𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

Isn't that Lying?

Jack led me to a large gate, skipping past the long line of newsies, none of whom protested. My brother stopped in front of the closed gates, his hand on my shoulder. We waited there in silence, listening the the chatter of the other boys. After a few minutes, the giant gates finally swung open and the newsies started piling in, Jack and I at the lead.

My brother walked up a small ramp and to a window, which had bars over it and a shutter behind it. Jack gave me a cheeky smirk before leaning on the counter and tapping his knuckle lightly on the shutter. "Aye, Weasel." He said softly. "Weeeeasel." When no reply came, Jack just sighed and turned around, hitting a bell that was hung next to the window.

"Hold your horses!" A voice boomed from inside. "I'm comin. I'm comin." The shutters opened to reveal a rounded man with a stubbly beard and a small hat. He held a cigarette in between his fingers. Behind the man stood two boys, each with black hair tucked under their hats. One looked older, but it was clear that they were brothers. It was also clear that they didn't like Jack, seeing as how they were glaring at my brother.

"How you doin, Weasel? You miss me?" Jack asked, leaning on the small counter outside the window as he snatched a paper, scanning it.

"It's Wiesel. Mr Wiesel to you." The man said, pointing a finger at Jack before sticking his cigarette between his lips. "How many?"

Jack was quiet before he slammed the paper into the counter, along with what looked to be seventy-five cents. "A hundred fifty."

Weasel scrunched his face up in confusion. "Why so many, Jack? Trying to save up for college?" The boys behind Weasel snickered at their boss's comment.

I felt as anger built up inside of me. I wanted to lash out at them, and I expected Jack to, but to my surprise, he just kept a neutral tone. "Nah. Fifty of dem are for my sista here." He clapped a hand onto my shoulder, giving Weasel a cheeky grin.

"Oh great. Another Kelly." Weasel said before turning to the boys. "Hundred and fifty for da Kellys."

One of the brothers slammed two stacks onto the counter and Jack took one before walking in the opposite direction, down a small flight of stairs. I grabbed the other stack and followed him down. He led us out of the gates and down the sidewalk. We stopped in a place that looked like a boxing ring, with a ton of people around watching the fight.

"So, listen Tate." Jack said, leaning over to me. He pointed to a headline that read 'New Couple at Pulitzer Party'. "You see that?" I nodded and Jack gave me a smile before turning to the crowd. "Extra! Extra! Spies spotted at the Woyld! Extra! Extra!"

From that alone, Jack sold eight papes, getting a good ten cents out of it. I stared at my brother in disbelief. "J-Jack...isn't that lying, though? I mean, that wasn't the headline." I stammered as he looked back at me.

"It's not lyin, little sista. It's just bending the truth a little bit. I do the work that the reportas don't." Jack stuck out his hand, ushering me along. "Your turn."

I sighed as skimmed through the paper before I spotted a headline that I thought I could work with. "Extra! Extra! UFO spotted crashing in Central Park! Extra! Extra!" I handed out nine papes before heading back to Jack, smiling proudly.

My brother looked at me confused before looking down at his open paper. "Whats did you use?"

"Page four." I said, pointing to a small box in the corner.

Jack chuckled softly as he read the headline out loud. "Flying Disk Caught in Tree; Fire Department Called. Nice going, Tate." My brother folded his newspaper and tucked it back into his bag before placing a hand on my shoulder. "Yous are a natural. Keep dis up and yous might be sellin more papes den me."

I laughed softly, rolling my eyes. "As if that's possible. You've been doing this for a long time."

"And wit me as your teacher, you'll get caught right up ta me. Now, come on; we've got papes to sell."

Jack and I spent the next hour or two wandering around New York, blurring out made up headlines and selling our papers to anyone who was dumb enough to fall for our lies. Before I knew it, the two of us sold our final newspapers and were heading back to the lodging house. We walked in silence for a while, but it was nice.

As we rounded a corner, I smacked right into someone. Lifting my head, I saw it was the brothers I had seen at the distribution center this morning. The one I had ran into was slightly taller than his brother, with a hint of a mustache growing above his upper lip. Unlike his brother, who held a neutral expression, he was glaring daggers at me.

"Oscar." Jack said softly to the one brother before looking to the one in front of me. "Morris. Lovely day isn't it?"

"Snyder's looking for you, Kelly." Oscar said, bitterness clear in his tone. You didn't have to have any background knowledge to be able to tell how much the brothers hated Jack, and how much he hated them. Oscar looked over at me. "And your brat of a sister."

"Hey." My brother said sternly, taking a step forwards and getting in Oscar's face while pushing me slightly behind him. "Don't talk about my sister like dat."

Morris chuckled, which sent chills up my spine. "You gonna do something about it, Kelly? Cause one wrong move and we put both of yous back in the Refuge."

"What could be classified as a wrong move? This?" With that, Jack swung at Oscar, hitting him right in the jaw. The brother stumbled back in shock, clutching his face while Morris advanced on Jack.

"You really asking for a soaking, aren't you?" Oscar growled while grabbing Jack, trying to tackle him to the ground.

"Tate! Run!" My brother screamed at me.

With no hesitation, I turned and booked it in the other direction. I could hear the sound of footsteps following me, most likely being Morris, but I ignored them and kept on running.

Word Clarification:
Den = then
Wit = with
Ta = to
Dis = this

Author's Note
I just wanted to give a quick shoutout to aislingkiley for helping me out when I was absolutely stuck thinking of newspaper headlines.

Word Count: 1077