The Boy Who Loved Cigars

11

A couple more days had gone by, and though I still had a bit of a limp, it wasn't nearly as bad as before. "Heya boys," I grinned, walking into the bathroom of the lodging house, taking everyone by surprise. Though some of the guys slept in the same room as me (namely Race, Henry, Romeo, Albert, and Specs), they hadn't seen me up and about yet. The bathroom fell silent as everyone looked at me. I began to get uncomfortable, something that had never happened around the newsies, til Romeo cried out:

"She's back!" The boys all cheered, and Race wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Welcome back, Quick." He murmured, and I laughed lightly.

"Put some clothes on, Racer." I teased, reminding him that he didn't have a shirt on.

"You don't like me betta' shirtless?" He pouted jokingly, and I rolled my eyes with a grin.

"Anybody seen Jack?" I asked, and a chorus of nos sounded through the room. Albert raised a hand.

"Last I heard he was earnin' some money to go to, uh... what's that place he's always talkin' about?"

"Santa Fe." I muttered, praying this didn't mean what I thought-

"Yeah, well anyway, we hadn't heard any word since. Sorry, Quick..." Albert trailed off, putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked around the room anxiously.

"Racer, getcha shirt on, we gotta find Davey."

---

"Davey!" I called, knocking on his family's door. "Davey, Les! Open up, it's Quick!" Instead of Davey or Les, however, an older woman opened the door. I was slightly taken aback, and I think she was, too. It's not everyday a dirty newsie and a ragamuffin girlsie show up at your door. "Oh, gosh, hi. Are you Mrs. Jacobs? I'm so sorry to bother ya, but-"

"Ma'am, we was wonderin' if Davey and Les were here." Race told her politely, stopping my rambling. She looked at us, seemingly realizing we were the boys' friends.

"They are... you must be Y/N! Or... 'Quick', I suppose. I've heard so much about you from my David! And you're the brother, Jack?" She asked, opening the door wider to let us in.

"Oh! No, this is my, um..." I began, not knowing how to finish it. Race and I had agreed to keep our relationship under wraps for the time being, at least until we knew how the strike would end.

"I'm Race," He extended a hand, and I saw that Davey had appeared.

"Quick? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at me in confusion. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Davey, have you seen J-"

"I gotta go." Davey interrupted, headed for the door.

"Davey, w-" It was too late. He was out the door, when Les ran to me.

"Quick! You're up! You're up, that's great!" He exclaimed happily, throwing his tiny arms around my waist.

"Heya kid." I grinned. "Say, youse ain't happened to have seen Jack anywhere, have ya?" Les nodded.

"Yeah, he's meeting with Pulitzer today." He told me nervously. "But you can't tell him I told you! He said if you knew-"

"That I'd try to stop him." I scowled. I looked at Race. "We gotta get him before he does somethin' stupid, Race. Mrs. Jacobs, you mind if I borrow Les for a bit? We gotta catch up to Davey quick." I pleaded.

"Of course, dear. Just be safe please, and make sure that my boys get back in one piece." She laughed nervously, opening the door for us. I took hold of Les' hand and the three of us started for the door.

"Always. Thanks, Mrs. Jacobs!" We raced outside of the apartment building and hurried towards Pulitzer's, but couldn't get in. "Damnit!" I yelled. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Okay, well, there's a rally today, right? Jack's gonna be there, so maybe we should head on early to Medda's." Race offered soothingly, running his hands up and down my forearms. I sighed shakily and nodded. He was right. "Okay?"

"Okay." I sighed.

"It's gonna be okay, Quick." Les told me, squeezing my hand. "Jack's smart, nothing bad'll happen to him." The little boy grinned up at me, and I returned the smile gratefully, hugging him into my side. "Besides," Les looked to Race, "he won't do nothing that would be bad for everybody else! Jack always does what's right."