Disclaimer: This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction. Anything recognizable from Newsies belongs to Disney and not to me.
Chapter 104: Bad News
Well, we's in a fix this time, Jack thought to himself as he rose wearily from Mush's beside. A real and proper fix. He took one last glance at the fitfully sleeping newsie who was huddled under a blanket, his body finally beginning to relax after what seemed like hours of shaking from the chills, then turned his attention to the other side of the room where Race was kneeling next to Romeo's bunk.
"How's Romeo doin'?" Jack asked quietly, coming over to join his lieutenant.
The gambler shook his head. "He just dropped off to sleep, but I dunno how long it's gonna last. Seems like his fever's goin' up." Getting to his feet, Race rolled his neck stiffly, the effects of the last hour showing plainly on his face.
"I should've sent that bummer into quarantine this mornin'," Jack muttered, regretting his preoccupied decision to let the younger newsie sleep off his malady. Specs had told him about Romeo's flu-like symptoms, but in the rush to get the rest of the boys to the distribution center, Jack hadn't had time to adequately think through the matter. He knew that Kloppman generally preferred to have any boys who were ill sequestered away in the side room that served as a sick bay, so he'd figured if Romeo was still feeling poorly, he'd have him move there that evening, but by that time it was already too late; several other newsies had come down with similar complaints, and what had started out as a single case was now a half-dozen boys with varying degrees of fever and chills.
"I dunno that sendin' him this mornin' would've stopped this," Race remarked, breaking into Jack's thoughts. "Bet'cha some of these boys was already comin' down with it and pushed through 'cause they didn't want to miss out on sellin' today."
"Either way, we's in a bind." Jack couldn't keep the moroseness out of his voice. "It's gonna tax the Newsie Fund terrible if they's all outta work for the next few days."
"Can't worry about that now," Race answered brusquely. "We gotta just try to get 'em better as quick as possible, and keep ourselves from comin' down with it while we do." He and Jack made their way out of the bunk room and into the hallway where they could talk without disturbing the sleeping newsies.
"Hey, I was thinkin' - " Race began as soon as they were alone.
"Oh, you was thinkin'?" Jack interjected mockingly, earning himself a slightly-aggravated snort from his second-in-command. It really wasn't the time to be making jokes, but the bantering habit between them was hard to break, even in highly stressful situations, and Race was the kind who could invariably appreciate a well-timed jab, even one made at his own expense.
"Yeah. I was thinkin'," Race repeated, cracking a tired half-grin even as he shook his head, "that maybe we oughta consider keepin' Crutchie away from the boys for a few days, at least 'till most of them's feelin' better. You know he gets real bad whenever he comes down with somethin', and the last time he got the flu…"
"Yeah," Jack agreed, shaking his head at memories he wished he could forget. "He was in a real bad state. Ain't sure it's healthy for him to go back up on the rooftop, though, either...it was already gettin' real cold at night, even with the blankets Katherine gave us."
"Think maybe Katherine could help us figure somethin' else out?" Race proposed. "Either some way of makin' it warmer up top, or else somethin' to keep Crutchie a little safer when he's around the boys? I dunno what she could really do, but since she ain't so strapped for cash, maybe she'd be able to do somethin'."
It wasn't a bad idea. Jack, of course, didn't want to drag Katherine into the problems at the lodging house, but he knew that she had a soft spot for the newsies, and this situation wasn't simply a matter of inconvenience. It could very well be a matter of life and death, and he wasn't willing to risk Crutchie's health just because he didn't want to ask for help when he needed it. After all, as Katherine herself liked to remind him, being the boss didn't mean having all the answers - just the brains to listen to the right one when it came along.
At the moment, Race was the one with the right idea. And maybe Katherine would be able to come up with the next one.
"Maybe you oughta think more often, Racer," Jack jibed, cuffing the other newsie lightly on the head. "I'm pretty sure you's onto somethin'." He adjusted his cap, mentally preparing himself for the impending chill of the night air. "Can you manage here while I run over to see Katherine?"
"Yeah, sure Jacky," Race agreed. "You sure you wanna go out now, though? It's gettin' pretty cold."
Jack patted the coat he was wearing (which, in the chaos of caring for the boys, he hadn't even bothered to remove since coming back from selling). "It's ok - I got my extra layer." He clapped Race on the shoulder. "I'll try to be back soon." Making his way down the hall, he quickly descended the staircase and exited the lodging house, bracing himself against the small gust of cold air that hit him the moment he stepped outside.
Now alone and with nothing but a quarter hour's brisk walk ahead of him, Jack's thoughts immediately turned gloomy. Race's reminder that Crutchie's health was more at risk than they liked to acknowledge had been a sobering one, and Jack once again felt a stab of guilt for not having acted more quickly to isolate the contagious Romeo from the rest of the newsies. At this point, with a handful of boys already ill, it was too late to quarantine anyone, but if they weren't careful, the sickness would most certainly spread, and Crutchie would be the most vulnerable.
Maybe we oughta send him to the sick room instead, Jack thought. It wasn't an ideal solution, especially since they'd all still be sharing the same washroom, breathing the same air, and remaining in close proximity, but a little separation was probably better than nothing.
Hopefully Katherine would have some inspired ideas. Jack wasn't sure exactly what she could do to help, but what Race had said was true - the fact that Katherine had more financial resources at her disposal meant that she had more options than the newsies, and besides that she had a sharp mind and a clear head under pressure, so he was confident that she would be able to help somehow.
Shoving his hands into his pockets and steeling himself against the cold, Jack trudged on in the direction of his girlfriend's apartment.
Sitting hunched over in his bunk bed, Race absently picked at the dirt under his fingernails, glancing up now and then whenever his ears caught the sound of one of the newsies rustling in his bed. Their sleeping forms were only faintly visible by the dim light of the lamp that Jack had left on in the corner of the room, but it was enough for Race to see that several of the boys were sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning and occasionally throwing off their blankets, which he then would walk over to reposition once they had settled back down.
It was going to be a long night.
He hadn't bothered to note the time when Jack had left, so he wasn't sure how long the newsie leader had been gone, but he figured that it'd already been over an hour, going on two.
Wearily, Race lay down, staring up at the boards of the bunk above him. He knew he probably wouldn't be sleeping at all that night, but his long day in Brooklyn had tired him out, and another long day awaited him in the morning. He had to get whatever rest he could.
They were going to have to figure out a way to make ends meet. If this really was the beginning of a flu outbreak in the lodging house, they would be in a lot of trouble soon once the Newsie Fund ran short under the strain of covering the lodging house fees for so many who couldn't work. If Jack hadn't generously offset the money that Artie had stolen with cash from his own pocket (courtesy of his second job at The World), they would have been in even more dire straits.
They'd weathered periods of economic scarcity before - they'd done it not too long ago those two weeks they had been on strike - but a flu outbreak in the cold of winter would be a far more formidable threat, because they couldn't afford to cut costs by sleeping outside or by skipping meals like they had in the summer. Forgoing nourishment was doable when you were healthy and basically bumming around during the day, but when you were trying to fight off an illness or stay well, you needed your strength, and the meals at the lodging house were scant enough already without cutting them out altogether. Of course, this was all assuming that the money would hold out long enough to cover meals in addition to the roof over their heads. Food - as essential as it was - had to be of secondary importance to shelter in the wintertime.
Kloppman, of course, would likely help out a little, but he too had bills to pay, and some of the newsies already had small debts that the superintendent had generously allowed to run past due. This setback would only put them further in the hole, and the older man wouldn't be able to ignore the deficit completely.
Wonder if I oughta take the rest of my stash and see if I can score big at Sheepshead, Race thought. He was a good enough newsie to bring in an above-average income selling papers, but even if he sold sunup to sundown and was lucky enough to move all of his wares, the money he earned still wouldn't be the to get them out of the mess they were going to be in. Gambling was a far greater risk, but the possibility of a disproportionately large reward was enticing…
The thought lasted only a moment before Race reluctantly quashed it. He couldn't afford to take chances right now. If he blew the rest of his dough, he wouldn't be able to help anyone, and even though he liked to think of himself as luckier than the average, a fellow never knew when his luck would run out. Sometimes the horses just didn't cooperate.
Besides, he needed to keep some of that money back in case Sophie ended up needing his help. In an ideal scenario, she'd move to Manhattan after her employment at the tea factory ended, find a new job, and be able to afford her own housing, but Race had seen enough of life to know that things generally didn't go as smoothly as hoped.
The sound of a cough pulled him out of his thoughts, and Race rolled out of bed, walking over to one of the bunks in the corner of the room. As soon as he saw who had made the sound, he felt a sense of foreboding settle in his gut, but he smoothed his features into a look of mild concern as he knelt down to speak quietly to the other newsie.
"Hey, Crutchie," he murmured. "You feelin' sick?" The other boy's face looked flushed even in the dim light of the lamp, and Race thought he could see a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.
"Been feelin' sick since Sunday afternoon," Crutchie admitted, his voice sounding strange and weak. "Thought it was just my leg achin' worse 'cause of the cold, but then I started hurtin' all over. Barely moved my papes today. Didn't want to make Jack worry. Thought maybe with a good night's sleep I could kick this on my own."
"You's strong, Crutch, but you ain't invincible," Race muttered, more bluntly than he'd intended. It hadn't been a very sensitive thing to say, but tactfulness had never been one of Race's virtues, and what little of it he did possess went out the window whenever he was tired and stressed. The sympathizing and sentimentality were better left to someone big-hearted like Jack.
"Rest up, Crutchie," Race said tersely, reaching over to reposition the other newsie's blanket. "You need anything, call me, all right?" He rose, walking over to check on Romeo before returning to his own bunk to keep watch and brood.
Their worst fears had been realized; Crutchie had come down sick - had already been sick, in fact. On the rooftop, he wouldn't have been able to hide it from Jack's watchful eye, but mixed in amongst the other boys in the bunkroom, it had been easy enough for him to go unnoticed, and Race wondered if - once they got out of this mess - the newsie leader ought to remind the lodging house that it was better for everyone to be truthful right away about feeling unwell so any illness could be more quickly contained. Crutchie probably wasn't the only boy who had hidden his ailment, but this meant that by the time noticeable symptoms were cropping up, it would already be too late to keep the sickness from spreading.
Of course, even with an admonishment like that, it would be difficult to expect such voluntary early disclosure. Most of the boys were reluctant to admit that they were feeling unwell (a fellow had his reputation to keep and his living to earn, after all), and Race himself had done his fair share of sweating and sneezing on the job because he didn't want to miss a day of selling on account of what might have been only a mild cold.
The flu, of course, was different. But sometimes it was hard to tell from the outset what you were dealing with.
A sudden tapping noise was heard, and Race looked up to see Jack motioning to him through the closed washroom window. Apparently, the newsie leader had decided to make his re-entry to the lodging house by way of the fire escape.
Race made his way over, unlatching the window and pushing it open so that Jack could slide through.
"Thanks," the newsie leader said quietly, pulling a rucksack in behind him. "Left in too much of a hurry and forgot the doorstop."
Race snort-laughed quietly. "Not like you ever remember it, Jacky."
"Yeah, well, that's what the fire escape's for." Jack set the rucksack down with a grunt. "Kath sent along some extra blankets and a little bottle of some kinda medicine she said her doctor recommends for the flu. How're the boys doin'?"
"They's restless," Race reported. "No throwin' up or anything yet, mostly just the aches and chills." He gave Jack a grave look. "But Crutchie's got it. Said he's been feelin' sick for a while now, just hid it 'cause he didn't want to worry you."
Jack cursed under his breath.
"He ain't lookin' as bad as the last time," Race added. "But we can't know how it's gonna turn. 'Specially not if he's around a bunch of other sick fellas."
Jack shook his head. "Guess I'm gonna have to take Plumber up on her offer," he muttered, so quietly that Race almost didn't hear him.
"Offer?" Race echoed.
"Turns out she's got a side room in her apartment that's sectioned off from the rest," Jack explained. "When I told her about Crutchie, she said he and I could stay there if we wanted. It ain't exactly proper, but - "
" - but it might keep Crutchie from gettin' worse if he can be somewhere warm and away from the rest of the fellas and actually get some decent food to eat," Race finished.
"Yeah." Jack gave him an apologetic look. "But it'd mean leavin' you here with the rest of the boys, Racer. I know you's gonna be fine, but it's a lot to ask."
Race waved him off, hiding the weariness he felt under a cocky half-grin. "I can handle these bummers." He jerked a thumb in the direction of Crutchie's bunk. "You gotta make sure he's all right. We almost lost him to The Refuge. We ain't gonna lose him to the flu, not if I can help it."
Jack clapped him on the back, and Race could tell that the older boy was relieved, though he didn't say so.
"Hey, maybe we oughta send some of the fellas with families home for a spell, too," Race suggested, thinking out loud. "Might keep 'em from gettin' sick, and it'll leave the Newsie Fund for the ones who really need it."
Jack nodded in agreement. Most of the boys at the lodging house lived there because they had nowhere else to go, but a few of the boys still had families living close by, albeit families that were either too large or too poor to support them. Sleeping in crowded living conditions for a few nights, though, would be preferable to coming down with the flu.
"So, you wanna take Crutchie over to Kath's now?" Race asked, glancing in the direction of the aforementioned newsie's bunk.
"Yeah. The sooner we get him out of here the better, and it's only gonna get colder the longer we wait." Jack shoved the rucksack off to the side of the room. "I'm gonna leave this with you. Katherine wrote down instructions for the medicine, so it's with the bottle. Ain't sure how much it'll help, but use it if you haf'ta."
"All right, I hear ya," Race nodded, following the newsie leader towards the bunk room to wake Crutchie. Before they reached the threshold, however, Jack suddenly stopped, turning back to look at Race.
"You sure you's okay with this, Racer?" he asked hesitantly, and Race could hear the conflict in his voice. "Feels kinda low of me to leave you with the fellas again like this, after what happened with the strike - "
Race gave him an impatient shove. "Am-scray, Punk," he ordered. "You two get outta here. Have a little faith in me, all right? You ain't the only one around here who knows how to run a lodgin' house."
Race spent the rest of the night in varying degrees of restlessness, alternating between lounging in his bunk and trying to rest his eyes to drifting between the beds of the afflicted newsies, checking to make sure that their symptoms hadn't gotten worse. He caught snatches of sleep here and there when he managed to doze off, but found himself unable or unwilling to fall into anything deeper than a light slumber.
When morning came, he wearily roused the newsies who were well enough to go selling and headed off to the distribution center, stopping by Kloppman's desk on the way out to apprise the lodging house superintendent of the situation. The older man promised to look in on the boys who were staying behind to rest, so Race knew the ailing newsies would be in good hands for the next several hours, and immediately turned his attention to rallying those left standing for what promised to be an arduous day of selling. They would all need to take extra papes that day to try to help cover the deficits of the boys who couldn't sell, and cold weather was never a newsie's friend. The best that they could hope for was a good headline.
Race kept the tone of his exhortations lighthearted, going so far as to muster up a joke or two, and by the time the little band of newsies had reached the distribution center, at least a few of the boys were smiling, which made him feel better. A quick glance at the blackboard above the circulation gate showed that the main stories that day would be relatively easy to sell, so that, too, was a favorable sign.
The chime of the circulation bell rang through the air, and Race motioned the newsies into line, bringing up the rear as he wondered how Jack and Crutchie were doing. Neither of them would be making an appearance at the distribution center that morning, Crutchie for obvious reasons, and Jack because he planned to stay by his ailing friend's side (to ensure that he didn't take a turn for the worse), working on handful of cartoons for The World to pass the time.
"Hey...where is everyone?"
The question drew Race out of his thoughts, and he turned around to see Davey arriving just behind him, a concerned look on his face. He'd been in school the last several days for his exams and hadn't been selling, so the sight of the truncated queue must have shocked him a bit.
"Mornin', Dave," Race greeted the other boy tiredly. "We's short some fellas today on account of 'em comin' down with the flu. It ain't anything we haven't dealt with before, but seems like it's hittin' a little harder this year for some reason. Maybe it's just 'cause they's all comin' down with it at once." He shrugged. "Most of 'em should pull through in a week or so, but it's gonna be tight for a while 'till they do."
Davey's concerned look changed into something more grim. "Are you concerned about the Newsie Fund?" came his predictably-astute question. "Having to cover the lodging house fees for the boys who are out of work?"
Race nodded. "A few of them's already moved out - Crutchie and Jack are stayin' with Katherine, and Elmer and Buttons got family nearby, so they's gonna be goin' home 'till this all blows over. It'll help some, and if we haf'ta, we'll start splittin' meals at the lodgin' house, but that ain't ideal. The fellas'll need their strength to get better, and the rest of us is gonna be workin' even harder tryin' to make some extra dough." He shrugged. "Ain't no use worryin' about it, and the Fund should hold us over for a few days, but that's the pickle we's in."
Davey didn't say anything, but Race could tell that he was troubled.
"Hey, how'd your exams go?" Race asked. Might as well change the subject; talking about the situation at the lodging house wouldn't do anything to make it better. "You put the rest of those know-it-alls to shame with that big brain of yours?"
"It wasn't a competition," Davey clarified. "But I think I did all right. At least, I hope I did. The results will be coming out sometime this week, so I should know soon." Race could tell that he was preoccupied, for the conversation came to an abrupt lull, the other newsie apparently wrapped up in his thoughts, likely having taken it upon himself to assume more than his fair share of the worrying about the ailing members of their company.
"Must've been fun for you to be back in school," Race prodded, thinking to himself that he might as well try to distract his friend who fretted enough as it was and didn't need another thing to think about. "All that book learnin' and philosophizin', talkin' about big ideas..."
"Hmm, yeah," Davey replied absently, clearly not listening to a word that was being said.
"...and I bet you was real chirked up to be with Beck all day instead of only seein' her at night for tutorin'," Race added, deciding he might as well go for broke. "You get in some good time alone durin' recess? Maybe do a little canoodlin' out back behind the schoolhouse?"
Davey apparently had been listening, at least to the last part, for the look on his face transformed almost instantly from inattentive to incredulous.
"'Canoodling'?" he echoed. "You've got a lodging house full of sick newsies on your hands, and you want to know if I've been canoodling?"
Race shrugged. "Well, was you?"
"No!"
"I dunno, you sound kinda guilty to me."
"What you're hearing is disbelief," Davey answered shortly. "Disbelief at your ill-timed and completely inappropriate questions."
"All I did was ask about your day at school!" Race threw an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Just tryin' to be a pal here, Dave."
"No, Race. What you're trying to be is a nuisance." Davey shook him off, pointedly staring straight ahead as he stepped forward in the slowly-moving queue of newsies.
"Aw, come on, it ain't nothin' to be embarrassed about," Race teased, drawing even with him once again. "She's a real cute little lady, even if smoochin' her might be kinda tough on account of her shortness. Pretty sure there's ways around that, though, 'specially for a clever guy like you who's got a nickname like the Walkin' Mouth for a reas- "
"Please," Davey cut in through gritted teeth. "Please just stop talking right now, Race. Can you do that? Just once?"
Race held up his hands, all innocence. "All right, all right," he capitulated, grinning. "I'll cut the chatter if you tell me straight up you don't fancy that gal, not even a little bit. You's an honest fella, so if you say so, it's the truth."
Davey made an exasperated sound. "Race, I've already told you a dozen times that there's nothing going on between me and Sadie."
"Yeah, but that was then," Race waved his hand dismissively. "What about now?"
"I wasn't lying before," Davey asserted, but Race didn't miss the slight flicker in his expression.
"Never said you was lyin' before. I'm askin' how you's feelin' about her at the moment."
"And what makes you think my answer's any different?" came the deflection.
Race smirked. "The fact that you ain't willin' to look me in the eye right now."
Davey opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't seem to come up with the words, and Race watched in amusement as the other newsie struggled to formulate an adequate answer.
"That doesn't mean anything," he managed finally. "And it's none of your business. If you're really trying to be a pal, you should stop prying and stop trying to bait me. Friends don't do that to each other."
"Friends who's newsies do," Race quipped cheerfully. "But seein' as you's about to get your trousers in a twist, I'll ease up." He gave Davey a cheeky grin. "If I find out you was bluffin' this whole time, though, I ain't ever lettin' you hear the end of - "
"Hey, Jacobs!" Oscar Delancey yelled from the window. "You buying or trespassing? Stop holding up the line!"
Scowling at Race, Davey hurried forward to pay for his papers, walking off immediately afterwards in the direction of his usual selling spot without so much as a glance in Race's direction.
"Looks like you're an equal-opportunity pain-in-the-rear, Higgins," Oscar sneered as Race stepped up to the window. "Even your so-called friends can't stand you."
"I'll take eighty-five," Race said curtly, refusing to respond to the barb as he shoved his money forward.
"And I have to say, I don't know what's more laughable," Oscar continued, sweeping the coins off of the counter and into his palm. "A slacker like you trying to lead these gutterpups when Kelly's not around, or the thought of a bumbler like Jacobs tryin' to win over a girl." He set a stack of papers down on the counter.
"Ah, we's nothin' compared to how laughable you is, listenin' in on other folks' conversations 'cause you ain't got no friends of your own," Race retorted, unable to check his irritated response. "You's pathetic, Oscar, you know that?" He grabbed his allotment of papers, inclining his head towards the tin cup he saw sitting on the counter. "Try not to curdle the coffee with that face of yours, huh?"
He could feel the baleful glare of the Delancey brother on his back as he walked away, but he could care less at the moment. It had been a while since he'd snarked back at the brute, and it felt good to do so, even if he knew that he had to tread carefully.
Shoving his papers into his newsboy bag, Race walked down the street, thinking he'd head uptown to sell that day. It wasn't one of his usual routes, but he had a good feeling about it, so hopefully it meant that he'd have a streak of luck moving his papers today.
At the rate things were going, he and the newsies needed all of the help they could get.
A/N: Please review if you have a moment - it would mean a lot to hear from you, even if it's just a few words. Thank you! :) There will be some (very) good news coming in the next chapter, so stay tuned!
