leave and go to Medda's. All the boys left together and arrived together. They had seats all in a clump. The show started right on time.
All the acts were wonderful, like all shows at Medda's theater are. The Medda herself came onstage. The boys clapped.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen! I have a special performance for you tonight by a young girl who wrote this song herself. Please welcome the Maria and her accompanist. Please enjoy!" Medda has such stage presence that almost no one noticed the piano and girl come into view. Once everyone noticed all the Newsie boys started hollaring and whistling.
The girl was beautiful. She was wearing a dark blue dress that ended in the middle of her calfs. She had long brown hair with the sides pinned up. Her lips were red with lipstick. Race would have been attracted to her if he were straight.
The piano started playing a faintly familiar tune. Race pushed that sense of familiarity aside and focused on the girl on the stage. Jack and Romeo sat mext to him both had their eyes glued on the girl.
The girl opened her mouth and Race swore his heart stopped.
"Once upon a time I would wake beside a man.
Who would make me feel like nothing to take him from me..."
This girl had the most beautiful voice Race had ever heard. As beautiful as his- Race knew this song. Memories of a younger version of himself sitting at his piano with his sister writing a song popped into his mind.
Race was placed back into reality but a pair of fingers snapping in his face.
"Once I learned how wrong I had been,
That sometimes dreams can cave in..."
"Hey Racer, you still wit us? Ya's lookin' a lil' pale." Jack asked worried.
After a moment Race replied. "I know dis song." Race said quietly, barker above a whisper.
"What?" Romeo asked confused.
"Love will come and find me again..."
"I know dis song!" Race said a bit louder.
"Race, dat goil up dere wrote this song. Ya could've neva hoird it nowhere." Jack tried to reason with him. In Jacks eyes Race hadn't had enough sleep last night and didn't know what he was talking about completely. But in truth, he did.
"No I know what I know and I know dis song, Jack!"
"A'right. So ya say ya know da song. Prove it." Romeo knew he had his brother there.
But Race didn't falter. He started humming the tune with the girl and his fingers mimicked the ones of the pianist.
"Trouble is the more you deny the more you don't even try.
The more the world passes by in haze..."
"How do you know dat. It's an original song." Jack tried to reason.
"I know it cause I wrote it." As he spoke Race started peaking to himself instead of the boys around him. "The accompaniment I mean. Maria wrote da lyrics. Maria..." Realization sparked through Race. "Sorella!" He exclaimed.
"Letting go of what might have been, and letting something else in,
Only then..."
"What, Race? We can't speak Italian." Romeo said.
The boys barley noticed the song had ended and people were leaving the theater. Race shot up and ran up to Medda. Romeo and Jack heard the tail end of their conversation.
"Second room on the left, dear!"
"Thanks ya, Miss!" Race kissed her on the cheek and bolted up the stairs to the dressing rooms. He knocked on the second door to the left and waited for a response. Jack and Romeo trailed behind the excited boy, out of breath for both had just sprinted up a flight of stairs.
The door opened to reveal the singer from earlier. She was even prettier up close. Her eyes gleamed in the dim light of the dressing room hall way. Her and Race locked eyes. She stepped out of her door and closed it behind her gently.
"Maria?" Race asked, his Brooklyn accent lowered to make way for his Italian accent to take over. He hadn't noticed he had been holding his breath.
"A- Anthony?" The girl- Maria- questioned. Tears were now in both the afore mentioned eyes.
They just stared at each other for a moment. Jack and Romeo stood over to the side, utterly confused. Suddenly Race and Maria crashed together in a hug. Tears streamed down the young faces of the two embracing people.
Jack cleared his throat awkwardly. Race looked up. He looked confused for a second before his eyes widened slightly and he gently released Maria.
"Sorry, Maria, dis is Jack, and Romeo. I sell papes with dem at da Woild as a newsie. Dey's like brothers to me. Well along wit de otha boys o' course." He pointed it each boy respectively and used excited hand movements and facial expressions. Jack had only seen the boy this excited once before: the day Jack got famously escapedfrom the refuge.
Maria smiled warmly. Jack could tell he was falling. And fast. "It's nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of Anthony while I couldn't." Maria spoke kindly.
"Anthony?" Romeo asked teasingly. "Im gonna tell all da boys dat I knows you'se real name!" Race had succeeded greatly in keeping his real name secret. Something extremely hard to do in a home full of teenage boys.
Race glared at the youngest boy in the room and Jack slapped him upside the head.
"Well if you haven't been going by Anthony, then what should I call you Mr. Higgins?" Maria then said snidely.
"Race." All three boys said in unison earring laugh from the girl and scowls from the boys.
"I'se been going by Racetrack. Race fa short."
"I'm sorry but what do ya mean dat we'se took care a 'im while you couldn't?"
"Oh!" Race smiled so wide Jack thought his head might split in half. "Jack, Romeo, I would like to introduce Miss Maria Higgins. My sister!"
The song Maria was singing is from Bandstand called Love Will Come And Find me Again.