Elmer's Book

The Journal

Elmer always went for a walk when he finished selling. It was a good way to clear his head, it made him feel free, and why be outside and not see anything? There was quite a lot to see in New York City, a lot of lost items, and nothing ever caught his eye. One day when he was walking past the river, he found an old journal beside it. He carefully picked it up and started flipping through it, hoping to find something interesting. He was a bit disappointed when he realized it was empty, but he decided to keep it for himself. He put it in his bag and continued his walk.

When he arrived at the lodging house, Elmer immediately ran to the bunks. He grabbed a pen and pulled out the journal. He didn't know what he wanted to write about, but he'd figure something out. As he flipped through the pages, he saw it was no longer empty. 

Across the top of each page, a name was written. Jack, Katherine, Race... Everyone was there. The only name missing was his own.

He turned back to the first page, Jack's, and tried writing something. The pen did work, but everything he wrote faded away instantly. He tried another page, then another... Nothing worked. Suddenly, a word started appearing, even though he wasn't writing. It was in Polish, a language Elmer was able to read. Translated to English, it read: "Real name Francis Sullivan. Changed name after death of his parents."

Elmer wondered why this was written. Was it true? Did he need to know this for any reason? He closed the journal, which now had a title - Secrets. He hid the book under his pillow then climbed up to the rooftop, hoping to find Jack.

Jack turned when he heard someone behind him. "Oh, hey El. What's up?" He patted next to him. 

Elmer sat beside Jack. "Nothing really. I just...wanna talk."

"Alright. About what?" Jack looked up at the sky, and Elmer's gaze followed.

"My family." He paused. "I have seven older siblings. My oldest sister, Angelika, she... She raised us. My mother passed away not long after I was born and my father left. Angelika was 18, so she just...she took over. The other kids helped out a bit too as they got older. Being the youngest, I never had that responsibility, but it must've been hard," he explained. Elmer hadn't shared that with anyone before. Of course Jack would've been the one he'd tell even if this whole journal situation never happened, but he never would've brought it up randomly.

Jack frowned a bit. "That's sad. But I'm happy you got someone, and now you got all of us." He paused and stared at the sky for a moment. "My parents... They left for Santa Fe. Took my little brother too. Michael. They got a ranch there."

So Jack's parents were alive, just in Santa Fe. The journal was wrong. Elmer frowned slightly. He was disappointed. Of course he didn't want Jack's parents to be dead, but it would've been cool if what the journal said was true. Elmer looked back to Jack, who was teary eyed. He wondered if Jack had lied, that was possible. He wouldn't push, although he really wanted to know.

Jack sighed. "It's...a long story, El. My parents ain't in Santa Fe, and Michael ain't either. My parents died in this...trolley accident. I was... I was 10. Michael was 6. We lived on the streets. I took care of him, three years. Then...we was in the refuge, and...he didn't make it."

Elmer's eyes widened. The journal was right. "I... I'm sorry to hear."

"Thanks. I'm alright though. Four years ago. And now I got all you guys. I ain't losing you." He smiled a bit. "You see all those stars?"

Elmer looked up and nodded. "They're pretty."

"My mom used to always say that's everyone watchin' over us... I never believed it, but... Feels like it sometimes."  He looked over at the brightest star in the sky and smiled.

"Hm... Maybe." Elmer had never heard that before, but he liked the idea. He wondered if Angelika had heard it before, he was sure she'd like to hear that. "I'm gonna...go to bed. See ya in the morning."

"Yeah, see ya. Thanks for the talk," Jack said, still staring at the star. He grabbed some paper and a pencil and started sketching the sky.

Elmer went back inside. He got in bed, then opened his journal up again. The first thing about Jack was still there, but now with something else underneath: "Jack blames himself for Michael's death, he died while they were escaping." 

Elmer frowned. He didn't want Jack to blame himself, but didn't know how to comfort him without giving the secret away. He didn't want anyone knowing about the journal. Even if nobody else could read it, maybe they'd ask for information, or maybe they'd destroy it because they wanted to keep their secrets safe.

He flipped through the journal to see if anything else was written. He did see one more thing, something on Morris's page. He rolled his eyes and closed the book without reading it. He was sure it was nothing he cared to know. He hated Morris, all the newsies did. He assumed the secret would just be an insult somehow, everything was with him.

Elmer put the journal under the pillow and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure he liked this newfound responsibility of handling everyone's secrets. Why couldn't it go to someone nosy like Romeo? Well, Elmer wasn't entirely sure Romeo could read. That was pretty important. But Elmer had to have it for a reason, right?