𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

Proper Introductions

The boy looked around the corner again and slowly turned back to me. "They should be gone now. You lucky Ise was here." When he spoke, his voice was laced with a pretty thick New York accent. As I tired to speak, my words came out as a few mumbles, seeing as the new boy's hand was still over my mouth. "What?" He asked, confused. I quickly glanced down at where his hand was and then back to him. He seemed to understand, for he pulled his hand off and backed up slightly. "Oh, right. Sorry."

"It's alright." I told him, a slightly blush creeping into my cheeks. Oh god, I hope he didn't notice. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem. Sorry for scaring yous; didn't know how else to get yous to follow me. That and I didn't have much time."

The two of us were silent for a few moments as we stood there in awkward silence. Finally, I spoke up. "Why did you help me?"

"Cause I knows how difficult it can be to get away from those guys. If Ise didn't hide you, yous would have been running for another hour. And if yous weren't, you would've been thrown into da Refuge before you coulds even say 'Snyda'." The boy told me as he removed a cigar from his pocket and stuck it in between his teeth. He didn't light it or anything, just chewed on the end of it as he straightened out his newsboy's cap.

"I don't want to go back there." I said softly. "It was terrible. I'm just glad my escape worked this time."

"Yous escaped from the Refuge?" The boy asked, pulling his cigar from his mouth and holding it between his fingers. "And whats you mean this time you escaped? You tried before?"

I nodded as I leaned my back against the brick wall. "My brother and I tried to get out a little while back. About a year ago, I think? Anyways, he made it out while I was thrown back in." I paused and sighed, crossing my arms. "I just...I can't go back after everything I've done to get out."

"Hey, I hear ya." He paused for a minute, his eyes locked on the ground, his hands in his pockets. After a few seconds, he looked up at me and spoke again. "What youse gonna do now that your out? Where ya gonna go?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably try and find my brother, though I have no idea where to even start looking for him. For all I know, he's not even in Manhattan. He could be in Queens or Brooklyn for all I know."

"I could help yous look for him?" He said, but it sounded more like a question, as if he was uncertain about it.

"No, no. It's ok. I'm sure I'll get by on my own."

Just as the boy was about to speak again, the sound of the old clock tower chiming filled they air. It rang a few times before going quiet.

"Well, that would be my cue. Gots to get back before the fellas start to worry bout me." The stranger said, sighing as he rubbed his eyes.

"The fellas?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah. I work for the Woyld, so me and the other Newsies get free lodgin as long as we sell papes." He told me, clearing up all the confusion going on in my head.

"Oh, well I guess I'll see you around then." I told him, a little disappointed to see him go.

"Yeah, guess so. Good luck finding your brotha." He turned, sticking his cigar in his pocket, and started to walk away before stopping. The boy slowly turned on his heel and walked back to me. "I almost forogts to properly introduce myself. I'm Racetrack...Race. Higgins." He said, sticking out his hand as a slight smirk grew on his lips.

I gave him a gentle smile before sticking out my hand and shaking his. His skin was soft, but I could feel the callouses on his fingertips brush against the back of my palm. "I'm Tatum. Tatum Kelly."

Word Count: 694