"What are you doin' back here Higgins? You already tested my patience by bringin' other newsies here, now youse comin' more than once a day?" Spot glared at Race who had stepped onto the dock.
After reaching Brooklyn, Race learned that Spot was on his dock, and though the boys warned him not to go, he, being Race, ignored them and went anyway.
"I'm not here 'cause I want to be."
"Then why are you here? You couldn't help it? I'm so good lookin' that ya couldn't stay away?" Spot scoffed.
"Don't flatter yaself Conlon. Ise got Romeo back at the lodge. If I was lookin' for a pretty face, I woulda talked to him." Race stepped closer to his friend and slowly sat down next to him. "Jack wanted me to invite ya to our lodge. He heard about your fight and wese been havin' some similar problems, and he wants to talk to you 'bout it."
"Why should I go help him? We took care of our problem, youse should take care of yours."
"C'mon Spot, I told him that you'd come."
"You shouldn't answer for other people Higgins," Spot responded.
"So you ain't gonna talk to 'im?" Race asked.
"Got no reason to."
"How abouts cause I'm your friend?" Race tried, nudging Spot's shoulder with his own.
"Don't flatter yaself Higgins," Spot reused Race's earlier words and gave him a gentle shove. "I don't got any 'friends'."
"Then youse gonna live a borin' life." Race gave Spot a minute to change his mind before continuing. "C'mon Spot, Jack's gettin' worried, he won't admit it but he is, and that means I am too."
Spot turned toward Race scanning his face, but he still said nothing.
"Please Spot. They're my brothers. This is real important to me."
Spot let out a long sigh, but gave a small nod. "Fine. I'll go."
Immediately Race's eyes lit up as a smile spread across his face. "Thanks Spot! Have I told you that you're one of my favorite people?"
"Sure," Spot grumbled as he pulled on his boots, though he couldn't deny the small smile that crossed his face at Race's happiness.
"Just get there as quick as you can. Jack gave me a time limit."
"You ain't comin'?" Spot looked at Race who stood, slipping his cigar out of his pocket.
"Nah, I'm gonna head to the tracks, see if I've got any luck today."
"Sounds like a good way to waste your money," Spot warned.
"I'll be fine Spotty. I always am."
"What did I tell you 'bout callin' me that?" Spot growled.
"Not too," Race replied cheerfully. "But it makes ya angry, and I think that's entertainin', so I figure I'll keep sayin' it 'til it stops botherin' ya."
"Just get to Sheepshead," Spot groaned.
"See ya later Spotty Boy!" Race called as he walked off the dock, a spring in his step.
"Get outta here Higgins!" Spot called back, wearing a grin of his own.
***
Race loved everything about being at the races, from the crowds of people talking and betting, to the smell of the horses. It was an environment that he thrived in. He glanced toward the mutuel window longingly, but walked past, knowing that Jack didn't like him betting so much. Race headed towards the group of people standing around the track, pushing through the crowds until he reached his usual spot.
A few guys his age stood close to him and Race turned toward them, intending to strike up a conversation, or maybe place some low-risk bets.
"What do you guys think of the next race?"
"Should be alright," A tall, dark haired boy said, watching the horses.
"It's a stakes race, so it'll be good. We all knows who's gonna win though," A redhead added.
"Who do you think is gonna win?" Race asked observing the horses. "Number four?"
"Number four?" The third boy scoffed. "No, it's gonna be six. He's done real well today."
"Six is known to bounce," Race argued.
"Four trails!" Exclaimed the redhead.
"Yeah, at first, but I've seen him enough to know that he's a closer. 'Sides, six is sweatin' pretty bad."
"We've been here a lot, I think we knows what wese talkin' about."
Race rolled his eyes at the arrogance from the boys, who obviously didn't know beans about horse racing.
"Any of you boys bettin' today?"
The dark haired guy shrugged. "Probably not. My folks don't like when I bet with the track."
Race nodded, "I'm not s'posed to bet with them today either, but if any of youse is interested, I'd bet with you."
"I'll bet. Easy money," the redhead smirked. The third boy nodded while the other hesitated.
"We'll do something easy, straight bet for the win," Race suggested with a smile. Still not getting an agreement he added, "Which ever of us picks the horse closest to first gets the money."
The boy thought for a minute before nodding. "It ain't bettin' with the track."
"How're we gonna do this? Put the money in a pot and divide 'tween the winners?" Race asked. The boys all agreed and Race's smirk grew.
"I'll put twenty cents on six," the redhead spoke confidently. His light-haired friend also put twenty cents on horse number six.
"I think I'm going with twenty cents on two," their other friend added.
"What about you?" The redhead asked, watching Race carefully. "You gonna put any money in or are you scared of losin'?" He taunted.
"Give me a minute! I'm just observin' all of my options!" Race exclaimed before quickly counting the change he'd left in his pocket. "Thirty cents on number four."
"I'll raise my bet to thirty cents," the redhead said quickly, not wanting to be outdone. The blond quickly raised his bet to match, and, after a minute of doubt, the dark haired Boy also raised his bet to thirty cents.
"When's this race start?"
"Any minute now. You sure you want to bet on four?"
"I'm sure, but if youse is so confident about six or two winning, hows about we double the money if a horse takes first." The three quickly agreed and Race tried to hide his glee as the boys fell into his trap.
The boy had been right, the race began shortly after, and Race watched comfortably as it started, though his horse was near the back of the group.
Number two quickly fell to the back and the boy who'd bet on him groaned, knowing he'd lost thirty cents.
"My mother's gonna kill me!"
Race ignored him, focusing on number four, who had moved up a bit in the group, though still in the middle.
Halfway through the race the redhead turned and sent Race a smirk. "Looks like wese gonna win," he bragged. Six was at the head of the group, but Race still remained unworried. He knew horses better than he knew the streets of New York.
As they drew closer to the final turn, six began to slow down and fall behind, losing first, then second and third. Groans were heard throughout the crowd, but the two boys Race was betting with remained excited, four was still behind number six.
Reaching the final turn, number four sped up quickly. His legs seemed to blur as he caught up to six, then passed him. The redhead's jaw dropped as his chance of winning slipped away.
"No way," he breathed as four caught up to the second place horse. As they reached the final stretch, number four pulled ahead of the first place horse and won the race by no more than a second.
Race took off his hat, waving it in the air and jumping up and down as he celebrated, before turning to the three boys who all stood in shock.
"I believes that each of youse owe me sixty cents," he grinned. The redhead glared at him as he dug the money out of his pocket.
"Youse better watch your back," he threatened after his friends had payed Race. "This ain't the last of us!" He spat before turning and dragging his friends off.
Race just laughed, shrugging it off, before looking around for someone else to bet with on the next race.
***
"I'm thinkin' about headin' to Jacobi's tonight, wanna come?" Mush asked Elmer and Jojo who walked beside him.
"That sounds like fun," Elmer said. "I'll be there."
"What about you Jojo?"
"Yeah, sure. We should invite some of the others too," he suggested.
"Like who, Race?" Mush asked, eyebrows raised.
"I guess, I was thinkin' any of 'em, but that's a good idea."
"Sure," Elmer scoffed. "We both knows that youse was thinkin' of Race."
"I wasn't!" Jojo claimed as he adjusted his empty paper bag on his shoulder.
"I may not be smart, but I sure ain't stupid!" Elmer said.
"You sure 'bout that?" Mush asked with a laugh.
"Guys, you know I likes youse just as much as I do Race, right?" Jojo asked as he threw his arms around each boy's shoulders.
"No you don't Jo, but that's okay," Elmer insisted. "You ain't my favorite either."
"Yeah Jojo," Mush added. "In families it's okay to choose favorites."
"In families youse ain't s'posed to pick favorites..." Jojo muttered, confused.
"Either way, you and Race is close," Elmer shrugged. Jojo smiled at the fact that even other people realized their close friendship, though it disappeared as he remembered how much closer Race and Spot were.
"Ise starvin'!" Elmer complained, a hand coming to rest on his stomach.
"Youse always starvin'!" Jojo complained.
"We'll be at Jacobi's soon," Mush added.
"Good. Ise got enough to buy somethin' good today!" Elmer said excitedly.
"I'll just eat at the lodge, it's cheaper. I'm tryin' to save for a new jacket. I barely made it last winter," Mush said, rubbing his arms unconsciously at the memory of the cold air biting at his fingers and face.
"Very responsible," Jojo observed, squeezing Mush's shoulder as he noticed his fear.
"Don't worry Mush, Race has been growin' like a weed, Specs too. I'm sure one of 'em has somethin' left that you can wear. If theyse don't, we can go see if there's anything left in the donations room." Elmer turned down one of the side streets, a shortcut to Jacobi's, though it was usually only taken by the street-wise because of the possibility of danger that accompanied alleys and empty streets.
"I guess, I just don't want anyone thinkin' I can't make it on my own, y'know?"
"No one's gonna think that," Jojo comforted. "There's nothin' wrong with askin' for help, that's what family's for."
Mush smiled. "Youse right, I was just bein' dumb."
"Don't worry, it ain't any different than how youse normally is!" Elmer laughed, but stopped quickly after.
"That ain't-" Jojo was cut of by Elmer, who had shushed him.
"What is it Elmer? What's-" Elmer slapped a hand over Jojo's mouth and stood still, looking around carefully. After a minute he pulled his hand away, though he remained tense, shoulders stiff and eyes darting around.
"What's wrong?" Jojo asked quietly.
"Nothin', just thought I heard somethin'."
The boys continued walking, though speaking much quieter than they had before, as all three listened for any noise. After a minute the sound came back. It seemed to be footsteps coming down the alley, soft, as if the person were trying to make as little noise as possible. A few seconds after they stopped walking, the sound stopped again.
"That was it!" Elmer hissed. "Didja hear it?"
Jojo nodded. "There's somebody back there."
"What do we do?" Mush asked worriedly.
"Just keep walkin' I s'pose. There ain't nothin' else we can do," Elmer shrugged calmly.
"We could just go back and take a look, see whose it is," Jojo suggested, looking at Elmer, then Mush.
Mush thought for a second before nodding. "Sure, it's probably nothin' anyway."
"If youse sure, then I don't see why not."
The three boys slowly made their way down the narrow alley, hiding any apprehension they might have felt from their friends. As they made it closer to one of the corners they'd turned they grew more comfortable, having not crossed anyone yet, though they were still prepared for anything.
"Maybe we just imagined it," Jojo said as they turned the corner, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw the four boys standing against the wall.
Elmer and Mush also stopped, staring at the boys in confusion. None of the boys recognized them, which they found strange. They knew, or at least recognized, most of the newsies in this part of Manhattan.
"You boys new around here?" Elmer asked.
"You could say that," one of the boys chuckled.
"You plannin' on stayin' for awhile?" Jojo pulled his hat tighter on his head as he watched the boys through narrowed eyes.
"Nah, wese just here from Kingsbridge on business."
That raised a red flag for Jojo, Elmer, and Mush. 'Business' was never a good thing.
"Kingsbridge? That's pretty far. What kind of business would you fellas from Kingsbridge have down here?" Elmer asked carefully.
"We was told to take care of whatever came up, anything we found." Mush glanced at his friends, and took a small step away from the boys. "Are youse three from 'round here?"
"Yeah, we is," Elmer responded cautiously, also beginning to feel a bit unnerved. The boy smirked, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"I think wese found our business."
With that he swung a fist at Elmer, connecting with the boy's cheek. Elmer groaned, hand flying up to his face, and Jojo leaped at the boy, shoving him against the wall. The three other boys wasted no time joining in, two of them facing off with Mush and Elmer as the other grabbed Jojo, trying to pry him off of their leader.
Jojo swung an elbow at the boy's face, effectively dislodging him, and went back to pummeling the boy who'd started the fight. Mush had been dragged to the ground by his collar and was taking a nasty beating. Elmer, however, was holding his own against two guys. He ducked blows and landed his own, doing just fine until one of the boys got a hold of his elbow. Elmer, not one to go down alone, swung his leg out and took the boy down with him, the two struggling on the ground.
The fight went on several minutes, none of the boys willing to back down. So focused on the fight, they didn't notice the man who had entered the alley.
"Hey! You kids! Stop it!" He shouted as he ran towards them. One of the boys looked up at him and sprung up from where he'd been sitting on Mush's chest, quickly turning and sprinting down the alley. His friends ran too and Jojo released the boy he'd been hitting, allowing him to get away as Elmer grabbed Mush and pulled him off the ground. The three of them also ran down the alley, not slowing until they had traveled several blocks.
"You guys alright?" Jojo asked, breathing heavily, wiping some blood from his nose.
"Yeah," Elmer breathed, placing a steadying hand on Mush's arm as he swayed in his spot.
"How 'bout youse?" Jojo turned to Mush, who had definitely come out the worst of them all. Mush lifted a hand to his swollen lip, wincing at the sting, but nodded.
"I'll be fine," he replied, his speech slightly slurred.
"I don't think so," Elmer argued. "Forget about Jacobi's, wese headin' back to the lodge right now."
"No, I'm fine!" Mush insisted, before tripping, Elmer catching him just before he hit the ground.
"No youse ain't. Wese goin' to the lodge," Jojo said, grabbing Mush's other arm as they started back to the lodge.
***
Spot walked up the steps to the Lower Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House slowly, almost regretting coming. He didn't really care about what had been going on as long as his boys were left out of it, but Race had asked him too, and try as he might, he couldn't tell him no.
Spot's hand closed around the door handle as he pulled it open to enter the lodge. He sauntered into the lodge, a bored smirk on his face as he glanced around the entryway disinterestedly.
"Spot! What are youse doin' here?" Romeo asked, skipping the last few steps on the staircase, and landing a few feet from Spot after his clumsy jump.
"To be honest, Ise ain't sure myself. Where's Jack?"
Romeo nodded to the room on the left of the entrance.
"Where's your superintendent? Ain't I s'posed to sign in so theyse can keep track of me?" Spot asked mockingly.
"We ain't got one no more. Last one took off a few weeks ago."
"And they ain't sent a replacement?" Spot asked, surprised.
"Wese ain't reported it. 'Sides, they never really came down here anyways, we ain't a sponsored lodge."
"Maybe I can get rid of ours..." Spot mused, cracking his fingers.
Romeo's eyes grew wide. "Youse ain't gonna kill him, right?"
"Nah, not yet anyways." Spot laughed as Romeo hastily excused himself and hurried out the door, casting one more fearful look over his shoulder at Spot as the heavy door swung closed.
"Scarin' away all the boys?" Jack asked. He now stood in the open doorway of the room he'd come from. "Must not be hard to do when youse got a face like that."
"What do you want Kelly?" Spot moved towards Jack, his lip curled.
"Hey, there's no need to get snotty," Jack said, raising his hands.
"C'mon Kelly, I'm busy. Just tell me what ya want."
"Fine, skip formalities. I'll keep that in mind next time Spot." Jack let Spot into the room and shut the door behind him.
It was modestly furnished, though it had several nice chairs and a big desk, along with a small case full of books. Spot ran his hand down the soft, red drapes and gave a small nod of approval. "Nice place ya got here, Kelly."
"I know," Jack replied with a small smirk. "S'posed to be the superintendent's office, but he-"
"Romeo already told me." Spot sank down into a cushioned chair and propped his feet up on the wooden desk.
"Really Spot? Look at your boots! This is a nice desk!"
"If I wanted a lecture, I'd go find me mother," Spot groaned. "Just tell me what ya called me here for."
"Alright," Jack slowly sat down across from Spot, staring at him for a minute.
"Wouldja quit it? Whys you starin'?"
"Ise tryin' to decide how youse gonna react."
"Why don't you tell me and find out?" Spot growled, patience running thin.
"Ise heard from a reliable source that youse got into a scrap with some boys from Bronx. That true?"
"Sure. Why's it matter?"
"Wese been havin' trouble too. I was wonderin' if you knew what's goin' on."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Spot responded. He wasn't going to admit he didn't have an idea as to what was going on, because Spot Conlon was always supposed to know, nothing was ever out of his control.
Jack had known Spot for a long time, he knew the boy almost as well as Race did. Normally he would've called Spot out on not having the information, but he reluctantly acknowledged that the best way to earn Spot's help would be to ignore that.
"Could ya just make sure youse got some birds out there?"
"I can do that." Spot knew what Race would want him to say and he said it, though giving in so easily made him feel sick. Then again, he couldn't deny that he was a bit curious himself as to what was going on with the Bronx newsies.
"So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Probably nothin' yet. Theyse been pains, but they ain't done nothin' yet that makes me want to head over and talk to 'em," Jack answered.
"Just go over and crack some skulls, they'll leave ya alone. They hasn't bothered us since that first time," Spot suggested, fingering the strap of his suspenders.
"Maybe-"
"Jack!" The door to the office burst open. Jack and Spot both whipped towards the door, eyes landing on Elmer who's face bore a large, dark bruise. "Youse won't believe what just happened to us!"
***
This is the longest chapter I've written so far, 3,405 words!!! I'm kind of excited about it. Now the story's finally getting somewhere (sort of).
Sorry about the whole betting and fight scene. I struggled, because I don't really know anything about either! Thanks for sticking with it!!!!!
Also, I didn't plan on updating two days in a row but it's summer break and I have nothing better to do than write, so I'm like three chapters ahead of this right now. Also, I really enjoy updating and I leave for a three week vacation on the 25th, so I won't have much time to update then. Does anyone mind everyday/every other day updates until then? Just checkin'.
Thanks for reading!!!
-Anna