To Be a Newsie

Chapter Five: The Fort Lifestyle Comes Crashing Down (with some other details)

Chapter Five: The Fort Lifestyle Comes Crashing Down (with some other details)

    Despite the chaos raging in the house, the fort was going stronger than ever. Kenny and Race had adopted Albert, Jojo, Henry, and Crutchie into the Fort Lifestyle™, and they were flourishing. The fort had expanded to take up the entire first floor, minus a path from the front door to the stairs and most of the kitchen so that David could still make them food (because at the end of the day food takes priority when you're a Newsie). Of course, the four new additions were also donning onesies because you weren't allowed inside the fort without one. Henry was wearing a lion onesie and was stalking Jojo silently due to the fact that the latter was wearing a giraffe onesie. Albert had a lamb onesie, because his favorite thing to eat had always been a leg of lamb, and Crutchie was enjoying using his flamingo onesie as the reason for why he was only standing on one leg rather than the actual reason of his childhood bout of polio.

    David was actually cooking dinner, and was succeeding unlike Jojo with his terrible cookie making skills. It was a bit hectic, working amongst the chanting from the twins and Les in the basement, the occasional laughter from those in the fort, the quiet chatter of Jack and Elmer as they sat on the stairs, the quiet sobs from Spot in his corner, and the miscellaneous yelling from all of the other Newsies outside doing God knows what, but he managed to finish cooking before realizing he needed to accomplish the hardest task of all -- rounding everyone up for dinner. David sighed as he neared the fort, bending down to the makeshift door that Kenny had constructed.

    "Kids dinner's ready! Stop being so immature! And come out we need to have a talk!"He said, officially done with the Fort Lifestyle™.

    "What's the password?" Albert asked cockily, poking his head through the door and smirking up at David. This caused Kenny, Race, Crutchie, Jojo, and Henry to burst into hysterical laughter, rolling around on the floor -- jumping around on the cushions in the case of the latter two. This carried on for quite some time, until the inevitable happened.

    The fort filled with gasps as one of the walls came crashing down on top of Henry, who had jumped too far and launched himself into it. Kenny and Race looked at each other in disbelief, mild annoyance, and mild humor. Crutchie looked as if his heart had been torn out and stomped on in front of him. Jojo had murder in his eyes. Albert was still smirking up at David, unfazed by the destruction of their masterpiece.

    Suddenly dinner was forgotten, chaos ensuing after the abrupt ending of the Fort Lifestyle™. The house was suddenly filled with Crutchie's crying, his screams of  "HENRY KILLED FORTIE!" ringing out every so often. Jojo had sprung up and ran into the kitchen, destroying the fort even further, grabbed a small frying pan and began chasing Henry around the first floor. Albert and Race, because the fort was officially dead and they could do whatever they wanted, replaced all of the couch cushions and began jumping from couch to couch, the two of them screaming "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" over and over again at the top of their lungs, egging Jojo and Henry on. Kenny had started to collect the blankets and pillows, depositing them on the beds of the Newsies they belonged to. David, completely giving up on restoring peace to those who had been involved in the Fort Lifestyle™, began distributing dinner to the other Newsies. Spot continued to cry in the corner, not caring that the fort had partly collapsed on top of him.

    Elmer and Jack continued their conversation on the stairs, ignoring the chaos unfolding around them.

    "What's your biggest fear?" Elmer asked the older boy, actually curious about the answer. Jack, in the eyes of the others, was completely fearless (except for when it came to Kenny and her safety but that one was a given so it didn't count).

"Being forgotten," Jack answered with a sigh. "Like, if I died tomorrow, in a few years would anyone remember me?" He had a forlorn look on his face. Elmer looked away for a moment before continuing the conversation.

"Wow. Now that makes my fear kinda sound stupid. I'm scared of the Kool-Aid man," he shuddered at the thought of the giant pitcher filled with red liquid, the "Oh Yeah!" from the advertisements echoing menacingly in his head.

Just then Katherine bursts through the front door. "HONEY, I'M HOOOME!" she shouted before taking in her surroundings. Taking in the blankets and pillows all over the place, the antics of Jojo, Henry, Albert, Race, and Crutchie, Spot crying in the corner, Jack and Elmer on the stairs, half of the Newsies eating, Les and the twins missing, and David's red, agitated, fed up face, Katherine slowly backs out of the door. As soon as she was on the stoop, she turned around and slammed it behind her. Jack and Elmer watched as she sprinted away from the house. They didn't blame her.

Because nobody wanted to even try to calm Davey down when he was as visually angry as he appeared in that moment.