𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

Qutting Time?

Later that day, we were all gathered in Jacobi's. The newsies were scattered across the restaurant, sitting silently, thinking over the events of the day. I was leaning against race, my head resting against his shoulder and our hands clasped under the table. We had decided it would be best if we didn't act all "coupley" in front of the fellas; they would make a big deal about it. So, things like holding hands and kissing was only done in private. Right now however, I really needed the comfort.

"So, Pockets." I heard a boy say. Looking over, I saw it was Mush who had spoken. "Did yous really not know any of dat stuff? I mean, yous looked pretty shocked when Snyder was sayin all of it." A few other newsies nodded, wanting to know the answer.

I sighed and lifted my head, shaking it slightly. "All my life, Jack told me that my name was Tatum Kelly. He told me our parents were out west, looking for Santa Fe." I fell silent, looking down at my lap as I tried to hold back my tears. "That lie hurt the most; that he kept the fact that our parents are..."

I trailed off as I choked back a sob. Immediately, Race wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his side. He rested a hand on the back of my head as I buried my face into the crook of his neck. I could feel the curly Aires boy shake his head, signaling the boys not to ask anymore questions.

When I finally gathered myself, I lifted my head up and smiled slightly at Race. "Thank you." I said softly.

Racetrack just smiled back. He was silent for a while, examining me, before he sighed. "Let fix this now, shall we?" He reached up and removed my cap, which my hair was still tucked into. My brown locks fell down to a little past my shoulders, pretty frizzy due to hat hair. "That's better."

Just then, the bells on the door chimes as I saw Denton walk into the deli. He wasn't wearing his usual smile, which concerned me. The newsies greeted him before Davey stepped forwards.

"Why didn't the Sun print the story?" He asked. I knew he was talking about the rally; seeing as how everything went, that would have been great publicity for the strike.

"Because it never happened." The reporter replied defeatedly.

Race tensed up beside me. "What do you mean it never happened? You were there!"

"You wrote it!" Kid Blink added.

Denton just shrugged, the same worn and sad look on his face. "It's not in the papers, it never happened. The owners decreed it not to be in the papers. Therefore...I came to tell you fellas goodbye."

Davey looked shocked by Denton's news. "What happened? Did you get fired or something?"

The man shook his head. "No, I got reassigned back to my old job as the Sun's ace war correspondent. They want me to leave right away. The owner thinks I should only cover the really important stories. Wish me luck, fellas. At least half of what I wish for you. They don't always fire. I would be blackballed from every newspaper in the country. I'm a newspaper man. I have to have a paper to write for." He paused before he reached into his brazier pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it over to me, giving me a sorry look. "This is the story I wrote about the rally. I want you to read it at least." With that, he walked towards the door. He pulled out some money along the way and handed it to the clerk. "This should cover it." At last, the man disappeared out the door.

Sighing, I stood slowly, crumpling the folded paper in my hand. I squeezed it tightly before tossing it on the table and walking towards the door.

"Pockets, where ya goin?" I heard Kid Blink say from behind me. "What about the strike?"

I don't know what came over me, but I got frustrated; stressed about the events of the day. I spun around and faced the newsboys, who had all turned to look at me. I guess since Jack was gone, I had stepped up to fill his shoes. "What strike? If you hadn't realized, we're done. Caput."

"So what?" Davey asked, shocked at what I was saying. I knew nobody expected these word to leave my mouth, especially him; ever since day one, I had been all for the strike. Until now. This was the last straw. "You just quitting?"

"Yes, Dave." I said bitterly, stepping closer to the walking mouth. "That is what I'm doing. We can't win. It's impossible at this point. Without Denton, without publicity, we are nothing. No one will hear us. And we can't even get a single word in the papers about our strike thanks to Pulitzer." I paused, starting to walk backwards towards the door. "It's over, Davey. It's time you came back to reality and realized that. We lost." I said softly, my voice barely audible in the quiet deli. With that said, I turned and left the restaurant, the bells on the door chiming behind me.

Word Count: 883