Humbling Spot Conlon (A Spot Conlon Love Story)

Ch. 11: We Beat 'Em!

Relief washed over me. Crutchy was okay and would hopefully stay that way. Snyder was gone. I practically tackled Crutchy while hugging him. He stumbled a little but hugged me back.

"Next time ya hear someone callin' out yer name, react sooner." I told him and pulled him in for another hug.

As they drove Snyder away lots of boys pounded on the wagon. I cheered.

The sad girl watched the wagon and I saw a tear fall down her cheek. Crutchy sympathetically put his free arm around her. Who the heck was this girl?

"I should go, I'll see you later, Crutchy." She hugged him then walked through the crowd. Crutchy sadly watched her leave.

"Who was that?" I asked him.

"Her name is Lydia Snyder. She's the daughter o' the warden," He explained. I was about to ask him why he was hugging her but Jack came over.

"Ah, Jack, you oughta have seen it." Crutchy explained excitedly to Jack, "He comes stormin' into da refuge, wavin' his walkin' stick like a sword, and he's leadin' an army of lawyers and cops-"

"Who comes walkin' in?" Jack interrupted.

"You know, your friend. Him." He pointed and I followed his finger to a man in a carriage. "Teddy Roosevelt."

"The governor's very grateful that you brought this problem to his attention." Denton explained. "I said you might need a lift somewhere. He's glad to oblige. Anywhere you want. And this time you ride inside."

"So could he drop me at the train yards?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, if that's what you want." Denton said.

Jack turned to me, "You wanna come ta Santa Fe with me? I did promise."

I looked around at all the boys. I really had wanted to go to Santa Fe. He always made it sound amazing. As I looked around at them, I realized I didn't want to go. I couldn't go. This was my home. I'd made too many friends here in New York. The newsies were my family.

With tears in my eyes, I shook my head. I would miss Jack but I couldn't just leave everyone. "I think I'll pass, thanks." I nodded and gave me a hug. "I'll miss ya, ya big idiot."

I tried to blink away the tears in my eyes as Jack climbed up into Teddy Roosevelt's carriage. I looked around and saw David, Les and Sarah all standing sadly on the side. I went over to them.

"You guys okay?" I asked. Sarah gave me a look with eyes filled with tears. David shrugged. Les looked down at the ground and started to cry. I crouched down and hugged him, letting tears come down my face as well.

I heard bells ringing. Mush, who was leaning on a pole, said, "Try Bottle Alley or da harbor." And walked in through the gates.

"Try Central Park, it's guaranteed," Race added, following.

"Try any banker, bum, or barba," Crutchy said.

"They almost all knows how ta read." Blink continued. We all started to walk in the gates.

"Summer stinks," Boots said.

"And winter's waitin'," Skittery said.

"Welcome to New York." We all said. "Boy, ain't nature fascinatin' when youse gotta walk.?"

I stood behind David at the front of the line. He laid down some money, "Hundred papes," I patted him on the back encouragingly.

Suddenly I heard cheering from outside the gates. I looked around to see Teddy Roosevelt's carriage. None other than Jack was inside. Les ran over along with most of the other newsies. When he climbed out of the carriage I punched him and hugged him.

"So, how's the headline today?" Jack asked David.

"Headlines don't sell papes," David put his hat on, "newsies sell papes."

I saw Sarah making her way through the crowd. When she got to Jack she kissed him. We all cheered and crowded them in a big hug.

I pulled out from the crowd, feeling claustrophobic, and sat down. Spot sat next to me. "I think I'm gonna head back ta Brooklyn. I guess I'll see ya later."

I hugged him around the neck. "See ya soon." I pulled away and his face was red. Then, red face and all, he left.

He got into Teddy Roosevelt's carriage. I was surprised he was let in. We followed after the carriage. Spot waved to everyone smugly. I suppressed a laugh.

Then I headed back to the lodge.

Jack came in after a few minutes. He looked happy. Maybe a bit too happy. "What'd ya do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What d'you mean? I didn't do nothin'." I gave him a knowing look. "What?! I'm bein' serious! Can't I just be happy for once without you questionin' it?"

"Nope," I teased.

I stared at the ground for a moment. "Jack?" I had a question that had been in the back of my mind since the first time we went to Brooklyn. "You know how ta didn't wanna send me ta Brooklyn?

He nodded. "Yeah, I specifically remember you threatenin' ta kick me ta Santa Fe. Then you almost ruined it for us and-"

"Besides the point," I interrupted, "Why did ya suddenly get so protective of me when ya found out I was a girl?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Protective? I wasn't bein' protective. I just wanted to send someone who wouldn't say things like "you think yer so special". Not ta mention you were glarin' at 'im the whole time. Let's be honest, Nicky, yer not so great at flattery." I meant to protest, but I couldn't. It was true.

I suddenly felt like such an idiot. Of course he didn't suddenly become protective. He was Jack. He just knew I could ruin the whole thing for them, and I almost did.

I crossed my arms. "He doesn't need flattery. His head's big enough as it is."

"This is another reason that I didn't want ya comin'. You've got a big mouth for somethin' so small. A big mouth that ya don't know how ta keep shut."

"Sorry if I don't wanna hear him mention that he's the King of Brooklyn every ten seconds. You can imagine how tiring it is."

"Remember, I've known 'im longer than you. I know how tirin' it is," He laughed, "When we were in the papes. The, "where's me picture? where's me picture? where does it say my name?"," He said in an imitation of Spot's voice. I burst out into laughter. Jack seemed to be the only person, aside from myself, who wasn't afraid of Spot. It made for some funny conversations.

"Hey, he ain't too bad though," I admitted, "He can be nice when he ain't bein' so annoyin'ly arrogant."

"Oh?" Jack smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

My face warmed up. Why did that have to be the first assumption when I said something nice about Spot? He would never have this reaction with the Manhattan newsies.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say nothin'."

"I hate you," I told him, kicking him in the shin.

He kept his smirk, chuckling as he pushed me. Then he hugged me. It was a good hug, I squeezed him back. I was glad he didn't leave, I knew what it was like to be without him and it wasn't a good time for me. I didn't want to let him know that though, he would get all smug.