Racetrack Higgins was sitting, his back to an alley wall. He had been selling papers all morning, but stopped when he felt himself overcome with emotions. There was a family going for a Tuesday stroll, and when Race saw them he froze.
The Mother reminded him of his Mother, with her blond curly locks and her big, bright, contagious smile. The blue and purple dress she wore was similar to the last dress he ever saw his own Mother wearing.
The Father looked happy, suited in a pin stripe suit, happily chatting with his wife. He needed a shave, but his cheerfulness made up for his lack of hygiene. The man seemed like the perfect Father; the kind of guy who would never do anything to harm the ones he loved.
Their child looked to be about five, maybe six years of age. She had light brown, very curly hair that shone in the sun, and twinkling eyes. She was skipping in front of her Mother and Father, singing some random song, lifting her dress and jumping over the cracks in the road.
There was just something about this particular family that made his heart ache a great deal, and then he realized it. The woman looked like his Mother, because it was his Mother. His Mother had made a new family. The part that hurt the most was when his Mother walked up to him and bought a paper.
She looked at him like he was any other Newsie. She didn't notice her own Son, standing right in front of her. She had smiled, given him a nickel, then took the paper, giving it to her new Daughter. Race just stood there the entire time, not finding the courage to confront her.
The family had walked away, and Race didn't know what to do. The last time he saw his Mother was what? Four, five years ago? Weren't Mothers supposed to sense when they were near their children?
From there Race had aimlessly walked, in shock, for what felt like an hour, then he made his way to the alley he was currently sitting in.
He heard a shuffling of feet, and was quick to glance up, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw David. David was towards him and looking at him with a concerned face, and was saying something. Race had to tune back into reality to hear what was being said.
"-were looking for you for like an hour! Where were you? You didn't come back, and we started to worry. Do you know what time it is? Why are you just sitting here?"
Race lightly sighed, looking at the ground. He didn't know so many hours had went by, he thought it was only late afternoon, but when he looked around it was dusk.
"Sorry, David. I's didn' know its was dark,"
David sat down beside Race, feeling slightly bad. Race looked to be upset, and he wanted to somehow help him. He wasn't sure how to help, so he offered the only thing he could think of.
"It's okay. You wanna... talk about whatever's going on in your head?"
Races mental battle with himself was brutal. He knew he could ignore David's offer and say everything was fine, or he could talk about what was going on. For some reason Race wanted to talk about what was going on in his mind. He had never had the urge to tell others his feelings before, and he didn't exactly like it, but knew the only way to make it go away was to play into it.
"I's seen a family,"
David paused before answering. He knew this was a touchy subject.
"Oh."
"Yea. There's was this Motha, an' a Fatha, and a lil kid,"
David nodded at Race's words.
"Theys was walkin', and th'Motha looked like mine... an' she came upta me an' bought a pape and give it to her kid,"
