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

Part 18

The three arrived back at the gates. The boys looked up and saw their expressions.

“No luck, huh, Dave?” Race asked. Davey saw Crutchie give him a glare. He gulped and shook his head. The others moaned.

“She’s gone, ain’t she?” Albert stated. Racetrack looked at him and put his arms around Albert’s shoulders from behind. The newsies got what they feared: Lizzy is gone.

If she don’t want to be found, she ain’t gonna be found, Crutchie thought bitterly. He was still so upset of what happened back at the theater. He knew these thoughts were from his broken heart, but he couldn’t help but continue to think these thoughts.

“Ise thought we did find her, David?” Les asked. Davey shot a look at him.

“LESTER!” Crutchie barked. Les jumped behind Davey.

He sighed, “Les is right, we found her,” he said. The guys looked excited, but mostly shocked at the way Crutchie snapped at Les. Les was still young, so, he didn’t really know better.

“DAVID!” Crutchie barked again.

“LOOK! She may not want to be found, but we want to know that she's okay,” Davey snapped back. Specs and Jojo motioned for Les to come to them, unsure of what was about to go down. Les ran to them, Jojo and Specs each putting an arm around him.

“So, what?! She ran! She ran, Dave! D'ya know what dat means, Mista Smarty-Pants?” he yelled at him. It was hard for Crutchie to get into Davey's face, being six inches shorter than him.

“It means she was scared! Probably more than we could ever comprehend! And what happened to family having each others back, Gimp Leg?” Davey yelled.

The group knew that Davey and Crutchie wouldn't be yelling at each other, and Davey would never say something like to Crutchie.

“Neck Tie!”

“Dirt-Face!”

“Snot Nose!”

“Crip!”

The two boys lunged at each other. Despite having one good leg, Crutchie could fight very well. Their fists were flying at each other and kicking one another. Les buried his hands into face and turned towards to Jojo, who embraced him.

Elmer, Finch, Henry, and Romeo jumped up and ran to them. Elmer and Henry dragged Crutchie away, Elmer putting his arms around Crutchie's chest from behind and Henry grabbing his fallen crutch. Finch and Romeo had to work together to drag Davey away.

“Now listen! Wes ain't gettin’ nowhere with youse two fightin’! Wes either fix this or wes get torn apart! And that ain't gonna help us get Lizzy back!” Albert said. Davey wiped the blood from his lip and Crutchie rubbed his bruised cheek.

“Wes gonna leave ya two he-ah until youse figure this out,” Specs said. Jojo took Les’ hand and the group left the gates. Davey walked up to Crutchie.

“I know I crossed that line, but, I just wish you could have some faith, Crutch,” he said.

“What faith can Ise get from this? Lizzy is….”

“She ain't gone. If she's anything like the girl we know, she'll bounce back, right?”

Crutchie kicked the ground, then looked up at Davey.

“So, wes good, David?” he asked. Davey, reluctantly, spat in his hand and held it out to Crutchie. Crutchie copied him, and the two shook.

“Wes know she's at Medda's, so what if wes do somethin’ ‘bout dat?” Crutchie suggested. Davey looked at him for a further explanation. Crutchie explained to him his plan.

“This just might work,” Davey said, grinning.

(A/N: Shout-out to Disney_Fan_ for being the closest to guess why I had the Brooklyn GIF! So, yes, Brooklyn will make an appearance later on in the story! Stay gold, y'all!)