It starts out with the court the same day as the last chapter, and then goes on to the next day. This is ... the chapter before it gets really angsty. Enjoy! :)
"All rise. Court is now in session!"
Race thinks that, if asked, every single person in the room would agree with him if he said that there is not a single person in this room who wants to be here. No one, absolutely no one, wants to be here right now.
He and Spot (who is once again without his cap), the newsies in charge since Jack and David are nowhere to be seen, stand in the front. One of Race's hands is in a fist. The other is enclosed in Spot's soft tender reassuring hand.
"Are any of you represented by council?" the judge (whose name Race already forgot--it really wasn't important enough for his brain to classify as something to remember) asks them all, looking down at them.
Race has no clue what kind of answer he's expecting. Isn't that kind of rhetorical?
Of course, when looking amongst themselves, the newsies are all thinking the same thing.
"Good, this should move things along quite easily," the judge remarks.
"Your honor, I object," Spot speaks out.
The judge raises an eyebrow. "On what grounds?"
"On the grounds of Brooklyn, your honor," Spot answers.
Everyone starts laughing.
Race doubles over laughing. That might have been one of the funniest things he ever heard.
Seeing Race laugh so much makes Spot happy too. Maybe they can get through this, after all.
But the judge is not amused. "I fine you all five dollars, or two weeks confinement in the house of Refuge."
Now that's not fair.
"Five dollars?" Race repeats. "Your honor, we ain't got five bucks. We barely even have five cents." He pauses. Then he looks up and smirks. "How 'bout I roll for it, double or nothing?"
That gets everyone laughing again.
Whoever thought that newsies would take something seriously wasn't thinking right.
Before anyone can say or do anything else, Jack is led in. They all crowd on their side of the half-wall.
"Jack!" "It's Jack!" they all shout.
"Hiya fellas," Jack pulls together a grin.
"Hey Cowboy! Nice shiner!" Race shouts, getting more people to chuckle, and sticks his tongue out.
Spot smiles at him. Even in a place this full of stress he hasn't lost his sense of humor.
Jack is glad to see that Race can handle this as well.
Then, Denton and David and Les come in. Everyone's glad to see them.
"I'll pay the fines," Denton announces, surprising them all. "All of them."
And for that all of them will be eternally grateful.
Seeing as that's settled, the judge stops paying attention to them.
Luckily, someone else is going to pay attention to them.
Denton walks over to them. They get instantly serious. Anything that Denton is going to say has to be important.
"We need to talk," he tells them gravely. "Tomorrow morning, Tibby's."
Race and Spot nod. They're not entirely sure what all Denton needs to tell them, but they know that it's big.
"So, did all the papers, cover this?" Jack asks Denton. "How'd my picture look now?"
Denton sighs and murmurs something close to him. "None of them covered the rally."
Before Jack can really think about that, Snyder comes in. "I'll speak for this boy."
"Oh, you two know each other," Jack mutters in. "That's nice." He knows he's not going to get a fair say in this. He wasn't expecting to get one, anyway. One can still hope, though.
He doesn't listen closely to all that's being said. He doesn't need to know all the details.
Except for his sentence.
His sentence, which is literal years in the House of Refuge.
"So ordered," the judge says. He knocks the gavel on the table.
"NO!" Les and Race shout at once. Neither of them want Jack back in the Refuge.
But there is nothing they can do. There is nothing that any of them can do.
They are powerless.
Things will be better. It's a new day. At least, things should get better.
They're all at Tibby's. Well, except for Crutchy. And Jack.
But now Denton just walked in!
There's a lot of clamor.
"Why didn't The Sun print the story?" David demands. Although no one says anything, they agree. Why didn't the Sun print anything about the rally?
"Because it never happened," Denton answers lamely. It's a lie. He doesn't sound like he believes his own lie.
But that still causes people to be indignant.
"What do you mean it never happened?" Race raises his voice along with the clamor. "You were there!"
"If it wasn't in the papers, it didn't happen," Denton continues with his really bad explanation. "And, I have to tell you all something. I can't stay. The Sun only wants me to write stories about the important stuff. So, I have to bid you all farewell."
No one knows what to do, or say.
Denton walks closer to David. David looks away.
Denton sighs. He pulls out a page from his coat. "I wanted you to have this. This is the story I wrote."
If David was looking, he'd have seen a look of I don't want to do this in Denton's eyes. But that doesn't matter. Because Denton is doing this. His hand is numb as Denton puts the paper there.
Then, Denton starts heading for the door, after tipping one of the Tibby's staff. "Sorry to say, but this is goodbye. Wish me luck, fellas. At least half of what I wish for you."
He closes the door, leaving all the newsies in stunned, sullen, silence. Race just drops his cigar on the table. Snipeshooter isn't motivated enough to take it. David crumples the paper.
"From now on, we trust no one but ourselves," David tells them. "We get Jack out of the Refuge tonight."
No one disagrees.
But that was a low blow that Denton made. They all trusted him. For the short time they'd known him, he had become a father figure.
It hurt, but they need to keep moving forward.
In the darkness, they are ready. Race, Kid Blink, Mush, Boots, and Les, lead by David, sneak around. They hide behind a pillar, looking at the building across the street.
"There," David points up high at a window. "That's where we saw Crutchy."
Jack's there now. Race swallows. He remembers the last time he heard that Jack had been taken to the Refuge. Nothing good ever becomes of it.
Now, underneath that window, there are shadowy figures exiting out a door, going to a carriage.
Les moves forward. "Jack! There's Jack!" They all shush him and bring him backwards.
"Where are they taking him, Dave?" Mush asks.
"Only one way to find out," David tells them. "I'm going after them." Then, he nudges Les towards Race. "Racetrack, watch him." He trusts Race. True, he hasn't gotten too many opportunities to talk to him, but he's heard enough of him from Jack. Jack trusts him, and speaks highly of him. That's good enough for David.
Without another word, he leaves them.
Uh oh.
Not Race. Racetrack. Full name. Or, kind of full name. Race plays with words a lot. He knows what that means. David's serious on this one. Glad he trusts me with his brother.
Les looks up at Race. Race stares right back at him.
"Davey'll be okay," Race tells him, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Jack too. They'll be back soon."
Jack tries not to tremble as he enters the room. No one could ever walk in here and not see that the place is dripping with luxury. Well, at least, if that person had sight.
He doesn't see Pulitzer. Yet.
This is not going to be fun.
Then suddenly, he is there.
Pulitzer.
"Sit," Pulitzer tells Jack.
Slowly, warily, Jack sits down. Pulitzer sits down too.
"When I was your age, boy, I was in the war," Pulitzer tells him. "The Civil War."
"Yeah, so I've heard," Jack responds softly. "Did ya win?"
Pulitzer doesn't answer that. Instead, he goes on in another direction. "People think that war is about wrong and right. But no. It's about power."
"Yeah, I know. I don't just sell your papers, Joe. Sometimes I read 'em." But I don't read them like Race does. Race, who has a whole collection of newspapers, who treasures all those stories. If they're good, he keeps them. At this point, Race has a system. He'll keep the stories he likes, and discard the rest of the paper. He has a bunch of papers in his collection. And he has books that Jack doesn't know the origins of. In short, the kid loves to read. And Jack loves him for it.
But Jack needs to stay in the real world right now, much to his disliking.
"The power of the press is the most powerful one of them all," Pulitzer tells Jack. "I tell the city how to act, how to think. I shape its future." He makes a weird hand gesture which Jack can only interpret as him 'shaping the future.' Jack knows he's dealing with a crazy person here.
"Well, there's only one future I'm concerned about," Jack responds. "Mine." That's not entirely right, though. He worries about the other newsies. Especially Race. Especially David and Les. But he can't say anything about them here.
"So'm I, boy," Pulitzer replies. "And I can see to it that you get out of the Refuge. Set you going to...wherever you want to go. Give you enough money to fill your pockets, more money than what you could make in, what, three lifetimes."
Jack knows a catch when he sees one. He knows there's going to be one. He leans forward. "Are you bribin' me, Joe? It ain't gonna work."
"I can also see to it that your friends get locked up in the Refuge," Pulitzer continues smoothly. "I understand you have a selling partner. David, right?"
Jack stiffens. Leave David out of this.
Pulitzer knows he struck a nerve. "He has a family, right? What do you think the Refuge would do to him? To his family? And it would be you who put him there."
Jack stays absolutely still. He's trapped.
But Pulitzer keeps going. "What about your other friends? Do you want to see them in the Refuge?"
No. Jack clenches his fists. "They can handle it."
Pulitzer's eyes narrow, cold and calculating. "Can Racetrack handle it?"
Jack's heart drops.
No. Not Racetrack.
Pulitzer keeps going. "Confinement isn't particularly good for any kid. Especially not gamblers. Especially not kids like him."
"Now you stop it," Jack tells Pulitzer. "Do whatever you want to me. But you have got to leave Race out of this. Leave. David. And. Race. And. Everyone. Else. Out. Of. This."
Pulitzer leans back. It's all playing into his hands. And Jack can't do anything to stop it. "all I ask, boy, is that you come back and work for me. And stop your little strike. Then, hop on a train and go wherever you want."
What does Jack do? Accept the money and head to Santa Fe after working for Pulitzer? Or does he keep striking and lose everyone he cares for?
It's a lose-lose for him.
David, Race, Les, Blink, Mush, Crutchy, Spot...I am so, so sorry.
Right as Jack is led out of Pulitzer's office, David pops up from behind a shrub. "Jack, come on!"
Jack doesn't hesitate. He slides down the railing and runs away with David. That's always been his first instinct, to run. It comes naturally.
In David's eyes, all is going fine. "come on! Keep going!"
But then Jack remembers the heaviness of the situation. Everything that happened. He stops.
David goes into a little alley, expecting Jack to come with him. "Jack, come on!"
"No," Jack tells him, coming closer. "You need to go. Now."
"What? No, not without you-" David protests.
"I can't do this." Jack puts a hand against David's chest to stop him from moving. David looks into Jack's eyes expectantly, not knowing the situation, but wants to know what happens next. Jack doesn't know. There is so much Jack wants to say. But he can't. "If you do this, they'll put you in jail." He has to do this.
"I don't care."
"What about your family?"
Silence.
"You don't know nothing about jail, Dave. You need to go."
There's so much he wants to say. It's all to protect you. I have to do this. But he can't say anything.
And without communication, David is lost. "I don't understand."
Jack swallows. "I don't understand either." He moves away. "Now go."
David goes a little, but then stops. "No!"
"GO!" Jack shouts.
David's eyes are wide with shock and hurt. And it was Jack who did that. Jack turns away so he doesn't show how ready he is to start crying. Meanwhile, David runs away, still confused, ignoring the new water droplets on his face.
Jack sighs in defeat. The men find him, and lead him back to the Refuge. As was expected.
David makes it back to the group he left behind, dejected.
"Where's Jack?" Race asks anxiously, Les right beside him.
David just sighs and shakes his head.
They don't have to ask what that means. They don't need to know the details. They just need to know that it was a failed mission.
Race bites his lip. He's not going to cry. Jack can do anything.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Les asks meekly.
Race brings him closer. "'Course." He's been in the Refuge before. He'll get out of it again.
Blink puts an arm around Race. Race leans his head on Blink's shoulder. Mush puts an arm around Blink. There they stand, all together, in some sort of embrace, as David half-heartedly paces.
They'll all get through this. They'll see Jack again. They know it.
They just hope Jack's okay.
Jack sits in his little cell all alone. He sighs. "Santa Fe," he sings softly to himself. "My old friend. I can't spend my whole life hidin'. You're the only light that's guidin' me today."
Suddenly, Crutchy pops open the little sliding peephole on the door. "Hiya, Jack!"
Jack manages a small smile for him. Who wouldn't for Crutchy? "Hey, Crutchy."
"How are ya?" Crutchy asks.
Jack spreads his arms out. "Take a guess."
Crutchy sighs. "Yeah."
"How are you, though?"
"I'm good. How's the strike going?"
Jack shakes his head.
Crutchy looks down, understanding. He looks back up. "But we can't let 'em beat us, huh Jack? That's what you always said."
"We was beat before we was born," is all Jack says in response.
Crutchy understands that Jack needs time to himself. So, he closes the little slot.
Jack sighs.
"Will you keep a candle burnin', will you help me find my way? You're my chance, to break free. And who knows when my next one will be? Santa Fe..." he trails off. "Wait for me."
He stares out the window forlornly.
He is not looking forward to tomorrow.
Not fun to write.
The title was well earned.
Joseph Pulitzer fought in the Civil War. He also was an immigrant from Hungary. He bought the New York World, and became rich.
What I love about 92sies Pulitzer and Jack scene is that you can tell that Jack is scared of Pulitzer. True, he smart-talks him, but it's all in a very small and meek tone. He's a kid, talking to a titan. And when Pulitzer mentions David the fear in Jack's eyes intensifies immensely. Robert Duvall and Christian Bale understood the parts they had to play really well.
Denton and David definitely were close. David was the one who you could tell was hurting the most from Denton backing out on them.
The last time I watched 92sies and was watching the court scene, it occurred to me that when Denton was talking to the two leaders of the newsies, talking seriously and talking business with them, he was talking to two fifteen year olds. Two people who are at that age where they start to distrust authority but still look up to influential adults. If you watch Spot's and Race's faces, you can tell that they take Denton very seriously, and that they feel important when he's talking to them as if they were adults like him. And Denton actually took them seriously as well.
I can't get over when David is just like "Racetrack, watch Les." And Race and Les look at each other, trying to figure out what David was getting at. But you can tell that Race loves little kids. It's obvious throughout the movie, and it's really really cute.
I had to include the alley scene. Where's the heterosexual explanation for it?
The next chapter isn't going to get better. It's going to get worse. But after that, things will pick up again.
Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times.
Best,
~Your Beloved Author (who cannot decide if they are actually hungry for breakfast or not)