I Never Planned On You (a Newsies fanfic)

The Secret

Winnie's POV:

I socked Oscar Delancy square in the jaw.  

He reeled backwards, grabbing his jaw and wincing in pain.  A snarky smirk spread across my lips as I poised my bawled fists in front of me, preparing to block Oscar's next move.  

He spat out blood that had formed in his mouth.  An angry expression settled on his ugly face as he charged towards me.  Circled around us, newsboys and Oscar's equally as ugly brother Morris, cheered in excitement.  The newsboys, obviously, were cheering me on, and Morris was supporting his brother.  Though his encouraging words were drowned out by the boys'.  

"Is that all you've got?" I tauned after spinning away from him at the last second.  He crashed into some produce boxes and collapsed onto his knees.  A stream of rich blood poored down his chin and bottom lip as he rose from the small desaster he'd caused.  

Morris joined his side and patted his brother on the back.  Then he frowned and they both turned away, sauntering towards their hole of a home.

Winnie Brehum: 4, Oscar Delancy: 0.

The boys around me cheered even louder, and surrounded me in an enormous, enthusatic hug.  

"Get off 'a me, you sappy babies!" I yelled playfully.  "Thanks for all da help." 

"Eh, we knews ya'd got it," Mush, a cute boy with curly brown hair and smooth tan skin, said.  He ruffed my auburn hair as I bent over to reach for my fallen newsboy cap.

That's right.  I was a newsboy - or, rather, newsgirl.  But the guys and me, and most of Manhattan, called us newsies.  Which we preferred.  

I was the only girl newsie in New York.  Which meant I had to sell twice as many papes as the guys and be three times tougher!  Which I did successfully each and every day.  Most people, however, didn't know I was a girl.  Only the guys and me.  Everyone else, as far as we were concerned, were completely oblivious. 

And it was awesome.  I like having a secret from the rest of the world.  But it also so risky, because the minute Putlizer, the Grand Ol' Stinker as the guys and I call him, found out he had a girl in his paper boys, he'd toss me to the curb!  Heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if he kicked me out of New York!  

But that wouldn't happen.  Though there were some slip-ups and accidental hints dropped around Mr. Wiesel and the Delancy's, they're too stupid to tell a butterfly from a hummingbird.

But man, can they throw punches...

I rubbed my arm, trying to soothe the aching pain.  Though Oscar had retreated and I'd won, he still nicked me a few times.  Nothing big: no broken bones, bleeding, or anything like that; he just barely got me.  Bruises, more like it.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I heard a familiar voice call out.  It belonged to the one and only, Jack "Cowboy" Kelly.  He was the one who found me when I was eleven years old: a starving little girl with a tough personality but a hungry stomach.  He brought me to the Lodging house, though I was a girl, and took care of me like a brother.  

Though...lately...my feelings have sort of been messing with me.  I saw Jack differently than I had when I was younger.  It's hard to explain, but I hadn't felt that way before...towards him.  Every time I felt that "feeling" I'd just shake it off and pretend like it was nothing.  

"What's goin' on 'ere?" he yelled, adjusting his suspenders groggily.  

Everyone went awkwardly silent.

Jack didn't like me to fight.  He'd always instructed me to run away from fights and fears, never to truly face them.  Not that I or he was afraid of the Delancy's, he just didn't want me to get hurt.  The rest of the guys, however, would occasionally slip me good advice on fighting, behind Jack's back.  Like ways to improve my posture when fighting, or how to properly position my hands, correct footwork, and things like that.

"Oh, no," he said.  I could sense he was getting upset.  "Win, youse weren't..."

"Jack," I began defensively.  But he cut me off before I could explain or continue.

"Youse was fightin' again, weren't ya!" he exploded, tossing his arms up in the air.

"Jack, I-"

"WIN!!  HOW MANY TIMES DO I'SE HAVE TA TELL YOUSE!"

"Jack, I-"

He turned to the guys, a disappointed look plastered across his pale face.  "And youse guys just let her do it?!"

They were silent.   Most of them had removed their caps shamefully.

"No one made me do it, Jack," I said, raising my eyebrow angrily.

"You're such a kid!!" 

"Takes one to know one!" I yelled, rolling my eyes.

He stepped forward, towering over my small frame.  His voice dropped uncomfortably to a low whisper.  "Ise took care of youse for four yeers and dis is how youse repay me?  Always spoutin off and fightin'?  Win, you ain't like us.  Youse ain't a guy." 

His words stung like hot charcoals on my bare skin.  They cut deep into my heart and I had to fight back threatening tears.

"But I don't want to run away from fights!"

"But youse shouldn't go lookin' for 'em either!!"

"Jack, when you found me I was a helpless eleven year-old.  I've grown up.  I don't need you protecting me like a mother hen.  I can do things on my own!!"

With a disapproving nod, Jack shook his head and swiftly turned around.   He walked brisky away, his iconic cowboy hat resting on his back.

"UGH!!" I screamed and stopped my foot.  My hands had habitually bawled into fists.  The guys looked at me and put their caps on their hands again.  

One by one, they began to file after Jack.  It was almost six, which meant that the Paper Bell, that's what the guys and I called it, would be ringing any minute.  The guys left until all but Crutchie was left.

I loved Crutchie.  Besides Jack, he was the only other one I considered my blood-brother.  He was the one I could come to anytime and talk about whatever - usually about some bum that was trying to hedge me to get him an additional pape.  

I sighed and turned to Crutchie, his face etched with sympathy.  "Jack didn't mean any of those rings he said, Winnie."  He was the only person  who was allowed to call me by my actual name.  Not that I didn't like it, though I slightly resented it, it's just I liked being one of the guys.  I liked rough-housing and picking fights.

"Yes, he did," I mumbled.  "And he's right."

"Nawh!" he said, playfully punching my arm.  "Ya can't let 'im beat ya!  It's just like youse always say, 'Ya can't leave anyone beat ya down.'"

I smiled at Cructhie.  He could always make me smile.