- Chapter 18 - A Visit to the Refuge -
Warnings: Soaking, beatings, crying
Third Person POV
Race takes deep breaths as he walks towards the building.
It was a terrible building, one he hated more than the home he had grown up in.
Race kept reminding himself that this was for Crutchie.
The only reason he was going there was for Crutchie.
Race hides behind a wall as two guards walks past him.
"You heard about the Newsies strike?" One of them asks the other.
Race gained interest on what they were talking about.
"Yeah." The other answers. "Snyder thinks we're gonna get a lot more kids in tomorrow." He says.
The first guard nods. "Serves them right." He states. "Damn kids these days are so entitled."
Race quickly ran off, deciding to stop listening before he got angry.
Entitled, Race scoffs to himself. Sure. We're the entitled ones.
Race quickly climbs up and onto the fire escape, making sure to make as little noise as possible.
Once he had made it to the top of the fire escape, he crawled over to the window of the room he knew Scraps was in.
He figured Crutchie was either in that room or Scraps knew where Crutchie was.
Scraps knew everything about the Refuge. He knew what came in, what went out.
Race knocks lightly on the bars of the window.
Scraps walks over to the window. "Hello?" He whispers.
Race pokes his head up. "Hi."
Scraps stares down at him. "Racetrack Higgins," he starts sternly. "You're one of the most injured Manhattan Newsies and one who's been here the most times- the same amount as Jack- and you're here now?" He questions, slightly annoyed with the Manhattan Second.
Race shoots him a cheeky smile, sitting up. "Yup." He answers. "I'm right here." He gestures to himself, sitting criss-cross on the fire escape.
Scraps almost facepalms. "Why are you here?" He asks.
Race deadpans at him. "Because I want to be caught." He answers sarcastically.
Scraps reaches through the bars and smacks him.
"Ow." Race grabs his shoulder, pouting at Scraps.
Scraps rolls his eyes, walking away.
Race stays there for a moment, before Scraps comes back.
A patter on the floor behind him informed Race that he had brought Crutchie.
Race looks up, his eyes immediately stinging with tears when he saw his brother.
Crutchie was badly beaten. His crutch was gone and now he was just using anything he could find in the Refuge. He was missing his flannel and hat, and his hair was bloody.
"Oh my gosh." Race covers his mouth with his hands.
Crutchie grins at him. "Hey, Race." His voice was pained, but still had the spark of happiness that Crutchie always had. "Why've you come to visit me? I know you hate this place." He states.
Race blinks back tears. "Because I needed to see you." He answers slowly, his voice quiet. "And I thought you'd miss me too much if you didn't see me at least once every two days." He tries to crack a joking smile.
Crutchie laughs softly. "I guess you're right." He responds.
Race bites his lip to hold back tears. "Crutch-" he starts. "You look- bad." He whispers.
Crutchie waves it off. "I'll be fine. The boys have helped me bandage myself up a bit." He tells Race, gesturing to the boys around him.
Scraps shoots Race a weak smile.
Crutchie looks Race up and down. "However," he starts, slightly worried.
Race groans softly. "Don't." He grumbles. "I know I'm bad. I know it hurts." He tells him. "I get this from Davey, Specs, Spot, JoJo- everyone."
Crutchie smiles. "They're just trying to keep you safe." He reminds him.
"But I'm the leader." Race tells him. "It should be the other way around." He states.
"And I'm sure it is, Race. I know what you do to take care of them, even when you're not the leader." Crutchie responds, slipping his hands through the bars and grabbing Race's hands. "But leaders need help too." He tells him softly. "Have you seen the amount of times I've had to help Jack?" He asks.
Race shoots him a half hearted look. "That's because Jack's stupid." He responds.
Crutchie laughs. "And because he's like you and tries to help everyone and not himself." He states. "You two are very similar in those aspects."
Race stays silent, thinking about his words.
"Race," Crutchie starts softly, looking off into the distance.
Race hums, looking up at him.
Crutchie's green eyes meet Race's blue ones. "Do you remember when you'd steal Jack's shirt and hat and go around pretending to be him?" He asks.
Race groans. "Crutchie, I love you, but it's not the time to embarrass me." He tells him.
Crutchie shakes his head. "No, no- I have a point." He tells Race.
Race pouts slightly, but gestures for him to go on. He could already feel his face heating up from embarrassment.
"You'd walk around the house and help some people out and pretend to be the leader." Crutchie continues. "And Jack would think it was adorable, but what he'd admit was that you're a great leader, even if you were eight and didn't know what you were doing." He tells Race, smiling. "As you've grown, you've only gotten more leader-like."
Race stays silent.
"My point is, stop thinking you're a bad leader, because I know it's going through your head. Stop panicking about being like Jack and lead- for what little time you have to right now- like you would- not like Jack would- and please, take care of yourself as well as you do everyone else." Crutchie finishes.
Race looks up at him, tears filling his eyes again. "I wish I could hug you." He whispers.
Crutchie frowns. "Me too..." he whispers.
Tears slide down Race's face as he looks at his lap.
Crutchie rubs circles on the back of Race's hand. "Has Specs given Jack my letter yet?" He asks softly.
Race looks at him. "I didn't know you had given Specs a letter." He whispers. "Or that Specs had come here."
Crutchie nods, deciding to leave the subject at that.
The door to the room opens.
Scraps, Crutchie, and Race could only share panicked looks before the person walked in.
Morris quickly shuts the door behind him.
All of the boys in the room let out sighs of relief.
Morris' eyes quickly caught onto Race, his eyes widening. "What happened to you?" He asks. "And why are you here?"
Race points to Crutchie.
Crutchie waves at him.
Morris frowns. "Sorry." He mutters, rubbing the back of his neck.
Race shrugs, not in the mood to talk to anyone anymore.
Crutchie squeezes Race's hand. "As much as I love you and I love seeing you, I think you should go so you don't get caught." He tells him softly.
Race frowns, but nods.
Crutchie squeezes his hand on last time, before letting go and pulling his hand back through the bars.
Race turns to get down, jumping down.
He fell to the ground in pain, covering his mouth so he didn't make any noises as more tears stream down his face.
Crutchie watches Race as he struggles to run away, starting to cry harder.
Crutchie felt helpless. He wanted to do something, to go after Race, but he couldn't do anything.
Crutchie found himself staring at the corner Race turned, wishing he was anywhere but the Refuge and wishing he was with his brothers.
Crutchie felt a tear slip down his cheek.
Scraps gently rubs his back. "He's gonna be okay." He whispers assuringly. "It's Race. He can get through anything, and we'll see him soon."
Crutchie nods weakly, his eyes still fixated on the distance, where Race had disappeared.
1314 Words
Should I post 2 more chapters? I'm not sure it's a wonderful idea lol