I'll Always Look Out For You

Prologue

Here it is. Where it all begins. One quick reminder: Jack = 9. Louis = 7. Mush = 6 1/2. Charlie = 5. And now you meet Ray (17) and Stargazer (16), my original characters. Enjoy! :)

It is a dark and stormy night.

In the Newsies Lodging House in Manhattan, newsies are counting their pay from the day, playing cards, just talking, or maybe sleeping.

In the main room of the lodging house, four young kids are on the floor, talking to the eldest newsie--their leader, with the owner of the lodge--Kloppman, in the back room not too far away. The kids are Jack, Louis, Mush, and Charlie. All have been here for different lengths of time, but are all really close to each other. The eldest newsie at age 17, Ray, looks after them fondly. He loves young kids. He claims he has no favorites, but he still has a soft spot for little Jack.

"Why can't we play outside?" Charlie asks Ray. 

"It's dark and rainy," Ray tells him. "We wouldn't want you to get sick."

Charlie crosses his arms and pouts. "I'm tough."

Mush pokes him. "No you're not."

"Hey!" Charlie yells.

Jack rolls his eyes.

"Inside voices, everyone," Ray warns them gently. "You wanna know why we're staying inside?"

All of them shake their heads and look up at Ray curiously. 

"It's a dark and stormy night," Ray tells them dramatically. "Night, see? We're all going to bed soon. But guess what else? It's dark and stormy outside. That means that outside, anything could be happening. It's not safe out there! It's best to stay inside. We have no clue what could be out there!"

Suddenly, there's a loud bang on the door. The young kids jump back, closer to Ray, who stands up now, on high alert.

"What is it, Ray?" Mush whispers fearfully.

"Shh." Louis holds Mush's hand. "It's okay. I can protect you!"

"How?"

"I'm older than you."

"Not by that much!"

"Six months IS a lot!"

"Shh," Ray silences their whisper back-and-forth. Jack reaches for Ray's hand. Ray squeezes it. 

Then, cautiously, he leaves the kids in a little huddle,  and walks toward the door. He presses his ear against the door. With his knuckles he gently taps on the door, once, twice, thrice, in a pattern that the kids can't quite catch and don't quite understand. Ray hears a response from the other side of the door. The exact one he was looking for.

He opens the door. 

And in that moment, the leader of the Manhattan newsies and the leader of the Brooklyn newsies, Stargazer, who is soaking wet in the pouring down rain, lock eyes.

And when Ray looks down at what Stargazer is holding, he is looking right at an infant sleeping in his lover's arms.

Ray looks back into Stargazer's eyes, searching for an answer.

"Let me explain," is all Stargazer says.

After Stargazer is dried and wrapped in a warm blanket, cuddling with Ray, with the sleeping child still in his arms, he begins to explain everything; with Jack, Louis, Mush, and Charlie's eyes still wide as moons since he first came in.