"We've Got Personality!"-A Crutchie Morris Love Story

Part 6

“Man, today was rough. The headlines ain't interestin’ enough and I'm runnin’ out of ideas!” Romeo complained. The others all muttered in agreement, each adding their own opinion. It was three days after the fire. The newsies all met after their shifts for their usual supper.

“Oh my-what happened to yous guys?” Mush asked. Lizzy and Crutchie came inside. Lizzy was nursing her right arm, had a bruise cheek, her pants ripped at her knees, and had a cut above her right eye. Crutchie was limping a bit worse than usual, a black eye, and his left arm was tied up, were it was easy to see he was cut badly. Specs and Race moved and allowed the two to sit so they could rest.

“These stupid street punks. Makin’ fun of us, ‘cause I's a cripple and Liz is a goil newsie," Crutchie spat. Some of the boys helped to clean them up.

“Thanks,” Lizzy said, sounding depressed.

“Things ain't never gonna look up for us,” Les complained, leaning against Davey, who patted his back. Then, someone walked into the deli and went to join the group.

“Hello, newsies!” Katherine chimed. The group gave her a quiet and glum greeting. Taking note of this, Katherine looked around, her eyes landing in Lizzy, Davey, and Crutchie.

“Wha-what happened? This usually is a really lively bunch,” she observed. No one spoke for a minute.

“Well, Katherine, I'm not sure ya noticed this,” Crutchie mocked. Most of the group looked at him in surprise. Crutchie is usually really polite and rarely ever talks back to someone unless he is really ticked off. “We've been treated like garbage for this past time. Our home was burnt down and wes ain't gonna be moved into a different livin’ space for a while, Liz and I were just soaked, and Jack's off in a hospital bed!” he screamed. It was silent. No one evened breathed.

“So, where have you've been, Miss Pulitzer? Oh, that's right! You’ve been in ya mansion writin’ ya little fairytales!”

“CHARLES! That's enough!” Lizzy shouted back at him. The others were dead quiet. Only when something is really serious a newsies real name is every said.

“Well, he's right,” Katherine said. “The fire is the story I'm working on that my editor assigned me. I actually came here to continue working on it.” The newsies all looked at each other, confused, then looked back at her.

“What do ya need us for?” Albert asked.

“I need to interview four of you. I already interviewed my father, a doctor, and one other newsie over in Brooklyn,” she said.

“Who are they?” Lizzy asked.

“Um, Elizabeth Kelly, Charles Morris, David Jacobs, Antonio Higgins, and Spot Conlon is the one over in Brooklyn,” she said. “I, uh, was supposed to interview six newsies. The other one was Jack, but,” she cut herself off. It was silent for a few minutes, with only the sound of glasses clinking against the tables, until someone spoke up.

“And the doc?” It was Davey. The group eyes him oddly. Since the fire, Davey's been really quiet. He barely ever spoke. You only heard his voice when he was selling papes.

“Well, the doctor is the one who patched up your leg and is now taking care of Jack. I, um, actually stopped by already before I came here,” Katherine said. Everyone’ attention was completely on her.

“How's he doin’?” Race asked. Jack was the father of the group, always looking after everyone.

“He's still unconscious, but it's because he has a concussion. From what the doc says, a nasty one at that. His right arm is broken at the wrist, including it being bruised, cut, and burned severely. He said that the cuts, burns, and bruises should be gone within a few weeks, but it'll be a long road of recovery to be able to use it again,” she said. No one spoke, taking in the information Katherine gave them. Lizzy was silently crying. Crutchie saw and put his arm around her.

“Is there anythin’ else, Kath?” he asked. Katherine looked at him then down at her hands. Everyone knew she had something that she did not want to tell them.

“Well...the doc said that if Jack doesn't recover from his concussion...if he doesn't wake up from it...they'll have to...cut him off,” she told them. The newsies all had tears in their eyes and some were silently crying. Breaking the silence, Davey got off the table he was sitting on and marched out the door, leaving it with a slam.

“What's his deal?” Henry asked. Some looked to Les, but all he did was shrug. Lizzy sighed and said “I'll go talk ta him,” and left out the door.