A Different Path

Chapter 1 - Discovery

"Hey hey hey," I said, putting my hands out to try and calm him. "I ain't gonna hurt you," I said with a slight smile, but he didn't relax one bit. As I got closer I knelt down in front of him, not saying a word.

"I don't have any money," he finally spoke, his voice shaky.

"I'm not here for money, I came to help," I kept smiling as I spoke, and I could tell the boy was studying me closely, trying to decide to trust me or not. "C'mon, I'll help you up," I said, standing a bit. He flinched away before I even touched him, though, still very clearly terrified.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked, and as I looked at him, I got reminded of my younger self, making my heart ache a little. I refused to let it show, however, still only smiling at him.

"How about we get to know each other first then, hm?" I sat down all the way rather than kneeling, and the boy stayed put, not moving any closer to me. "I'm Jack Kelley, I run the Manhattan Newsies." I said, and I could see him already begin to calm down. "You?"

"I-" He hesitated for a moment, looking away before looking back at me. "I dunno my name," he said, sounding like he was questioning what he was saying.

"Then we can get you a nickname." I said kindly, and he once again relaxed a bit more. "You work anywhere?"

"I shine shoes when I can," he said, finally relaxing all the way.

"How's your leg?" I asked, motioning to his clearly damaged right foot.

"I uh, I can't really use it," he said, starting at his foot as he spoke.

"Then I'll help you walk, alright?" I said, getting up again. "C'mon," I put my hand out and he slowly took it, still doubting my intentions. "We can go at your pace." I put his arm around my shoulders and helped him to stand, acting as a sort of crutch for him. As we walked it was obvious he was hurting real bad, but that didn't stop him at any point.

As we got to my 'penthouse' I helped him to sit on the opposite side, handing him the extra blanket I had. He took it from me slowly, avoiding eye contact as he did so. He was still clearly scared of me, so I tried to keep my distance in order to not scare him any further.

"You can stay with me til' you're back on your feet," I said to him, smiling. "Now, get some sleep." I laid down on my side, and the boy was silent as he did the same. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

Charlie's POV

I laid awake for a while, feeling confused about all that had just happened. I was waiting for this kid to get up and start hitting me at any moment, but he didn't. I had actually seen him a few times, but he never saw me, as he was always with some other kids whenever I saw him. I never found out his name, however, so learning it felt sort of odd for some reason. I felt a little guilty lying to him and saying I didn't know my own name, but I felt like if I said that, it'd help me get a fresh start here. I could start selling papes and no one would know who I was. Finally, after a long while I was able to fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling a bit confused, but quickly remembering the previous night. I sat up and looked around, not seeing Jack anywhere. I decided to take the time to check out my foot, wanting to see how bad it was. I began to take my shoe off slowly, as it was extremely painful to move my foot, so I tried to be as gentle as I could. Once it was off I rolled up my pant leg a bit and took my sock off, just as slowly as before.

I felt my stomach drop as I saw that there was no part of my foot that wasn't bruised, and it looked disgusting. It was purple and red all over, a few small scabs here and there. I tried to move it and immediately had to clench my jaw from the pain, a bit upset that it didn't feel any better. After I calmed down a bit I slowly put my sock and shoe back on, once again looking around.

I wasn't sure if I should stay or not, but I knew I wouldn't be able to walk on my own, so I didn't have many options. In fact, I didn't have any options whatsoever. I knew I would have to stay put and just wait to get better.

I spent the day in and out of sleep, not realizing how tired I was. Evetually I heard the ladder begin to shake an realized Jack was climbing up, and my heart began to pound. I was terrified that he'd be mad that I was still here, but as he got to the top, he smiled at me rather than immediately hitting me.

"Hey! How're you feeling?" He asked, catching me off guard.

"Uh- I'm good," I mumbled, my voice shakier than I expected.

"Here," he threw me a piece of bread and began to eat the other piece, however I just stared at it in my hands, not moving. "You gonna eat?" Jack asked, laughing a little.

"This is for me?" I asked, and I saw Jack realize I was still quite afraid of him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't let you starve," he said with a smile, sitting down near me.

"Thanks," I said as I kept my eyes off him, slowly beginning to eat.

"So, tell me about yourself."

"Hm?" I was once again caught off guard by him, not sure where to begin.

"How long you been in New York?" He asked, nearly done with his food.

"My whole life," was all I said back, continuing to look down.

"You got any folks?" I looked up at him now, and he smiled kindly at me.

"No, no I don't." I answered quietly, unable to keep eye contact with him for long.

"How long your foot been giving you trouble?" He asked as he pointed to my leg, making me look at it.

"A while, but I could still use it a little up until a few weeks ago," I continued to mumble as I talked to him, starting to feel less afraid of him.

"I have some guys gettin' you a crutch," he said, and I quickly looked up at him.

"What?"

"I sent out a few of 'em to get a crutch for you," he repeated, smiling again. "You're gonna need it," he finished, and I nodded.

"Oh, thanks," I looked down for what felt like the millionth time, finally finishing my food.

"You're real shy, huh?" Jack joked, making me laugh a little.

"I guess," I said as I smiled at him.

"Hey! Jack!" Someone yelled from below, making Jack get up and lean over the railing. "Got one!"

"Great! Toss it up!" Jack yelled back, and a few seconds later he turned to me with a wooden crutch in his hand. He walked over to me and tried to hand it to me, but I instinctively flinched back from him, terrified he was going to hit me. "I ain't gonna hurt you," he spoke kindly, kneeling down. "Here," he said as he once again held the crutch out to me, smiling.

"Sorry," I said as I took it, my face burning from embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," Jack said with a smile, helping me to stand. "Let's get you walkin'."

We worked for a while until I was finally able to use it with almost no trouble, and by then, night had fallen. We were both tired at this point and wasted no time heading to bed, and I couldn't help but smile as I fell asleep, enjoying Jack's company.

(word count - 2075)