New Kid, New Century • A Newsies Fanfic

chapter six.

chapter six.

Davey had barely slept the entire night. Every time he closed his eyes, visions of his dad, lying on the ground, surrounded by blood and covered in wounds, would return to his head.

About seven months ago, Davey and Les's father had gotten into another accident at work. It felt as though their father could never just be safe.

Because a few hours later, he had died from blood loss.

And it seemed like their mother wasn't able to cope with a family portrait that excluded their father. She had been driven into insanity, waking up screaming in the early hours of the morning and carrying around a knife wherever she roamed. She had abused Les and Davey to the point where they would've rather died than have lived with the abuse. They couldn't live like this any longer.

So, about a month after they had lost their father to the cruelty of factory labor, and their mother to the pain of loss, they rose in the early hours of the morning and left.

Now, Davey and Les lived in the lodging house and slept in bunk beds among their fellow newsboys. It wasn't ideal, but they didn't wake up in fear every day.

Moving on, however, was a different story. Somedays, Davey could sleep without the visions of his father and what could've been if he had the strength to go on, and on other days, he would stay up the entire night, too scared that nightmares would flood his dreams and scare him awake.

His life felt hopeless, but at least he and Les were still alive and well.

Davey was sitting on the edge of his bunk, his feet dangling over the side. His head was resting on his fist. He had given up on attempting to sleep a while back, and had been lingering here, lost in the circus of his mind, ever since then.

His thoughts kept trailing back to the newsie he had met the day before. What was his name.. Grayson, right? Yeah, that was it. Grayson Matthews.

He had really liked that kid. He'd had a lot of attitude and personality, and it honestly amazed Davey to think that was his first time selling papes.

Not to mention, Grayson was also nice. Davey has thought that he would've been rude, based on the way that he had acted towards Mr. Wiesel.

But then again, who didn't act so rudely to that cruel man? Especially since the strike had ended. All of the boys knew about the man's cruel, snake-like nature.

Davey was still thrown off-guard by how nice the boy had been to him.

What he wondered was, why did Grayson suddenly run off like that, no explanation whatsoever?

The morning bell rang, causing Davey to jump and nearly fall off of the bunk bed. The bunk squeaked, the sound ringing across the room. Almost all of the newsies groaned and Davey bit down on his lip, trying to hold back laughter. He slipped on his vest and shoes (he had just slept in his previous day's clothes), and then leaped out of the bed. He rushed over to the mirror, brushing his hair back and looking at his face. After deciding it looked presentable enough, he checked his hair, combing through it with his fingers-

Someone had elbowed him in the side. "Ouch," Davey muttered, turning to the culprit. Albert snickered a little.

"You'se so obsessed with lookin' pretty," he laughed, ruffling Davey's hair. Davey lightly smacked Albert's shoulder, a laugh escaping his lips.

Davey threw on his cap over his head of (now messy, thanks to Albert) hair.

A few minutes later, Jack and Crutchie were rushing down the stairs of the lodging house, Crutchie limping behind.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Kelly's!" Exclaimed Race.

Crutchie and Jack both frowned, not quite catching onto what Race was saying. Davey and the other newsies burst into laughter.

"What?"

"Yeah, the Kelly's! You'se two is practically married." Race teased.

Crutchie immediately jumped away from Jack. "N-No no no no no, he's datin' Katherine and there's nothin' like that goin' on between us whatso-"

"Woah, calm down! I'se only jokin'!" Race laughed, a smirk on his face. But he had definitely shocked Crutchie, whose cheeks were developing a bright red glow.

Les ran up to Davey and tapped him on the shoulder. Why's he blushin'?" He asked Davey.

"You mean, Crutchie?" Les nodded. Davey shrugged. "Dunno, ask him."

Les turned to head over to Crutchie but Davey grabbed onto his shoulders. "I'm joking, don't actually do that!" Davey exclaimed, a look of panic on his face.

The sound of ringing in the distance silenced everyone. "You ready ta do this?" Jack asked.

Davey and Les nodded, looking each other in the eye. Every day, Davey had to confirm that Les was okay before they faced the day together. Les was handling the loss of both their mother and father better than Davey was. He was an amazing kid, and Davey wished he could have half of the strength that had been bestowed upon his brother. But he was stuck. He was stuck with memories of the life he had once been gifted. While he was happy, there were so many things he had taken for granted that he wanted back more than anything. He was stuck living in his past; something he wanted back more than anything.

Les had moved on almost immediately. Although Davey knew that Les was still hurting on the inside, Davey wished he had even a bit of Les's courage. It was what he desired most.

And it seemed to be the one thing he couldn't get.