Newsie Baby (A Spot Conlon Love Story)

Chapter 9: Goodbye, Spot...

*Leslie’s POV*

I swept the floors of the orphanage. As usual, the girls were around busy at work, arguing with each other every now and then. Every time I finished sweeping a spot, a girl would come from outside and track more dirt and dust onto the floor. I thought about the newsies as I swept. I hadn’t seen anything in the papers about the rally. I hadn’t seen anything about Jack’s arrest even though I was sure he had gotten sent back to the refuge. I stopped sweeping and sank down to the floor. I took out Spot’s key from my blouse and played with it in my hands. I was worried about him. I hoped the cops hadn’t gone and beat him up anyway even though I went everywhere quietly. I saw a shadow cast over me and looked up. It was Jennifer who was only a little younger than me.

“What?” I spat at her.

“What’s that ya got in your hands, huh?” she asked with a smirk.

“None of ya business.”

She dove down to me and wrestled me for the key. I was a much tougher fighter than she was and she found that out really quickly. I had her pinned to the ground in seconds. I crowd of girls had gathered around us. Jennifer was struggling under me. Ms. Nicholas walked into the room after hearing all the commotion. She pulled me off of Jennifer and had us both stand there straight.

“What is going on?” she said, “Do you always have to cause trouble?”

“It wasn’t my fault,” I admitted, “She started it.”

“Ms. Nicholas,” Jennifer said in her sweetest victim voice, “Leslie has a key around her neck. I tried to look at it and she just went crazy.”

Ms. Nicholas’s gaze went down to the key dangling around my neck. She grabbed it pulling me closer by the chain. She examined it then stared deep into my eyes menacingly.

“Whose key is this?” she asked me. 

“It’s no one’s key,” I lied.

“Whose house does it open?”

“I don’t open no one’s house. It’s just a key.”

“Who gave it to you? One of those newsies? I would think so. They wouldn’t keep you around unless you were doing something for them.”

“Shut up! It’s no one’s key! Just let it go!”

She slapped me hard across the face. “Don’t you dare yell at me! Now go to your room now! You won’t have anything to eat for the rest of the night! You better hope the rats have extra crumbs.”

She pushed me towards the stairs. I felt all the girls’ eyes on me. I stared at Ms. Nicholas ready to jump on her, scream at her, call her every rotten name in the book.

“You wouldn’t want me calling the police now would you?” she threatened, “I heard their already on call in Brooklyn.”

I looked away from her and ran up the stairs. I went to my room and slammed the door shut. I sank down to the floor trying not to let the tears go that threatened to fall down my face. I wasn’t going to let her break me. She couldn’t break me. She couldn’t keep threatening me with the police hurting Spot. Soon she would forget about it and I would just go back to what I was used to. I held Spot’s key in my fingers remembering the night he gave it to me. I remember how the lanterns had made his pale blue eyes light up. I remembered how his hand felt in mine and how he told me not to tell anyone that he liked to watch the lanterns at night. Suddenly, there was a tap on my window. I looked over at the window. There was another tap. I stood up and went to the window that had bars on the other side of the screen. I opened it. Sitting on the fire escape was Spot. 

“Spot, what are you doin’ here?” I said.

“I told you I like playin’ the hero or somethin’,” he said.

“You shouldn’t be here. You could go to jail for this.”

“Yeah, I know. But I decided it would be worse to have you trapped in here. So come on, I’m bustin’ you out.”

I looked behind me at the closed door. I could hear Ms. Nicholas yelling at the other girls who were doing their work. I looked back at Spot. I saw in his eyes a boy that didn’t have anyone. A boy who had lost everything and managed to take care of himself. I saw a boy who had become rough and tough because he had to, but I also saw a boy who had a sweet side that no one could ever know. And I saw a boy who was free. More free and safe than I would ever be and he was willing to give all of it up for me. And I wasn’t going to let him.

“Get outta here Spot,” I said, my voice emotionless.

“What?” he said, looking confused.

“Get outta here. I don’t want you saving me. I don’t want anyone saving me.”

“Les, what are you talking about?”

“Don’t call me Les. My name is Leslie and I’m stuck here ‘til I’m 18 but your free to do whatever ya want so don’t come back here.”

“What’s da matter wit you?”

“I ain’t got no body alright. You got every newsie in Brooklyn on your side. Ya ain’t never gonna be alone. I’ll always be alone. I tried to act like I could be a girl wit you, but I can’t.”

“Ya know how I feel about ya Les.”

“Do I? You never told me. Ya just assumed I knew but I don’t, Spot. I really don’t know. Ya won’t even tell me your story or how you ended up on the streets. Ya said ya trusted me, but ya don’t. So I don’t trust you either. I don’t even know what trust is. If ya want to help someone, help Jack. You need him more than ya need me.”

“Leslie…”

“Goodbye, Spot.”

I closed the window on him. He stared at me through the window. He looked like he wanted to breakdown, but he didn’t. He put his hands through the bars and on the window, ready to force it open and I knew he could. Instead he let his hands drop, his eyes close, and he jumped off the fire escape and ran away. 

I put my hand on the window where his had just been and watched him run down the alley and away from me. “Spot…” I whispered feeling my heart break.

For the first time since I was a little girl, I broke down and cried letting my hand slide down the window as I crumpled to the floor.