Lilly spat out blood as she was held by the arms by Morris. Oscar had on his brass knuckle that had come into contact with Lilly's gut multiple times.
"you done?" She groaned, shutting her eyes tightly.
"you ready ta talk?" Morris quipped in her ear.
"what does Snyder want'a know 'bout the clothing factory anyways?" She questioned without breaking eye contact with Oscar, who's lips turned up into a grin.
"oh, we ain't doin' this foah Snydah."
"Lilliana," A sickeningly familiar voice spoke from the shadows. "it's been a long, long time." The person to whom the voice belonged to stepped out of the dark corner and Lilly gaped at him.
She struggled out of Morris' grasp, who only held her tighter. "how sweet, a family reunion."
"you did this!" She yelled, her voice nearing to a screech. "it was you who got me dragged ovah here. Now Spot an' Albert's sufferin'... 'cause'a you!"
"now Lilliana, let's not be so quick ta accuse." Oscar faked sweetness in his voice, making her sick to her stomach.
She gritted her teeth. "don't call me that."
"we actually wanted Spot foist." He simply shrugged casually. "we knows that we couldn't jus' get him, so we needed bait. It was jus' so convenient that you's his best friend an' next thing we know, he was voluntarily comin' in heah... jus' fah you."
Morris clicked his tongue. "sweet. An' you was right, Oscar, now that Spot's heah, no newsie is gettin' out."
"People only see me when they need me- Brooklyn, nothin' else."
Perhaps Spot was right. Every single newsie of New York relied on him when they were in trouble. But when he was... then what?
Who was there for Spot Conlon?
"you wanted Spot 'cause y'all knew no one would help us escape."
"and she catches on!" Morris fake-cheered, in which Lilly rolled her eyes.
"so what's he doin' here?" She glared at the man who stood beside Oscar, widely grinning.
"our revenge... his fortune." Oscar nodded his head towards him.
Lilly scoffed. "revenge... on me?"
"well," Morris sang. "mostly yer faddah, but I guess you would jus' have ta suffice."
"what did me faddah do to y'all?"
"sweet, clueless little Lilly," Oscar started, faking a sweet tone which made her gag.
"I's like- 2 inches shorter than ya." She sassed, earning a punch to her gut to which she groaned.
"yer faddah was tha one who got ours arrested, remembah? It was yer faddah who ruined our lives an' had us stay wit' uncle Wies fah tha rest'a our lives!" He yelled, his veins filled with rage as he recalled the day that it all happened. "we- we ain't even know if he's still alive or nah!"
"you didn't think you could hide from your very own uncle for your whole life, did you?" Lilly's uncle suddenly spoke and crossed his arms, shaking his head.
"ya ain't think you'd still be obsessed wit' yer very own niece fah yer whole life, did ya?" She mocked and laughed bitterly, earning a punch in the stomach from Oscar.
She had really hoped he was done with that.
"don't worry, all I want is the full will. After that, you can run around ignoring your privilege with your street-trash boyfriend." This made Lilly's gears turn inside of her and suddenly, she had yanked herself off of Morris' grip and threw herself onto her uncle.
She punched his jaw; hard. "don't ya dare talk 'bout Albert like that! Ya hear me?!" Morris pulled her off of him and socked her, knocking her back. She sat in front of him, breathing heavily as she glared daggers into his eyes. "I's anythin' but privileged, but you wouldn't understand."
Even Oscar and Morris understood what she had meant by what she said. Her mother was a black woman who married rich into a white family, but it was her mother's genetics that showed more in her daughter. She was still a woman of colour.
"you'll nevah get full will of tha factory. Live wit' what ya got, lots'a us don't have half of what ya got." Morris grabbed her by the arms again and she struggled in his grip. "ya must feel real stupid. Killed me parents fah nothin', huh?"
"it won't be for nothing." Her uncle spoke in a voice toned with darkness, almost scaring Lilly. "I have no regrets."
She mindlessly let Morris drag her out, her face and body was numb. Paralyzed with horror and gaze locked onto the one person who had ruined her life; onto the person who haunted the world inside of her for years.
But apparently that didn't seem to satisfy him.
"oh, happy death anniversary to your parents."
✧༝┉˚*❋ ❋*˚┉༝✧
Harley leaned on the railing of the fire escape, fiddling with Spot's key that she now wore everyday around her neck. She has had many birthdays without Cosmo and she was too young to remember the ones she spent with him, but it was this year where she truly felt that she was without him.
For days she wondered why- of all people- Spot had given his key to her. It was of his most prized possessions and he gave it to her. Despite her wild imagination, she couldn't come up with at least one possible reason as to why. It was to remain a mystery until he got out of the Refuge.
And he would.
She tilted her head up, resting it on the railing and gazed at the sky. Not even the clouds or the light-polluted air could cover the moonlight that night. How she wished so dearly that the stars were out. Maybe it would help her feel as if Cosmo was present with her on her 'special' day.
But there she was, spending the last moments of her birthday alone, too saddened by the loss of her older brother to celebrate.
She suddenly heard the sound of the window sliding and out came Race, who's posture stiffened upon seeing her. "what'r ya doin' out heah?" He asked softly.
Harley simply shrugged. "just getting some air, I guess. You?"
Race leaned back onto the railing, standing next to where she was sitting. "same."
Silence fell between them, the sound of the warm wind blowing was heard. Race's gaze shifted to Harley, the top portion of her hair shining red in the moonlight. Never once had he seen her eyes so dull and so... sad. She had always been so energetic and lively among the newsies, he never imagined that there could be more behind her bright smile.
Harley broke the silence, speaking in a soft- almost whispering voice. "it's my birthday today."
Race sat down beside her, orienting himself so that he could face her. "is it yer birthday?" The newbie hummed in response, pressing her lips into a thin line. "happy birthday."
"thank you."
"so, why'r ya spendin' it heah by yerself?" He wondered and Harley took a moment to read his expression. He showed true, genuine curiosity and sympathy for her.
"it's my first birthday where I'm truly without my brother. I miss him dearly." She replied with a sad smile and shifted in her position to face the blonde.
"I miss 'im too." Race mumbled, fiddling with the cigarette he held in his hands. "I looked up ta him me whole life an' now sometimes, I catch me-self tryin' ta be him." He let out a quiet chuckle and returned his gaze onto Harley, who hadn't taken her's off of him.
"if it helps, I think you're an excellent leader." Race felt a flutter of joy in his chest upon her words. A type of joy that wouldn't be obtained if it were any other newsie who had said the same words.
"I try me best, I's still new at this whole thing." The two simultaneously smiled and the clouds separated from each other just enough for a ray of moonlight to shine down right on top of them.
Race's eyes glimmered in the light, showing the true joy he felt from Harley's compliment. They also showed a hint of desperation; a strong desire for time to freeze so that he could stay in that moment forever. A desire so strong to the point where it became desperation.
And though he showed calmness, his mind was an utter chaos as he tried to muster up the correct words to keep a conversation going.
Harley studied Race's features detail by detail. The right corner of his lips turned up slightly higher than the left, creating a dimple on his cheek. His blue eyes shone brighter than any diamond that she had ever seen- not that she had seen many but the ones that she had seen were very bright. She noticed a few freckles on the bridge of his nose and the moonlight defined his curls.
Racetrack Higgins wasn't ugly. In fact, she sensed that she started to become attracted to him.
Harley had decided that there would be no moment in her life like the one she had with Race. There would be no moment in her life where she would be at a loss for words. Although there weren't any that were exchanged between the two, it seemed that the message had been clear.
Don't move, please. Everything is perfect the way it is.
And it was. From the cold metal of the fire escape to the distance shared between them, which subconsciously became very little, it was as if everything had orchestrated so flawlessly for that exact moment to happen.
Then, Harley started to giggle. Race's soft expression contorted into a confused, yet concerned one. Her giggling quickly turned into a fit of laughter, in which Race laughed nervously with her.
"um- what's so funny?" He stuttered, looking around for any possible cue that could have made her laugh the way she did.
"I don't-" She took a deep breath in hopes of calming herself down. "I don't know, I'm sorry I just-" Once again, she burst into laughter and Race simply smiled at her, soaking in the sweet sound that rung through the air.
Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand and held it in both of his in an attempt to calm her down. "yer okay," He chuckled.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, I-" Her attention was brought to her hand, which was being held in Race's and there was that funny feeling in her stomach again; the dancing butterflies. Her heart then began to beat rapidly upon Race's tight yet soft grip on her hand.
Race felt the funny feeling in his stomach too as his cheeks and ears turned hot. His heart began to beat as if it were running out of time and yet, he held her hand even tighter and gave it a light squeeze as Harley took deep breaths to calm herself down.
"yer okay." He repeated, smiling softly at her. The key that Harley wore around her neck glimmered in the moonlight, catching Race's attention.
His smile faded.
Of course. With Spot in the picture, who is he to even think that he could get Harley to like him back? The two have already grown close, he didn't doubt that Harley had already liked Spot.
So, he quickly let go of her hand and without another word, he climbed back into the lodging house through the window.
And once again, Harley spent the last moments of her birthday alone.
"there you is." Felix approached Race in a fit of rage.
"ya miss me so much that ya came ta see me heah?" Race forced on a smile as he approached the temporary Brooklyn leader.
"start talkin' Racetrack, we both know why I's heah." The slightly taller blonde stared daggers into Race's eyes.
Race sighed, giving in. "yeah I knows, King of Brooklyn's in tha Refuge. So what is you, Claudius of Brooklyn?" A few Manhattan newsies snickered quietly at his joke, but immediately stopped once Felix glared at them.
"Antonio,"
"fine, fine." He put his hands up, accepting defeat. "tha truth is, we's slumped. The Delanceys- they outsmarted us an' they's gonna do it again."
"call a meetin'." Felix simply demanded. "a leadah's meetin', we'll obviously need all the help we can get."
"there ain't no point." Mush butted in from his bunk nearby, in which the two snapped their heads to face him. "Brooklyn's the most powerful borough then aftah it's Queens, but they showed up ta tha strike at tha very end. Wit' no Brooklyn, no Queens, no other borough is gon' risk they's newsies' safety for ours!"
"shut up, Mush!" Romeo piped in and threw his pillow at him as hollers of agreements bounced through the room.
Felix took a moment to think of his words. He was right, Queens rarely involved themselves with other boroughs. They usually kept to themselves; so much that they don't even know who their leader was. Spot knew who Queens' leader was, they worked together to become the two most powerful boroughs in New York City. But he had never revealed anything about him, not even to Lilly or Hot Shot.
Felix clicked his tongue. "yer right, Queens usually don't care 'bout no borough but themselves unless it's crucial- like the strike."
"where'r ya goin' wit' this?" Race asked impatiently as he lit a cigarette and popped it in his mouth.
"it ain't only Spot, Lilly and Albert's safety at risk, but Queens' reputation."
The newsies all looked at him with various expressions of confusion.
"from what we knows, Queens is only powerful cause of Spot an' they's gon' do whatevah they can jus' ta be standin' at tha top with Brooklyn again."
Race approached Felix, who had made his way to the middle of the bunk room without himself knowing. "so yer sayin' that if we call this meetin', Queens is gonna show up?"
"positive."
Race snorted. "that's a foist." He mumbled. With only a hard glare, Felix walked out of the bunk room leaving the Manhattan newsies alone for the night.
But it wasn't long before Race followed him out, luckily catching him before he step foot out of the Lodge.
"I knows you still dream 'bout it." He called, in which Felix stopped and faced him. "tha Refuge."
"what of it?"
"yer safe, Felix. For forever." He put a hand on his shoulder and his glare softened. Race was the only person of which Felix didn't shudder at upon their touch. "we always kept each othah safe, didn't we?"
Felix nodded.
"an' I's still gon' do my part." Race smiled softly and after hesitation, Felix did the same. "yer me bruddah."